Nitto Tire’s West Wins WIDIA Rausch Creek Qualifier

UTV Weekly | April 29, 2013

Rausch Creek, PA: Last weekend’s WIDIA Rausch Creek Qualifier proved to be one of the coldest, wettest races in ULTRA4 history. Heavy rains on Friday produced thick fog and low-visibility conditions, prompting race organizer, Dave Cole to move qualifying to Saturday morning just two hours before the main race. 2010 Rausch Creek Champion, Derek West qualified 4^th for the main race behind two former Kings of the Hammers, Shannon Campbell and Erik Miller, as well as 2012’s Rausch Creek winner, Bill Baird. By the second lap, West had worked his way past all three competitors to claim the lead and never looked back.

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After just three hours and eighteen minutes, Derek West in his Nitto Tire ULTRA4 car had completed all five grueling laps and claimed the checkered flag beating 2012 King of The Hammers, Erik Miller by less than two minutes. Saturday’s win makes Derek West the only two-time ULTRA4 WIDIA Rausch Creek Champion. Saturday’s win makes West the current leader in the 4WD Hardware Eastern Regional ULTRA4 Series.

Many of the drivers experienced rollovers throughout the race. Both Bill Baird and Shannon Campbell rolled in the first lap. Baird’s rollover resulted in a broken A-Arm taking him out of the race. Video of Campbells’ spectacular end-over-end rollover has gone viral on youtube showing Campbell doing a full forward somersault while never letting off the throttle and accelerating out of the roll.

After six hours, only 11 of the 30 drivers had completed all five laps. Massachusetts driver, Lucas Murphy broke down less than 50 yards from the finish line and could only receive help from competitors. Both West and 3rd place finisher, Shannon Campbell rushed onto course to aid Murphy across the line. After several minutes of preparation, the drivers heard Jonathan Terhune’s car in the distance. In an exciting finish, Terhune made his way around Murphy with plans of pulling him across the line, only to see Campbell’s car already connected to Murphy. Ultimately, Terhune crossed the finish line fifth with Campbell dragging Murphy across the line for a sixth place finish. Murphy was unable to stop his vehicle and his front driver side tire drove up over Campbell’s rear passenger tire before coming to a complete stop just passed the finish line in front a stunned Rausch Creek audience.

This was the first race in the 4WD Hardware Eastern Regional ULTRA4 Series. The next race in series will be June 28^th and 29th in Attica, IN at the Badlands Off Road Park. With only 11 drivers completing the difficult race, all eight non-qualified drivers earned spots in the 2014 Griffin King of The Hammers Presented by Nitto Tire. Below is the complete list of finishers.

Finish	Car#	Driver Name	Total Time	KOH Qualified
1	4420	Derek West	3:18:11.9	pre-qual
2	4421	Erik Miller	3:19:57.0	pre-qual
3	5	Shannon Campbell	3:53:21.3	pre-qual
4	4414	Jason Shipman	3:57:39.3	*
5	890	Jonathan Terhune	5:09:24.1	*
6	816	Lucas Murphy	5:10:24.1	*
7	327	Jim Lambert	5:11:55.9	*
8	4418	Mike Colville	5:14:48.2	*
9	4108	Tim Smoluk	5:22:29.0	*
10	49	Matt Burkett	5:34:16.0	*
11	929	Mike Feagins	5:53:41.2	*
DNF	4413	Doug Bigelow	–
DNF	9	Scott Decker	–
DNF	4408	Stan Haynes	–
DNF	4447	Jay Eisenhardt	–
DNF	4343	Tim Diekman	–
DNF	808	AK Whatley	–
DNF	302	Tony Reitdorf	–
DNF	328	Matt Noulay	–
DNF	513	Craig Jerson	–
DNF	4436	Kim Matzen	–
DNF	338	Matthew Peterson	–
DNF	4580	Jordan Townsend	–
DNF	4121	John Ripoll	–
DNF	4452	Will Carter	–
DNF	5252	Bill Baird	–
DNF	6145	Chris Schaffner	–
		Modified
DNF	222	Jay Hopko	–
DNF	4573	Robert Matzell	–
		Stock
DNF	4644	Tom Yash	–

ULTRA4 SPONSORS

MetalCloak is the title sponsor for the ULTRA4 MetalCloak Nor Cal Stampede
Trail Gear is the ULTRA4 West Coast Series Sponsor

Nitto Tire is the ULTRA4 National Series Sponsor

Official Sponsors of ULTRA4 Racing also include:

4 Wheel Parts
ATX Wheels
Axial
Bestop

Blue Torch Fabworks

Corona Motorsports Rental
Dynomax Exhaust

GenRight Off Road

Griffin Radiator
Impact by Mastercraft Safety

Kawasaki

King Shocks

Lucas Oil
Miller Welding

Nitto Tire

Procomp
PSC
Posion Spyder
Rubicon Express
Smittybilt
Spidertrax
Trail Gear
Warn

WIDIA

ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING MOTORSPORTs IN THE US – ULTRA4 RACING ULTRA4 racing began in 2007 with a dozen friends competing for bragging rights. Six years later, more than 350 cars compete nationally and internationally in ULTRA4 races. In 2013, races in the United States will be held in the following states: Utah, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Arkansas, California and Texas. Additionally, the 2^nd annual ULTRA4 sanctioned King of the Valleys race will be taking place this August in Wales, UK.

ABOUT ULTRA4 RACING

ULTRA4 is a vehicle type, class and series. ULTRA4Racing was born from the popularity of the annual Griffin King of the Hammers Presented by Nitto Tire, considered to be the toughest one-day off-road race. The vehicles are unlimited four-wheel drive, capable of competing in multiple racing disciplines – extreme rock crawling, high-speed desert racing and short course. In six years, the sport has grown significantly from the inaugural King of the Hammers to an eight race national series including a National Championship. ULTRA4 Racing is managed by Hammerking Productions located in Lake Arrowhead, CA. To learn more, log on to www.ultra4racing.com.

Media Contact:

Shannon Welch – Shannon@ultra4racing.com – 949.295.2676

Communications Director