Nebraska Farmer Leaves No Rocks Unturned in Extreme Goodyear Events

    GIBBON, Neb., May 22 Farmer Joel Randall's nearest boulder
is 800 miles from his 3,000-acre spread.
    That hasn't stopped the 40-year-old Nebraskan from leading the
Goodyear/Skyjacker Extreme Rock Crawling Nationals, a brutal four-event off-
roading championship series.
    Randall spends 18 hours a day "off-road" on a farm tractor, sowing
soybeans and seed corn, and tending his cattle.  Little time, however, is
allotted for his 1973 Jeep CJ-5 that he maneuvers over canyon rock and
boulders.
    At the latest event in Las Cruces, N.M., Randall finished third to move to
the top spot with 272 championship points.  Randall may be an oddity, yet he's
not alone on the Great Plains.
    Jeff Waggoner, of nearby Kearney, Neb., and fellow driver John Currie are
in fourth place overall with 260 points.  Waggoner finished second last year
for the championship.
    Fast-food restaurant owner Rich Hudson, of Ft. Calhoun, Neb., is 13th.
    "Many ask why Nebraska farm boys drive so well," Randall said.  "We're not
real sure.  Maybe it's the Midwest theory that we're more determined, more
focused."
    Perhaps rock crawling is a mind game.  "It's not from practice; it's not
our machines -- that's for sure.  It's mostly mental.  An 18-hour day on the
tractor gives you plenty of time to reflect on everything," Randall said.
    And dream of the mountains of Montrose, Colo., where most Nebraskans go
off-roading.
    Shannon Campbell, of Gilbert, Ariz., and second in championship points
with 266, doesn't share in any Nebraska problems.  He says his nearest
mountain is just 40 miles away.
    Campbell, who tied for first at the opening Johnson Valley, Calif., event,
built a new off-road rig for Las Cruces.  He also used a new spotter to help
him position his Jeep's tires on the rocks.
    "We'll work on our communications as a team to prepare for the next event
in Cedar City, Utah," Campbell said.  "We'll be ready."
    Randall, Campbell and eight of the top 10 are competing on Goodyear
Wrangler MT/R tires; about half of the field are fitted with Goodyears.
Seventy drivers will compete July 13 and 14 in Cedar City on the third leg of
the rock crawling nationals.
    Steve Myers, marketing manager for Goodyear light truck tires, said
upstarts Matt Burkett of Texas and Jason Paule of Rapid City, S.D., grabbed
first and second in Las Cruces.  The key to winning the Goodyear/Skyjacker
championship is consistency, however.
    "Although the top 10 is very competitive, you can't count out Campbell,
Randall or Waggoner and Currie from taking it all.  Those names are
consistently in the top five, and they are well-positioned going into Cedar
City," Myers said.
    Meanwhile, defending champion Chris Durham, of Travelers' Rest, S.C.,
might be out of the running, given his 20th place in championship points.
    After Cedar City, the national series travels to the finals in September
at an undisclosed location.  The American Rock Crawlers Association, of
Riverton, Utah, sanctions the championship series.

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