Spidertrax | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0

We’re at the end of our American Rocksports recap, and we can’t sign off without a shot of Derek West. He managed to break a 300M stub shaft, after 3+ years of hard racing, which is a  friendly reminder to always carry a spare. Unfortunately, his only spare on hand was an old non-Spidertrax stub which, after installed, only lasted a few laps. Too bad, Derek was very fast and certainly one of the top drivers to watch. Although ARSC didn’t go the way he planned, he still manged to grab a 7th place spot overall for the Pro Series. Which leads us into the next bit of information.

Ultra4Racing.com just released the official Pro Series placings. As expected, Brad Lovell did capture top honors (congrats Lovell Racing!) with Erik Miller in 2nd and Loren Healy in 3rd. Can’t resist, but all three top spots were won with Spider 9 axles (we’ll take that!). Here’s the list of Pro Series champions:

Looking over the list, it would appear Spider 9 axles & components actually took 9 out of 10 Pro Series spots! Now that’s pretty cool, and always nice to see. More action is on the way, with both Ultra4 and TORC taking to the short course track this weekend. We’ll be there, yet again, to capture the action so stay tuned for more photos and stories.

Spidertrax | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0

Rob Lynch, who’s featured above, has been out of the drivers for a while  due to a leg injury. With the help of HazzarFabWorx, and some new Ultimate Unit Bearings, Rob got his IFS racer back in action. Not only did he finish the American Rocksports Challenge without a single known issue, he ended the day with a 10th place spot, guaranteeing his place in the 2013 King of the Hammers.

Spidertrax | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0

We’re nearing the end of our American Rocksports coverage, and after coming across this photo of Jason Scherer we just realized we haven’t discussed the way this race was formatted. There were 35 Ultra4 racers in all, and the race kicked off with the drivers randomly divided in half. Each of the two groups would race in a preliminary qualifier, with the top half of each racing making it to the finals. After these two preliminary qualifiers, those that didn’t make it to the finals had one more chance to prove themselves in the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ), where the top four drivers from this race would go to the finals. All races where 10 laps each, so with LCQ some drivers raced nearly 30 laps over the weekend. Pretty insane considering how demanding both the short and rock courses were.

Spidertrax | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0

While there were plenty of lines to choose from in the American Rocksports (ARSC) rock course, there were equally as many opportunities on the short course as well. ARSC offered drivers both rocks and short course action, and each section allowed drivers to take advantage of their own driving style and vehicle’s capabilities. We grabbed this shot of Kevin Sacalas, last years ARSC winner, taking the inside line on turn 1. Like many, Kevin fought a few motor issues during the race, but that didn’t stop him from grabbing a top ten finish. He ended the day with an 8th place spot.

Spidertrax | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0

While the tabletop was our favorite from last year’s American Rocksports Challenge (ARSC), this year’s hands down favorite for us was the re-invented rock section. Although not a complaint per say from last year, Ultra4s have gotten so capable in the rocks that they seemed to breeze through the old rock course. Not the case this year as Dave Cole, event owner, promoter, and wearer of many hats, opened up the field to allow for more rocks, multiple lines, opportunities to pass, essentially changing the complete rock landscape. The result, a very challenging rock course requiring both vehicle & driver skill.

We grabbed this shot of Brian Shirley, taking the left most line out of the rock garden itself. Brian was one of the few drivers who dialed in multiple lines exiting this section, picking the one that best suited his driving style as well as avoiding Ultra4 traffic. Brian finished this years ARSC with a 7th place position. His son Levi placed one spot above him, 6th, giving their team Lucky Dog Racing two top 10 spots for the weekend.