2001 ARCA Racing Rock Crawling Finals – The ARCA Finals: Currie Fire Ant Crawls To A Championship
Consistency Pays Off For The California Team
March 2002
By Sue Mead, Photography by Sue Mead
Craig Stump and Dave Burling get a rise from the crowd in their 440ci Chrysler-powered rig.
Rockcrawling has rapidly gained a following in the last two years. Now, thousands of fans come out for the two-day competition four-wheel-drive events.
Lee Mattingly and Dustin Lindburg have been together as ‘wheeling partners for five years and face the rockcrawling competition in a stretched ’43 Ford GPW.
Few rollovers in rockcrawling result in fire, but many are accompanied by clouds of smoke as spilled fluids hit hot mechanical parts. That’s the case here.
John Currie adds his weight to the problem of keeping the Fire Ant upright on the slick rocks of Farmington. Currie and partner Jeff Waggoner signed up as a team, which means they can switch roles as needed.
Frank Currie, originator of Currie Enterprises, poses with winners (left to right) Jeff Waggoner and his son John Currie who drove a Currie-built Jeep. Also seen is Hank Adams, another member of the Currie Team.
Off-road racing legend Walker Evans has been racing for more than 30 years, and he has achieved 140 career victories and 14 championship titles. Recently, Evans joined the rockcrawling circuit and achieved a First-place finish in the Cedar City, Utah event.
Jason Bunch, who finished in Second place in the final event of the 2001 ARCA series, has set up his Jeep with lockers and low gearing, a heavy-duty flywheel, CV driveshafts with a Dana 30 reverse-rotation frontend and a Dana 44 reverse-rotation rearend.