The new Rockcrawling series...some info...

[1\4elliptic toy]

Mike baer, called me today and we chated awhile about the new series he is involved with...It's gonna be good (Mike's involved how could it not be good right?)

It is called "SXOR" Sky's Xtreme Off Road motorsports series.
All the info will be out first of the week (cost,events,rules etc)
But the basic's are this:
6 events In the "west" Places like utah, nevada, wyoming etc..
3 classes, stock, modifed and super mod. (with a true stock class!!)

It is setup on more of a race format than traditional "scoring" (points for stops etc) The reason for this is simple...Less human error on the judges part..After all they are only human and are bound to make mistakes.
So it will go something like this.. It is going to be a "normal" looking course (cones etc)..BUT points will come in the form of time. Example: you do course number three in say 3 minutes and 12 seconds when you finish the judge will look down a sheet of "times" and find 3 min 12 sec that time is 32 points or whatever. Then you will get your "normal" deductions like cones stops backs etc BUT in the form of time penalties....

There will be several other very cool things for those competing like posters to hand out to kids in the croud with your rig and team info on it that you can autograph for kids etc.. I don't have all the details they are still being worked out but it sounds very cool .....and most of all it gets back to one thing rockcrawling for rockcrawler's by rockcrawlers

DISCLAIMER.....I hope I understod all of this correctly but I THINK this is all correct..

I am very excited about this..It is a much needed change in rockcrawling....

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Sounds cool...

Is there that much poor sediment about UROC? It seemed to me that they made HUGE improvments this season, ending with an excellent event (SuperCrawlIII).

 

[1\4elliptic toy]

Sounds cool...

Is there that much poor sediment about UROC? It seemed to me that they made HUGE improvments this season, ending with an excellent event (SuperCrawlIII).

Poor sediment..NAH.. they are getting better for sure. Uhmm, but now with most of their staff gone to other "series" I have to wonder if it will continue in the "correct" direction..HMMMM..I guess we will see.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I just read some more about it on PBB, like alot of guys over there, I am really interested in hearing more about this "time points system." Many have cited safety as a main point of argument... at this point I would have to agree, it may also portray the haul butt type of wheeling that this sport needs LESS of. I don't mean to draw conclusions before this thing has a chance to develop, but just adding some constructive critisism...

One thing to remember about the relation between competition and everyday wheeling, is that what becomes "acceptable" in the comps, will become "acceptable" in the the normal trail riding. I have already talked with several landuse managers (BLM, USFS) that are not interested in having any type of competition anywhere near their jurisdiction...

Hope to hear more soon...

 

[1\4elliptic toy]

I don't see a big safety issue with it..There will be cones and they will be the "same" style as uroc courses (cones/gates/twistes etc) this means you will still have to go slow and be careful not to stack up more points by haulin ass through and taking out cones to "beat the clock". I think it will work the same as always for the most part. It won't be "heres the start and there's the end now GO!!!" it will be to technical for a straight out "baja" through to the end gate. Now there will be more of a "reason" to get through the last set of cones but I don't see it being much more dangerous than before. After all it is not a new set of people that don't now how to put on an event, we know they can do it and do it safe...

 

[RockMonkey]

A lot is going to depend on setting the right amount of time penalty for each thing. If the penalty is not long enough, people will baja through the whole thing, and hit all the cones to get through the end gate fast. I don't know if I like the idea of "best time wins". Like it or not that type of scoring will lead to competitors driving as fast as they can to finish in the least amount of time. You will see a lot more rollovers, a lot more breakage, and I fear a lot more injuries. Just look at how UROC drivers drive when the clock gets real close to the time limit. I know I drive a lot more recklessly when I'm almost out of time. I've got some great video of myself to illustrate this point.

Don't get me wrong. I'm excited to see the new series. I don't know if I'll be able to run in any of them next year, but I can't wait to see what Mike comes up with.

 

[Caleb]

A lot is going to depend on setting the right amount of time penalty for each thing. If the penalty is not long enough, people will baja through the whole thing, and hit all the cones to get through the end gate fast. I don't know if I like the idea of "best time wins". Like it or not that type of scoring will lead to competitors driving as fast as they can to finish in the least amount of time. You will see a lot more rollovers, a lot more breakage, and I fear a lot more injuries. Just look at how UROC drivers drive when the clock gets real close to the time limit. I know I drive a lot more recklessly when I'm almost out of time. I've got some great video of myself to illustrate this point.

Don't get me wrong. I'm excited to see the new series. I don't know if I'll be able to run in any of them next year, but I can't wait to see what Mike comes up with.

yep, and this is the reason UROC changed the rule to front tires crossing the finish line not rear tires like it used to be...

 

[Shawn]

I like the idea of some thing different, but I just don't see the "crawling" staying in "RockCrawling" with this type of event.

 

[GR4x4]

It is setup on more of a race format than traditional "scoring" (points for stops etc) The reason for this is simple...Less human error on the judges part..After all they are only human and are bound to make mistakes.
So it will go something like this.. It is going to be a "normal" looking course (cones etc)..BUT points will come in the form of time. Example: you do course number three in say 3 minutes and 12 seconds when you finish the judge will look down a sheet of "times" and find 3 min 12 sec that time is 32 points or whatever. Then you will get your "normal" deductions like cones stops backs etc BUT in the form of time penalties....

Is nobody seeing this right. How is there less human error when you still have the same setup. You still have cones they only represent a time now instead of points, and you still have a judge that is human and might not see that cone get hit, or might choose to say it did get hit when in fact it didn't. That human judge still has to ad up the cones and times. Maybe I am not reading this right but it sounds to me like there is just as much if not more room for human error there.

just my .02 cents

 

[GR4x4]

maybe the judges aren't human

 

[BCGPER]

I can see you haven't been to one in a few years. Time to finish that damn house maybe?

Now days, if you cant smoke a set of 40's up a 40% grade at 60 miles per hour (in UROC), you're not going to be competetive. Personally, I like the idea of taking the pressure (screw human error, ALL competitors are cry-babies at some point or another) off the judge, maybe then you can keep some good judges on staff. None of this bullshit "I wanna Marshal to say I hit that cone laying on it's side, I couldn't get the T Case in gear"........

Monkey Boy is right,a cone should be like 10 minutes to keep things safe. Missing one with both tires should be maybe 30? Or 50??

I personally think that SXOR series is a good idea for both Sky's and UROC. A little competition keeps people honest (something UROC could really work on), and hopefully SXOR will see there's 1000 "Weekend Wheelers" to every competitor, and steer their series that direction.

UROC wanted to be the NASCAR of Rockcrawling, and I think they were there a couple years ago. Now they want to be the CART of rockcrawling (from what I've seen). That's cool, there's market for that, but CART aint NACAR! (does that meke me a redneck?)

I like the idea of some thing different, but I just don't see the "crawling" staying in "RockCrawling" with this type of event.

 

[1\4elliptic toy]

Is nobody seeing this right. How is there less human error when you still have the same setup. You still have cones they only represent a time now instead of points, and you still have a judge that is human and might not see that cone get hit, or might choose to say it did get hit when in fact it didn't. That human judge still has to ad up the cones and times. Maybe I am not reading this right but it sounds to me like there is just as much if not more room for human error there.

just my .02 cents

That's the reason for the disclaimer...I talked to mike for the better part of an hour, on verizon cell phones no less (can you hear me now? Ya but just barely ) he explaind ALOT of stuff to me and I was trying to remember key points..BUT the "offical" stuff will be out next week so it can be cleared up then... If i'm wrong about it....

 

[GR4x4]

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of another comp. out there. It helps build the sport. If only one person were trying to succed at something then that person would have no reason to progress, if he has someone competing him then he will progress and so will the other person.

I am just curious to know how there will be less human error when the judges are still human. There will always be human error.

It is funny that in every sport nobody likes the judges (or refs what ever you want to call them in any sport) but without them we wouldn't have a sport.

So to sum it up, new comp is good can't wait to see it. We will always have human error after all we are only human. Until someone can think of a way to not have human refs it will always be a problem. Maybe we can have a lazer beam that runs along the course, that way if it is hit you know that you were out of bounds and get the points.

 

[1\4elliptic toy]

Maybe we can have a lazer beam that runs along the course, that way if it is hit you know that you were out of bounds and get the points.

Nope won't work because a human set it up to "Get" certain people

 

[GR4x4]

Nope won't work because a human set it up to "Get" certain people

That's right didn't think about that fact. There is always a human somewhere that will screw it up. Dumb humans anyway.

 

[actionjackson]

Is nobody seeing this right. How is there less human error when you still have the same setup. You still have cones they only represent a time now instead of points, and you still have a judge that is human and might not see that cone get hit, or might choose to say it did get hit when in fact it didn't. That human judge still has to ad up the cones and times. Maybe I am not reading this right but it sounds to me like there is just as much if not more room for human error there.

I agree with this there is still a judge that has to deduct time instead of points. It sound just like a different scoring format to me.
I also think that rock racing where time is the only thing that matters is good to. There were comments on this thread made that it was less safe. The only way it could be less safe is if someone didn't pay attention to the course when it was laid out (which could very well happen). When time is running out on a obstical at uroc you forty out. You never really run out of time at a race--the old motocross saying "go slow to go fast" comes into play. If you break your done. If you have been or seen some of the rock races in co. they are great to watch and the drivers seem to be there for more than just money (because there is none). After this years supercrawl a I don't think any of us have bragging rights about how "safe" our sport is.

I think this sounds like a great idea though--Uroc needs a reputable event that is better, that type of competition improves the sport.

 

[RockMonkey]

I didn't hit that laser! My tire moved a rock that hit the laser! MARSHALLLLL!!!

 

[BCGPER]

Like I said, they all whine sooner or later..... :greg:

I didn't hit that laser! My tire moved a rock that hit the laser! MARSHALLLLL!!!

 

[actionjackson]

I didn't hit that laser! My tire moved a rock that hit the laser! MARSHALLLLL!!!

LMAO [robot voice] GGOOOO TTOOO HELLLLL HUUMMMMMAAAN

 

[GR4x4]

just can't win. I guess that we will have to get rid of comps all together for us damn humans and let the robots take over. Those new cars that are being built that drive themselves. Guess we can put that in the buggies and just watch.