Pro Rock Racing landed in Livingston, KY at Wildcat Offroad Park for their latest round of high flying and fast paced racing action May 10-11. The Pro Rock Racing series featured both Survival Racing as well as their Hill Killin’, bringing in race teams and spectators from hundreds of miles away.
Rain had been projected for throughout the weekend, but held off on Friday for UTV Survival pre-running and qualifying. Pre-running showed that the course was going to be a tight, but fast track without many passing opportunities. Knowing that starting position on this course was going to be very important, most drivers were going all out during their qualifying run. Only two seconds separated the top qualifying run of the day and tenth position in the UTV Pro class. Former GNCC driver and current Can-AM factory driver Jamie McCoy took the top run of the day with a 41.468. 5/1000ths of a second was the difference between Nathan Wolff’s and Wes Kean’s second and third place qualifying runs.
Saturday kicked off early with the UTV Pro Am class Survival race. Bryan Hamby, Kip Atkins and Chris West were the first three off the line in the five lap race. Some slow downs on the first and last laps pushed Hamby back. Ben Kazy came from back from a fourth place qualifying run, making fast consistent laps throughout the race to catch up and take the lead on the competition to come away with the win. Atkins followed in close behind him less than a minute down and Hamby rounded out the podium in third.
The UTV Pro class was the next to line up for the course. The previous night’s rains made for an initially slick course, but the sandy soil of Wildcat tacked up as the race went on and each lap got faster. Jamie McCoy came off the line first and held his lead throughout the race, recording consistent low 14 minute laps. There was a larger battle for second and third place throughout the day as multiple UTVs sometimes as much as six cars deep were running neck and neck coming out of the woods. McCoy held on for first place, however Collin Truett was hot on his heals recording back to back sub 14 minute runs on his last two laps. Truett’s final two laps were the two fastest ones of the day. Cody Morris landed third on the podium with his consistent mid to high 14 minute runs out of a field of 49 registered racers in the Pro UTV Survival class.
The rain continued to hold off for the start of the UTV Hill Killin’ competition. The course and hill were dry enough to provide plenty of traction, but just damp enough to keep the dust down, making for perfect racing conditions for the drivers. The race included some short course elements with open straightaways, tight turns and ramped jumps in addition to the rocky ledge steep hill climb at the end. In a testament to how much the sport has progressed, most driver’s didn’t have too many issues with the course with a majority of the 29 UTVs completing both heats.
Paul Wolff had blistering fast times on both his runs, recording at 36.068 and 35.553. His second run was the fastest time of the day and put him on top of the podium with a combined 71.601. Travis Skelton had two outstanding runs to place second on the day with times of 36.394 and 37.268. Wes Kean was fast and consistent coming in third with 38.797 and 38.216.
Check out our full gallery of UTV Survival action below.
