Florian Takes W.E. Rock Perris 2008

Last weekend at the Off-Road Expo when "Lil Rich" invited me to the W.E. Rock competition at the Perris raceway, I was honestly less than enthused. Coming from a desert racing background I thought that a rock crawling competition would be like watching ice melt at 33 degrees. I couldn't have been farther from the truth. On Friday April 11, Dirt Club founder Lee Orr and I went out to the W.E. Rock tech inspection conveniently held in a Hooters parking lot. My first impression was that everybody was so friendly, and their rigs all showed tons of innovation. I met up with driver Tim Florian who was all too happy to show me the ropes. Tim is running a Suzuki in the Stock Modified class for Above All Rock Crawling, he had very little seat time in his rig as he is from California and his Suzuki is in Utah. When he got a chance to go out there and test they found that the seat was too high, as Tim is rather tall, thus preventing him from having much seat time before this competition. Tim told me that his ride is top notch and his crew chief Tim Kincaid takes his worries out of any mechanical problems. His strategy is more mental, staying focused and relaxed, it is that he says that will get him into the winner's circle. Tim has only had one spotter, John Mulden, whom he has been friends with for 20 years and knows Tim's capabilities in addition to the vehicle's. John can sense when Tim is nervous and does a great job at calming him down. Tim tells me that it is key to work out any disagreements of which line to take before race day in order to maintain a fluid run. The 70 competitors were subjected to a rigorous technical inspection that Friday; all the vehicles were weighed and gone through with a fine tooth comb. There were four classes competing; Unlimited, Pro Modified Stock Modified and formula Toyota. The rules were handed out and were fairly simple. Each vehicle had to go through a set course between cones. There is a time limit, and every time a competitor hits a cone, backs up or rolls over they are given a set amount of points for their infractions. The team with the lowest amount of points wins, and for the teams willing to scratch points off, there are bonus obstacles available. Saturday started off quickly, after a drivers meeting and staging all six courses had vehicles start at once. This made for action all over the hill; it was difficult to decide where to watch. There were roll overs and carnage all over the track very early, a sign of what's to come. Tim Florian started fifth in class, a good position considering he can see which lines work, and which ones don't. As he was next up he got into his little Suzuki strapped himself in, and began to focus. It became clear that all the top notch drivers were calm and immersed in concentration as their time was up. Tim looked as though the whole world around him had stopped as he tackled each obstacle. The little Stock Modified Suzuki timed out on the first course, disappointing Tim and crew, however the rest of the stock Modified field could not complete the first course either. As the Day went on Tim and John found their groove and ended with a sizeable lead. The A2 course for the unlimited buggies had a huge bonus obstacle which consisted of an undercut wall about 15 feet high. Each buggy that attempted to go down the bonus obstacle found themselves upside down at the bottom. When Cody Waggoner attempted it, I was waiting below ready to capture the train wreck that seemed inevitable. He sat at the top while his father and spotter Jim Waggoner cleared all the rocks out of the way so as not to injure his son. The few moments Cody sat on top of the wall was tense, suddenly he over came his fear and gassed his unlimited buggy down the treacherous drop. As his front wheels hit the bottom his rear end looked as though it wanted to keep going, however stopped just as it sat at an almost 90 degree angle. Cody gassed the front end out from under the rear and made a spectacular save to which the crowd gave him a standing ovation. This was out of character for Cody, as his style of driving is generally more conservative and laid back, so taking a bonus obstacle on the first day especially one that no one has yet to conquer was a big gamble. "The competition is so tight you gotta push yourself in order to win," says Cody as he glances over at his next obstacle. Cody Waggoner finished the day in 3rd place and would like to thank Detroit Locker, BF Goodrich Tires, CVM Motorsports and his dad Jim who is the oldest spotter out there. Shannon Campbell had a rough day on Saturday, he struggled through A3, but all the while showing finesse and why he is at the top. After finishing I was able to get an interview, and despite being upset with his performance he was still friendly, a class act all the way. "The day is not going good for me, the courses are good, their tough. I'm just haven't got my head all together, I'm just doin' stupid things. The equipment is working well; I'm just not all here today". When asked about his venture into the CORR series he says that his Pro Lite Truck isn't even finished despite the race being only two weeks away. "Hopefully we can just get it there and not crash it". The next day he tried to come back, on the combined B2 and A2 course. On the first gate he rolled over and was able to right himself without any help through skill and the amazing capability of his Monster buggy, however it was all for not when he later pointed out. Despite having a rough weekend Shannon put on a good show and impressed the crowd with his abilities. Sunday was yet another good day for Tim Florian and team, it would seem that crew chief Tim Kincaid's lucky frog paid off. As he completed each course his lead grew more and more. C2 had a large climb at the first gate which most teams timed out on. Tim and John chose a far right line which got them up in relatively short time. Tim and John showed amazing control, team work and knowledge as they made difficult terrain seem almost easy.  "This weekend kinda started out rough for us, it gave me that gloomy feeling that it may not turn out that great." Says Tim Florian who was happy to be wrong. "We only had minor problems with our rig" says Tim Kincaid they accredit its reliability and small size of the Suzuki for their win. Florian says his biggest competitor was Kathy Crook "When I spotted for her I learned what a good driver she is, I have a lot of respect for the way Cathy drives." says Florian. Cathy was able to hold off the rest of the field Saturday finishing in second, which is where she ended up when the competition was complete. As the weekend at the Perris raceway came to an end, I began to reflect. There was so much action and excitement that I could barley begin to describe a fraction of what happened. I was surprised how much I enjoyed attending, and was truly pleased with the friendliness of the competitors and Officials alike. In addition I'm happy to have made friends with Tim Florian and Tim Kincaid, and watch them in action. We at Dirt Club.com would like to thank W.E. Rock for their incredible event and congratulate Skinny Pedal Motorsports, Tim Kincaid and Tim Florian for their win. Be sure to check out their next competition in Cedar City Utah on May 16-18.

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	Posted by DirtClub on 04/14/2008
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