Goodyear Championship Goes Down to the Wire

12 September 2000
Goodyear Championship Goes Down to the Wire
    FARMINGTON, N.M., Sept. 11 A South Carolina man won
Goodyear's Extreme Rock Crawling Championship Series on his driving heroics on
the final rock obstacle here.
    Chris Durham, of Travelers' Rest, a suburb of Greenville, S.C., claimed
the series championship after leader Jeff Waggoner, of Kearney, Neb., was
stranded on the last obstacle with mechanical problems.
    Durham, 26, led after the first day of competition and won it going away
546-530.  Waggoner led the series since the first event here, but Durham had
whittled that lead to 440-338.
    Durham, Waggoner and 8 of the top 10 vehicles rode on Goodyear's new
Wrangler MT/R off-road tire.  The sanctioning body American Rock Crawlers
Association awarded more than $30,000 in purse money.
    Ron Wells, marketing manager for Goodyear light truck tires, congratulated
Durham on his come-from-behind victory.  The Durham-Waggoner duel gave the
championship series a suspenseful dimension.
    Wells said Goodyear was proud to be part of the inaugural rock-crawling
season, and he added that the series will be expanded in 2001 to increase
America's awareness of this new sport.
    Wells said he also was proud of the new Wrangler MT/R tire's performance
in the series.  "We never felt that we had to limit tire choices among the
competitors.  The traction and durability of the new Wrangler MT/R stood on
its own merits," Wells said.
    Two weekends ago, Goodyear's Wrangler MT/R tires proved their domination
in rock crawling and off-road racing.  Goodyear teams on Wrangler MT/R tires
clinched CORR off-road racing championships at Crandon, Wis., in Light Buggy,
Single Buggy, Super Buggy, Stock Truck and Sportsman 2 Truck classes.
    Legendary off-road racer Walker Evans won the CORR Series championship
last season on Wrangler MT/R tires.  This season he competed in the Goodyear
rock-crawling championship series.
    Durham and his spotter, Kevin "Moose" Nalley, said they've known each
other 16 years and work well together.  Durham opened a new 4x4 shop in South
Carolina, and he said he believes in building -- not buying -- off-road rigs.
    His blue-and-black tiger-striped 1985 Jeep CJ-10 is probably one of the
most rare rigs in the series.  The Jeep was designed as a tug to move
airplanes, and it was never intended for rock-crawling.
    However, Durham's ingenuity and excellent driving skills made his Jeep a
contender throughout the series.  He also had Nalley to move boulders and
offer expert advice on how to overcome each rock obstacle.
    Wells and ARCA President Ranch Pratt said the 2001 championship series
would be redesigned to promote vehicle technology and the sport.  "We want
more people to experience the excitement of rock crawling.  We want the sport
to grow," Pratt said.
    Pratt said the 2001 season would open in February.