Carolina
Crawlin' Carolina
Crawlin' August 13-14, 2005
We visited a super rock crawling event in Spartanburg, SC and five of our club members served as judges for the competition.
Both the weather and the competition were 
.
On Saturday morning, several dozen competitors lined up in three classes, street,
modified, and super-modified, to compete on a newly built course. On a base
of concrete culverts and dirt, the course was built with blown concrete, giving
incredible traction on the many steep and near-vertical surfaces.
There
are specific rules and restrictions governing each vehicle class. Safety is
the foremost consideration. Each vehicle must carry certain required equipment,
such as fire extinguishers, first aid kits, seat harnesses, roll cage, etc.
The street class is a new innovation and limits vehicles to certain upgrades
that stay within street-legal limits. The modified class allows extensive modifications
to a vehicle, including tube frames and after-market axles and drivetrains.
The super-modified class allows more radical upgrades, including such features
as rear steering.
Each team consists of one competition vehicle, one driver and one spotter. The driver operates the vehicle. The spotter is outside the vehicle and gives directions on where to drive (and not drive) to get through the course. The competition is not a race! Technical driving is the name of the game as the driver steers the vehicle through the course under the direction of the spotter. Team work is vital as the two team members guide their vehicle through the near-impossible obstacle course.
The judges' task is to monitor the movement of the vehicle, giving penalty points for backing up, hitting cones, winching, going out of bounds, exceeding time limit, etc.
To find out more about the event, go to their web site at carolinacrawlin.com
