It’s amazing what the Rock Bug can do with a perfectly tuned Scat v4.  Tracy Jordan and the Rock Bug were absolutely on fire on day 2 (not literally) and secured a well deserved Pro Mod 1st place spot with a final lead of 40 points!  Once again, teams running Spidertrax Spider 9 axles and/or components also proved they run with only the best axles on the planet.  All in all, Spider 9 axles & components took home 7 of the top 12 positions in Unlimited & Pro-Mod classes.  Here are your top 6 winners from both classes:

W.E.Rock Round 3: Unlimited Top 6
1st: Jesse Haines  – 67 pts *
2nd: Cody Waggoner – 101 pts
3rd: Matt Messer – 115 pts *
4th: Matt Heimsoth – 116 pts
5th: Brent Bradshaw – 142 pts *
6th: Jason Paule – 184 pts *

W.E.Rock Round 2: Pro Mod Top 6
1st: Tracy Jordan – 99 pts *
2nd: Troy Bailey – 139 pts
3rd: Brad Lovell – 139 pts *
4th: Craig Thompson – 152 pts
5th: Bill Kunz – 176 pts *
6th: Nicole Johnson – 192 pts

(*) Teams running Spidertrax Spider 9 axles and/or components

Enjoy the Rock Bug videos below from Day 2 which includes all 4 courses plus the final shootout. Tip: If you have a fast connection and computer, hit the “HD” button in the video window when playing to watch the movie in full High Definition.

Course A3

Course A4

Course A1

Course A2

Course Shootout

It was an awesome first day here in the Sand’s Regency Hotel & Casino of Reno, NV.  The weather, for the most part, was great and the crowd was awesome.  Although building a man made course in the confines of a casino parking lot has its size limitations, the excitement of being in the “Biggest Little City in the World” made up for any small shortcomings.

As expected, courses were very tight and extremely technical.  Due to the extreme level of traction with the man made course, carnage was also on the high side.  The hardest roll of the day definitely goes to Team Tsuda Racing of Japan.  This team of 4 flew out from Japan and purchased Tracy’s Twisted Customs chassis from last year to compete in this event.  On Team Tsuda’s last course of the day, they launched the rig clear off an obstacle and landed straight on their roof.  The impact was so intense the entire chassis deformed on impact.  Luckily, both drive and spotter are alright and have managed to get the vehicle running again for more action tomorrow.

As for Tracy and The Rock Bug, the day went great.  The Dana 300 is still acting up (that story seems to never end), but all in all they were both in great form and finished the day in 1st place.  Troy Bailey finished the day right behind them so it is still anyone’s game in Day 2. 

If you were following along on Twitter, chances are you noticed a lag in my updates.  Unfortunately, my iPhone died right as the event started, forcing me to update with only my laptop.  I’m happy to say my iPhone is back in action and should be ready to go on Day 2.  In the meantime, enjoy the course videos below of the Rock Bug from Day 1 and we’ll see you back here again for Day 2s wrap-up.  Also, be sure to check out the final scores of both The Unlimited Class and The Pro-Mod Class from Day 1.

Course B3

Course B4

Course B1, Part 1

Course B1, Part 2

Course B2

Just a quick reminder on what’s coming up this weekend.  The Rock Bug is heading out to Reno, NV for W.E.Rock’s Round 3 competition at the Sands Regency Casino.  You read it correctly, for this event W.E.Rock is sectioning off a massive chunk of the Sands casino parking lot to hold, what may very well be, the best man made course of the year!

If you can’t make it out in person, no need to worry as there are many places online to follow this weekends action.  We wrote a detailed blog post awhile back titled “5 Must Visit Websites for Following W.E.Rock” so be sure to check that out if you are interested in following along.  Also, don’t forget that Saturday, day 1 of Round 3, is set to be a night event so the Pro-Mod & Unlimited class will start at 4:00 pm.  Sunday, day 2, will start in the morning at 9:00 am.

Tracy & The Rock Bug were in amazing form today, dominating Day 2 and paving the way for one of the most incredible comebacks in W.E.Rock history.  The Scat V4 was running great and, with the exception of the Dana 300 t-case “splitting” issue as described in Day 1, the Rock Bug was working fantastic.  Tracy  finished yesterday in 10th place but, by the end of Day 2, he was sitting in 5th place and secured a spot in the final shootout.

When it was Tracy’s turn in the shootout, the t-case “splitting” issue caused the Rock Bug to roll hard on a bonus descent, locking Tracy into his 5th place position. Although we’re still blown away by the amazing comeback and overall performance of the Rock Bug, the Dana 300 will be replaced by an Atlas in time for the next competition.  The issue of t-case “splitting” is not just hurting the performance of the Rock Bug but is creating dangerous situations like that seen in the Shootout roll over video below.  It is the opinion of the Rock Bug team that time spent swapping the Dana 300 for an Atlas is better used then trying to fix the “splitting” issue in the Dana 300 itself.

Last, but certainly not least, a special congratulations goes out to all the teams running Spidertrax Spider 9 Axles & Components.  In W.E.Rock’s Round 2, Spider 9 Axles & Components have secured 7 of the top 10 spots including both 1st place positions in Unlimited and Pro Mod classes!

W.E.Rock Round 2: Unlimited Top 5 Running Spider 9 Axles & Components 
1st: Jesse Haines
3rd: Jason Paule
4th: Brent Bradshaw
5th: Matt Messer

W.E.Rock Round 2: Pro Mod Top 5 Running Spider 9 Axles & Components
1st: Brad Lovell
2nd: Bill Kunz
5th: Tracy Jordan

Enjoy the videos below of the Rock Bug in action on Day 2.  Tip: If you have a fast connection and computer, hit the “HD” button in the video window to watch the movie in full High Definition.

Course A2

Course A3

Course A4

Course A1

Course Shootout

Tracy & the Rock Bug were back at it for W.E.Rock’s Round 2 in Cedar City, UT.  It was a tough start to say the least, with electrical issues haunted the Scat V4 for nearly the entire day.  It all began right from the start of the Rock Bug’s first course, B2.  Right after crossing the start line, the Scat V4 lost almost all power.  Tracy’s incredible driving skill got the Rock Bug through the course with a solid score, but it was off to the pits immediately after.

At this point, no one knew what was going on with the Scat, so a call was made to use 45 minutes of breakdown time.  With everyone focused on the motor, a bad coil pack was found causing the Scat to run on only 3 cylinders.  So, the coil pack was swapped and the Rock Bug was back in action.  Or was it?

Now up on B3.  Once again the Rock Bug crosses the start line and once again the Scat begins running on 2 or 3 cylinders.  Tracy does his best but can’t get the Rock Bug through the course.  Immediately after the Rock Bug exits, the team quickly replaces the rest of the coil packs in fear of further problems.

Now up on B4.  The Rock Bug crosses the start line and guess what?  The Scat begins running on 2 to 3 cylinders!  Tracy works his magic and manages to get the Rock Bug all the way through the coarse with a fair score.  After finishing, Tracy races back to the pits hoping to shed some light on this never ending problem.

Well, in the haste of constantly installing new coil packs between courses, one of the spark plug wires ended up contacting the header, destroying the cable.  This was easily fixed and finally allowed the Scat to run the way it should have from the start.  Now up for the last course of the day, B1.

As it stood, only 2 teams were able to complete this coarse so Tracy still had a great shot of ending the day strong.  Both he and his spotter Jason gave it their all, but luck would still not be on Tracy’s side.  The Dana 300 t-case shifters unexpectedly “split” toward the end of the obstacle, causing the front to be in low range and the rear to be in high range at the same time.  There was not enough time for Tracy to compensate for this problem and time did run out.

Somehow, despite all of these troubles, Tracy and the Rock Bug still managed to place 10th for day 1.  The event is not over either.  Tomorrow marks day 2 of this two day event and it is still anyone’s competition.   We will be back again competing at 10 am, MST and don’t forget you can follow along live as described in our post “5 Must Visit Websites for Following W.E.Rock”.  Enjoy the day 1 course videos below of the Rock Bug (despite all of the motor issues) and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow.

Course B2

Course B3

Course B4

Course B1