MOROC series opener

“Playin in the clay”

The anticipation for the 2008 MOROC racing series has been building since the October finals of 2007. The series opener was held March 7-9 in Harrison Arkansas and sponsored by Bent & Twisted Customs. The weather is this part of the country is hard to gauge and Thursday the courses received a 3″ blanket of the white stuff across the courses of rock, clay, and scrub brush. By Saturday all that is left is some white patches on the southern slopes and a bright red hillside of clay speckled with grey limestone rock formations. As you can imagine the red clay sticks to everything that makes contact with it whether it is rubber, aluminum, or steel roll bars. As the races start the mud takes it toll on several rigs as transfer case split, axles and gears are shredded, and the high horsepower motors scream as tires throw Arkansas Red Clay chunks trying to grab the littlest bit of traction. As the day goes on the drivers are put to the test with jumps, off camber turns, large rock obstacles, and extreme accents and descents. The spectators are amazed by the action as Drivers and spotters do nose stands, wheelies, jumps and rollovers trying to manipulate a 3,000 lbs plus rig through the courses.

Sunday the final day of the race, the weather is warming up, and the hills are drying. The times are close in all classes and the teams are stepping on the skinny pedal to try for the 1st place only added prize money. The crowd is not disappointed again today as there are more rollovers, muddy rooster tails, and carnage as the teams push their rigs to the past the limit.

The event site is awesome the courses were great and the competitors showed great enthusiasm and sportsmanship. Mike McClure, Carl Macintyre, and their staff of Bent and Twisted Fabrication have a beautiful facility and helped the teams out tremendously. As usual Nathan, his family and the volunteers of MORC put on a great event.

See you at SMORR offroad park in April for the 2nd event of the series. Pictures by Joe Keener of Ballzout Motorsports and words by Louie Keener Of Ballzout Motorsports

Stock Class

001… #93 Shane McCleelland & Denys Hansen

002… #125 Chuck Summers & Derek West

003… #23x Dale Watts & Ben Watts

001… 7:00, 2:47, 2:22, 0:37, 0:33, 1:23, 1:30, 7:00, 1:17, 1:14.

002… 7:00, 1:42, 7:00, 0:31, 0:27, 1:34, 1:26, 1:03, 7:00, 0:57.

003… 3:14, 2:20, 7:00, 0:44, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00.

Modified Class

004… #13 Jon Drake & Talan Weaver

005… #96 Louie Keener & Heath Catron

006… #23x Dale Watts & Ben Watts

007… #50 Lisa Rush & Travis Cook

004… 2:08, 2:05, 1:35, 0:27, 0:33, 0:59, 1:10, 1:17, 1:21, 1:06.

005… 2:21, 3:15, 1:14, 0:49, 0:26, 1:06, 2:59, 1:25, 0:37, 0:47.

006… 2:23, 2:40, 2:03, 0:33, 7:00, 7:00, 1:11, 1:15, 1:57, 1:02.

007… 7:00, 5:34, 2:25, 1:00, 0:41, 1:56, 1:22, 2:03, 7:00, 7:00.

Super-Modified Class

008… #1 John Loyd & Josh Wright

009… #8 Travis Cook & Lisa Rush

010… #23 Tim Powell & Dale Watts

011… #11 Phil Hughes & Coby McGuire

012… #77 Kyle Keller & Richie Keller

008… 7:00, 4:28, 1:47, 1:21, 7:00, 7:00, 1:27, 0:58, 1:48, 1:16.

009… 7:00, 7:00, 2:00, 1:21, 2:00, 7:00, 2:20, 0:48, 7:00, 1:22.

010… 7:00, 7:00, 2:03, 1:11, 1:40, 7:00, 1:40, 7:00, 2:05, 2:02.

011… 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00.

012… 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00.

Unlimited Class

013… #18 Brian Shirley & Kelly Hauling

014… #81 Levi Shirley & Kelly Hauling

015… #Five 0 Dave Smith & Kimberly Smith

016… #24 Buddy Daugherty & Jody Daugherty

017… #9 Sam Patton & Chris Reeves

013… 7:00, 2:47, 1:00, 6:20, 4:32, 0:46, 0:44, 1:48, 0:50, 0:44.

014… 7:00, 4:01, 2:52, 7:00, 2:05, 1:48, 1:15, 3:13, 2:14, 1:10.

015… 7:00, 7:00, 2:55, 6:35, 4:27, 1:13, 1:09, 1:59, 1:26, 1:00.

016… 7:00, 7:00, 2:07, 7:00, 7:00, 1:00, 0:50, 1:38, 1:17, 0:58.

017… 4:08, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00.