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Goodyear Rock Crawling National Series is Still Extreme

    AKRON, Ohio, Jan. 26 Goodyear Extreme Rock Crawling
Championship Series is getting a new name, and organizers say 2001 "promises
to be bigger, badder and even better."
    The four-part series has been renamed as the Goodyear Skyjacker Extreme
Rock Crawling National Series to reinforce its national flavor and introduce
another major sponsor, Skyjacker Suspensions, company officials say.
    "We want the series to be known as the only premier national rock crawling
series in existence.  The series is truly national in scope, and we have no
competition in stature," according to Ron Wells, marketing manager for
Goodyear light-truck tires.
    The renamed series will kick off Feb. 15-17 in Johnson Valley, Calif.
Other events are planned May 3-5 in Las Cruces, N.M., and July 12-14 in Cedar
City, Utah.  The series finals will be held tentatively Sept. 27-29 at an
undisclosed location.
    The series is sanctioned by the American Rock Crawlers Association, based
in Riverton, Utah.
    ARCA president Ranch Pratt said the series inaugural season was an
unqualified success with competitors coming from as far away as Canada and
South Carolina, and spectators who numbered up to 20,000 per event visiting
from Germany, Australia and the United Kingdom.
    ARCA's goal is "to push this new motorsport into a world-class environment
by building great courses, attracting competitive vehicles and drivers and
obeying all governmental rules and regulations," Pratt said.  "We want to
promote the family spirit of this sport."
    Goodyear's Wells said he is excited about the prospects for 2001,
including the addition of another major sponsor.  Chris Durham, of Travelers'
Rest, S.C., won the first series championship and is the early favorite to
repeat.
    For more information on the series, visit http://www.rockcrawler.org on the web.