Fifty thousand dollars can do a lot. That could be a hell of a race engine, a brand new project, or a new tow rig. Or it could simply be what’s needed to pay off the credit cards. Anybody can find a good use for fifty large, so when you point at a rocky impasse that looks more like mountain goat territory than it does an off-road trail and say, “Go earn that money!” to a bunch of people who have the best suited creations for handling such terrain, you end up with…well, carnage. You end up with a LOT of carnage. The second $50K hill of the 2016 season was found at Adventure Offroad Park in Tennessee, and it was primarily composed of unforgiving rock that looks like the end result of a bomb blast. Nothing about this hill looks easy, except when it comes to bouncing back down while rolling over…
Rock racing is the steroid munching American cousin of British trials like the famous Lands End trial. The aim is still to negotiate steep and sometimes muddy hills over the course of a weekend, but rock racers have 4 wheel drive, four wheel steering, huge mud munching tyres and huge powerful V8 motors. The British trials cars have to run on deflated standard road tyres, are only two wheel drive and seldom have motors putting out more than 150 horsepower. You can even see front wheel drive cars tackling muddy hills and vanishing in tyre smoke as they spin their wheels forever. There are some weird and wonderful “specials”, kit cars such as the Marlin, old classic MGs and a number of small sedans.
So Bryan check out the British trials scene on Youtube – start with the Lands End trial from Easter and work forwards. You’ll love it mate – trust me!