The Blog of Spidertrax

Scherer on rocks. Photo courtesy of Harry Wagner.

Here’s a list of times from Tuesday’s qualifying rounds, thanks to Ultra4Racing. Don’t forget today marks another day of qualifying, which can be watched live at Spidertrax Live!. Followed of course by tech inspection on Thursday and the big race on Friday.

Starting order for Griffin King of the Hammers will be announced after Day 2 of qualifying.

KOH denotes pre-qualified racers. LCQ denotes competitors qualifying for a starting position in Friday’s race.

1 KOH Rick Mooneyham 554 Lake Havasu City AZ 4.41.25
2 KOH Shannon Campbell 5 Gilbert AZ 4.57.06
3 KOH Greg Adler 210 Manhattan Beach CA 5.08.59
4 KOH Tony Pellegrino 4485 Simi Valley CA 5.09.56
5 KOH Randy Slawson 4448 Colton CA 5.09.74
6 KOH Scott Ward 4438 Lake Havasu City AZ 5.24.91
7 KOH Derek West 4420 Springfield MO 5.30.35
8 LCQ Rob Lynch 4463 Spokane WA 5.46.05
9 LCQ Ben Dinkins 4403 Annopolis MO 5.55.53
10 LCQ Joey Archuleta 127 Aurora CO 5.56.25
11 KOH Les Figueroa 4478 Henderson NV 6.05.16
12 LCQ Mike Nappi 4490 Idaho Springs CO 6.08.81
13 KOH Brad Lovell 232 Colorado Springs CO 6.11.84
14 LCQ Scott Morris 4492 Sunman IN 6.12.59
15 LCQ Nathan Unruh 63 Clovis CA 6.18.06
16 KOH Brandon Watson 4488 Carbondale CO 6.18.37
17 LCQ Sam Stienman 97 Phoenix AZ 6.26.69
18 KOH Harold Fijman 777 San Ramon CA 6.27.16
19 LCQ Tony Arledge 595 Austin TX 6.30.43
20 LCQ Larry McRae 4581 Banning CA 6.32.15
21 KOH Lucas Murphy 816 Easton MA 6.37.06
22 KOH Gary Ferravanti Sr 4446 Paso Robles CA 6.44.28
23 KOH Matt Peterson 212 Colorado Springs CO 6.44.44
24 KOH Jim Brown 101 Ukiah CA 6.48.72
25 LCQ Paul Garner 4409 Queen Creek AZ 6.53.00
26 KOH Cottin Rodd 4407 Cortez CO 6.54.38
27 KOH Alan Woodson 86 Charlottesville VA 7.03.25
28 KOH Mike Klensin 4431 Tucson AZ 7.04.68
29 LCQ Robb Kaufman 22 RockyView County CAN 7.07.24
30 KOH Alex Hardaway 4481 Santa Rosa CA 7.07.31
31 KOH Eric Brown 502 Las Vegas NV 7.43.87
32 KOH Jose Manuel Ponce 9009 Morelia MEX 7.48.06
33 KOH Jason Picket 4444 Ft. Collins CO 8.08.84
34 LCQ Darren Batt 82 Woodward OK 8.23.75
35 LCQ Jason Shipman 4414 Farmington MO 8.26.25
36 KOH Bart Dixon 26 San Diego CA 8.28.69
37 KOH Matt Messer 17 Fresno CA 8.29.03
38 LCQ Michael Anderson 21 Auburn CA 8.32.60
39 LCQ Andrew McLaughlin 4493 Mesa AZ 8.40.28
40 KOH Aaron Robinson(William) 3006 Sparks NV 8.51.12
41 LCQ Ian McGlynn 123 Seattle WA 8.54.09
42 LCQ Joe Bunker 864 Monroe WA 8.59.22
43 LCQ Dustin Sexton 4437 Kamas UT 8.59.65
44 LCQ Brian McCarthy 415 San Rafael Ct CA 9.08.60
45 KOH Ben Napier 4461 Sydney AUS 9.09.12
46 LCQ Michael Feagins 929 Batesville IN 9.26.00
47 LCQ Doug Evans 4457 Hayfork CA 9.50.59
48 KOH Casey Currie 2 Anaheim CA 10.08.66
49 KOH Mel Wade 4451 Long Beach CA 10.18.47
50 KOH Tom Wayes 321 San Jose CA 10.29.40
51 KOH Bill Phillips 4480 Whittier CA 11.25.59
52 KOH Jason Scherer 76 Danville CA 12.12.66
53 LCQ Cody Addington 4680 Foresthill CA 12.54.88
54 KOH Warren Thomas 257 Morro Bay CA 14.53.84
55 KOH Loren Healy 4428 Farmington NM 15.38.97
56 LCQ Steve Norton 737 Floyd Knobs IN DNF
57 LCQ Doug Kahlstrom 927 Lampasas TX DNF
58 KOH Bunny Rose 812 Frederick MD DNF
59 KOH Brent Goegebuer 4473 Corona CA DNF
60 KOH Curtis Warner 4410 Armstrong BC DNF
61 LCQ Ryan Atkins 928 Parker AZ DNF
62 LCQ Jeremy Dickenson 4419 Cedar Park TX DNF
63 LCQ Nicholas McGaha 505 Ridgecrest CA DNF
64 LCQ John David 333 Fountain CO DNF
65 LCQ Hal Deschamp 4445 Whittier CA DNF
66 KOH Jason Blanton 966 Kirkland WA DNF
67 LCQ Billy Briney 4439 Ness City KS DNS
68 KOH Kevin Yoder 4434 Grass Valley CA DNS
69 LCQ Greg Davis 4458 Kaysville UT DNS
70 LCQ Brian Tilton 4416 Orangevale CA DNS
71 KOH John Reynolds 4427 DNS
72 KOH Rob McKeeney 8 DNS
73 KOH Jeff Hollfelder 4422 DNS
74 LCQ Richard Martinez Santa Ana CA DNS
75 LCQ Shane Gilroy 380 Mayerthorpe Alberta DNS
76 LCQ Kevin Gamble 4476 Chula Vista CA DNS
77 KOH Brett Porter 4460 Colorado Springs CO DNS
78 LCQ Eric Morales 4425 Lincoln CA DNS
79 KOH John Sweet 366 DNS
80 KOH John James 28 Fresno CA DNS
81 KOH Roger Lovell 4432 DNS

Remember when King of the Hammers was a one day event? Well, you can forget about that for 2012. While the main race kicks off this Friday at 7:30am PST, the action starts TODAY with the Smittybilt Every Man Challenge. In this race, stock & modified stock vehicles get the chance to compete in the toughest one day off-road race on the planet.

As it happens, the entire week is packed with Hammers action. Of course we more than understand not everyone can spend a week out in Johnson Valley. So, with that being said, we’re very excited to share a little Facebook page we’ve been worked on over the weekend. If you’re on a desktop computer, head over to http://www.facebook.com/Spidertrax and you should see a little tab on the left called Live!. Click on that and you’ll have access to the Ultra4 live Ustream (video) and CoveritLive (text & chat) updates for the whole week. Even if you can’t make it to the Hammers, our Live! page should still get you the best seat in the house.

CoveritLive updates for the Every Man Challenge should be kicking off around 8am PST this morning. Our good friend Harry Wagner will even be riding shotgun in the helicopter to best cover today’s race. So, with plenty of time before the Super Bowl, be sure to head over to Live! on Facebook and enjoy today’s action.

Photo by Rise Above Photography.

So, we have ourselves a winner for the GET ME TO THE HAMMERS! giveaway of one $500 Visa gift card. Being engineers, we’re sticklers on fairness and transparency so, before we announce who won, we wanted to share how we came up with the winner.

1st – We sorted blog comments chronologically and assigned a number to each comment in that order.

2nd – We removed any duplicate entries (some people commented on other’s comments which is more than cool) and reduced them to 1 so as to count just the first comment. Also, if any existed, auto generated spam comments were also removed.

3rd – We removed any comments after the January 31st midnight deadline (sorry but we have to be fair).

4th – Now with 383 entries, we used Random.org to pick a winner (as per the rules, the winner was verified as having Liked our Facebook fan page as well).

And lucky number 305 is Charles A. Leask! Congratulations Charles for winning the $500 Visa Gift Card. Be sure to look out for a private message on Facebook from us or, if you have messaging turned off, be sure to send us a message HERE to claim your prize. Thanks to everyone who was part of this giveaway. We’re extremely excited by the number of entires and overall support. Hopefully we can do this again!

Just got this press release from the Lovell Brothers. No question the level of competition for this years King of the Hammers is simply unmatched. T minus 11 days and counting!

LOVELL BROTHERS SET TO TAKE ON KING OF THE HAMMERS
Official Press Release 28-Jan-2012

After season ending crashes for both of the team’s rock racers last year, the brothers are back and ready to take on the toughest rock race on the planet. 2012 will the longest King of the Hammers yet with 165 miles of rock crawling and desert terrain. The week long event now features several races and a chance for competitors to qualify for start positions.

“I think its great that they are letting us qualify,” comments driver Brad Lovell, “We would have won this thing 2 years ago if that was the case and it will help make a fair competition.” The team can be watched qualifying live on Ultra4racing.com/live on Tuesday, Feb 7 at roughly 4 pm PST.

For the first time, Brad and Roger will join forces for King of the Hammers. Roger adds, “Running one truck is a lot less of a headache and will allow us to better focus on winning. With the amount of experience we have racing together, it just makes sense to be in the same truck. Last month, we auctioned my entry and raised $2500 for the Blue Ribbon Coallition and others fighting to keep Johnson Valley open.”

Lovell Racing proudly welcomes back AMSOIL as their title sponsor. Brad elaborates, “I am continually impressed with the integrity and quality of AMSOIL. They are a perfect fit for our team. Combined with Nissan, BFGoodrich Tires, Torchmate, Spidertrax, and Trailready we have a strong team with lots of technology. We are also pleased to add Lincoln Welders to the team as we have always been fans of their products.”

The pair will be piloting the reinvigorated yet familiar #232 AMSOIL Torchmate rock racer. “After the wreck last year it was twisted, bowed, and crinkled,” said Brad,”We should have just cut it up and thrown it away but this truck has won just about everything but King of the Hammers and I’m attached to it.” Eight weeks of labor went into rebuilding the chassis and making improvements to the design. “We did a lot of thinking about safety after the wrecks. Neither of us want to race something we don’t feel safe in so we cut the entire roll cage out of the truck and rebuilt it with stronger material.”

In another first for the team, they will be running 39″ BFGoodrich KRT’s. “We are strong believers in 37′s but think that the 39′s will allow us some extra speed in the unending boulder fields. BFG has re-engineered a soft grippy tread compound that is really going to give us the edge.”

King of the Hammers launches the team’s 2012 racing campaign where they will tackle a variety of races. Highlights include the legendary Mint 400 in March, the 90th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in July, and World Championship short course racing in Crandon on Labor Day. Brad will return for the 2012 TORC Season piloting the #44 AMSOIL Torchmate Nissan Frontier.

We had a little Caption This! fun over on Facebook the other day with this shot of Brent Bradshaw from last years W.E.Rock Round 4. The comments were pretty awesome to say the least and in case you missed it:

Horton Chris Did I clear the cone?
Yesterday at 8:11am

Jason Drew its still crooked.. just a little more to the right…
Yesterday at 8:14am

Mark Wills NO! Your other RIGHT!!!!!
Yesterday at 8:14am

Mike Greenwalt Oh no, i just washed and waxed
Yesterday at 8:14am

Simon Touron just a bit more and i’ll be able to pick up my lunch box
Yesterday at 8:14am

Tina Theodoridis hahaha simon wins!
Yesterday at 8:18am

Matthew Garofalo If you’ve got one on the ground you can PULL IT AROUND!!!! Get it Bradshaw!
Yesterday at 8:18am

Sean McDowell I FOUND A QUARTER
Yesterday at 8:18am

Joel Villamena DRIVER! DRIVER! NO, PASSENGER! PASSENGER! Ah man. Ref, can we get a do-over?
Yesterday at 8:25am

Kevin Ehrlick ‎”Who freaking sets these courses up?…..this is BS!” lol
Yesterday at 8:25am

John Walker Hard core to the Max! Play hard, or go home!!!!!
Yesterday at 8:26am

Cody Irish now for the kicker time to hit my anti grav button… anythings possible with spder trax. NEW CONCEPT for the bat mobile?
Yesterday at 8:27am

Todd Henriksen If you have to ask. You dont understand.
Yesterday at 8:27am

Keith Stewart Hold My Beer….I got This!
Yesterday at 8:29am

Chris Larkin ‎”then I hit the three wheel motion”.
Yesterday at 8:29am

Elias Corey look a penny!!!
Yesterday at 8:29am

Dean Dodge It’s not over…till it’s over!!
Yesterday at 8:30am

Gregory L Holloway Using the new Spidertrax planetary tilt system we have rotated the Earth 90 degrees, and we can now drive normally along this vertical ledge.
Yesterday at 8:30am

Steve Rivera Should’ve had my V8 this morning!
Yesterday at 8:30am

Brad Riddle I love this stuff..
Yesterday at 8:33am

Dave Evans Damn, that ground is high !
Yesterday at 8:37am

Mike Bozzie i know that road is here somewhere
Yesterday at 8:38am

Michael Hill ‎”He’s got it”
Yesterday at 8:40am

Simon Touron ooh look ants ow they bite
Yesterday at 8:41am

Michael Bice your clear now nail it!!!
Yesterday at 8:45am

Tyson Cook Checker or wrecker
Yesterday at 8:45am

Al Koopman III ‎”I’m glad I got the Discount Double Check insurance Aaron Rodgers told me about…”
Yesterday at 8:48am

Simon Touron must be am easier way to change that back tyre !!!
Yesterday at 8:50am

Shawn M. Pagan ‎”That’s just how we roll…”
Yesterday at 8:50am

Elvis Ruiz I CAN SAVE ITTT !!!!!!!
Yesterday at 8:50am

Tyler Jarrett Look how much seat I’ve sucked up my ass already!
Yesterday at 8:52am

Tyler Jarrett Barrel roll!
Yesterday at 8:52am

Richard Allen Gorr Hey, this shit isn’t on the map!!
Yesterday at 8:53am

Simon Touron driver to passenger”please stop doing the moves to ymca”
Yesterday at 8:54am

Tim Crase Looks like fun
Yesterday at 8:55am

Sean Wells I totally got this!
Yesterday at 8:56am

Jeffrey Hamilton hammer down boy’s
Yesterday at 8:56am

Gert Jacobus Redelinghuys Ahh biscuits
Yesterday at 9:01am

Chris Roes ‎”Here’s the deal I’m the best there is. Plain and simple. I wake up in the morning and I piss excellence.” – Ricky Bobby
Yesterday at 9:01am

Scott Pasch I got this sh*t!
Yesterday at 9:04am

Levi Van those milk and cookies were (yawn) so tiring NAP TIME.
Yesterday at 9:04am

Rick Soto Buckle up, I want to try something!
Yesterday at 9:12am

Jordan Miller half way around now lets get sticky
Yesterday at 9:13am

Garrett Ness ‎” i wish Tracy was here” haha!
Yesterday at 9:15am

Ricky Powell What dogs do this all the time?! its territorial.
Yesterday at 9:20am

Jeff Williams I like these high banked turns, it makes the track faster.
Yesterday at 9:30am

Frank Gelatka DOH!!!
Yesterday at 9:30am

Donnie Sechrest Hammer Time!!!
Yesterday at 9:33am

Simon Touron see we’ve got loads of gas the gauge says so
Yesterday at 9:35am

Buggy Share Got Propane?
Yesterday at 9:39am

Vince Parker if i stomp it now… i might be able to recover
Yesterday at 9:42am

Will Roberts I knew I should have taken the high road!
Yesterday at 9:42am

Jamie Beardsley Famous last words of a redneck “Watch This!”
Yesterday at 9:45am

Dylan Thomas hang to ah now
Yesterday at 9:47am

James Dumas New geico commercial, mayham must be driving
Yesterday at 9:48am

Kenny Berndt ‎”Quit being so dramatic, the tilt meter says i’m fine!”
Yesterday at 9:51am

Jimmy Hussey Did ya roll over? Nope we were airin up the tires when we realized we only had enough helium for the right side. Here’s your sign
Yesterday at 9:54am

Trevor McCarty The good news is, I saved your coffee
Yesterday at 10:14am · 3

Nicholas Charles Paque Does a lion stretch before it chases a gazel
Yesterday at 10:15am

Mike Mobley I’m sorry honey, I can’t talk right now. I’m doing the coolest thing in the world. Tell the kids I love them.
Yesterday at 10:21am

Mike Mastrobattisto Stupid pedal dont fail me now!!!
Yesterday at 10:23am

Bob Mueller Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he’s got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it.
Yesterday at 10:26am

John Pellegrini Get back in there ya wuss! Hit the accelerator and keep going! You’ll make it!
Yesterday at 10:28am

Lysa Mathis Ohhhhh sooo much fun!!
Yesterday at 10:29am

Lysa Mathis Move over boys leta girl show ya how its done!
Yesterday at 10:29am

Kit Riley Cassingham Driving the side roads of America.
Yesterday at 10:34am

Taran Halarewich lets play dominos
Yesterday at 10:35am

Zero Mead Tachikoma Gravity’s for sissies!
Yesterday at 10:37am

ChefTyler Brown Ooohhhhhhhhh SHIT!!!! Now tip me back over so I can continue!!!
Yesterday at 10:38am

Tristan Whyatt im sure there a less fun way of finding the roll over point of a buggy
Yesterday at 10:39am

Michael Fanning I knew I should have taken that left turn at the light.
Yesterday at 10:42am

Andy Wulf Riley lock stomp and steer, no fear!
Yesterday at 10:48am

Steven Hopper Gas it
Yesterday at 10:51am

Brandon BzWires when in doubt, Gas it!
Yesterday at 11:01am

Kevin Callan Who taught you how to parallel park? ass face!
Yesterday at 11:02am

Josh Chavez You’ve just about got it.
Yesterday at 11:02am

Kevin Hanks hold my beer and watch this.
Yesterday at 11:06am

Jay Smith Keep rollin rollin rollin rollin , keep rollin rollin
Yesterday at 11:06am

John Fischer Who is your driver? Captain Francesco Schettino?
Yesterday at 11:11am

Kenny Berndt ‎”so there I was”
Yesterday at 11:23am

Brian Keen hold my beer and watch this….
Yesterday at 11:29am

Hrrsn Lws Dang..
Yesterday at 11:33am

Valley Rock Crushers I didnt roll it, and THAT, my friends, makes me “The winner” !
Yesterday at 11:54am

Chris Waterman you wanted a shot at the new roof, why are you way over there? silly camera guy…….
Yesterday at 12:16pm

David Wiganer Skett just wandering how much money you got in that ?? and how much was actually built by the owner ??? and driver,
Yesterday at 12:39pm

Michael Jones Relax, now I can reach out and set that cone back up.
Yesterday at 12:47pm

Mudsport Automotive ahh shit balls!
Yesterday at 1:02pm

Mike Figaro How a Rockcrawler does Yoga
23 hours ago

Graham Sparticus Entwistle For sale, one careful owner, last one didn’t give a shit….
22 hours ago

Jeff Fisher That’s the way we roll.
22 hours ago

Keith Steele that didn’t work!!
22 hours ago

David Vilbrin Oops did I do that
22 hours ago

Scott LeSage Winning!
22 hours ago

Jason Dornon Maybe I should have taken piano lessons instead.
22 hours ago

Jason Dornon I knew I should’nt have taken that left in Albuquerque!
21 hours ago

Barbara Feldman Momma said there’d be days like this!
21 hours ago

Matt Houck Front or rear dig? Decisions decisions…
21 hours ago

Tyler McNamee ‎”I got, I got. Nope don’t got.”
21 hours ago

Michael Wunder Got winch??
19 hours ago

Nathan Renford ¡ɹǝʌo ǝɯ ןןoɹ ‘sıɥʇ pɐǝɹ uɐɔ noʎ ɟı
18 hours ago

Butch Baker I can make it!!!!
16 hours ago

Wade Lapp Gangsta lean.
15 hours ago

James Ryley After yet another late night, George Michael wakes up to find he’s not quite made it all the way home…. again..
9 hours ago

Ron Nissley Aw crap I hit a cone.
7 hours ago

Rich Markley can i park here?
7 hours ago

Chris Cox Spider buggy, spider buggy, does what ever a spider buggy does.
5 hours ago

Feel free to add your own right here or over on the original Facebook thread HERE. Thanks again to everyone who participated.

Alright, time to win some cold hard cash. We’re less than 3 weeks away from this years King of the Hammers and we know full well the budget gets tight this close to race day. Nothing’s worse than getting your rig ready only to find out there’s nothing left for food and gas. So, we’re happy to launch our GET ME TO THE HAMMERS! giveaway where one lucky person will win a $500 Visa Gift Card.

Entering is easy:

1) If you haven’t already, “Like” our Facebook fan page HERE.
-AND-
2) Leave a comment on this blog post (below).

One entry per person (multiple comments only count once, sorry guys & gals), but that’s it. The GET ME TO THE HAMMERS! giveaway ends midnight on January 31st, 2012 with the winner being announced on February 1st, 2012. Yes, this giveaway ends fast but there’s no sense in getting your gift card after the race. Best of luck and hope to see all of you on the lake bed.

It’s that time of year again where new rigs come together and old ones get repaired in preparation of the 2012 race season. We know it takes money to get those rigs ready, so hopefully this post brings some good news to your wallet. We’re proud to announce our contingency programs for 2012 which include all Ultra4 and W.E.Rock sanctioned events. That’s 26 events in total with over $30,000 on the line!

Spidertrax 2012 Ultra4 Series Contingency Program
http://www.spidertrax.com/Spidertrax-2012-Ultra4-Series-Contingency-Program

Spidertrax 2012 W.E.Rock Contingency Program
http://www.spidertrax.com/Spidertrax-2012-W-E-Rock-Contingency-Program

Be sure to check out our contingency programs above for full details and best of luck to all drivers and teams!

It’s always a risk testing out a new track, but in the end the all new 4Wheel Parts Glen Helen Grand Prix proved to be a top stop in the Ultra4 tour. With a blended mix of short course jumps, motocross tracks, & wicked mountain climbs, Ultra4 cars had their work cut out for them in this ultimate endurance style race. We partnered up with the Ultra4 crew to provide live text/photo coverage during the event (http://ultra4racing.com/live/) so we’ll take a break from writing a long “post event” recap. Instead, we just wanted to share the photos from the live coverage and congratulate Loren Healy (1st), Jason Picket (2nd), and JT Taylor (3rd) who captured the top 3 spots with rigs powered by Spider 9 Axles. Every event is a blast for us, but we can’t deny watching our axles power teams to the top makes it even better.

The 4Wheel Parts Ultra4 Grand Prix marks the end of the 2011 Ultra4 series. Next stop is the grand daddy of all Ultra4 events, The King of the Hammers. We can’t wait!

EDIT: Looks like the photos are NOT hyperlinked to the originals on Flickr (sorry about that). Check here for the entire Flickr set.

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

Time sure does fly when you’re having fun and this years Ultra4 season is certainly no exception. This weekend, October 22nd, marks the end of the 2011 Ultra4 Series. This certainly lends the question, have they saved the best for last? Time will tell but having personally been to this debut race course at Glen Helen I can say with certainty that everyone, from driver to spectator, is in for a blast!

Similar in style to the Ultra4 Stampede, I’ll be on course again with Harry Wagner providing the official live text coverage, via Cover-It-Live, for Ultra4Racing. So as to get the most out of this weekends live coverage, I wanted to share 3 quick tips that should make following the race that much easier.

1) All Live Feeds in One Place (Best for Desktop Users) - http://ultra4racing.com/live/
This is the best of the best in terms of live coverage. On this page you’ll find all of the live feeds available, namely a running video feed via Ustream and a text feed via Cover-It-Live. Keep an eye out for a third feed on this page, namely the score board which if all goes as planned will display the lap times and race leaders live.

2) Text Feed Only (Often Best for Mobile Users) - http://ultra4racing.com/livechat/
Sometimes mobile devices have a hard time displaying video and text updates together. If you fall into that category, you can always grab just the text feed following this link. The text feed is powered by Cover-It-Live and allows for text updates, in-line photos, and user comments on just about any mobile device. So if all else fails, you should still be able to follow the race on your mobile device.

3) Times to Watch - http://ultra4racing.com/the-inside-line/4wheel-parts-glen-helen-grand-prix-spectator-information/
The race is on Saturday, October 22nd, and starts at 11am PST. With the gates opening at 9am, it’s highly likely live content will find it’s way to the interwebs early.

That’s it for now. Best of luck to all the teams & drivers this weekend and we’ll see you at Glen Helen (or online)!