2100 miles, 35 modified competitors, 9 courses, 1 unforgettable victory. Lovell Rock Racing capped off a championship season by winning the granddaddy of them all - Supercrawl IV at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Flash bulbs added to the Vegas lights as the team's Ford Ranger ground to a halt, nosing through the finish gates and claiming the Supercrawl Cup. At SEMA last week we got to ride with team Lovell and we at Truckblog are thrilled to see them pick up this big win.

The event was not an easy win for the team as their first course was a heartbreaker. Roger guided Brad up the steep, cross angled face when disaster struck and the Ranger pitched to left. The two worked feverishly to keep the Ranger on four wheels but the angle was too great. The Ranger tumbled to the ground landing firmly on its side and disqualifying the team from the course. Clearly frustrated, Brad said "The pressure was immense; we should have had that one. I was really nervous and Roger could not get me calmed down." At the end of the first day the Lovell Brothers' found themselves in a disappointing 8th place with 53 points. The team retired to the pits, working to regain composure for the second day of competition.

"We didn't look at scores, we didn't beat ourselves up, we just decided to go out and do our best," Roger said about Sunday. The brothers were first up against the Toyo Terror, an intimidating 18' wall with an angle exceeding 80 degrees. In two days, only a handful of super modified buggies had made it over, the remainder falling victim to rollovers or breakage. The Ford V8 roared to life as Brad stabbed the pedal and braced for the climb. One shot, 2 shots, 3 shots... each time getting higher, each time getting more risky. The 4th attempt resulted in the truck bouncing completely off the hill but landing on the wheels. "The 5th time, I knew how the truck would react. We had the flow," said Brad. The engine roared, the suspension compressed, and when the dust cleared the Ranger was perched at the top of the wall! With amazing skill Brad piloted the Ranger down the backside as Roger worked to keep the BF Goodrich Krawlers pointed in the right direction. In less than 3 minutes the Lovell Brothers had knocked 30 points of the previous days score. "It was do or die," Roger added, "We laid it on the line and the gamble paid off!"

The confidence was all the team needed to dominate the courses on the second day. Where other teams were overcome by the rocks, the Lovells' found their way through. The Ford Ranger held together trough terrific abuse as the Lovell's entered the finals poised for a win. The intensity grew as each team ran the final course. Roger commented, "As it worked out, we did well enough that we only needed to finish part of the course. That was the easy part. The hard part was keeping our heads together." After some hair-raising near rolls, the Ranger clawed its way to the top claiming the Supercrawl Cup. Brad said, "We finished the course for the crowd which ended up being a lot of work. A belt failure had robbed us of power steering." The Ranger finally got wedged at the end of the course perched directly above the awards ceremony. The crowd went nuts as the 2005 UROC season came to a close with Lovell Rock Racing in possession of the coveted Supercrawl Cup.

The team spent the next 4 days on the same course for the UROC All Star Event during the SEMA show. Several team sponsors were given rides over the rocks while passers by watched the exhibition. Fellow AMSOIL team member and Pro Arena Truck Team - Autumn Woods Racing was on hand to check out the action. Drivers Jeff and Chris were able to take the Ranger for a spin on the rocks.

Lovell Rock Racing would like to extend a sincere thank you to sponsors, family, fans, promoters, media, and competitors for a fantastic 2005 season. Stay tuned as Team Lovell returns to the shop and prepares the 2006 Ford Ranger for debut at the Off-Road Impact Show Jan. 19th - 21st.