After proving to legions of rockcrawling fans their stellar abilities in last year's inaugural Skyjacker National Rock Crawling Championship for Women, a brigade of female competitors came back for more in round one of the 2002 series. Held in Johnson Valley, California, Feb. 16-17, and hosted by Sports-In-The-Rough, the Skyjacker-sponsored event was the first of a two-stage series to be held throughout 2002. The second event will take place Sept. 11-12 outside Cedar City, Utah.
With the success of last year's event held outside Farmington, New Mexico, Sports-In-The-Rough head honcho, Bob Hazel, decided to broaden the field a bit by splitting it in two, offering two separate classes of competition. Rules for each class are the same enforced in the popular Sports-In-The-Rough-sanctioned Superlift ProRock Series. The Trophy Class puts very few limitations upon vehicle modifications and simply requires vehicles propelled by four wheels, equipped with fully engaging front and rear lockers. The Modified Stock Class is geared more toward your average 'wheeler, where virtually any well-equipped 4x4 has a chance of performing well. The vehicles must use an OEM frame or aftermarket replacement of an OEM design, a stock-style suspension configuration for that year and make vehicle, a wheelbase within 2-1/2 inches of stock, OEM design steering with no hydraulic or hydraulic-assist allowed, OEM axle design, a maximum tire size of 35 inches, and even currently registered with functioning windshield wipers, turn signals, and headlights and taillights. Though the Trophy Class saw more entries this time around, we expect to see even more Modified Stock competitors at the Cedar City event. With a healthy field of competitors running close-to-stock vehicles, the action is sure to be intense.
Trophy Class1. Heather Charles, Toyota FJ40, spotter Tracy Jordan2. Jody Weaver, 2000 Sniper, spotter Mike Weaver3. Kathy Crook, '68 CJ-5, spotter Jason Bunch4. Nadine Barber, '01 Avalanche Assassin, spotter Drew Barber5. Amy Bulloch, '77 CJ, spotter Kevin Hawkins
Modified Class1.Julie Mello, '79 CJ-7, spotter Jeff Mello2. Renee LeBaron, '78 CJ-7, spotter Ted LeBaron