THE IDEAstarted months before the competition took place. Could a few show truck boys from a 4 Wheel Parts store compete with some of the best custom 4WD fabricators in the Midwest? We were unsure since none of us had any previous competition experience. Once there, the intimidation factor grew as the competition, custom tube buggies and drivers with years of competition experience. The team wondered what they had gotten themselves into. So they set a goal, simply go out, have some fun, and treat this like any other day in the woods.
The first event was a mud bog run of about 150 feet. Indy DSI Rep., Jon Terhune was Team 4WP’s only competitor in this event and his 2.5L four banger picked up a 3rd place finish.
The second, a technical trail event combined rock crawling and trial riding. Not over thinking the course like competitors before him, Daryl Mattingly and his 1.3L Samurai roared to a 3rd place finish. The third, a timed run where speed was needed. The course was through the bottom of a quarry followed by a tough hill climb with large rocks. Jon was 3rd overall but was given a DNF for being hung up on of the rocks at the top of the final climb — even though 1/3 of his Jeep had crossed the finish line. Mike finished with a time of 46 seconds. Daryl’s 6.5:1 transfer case slowed him to a 1:02 time.
It was later determined in the judges’ ruling that Jon’s run should have counted because his front axle crossed the finish line. But during the run he shot a u-joint cap out of his front axle that the team changed out in less than 10 minutes to get him ready for his repeat run. Putting the peddle to the floor he finished with a time of 42 seconds.
The scoring system allowed the team to drop their slowest time and average the other two scores giving them a final time of 44 seconds; good enough for a 4th place finish.
That night Team 4WP was in second place and definitely had something to celebrate. The rookies from a corporate store were proving they could hold their own with some of the most extreme shops in the Midwest.
The Team (from left to right): Bowen Engineering’s Jon Dawes, shop foreman Daryl Mattingly, DSI’s Jon Terhune, shop tech Jimmy Ping, store manager Mike Devore, shop tech Bart Eckerle, and Hi-Lift’s Austin Harrah.
Sunday, like Saturday, was wet and overcast and the sled pull track was soaked. With the biggest engine on the team, store manager Mike Devore ran this event. The wet track delay gave them time to see some of the other rig’s setups and noticed a big emphasis on locking up the rear suspension. With this info they tried to limit Mike’s super flexy rear suspension by disconnecting the rear shocks and putting jack stands in their place. The idea was crazy but helped him pull to a 4th place finish.
The final event was the rock crawl. Team 4WP was in second place down 13.3 points to Sam’s Off-Road and both 3rd and 4th place were very close on their heals. Having missed the course pre-walk through, we had, sightunseen, entered every vehicle in the rock crawl as one of the 2-team events. After seeing the course both days, we regretted our decision to enter all 3 rigs. In the draw for running order, Jon Terhune had the first run and Mike Devore the second.
Realizing it was put up or shut up time, Jon Terhune took to the starting gates. Skillfully guided by spotter Indy Shop Tech, Jimmy Ping and assisted by team captain and Hi-Lift jack owner/director Austin Harrah, Jon set the first score at 24. Mike Devore with great direction from his spotter Indy tech, Bart Eckerle and with help of Austin Harrah he scored a 20. Our final competitor Daryl Mattingly guided by spotter Bowen Engineering Safety’s Jon Dawes, and his own hammer down style, was able to achieve a score of 10!
We ended up with a total score of 15 points for the stage. Sam’s Off-Road had 16 points with their full-on competition XRRA buggy, so we would close in on them but was unclear by how much. In the end, two teams who were only a couple points behind us scored lower in the final event bumping us down to 4th place overall and 2nd in the East. So we qualified for the finals in October where the top 3 teams from the east and west compete for the top shop in the nation. With this first event experience and no longer having the “rookie” tag, Team 4WP is going into the finals with the motto, “If you ain’t first, you’re last.”
