As a warm-up for the G6/Recon event in a couple of weeks, the Sonoma County Scale Rock Crawler crew hosted a 100 gate "Dog Run" style event at Flat Rock.  These courses are awesome good fun!  100 gate, usually covered by the "fast guys" in under 20 minutes!

The course covers a wide range of terrain, anything from rocks, to grass, to dirt, to water crossings, etc ...  Drivers have to be prepared and ready for adapting driving techniques to suite the surface.  This time there was even a freeway section down a paved path where drivers jogged long side the trucks.

It's an interesting format for a crawler comp, as reverses do not get you any penalty points.  Recovery techniques may be used, winches, sand ladders, etc ...  as long as it's carried on board at all times.  No penalties for using what you brought along.  Also, bonus points are awarded for how the vehicle is assembled (metal bumpers, interior, lights, etc ...) and what scale accessories are mounted on it.

There was a wide range of scale crawlers in attendance, from fully custom tubed frames, to off the shelf SCX-10's.  Some ran better than others, some were just out for fun enjoying their first event of this kind.  It was great to watch the "Pros" in action, there is plenty to learn by observation!

All in all, it looked like everyone enjoyed themselves, as the GTG aspect of these Comps is a huge part of the experience.  Sure, completing the "Dog-Run" is the challenge, but hanging out with the "Guys" is a large part of the fun.  A big Atta-Boy and Thank You goes out to Charlie, Rich and Clint for organizing the event!

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