RCCrawler Forums

KING BLING · 09-03-2009, 05:29 PM

WOW!!!! I’m not sure where to start. I have been attacked on several different threads on this board for 40 different things that I did not have much control over. Either way I would like to truly apologize to anyone who I may have offended and to all the sponsors of the event for the aftermath. I never intended for it to go this way.

I have heard people were upset with the way the event was ran. From the raffle, to the end of event times, how rides were given in the full-size crawlers. Etc.....
I will start here.

It was CLAIMED I was in my hotel room sleeping and drunk from the night before and that is why I did not show up to the event Friday or Saturday until noon. I hope people realize everything for the event is NOT done in front of the crowd. Both days I was working on finishing the trophies, checks, getting fuel and multiple other things that had to be done for the day. When I was done, I came and ran my courses.

I was not aware that people were upset I wasn’t there, again I apologize.

I was also told that because I was working on things and then ran my courses that I was the reason the days ran long? I fail to see how that is. I was never the last person running or holding up the show. We were waiting for the finals courses to be set up. When I was done there was a 30-minute wait to run finals. I do see how it would look that way, so again I apologize if you felt it was my fault.

The raffle..... The raffle has been run in the same way for the last 4 major events we put on. We did not see a reason for changing it and we NEVER said it was only a DRIVERS raffle. It is for everyone to enjoy. There were only 20-30 spectators in attendance anyway. All the drivers DID get tickets in their driver’s packets. Some may have been stuck between the sticker sheets or brochures. If you didn’t have it, you simply could have asked for one. And lastly EVERYTHING for the raffle was gone. We are NOT keeping or selling them in our shop. You can’t expect every winner of hundreds of items to be online and post what they won.

It was also commented about me drinking beer all day. This has been true for the last 4 major events we have held or any event I have been to for that matter. I am there to have fun and like to enjoy some beers and the friends around me. I didn’t know drinking was a crime and I was not the only one drinking on the mountain.
I am one of the men in charge so…. I can see how people took it the wrong way. Again I apologize, I didn’t know anyone felt that way.

Tech...... Many people were unhappy with the tech process. With the mistakes we took from comps we have attended in the past we went to the new system and it worked great for WCC and local comps. Apparently people felt it failed at the worlds, so again my apology for trying to do something to better competition.

Honestly, I also feel we were more unorganized as in years past. We attempted to get everything under control, but some times more things are thrown at you then any of us could handle. I apologize for this.

Also mentioned was the feeling of disrespect because I did not make the awards ceremony Saturday morning. To the magazines, judges, rccrawler and to who ever. I truly apologize. I was un-aware the awards were changed to first thing in the morning. We obviously had a communication breakdown. Once Matt came and told me I did not make it up the hill fast enough. Again, I truly apologize and I wanted to be there.

KING BLING · 09-03-2009, 05:30 PM

And last but not least. Every event I go to I am called out in one way or another on something. I am judged harder and unfairly vs. the rest of the people who attend. I am a good driver, and again I do not need to cheat. Cheating is for those who are desperate and don’t feel they have a chance of winning. I know my chances of a podium finish are high so therefore don’t need to cheat!! You all know that and I welcome a great challenge.

This event was a railroad of negativity towards me. I do not understand so much why, but I will take it for what its worth. As far as my super body. When I started the event my body was at the rules. It is at the rules and bent in at 45 to 50 degrees from the window down. The berg was on display at the CKRC booth for hours before it ran and was also online. Nothing was ever said.

At some point during my runs the lexan moved upward at the bends. I never noticed it nor did the tech judges. I was never asked about the body until my third course. When asked by Grover about the height, I said, "I believed it to be legal but I admitted it was a little bent up and cost me a cone on the last course". He asked me if it was to the rules and I said" 2.2 competitors and super competitors always run the bottom of the body bent inward. I asked what makes it so different and he said it looked short. End of conversation!

We could have fixed it right there. I was told to run my course. I was never told I couldn’t run by any judge or those 2 judges, and I NEVER said I was making a marshal call and my word was final or anything like that. THAT IS A LIE!!!
(There were witnesses to this conversation who spoke out to deaf ears at the tech meeting.)

All of the judges at this event were not BPRCA or CKRC judges. On 4 daily courses 2 to 3 courses per day were judged by TCS DRIVERS. There was by no means any bias towards me. Ten judges okayed my rig to run. TEN. It never seems to fail though. Not even the shoot out judges questioned the body?

If there was a question on my body I am shocked that not ONE person besides Grover had brought it to my attention until after the event. If anyone had asked at any time for me to fix or correct a problem, I would have addressed any issue or even went and bolted on an 18" school bus.

Why was it no one said nothing until after the event? IM RIGHT HERE! If you watched me run all 5 courses on video or in person, why didn’t you say something when I teched or when I was running?

When you’re on top controversy seems to follow you, so I knew we couldn’t have this kind of thing at our event in any way, from anyone. The fact that no one said anything to me until after the final shoot out course is a slap in the face of this sport and me.

If I had run 12"x 18" tall body, it would have made no differences in the scores. –90 to a –2 in 4 courses is a huge difference and the body wasn’t it. The rig did what it did, PERIOD.

It’s BS to try and take that from someone after the fact. The body is legal and moved up.

After running my final course parker came and took my rig. He wouldn’t tell me why; he just said, "You won’t believe it". After 10 minutes, he came back shaking his head and I wasn’t going to listen. I had mentally had enough that day. I do admit I could have handled the situation in a better way, but I let my emotions get the better of me. We have all been in situations, whether it be crawling or in life, that we look back and say, "I handled that all wrong."

I apologize to my sponsors or who ever I may have offended when I left, but I was angry and couldn’t take much more.

So again I am apologizing for that, but I didn’t CHEAT!

Saturday, I ran my last 2.2 courses when a rear rod end broke at gate 5 on the easy course. I battled it out and finished the course. AFTER my run, it was brought to my attention that I was going to be called out for it because my rig was out of spec.
WOW! I have never been to a comp where I have seen someone have to stop and fix there broken link to continue. This includes the Colorado comp or ALL OF THE OTHER COMPS I HAVE EVER ATTENDED. But because it was me, it had to be called out. Again, the judges said nothing but "work it out driver, do work" I did.

I drove my heart out for 2 days and think I deserve better than the shit I’m getting back. All of you, who know me, know I wouldn’t do that and I would give you the shirt off my back. There were some there who would not have been there if it wasn’t for my help. They know who they are and THAT’S the kind of person I am.

If you think this is about the money its not. I lost over 3000.00 on this event. I have money and don’t need a 100.00 winners check or the money from an usrcca event. We did these comps for the love of the sport and the fun we USED to have.

With that said, Jason, John, Parker, and I have all come to a mutual agreement for us NOT to run the USRCCA. I’m sure it will make some of you happy and sadden even more of you who have actually attended our great events or know what kind of person I am.

Even thought we feel I deserve the trophies for how I drove. I am going to give them back and you can all decide whom they can go to. I don’t want them if people don’t feel I earned them.

You guys have ridiculed and insulted my character, my business, my life and our events. You have done everything except insult my wife, daughter and mother. Many of you weren’t even at the comp but jumped on the bandwagon anyway.
You have disgraced the sponsors, and done more damage to this sport with your childish behavior than anyone at the top ever could. For this I apologize to any and everyone of the sponsors or anyone who was involved with this event.

I never intended for it to go this way, but then again some other people did.

Now go ahead, quote me, insult me, do what ever makes you feel like a bigger person. It seems to be what you do and what you are good at as history shows.

That’s it; I have a life and must get back to it.

Jake Hallenbeck

jason · 09-03-2009, 05:33 PM

Thanks for the apologies Jake.

Everyone needs to keep this thread civil. Any name calling, slandering, or the like will result in your removal from the forum.

grover · 09-03-2009, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KING BLING

At some point during my runs the lexan moved upward at the bends. I never noticed it nor did the tech judges. I was never asked about the body until my third course. When asked by Grover about the height, I said, "I believed it to be legal but I admitted it was a little bent up and cost me a cone on the last course". He asked me if it was to the rules and I said" 2.2 competitors and super competitors always run the bottom of the body bent inward. I asked what makes it so different and he said it looked short. End of conversation!

[COLOR=black][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]We could have fixed it right there. I was told to run my course. I was never told I couldn’t run by any judge or those 2 judges, and I NEVER said I was making a marshal call and my word was final or anything like that. THAT IS A LIE!!!

I have a school function for my children to go to but I will take the time to post as I don't want anyone to read this highly disappointing rendition of my involvement. When jake was looking over the course that I was judging I saw that Jakes truck body was clearly out of spec so I said "Jake show me how you think this body meets the minimum hieght spec", while handed him the tech tool. He put it up to the body and clearly it was to short, so he unfolded the side panel on the drivers side of the body and held the tech tool up to it showing that when pulled down it was over three inches tall. I said "you have to run it down or it is out of spec and you will need to take a repair". Jake told me "thats how we do it..." I told him "it's wrong... but YOU ARE THE MARSHAL." He chose to run it out of spec on my course and when he singed the sheet I told him "good driving Jake, bring a legal truck next year and we'll be golden". Three times and in three different ways I told him he was wrong to be driving this truck out of spec and he chose to run it out of spec and to act as his own marshal on the decision (I firmly believe marshals should not compete for this reason). I was not content leaving it at that so I made sure to tell Fish at my earliest convinience (I talked to fish before the finals were started). I also talked to parker by request, after the finals and told him all of this in detail. I do not like being in the middle of this.

Respectfully,

Chad-

Etype R · 09-03-2009, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KING BLING

At some point during my runs the lexan moved upward at the bends. I never noticed it nor did the tech judges. I was never asked about the body until my third course. When asked by Grover about the height, I said, "I believed it to be legal but I admitted it was a little bent up and cost me a cone on the last course". He asked me if it was to the rules and I said" 2.2 competitors and super competitors always run the bottom of the body bent inward. I asked what makes it so different and he said it looked short. End of conversation!

Saturday, I ran my last 2.2 courses when a rear rod end broke at gate 5 on the easy course. I battled it out and finished the course. AFTER my run, it was brought to my attention that I was going to be called out for it because my rig was out of spec.
WOW! I have never been to a comp where I have seen someone have to stop and fix there broken link to continue. This includes the Colorado comp or ALL OF THE OTHER COMPS I HAVE EVER ATTENDED. But because it was me, it had to be called out. Again, the judges said nothing but "work it out driver, do work" I did.

Why did you chose to run a body with folded sides so close to the spec? I can't see my self how the body was able to fold another 1/2" in, and remain level. But I wasn't there, I did not see the body with my own eyes. So I can only speculate here. Maybe only one side was out of spec for all I know?

On the 2.2 rig breaking a link, I would never call someone out on that either. Yes it is bringing the rig out of spec techinically. But its not making the drive any easier either. From what I understand though, at the national events that Jason and John have held in the past, this rule would be taken into effect and you would be required to take a repair penalty.

Many clubs are looser on some of these rules on a local level, but when you take it to a national level such as worlds the rules are taken very serious.

Gatekeeper · 09-03-2009, 06:10 PM

Jake you made it possible for me to get there and I will never forget that

You drove your butt off no doubt .... You try and send that trophy to me and as soon as I get the money to send it back I will,and I really really wanted that thing but I dont think I deserved it you drove great all I know is I cant wait until we meet again because you are a awsome driver and you keep me on my toes.

biggin69 · 09-03-2009, 06:22 PM

I myself was not at this event and this shows why. Crawling at this level takes all of the fun out of it. ECC was my first and last big event.

As far as your body, if it was out of spec and you knew it was out of spec, a man in your position should not have even tried to run the courses.

Anyway,

.

Wicked_Jester · 09-03-2009, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grover

I have a school function for my children to go to but I will take the time to post as I don't want anyone to read this highly disappointing rendition of my involvement. When jake was looking over the course that I was judging I saw that Jakes truck body was clearly out of spec so I said "Jake show me how you think this body meets the minimum hieght spec", while handed him the tech tool. He put it up to the body and clearly it was to short, so he unfolded the side panel on the drivers side of the body and held the tech tool up to it showing that when pulled down it was over three inches tall. I said "you have to run it down or it is out of spec and you will need to take a repair". Jake told me "thats how we do it..." I told him "it's wrong... but YOU ARE THE MARSHAL." He chose to run it out of spec on my course and when he singed the sheet I told him "good driving Jake, bring a legal truck next year and we'll be golden". Three times and in three different ways I told him he was wrong to be driving this truck out of spec and he chose to run it out of spec and to act as his own marshal on the decision (I firmly believe marshals should not compete for this reason). I was not content leaving it at that so I made sure to tell Fish at my earliest convinience (I talked to fish before the finals were started). I also talked to parker by request, after the finals and told him all of this in detail. I do not like being in the middle of this.

Respectfully,

Chad-

ok so even if jake aka King Bling was to take a vehicle touch which is a ten point penalty accord to USRCCA's rule 1.4.3, on all 4 courses plus the shootout, to keep the sides bent down and legal, he would still have finish with a -40 score which still makes him the worlds super class champ!

Guys need to calm down a little and remember why the crawling side of the rc world got started in the first place, to have FUN! Stop arguing over little stuff that doesnt matter, like a ten year old kid, if you guys would notice major manufactors are reading this and posting negitive stuff and that will stop their support for the hobby/sport we have all come to this website to injoy. Where is that going to get this hobby in the long run, if we dont have the manufactors support?

I have dealt with jake in his store, he is a great guy to deal with, dont beleave me stop by his store and find out for yourself

Kamikaze · 09-03-2009, 07:05 PM

Just answer this question and lets leave it at that, because this is a pretty cut and dry situation.

The body you competed with in the super class was shorter than 3"? Yes or no?

You have a judge that said it was, its out of spec, you didn't fix it. 50 pts per course. End of story.

Its hard to see through all the drama and he said she said bull crap sometimes, people are going to complain about things no mater what. However all of that was brought on by this body issue. People don't hate on you because you are at the top. People hate on you because you started pulling shady stuff, and being a good driver only makes the spotlight brighter. I had never even heard of you till someone told me about the foot thing at nationals, and I was right there when it happend.

Bottom line is this: No one is saying you didn't work hard at driving your truck, I think you drove your ass off as well, but you still did it with an illegal truck. Did the broken rule make you win, of course not. I look at it this way. If the rule was "no blue bodies" and you ran a blue body then you broke the rules. Thats black and white. Did the blue paint cause you to win, no.

What really kills me is I have seen you drive, I have seen you compete, I haven't seen why you would need to cheat, but I have seen you in trouble before. If it was me in your shoes at that event, my body would have been 3.5", but thats just me.

mississippirocs · 09-03-2009, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KING BLING

With that said, Jason, John, Parker, and I have all come to a mutual agreement for us NOT to run the USRCCA. I’m sure it will make some of you happy and sadden even more of you who have actually attended our great events or know what kind of person I am.

Jake Hallenbeck

I am just curious of what this means. Does it mean that you 4 are not goin to run the USRCCA as far as administrating it or does it mean that you 4 will not participate in a USRCCA santioned event? I am sure Im not the only person confused by this statement.

Wicked_Jester · 09-03-2009, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mississippirocs

I am just curious of what this means. Does it mean that you 4 are not goin to run the USRCCA as far as administrating it or does it mean that you 4 will not participate in a USRCCA santioned event? I am sure Im not the only person confused by this statement.

here you go;

Important USRCCA Press Release

cars69 · 09-03-2009, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grover

I have a school function for my children to go to but I will take the time to post as I don't want anyone to read this highly disappointing rendition of my involvement. When jake was looking over the course that I was judging I saw that Jakes truck body was clearly out of spec so I said "Jake show me how you think this body meets the minimum hieght spec", while handed him the tech tool. He put it up to the body and clearly it was to short, so he unfolded the side panel on the drivers side of the body and held the tech tool up to it showing that when pulled down it was over three inches tall. I said "you have to run it down or it is out of spec and you will need to take a repair". Jake told me "thats how we do it..." I told him "it's wrong... but YOU ARE THE MARSHAL." He chose to run it out of spec on my course and when he singed the sheet I told him "good driving Jake, bring a legal truck next year and we'll be golden". Three times and in three different ways I told him he was wrong to be driving this truck out of spec and he chose to run it out of spec and to act as his own marshal on the decision (I firmly believe marshals should not compete for this reason). I was not content leaving it at that so I made sure to tell Fish at my earliest convinience (I talked to fish before the finals were started). I also talked to parker by request, after the finals and told him all of this in detail. I do not like being in the middle of this.

Respectfully,

Chad-

Pay no attention to this guy son as he has proven in his past what kind of person he chooses to be.
I know many of the Rc Crawlers in the world respect you for the call you made, and the person you have
choose to be! Lies and Cheating are one in the SAME!

You make me VERY PROUD!!

TattooKenny · 09-03-2009, 07:59 PM

I don't think there is any doubt that the driving skills were there. And I will say that folding the body does matter. It allows him to clear stuff that a body within spec might not be able to. Thus is why the rule is in place. I have several bodies "folded under" and have never had them unfold.....I have a lot of bodies unfolded and never had one fold under and stay creased perfectly, let alone 1/2"!

I have judged a lot of big events. When you were told by a judge that it was out of spec it should have been fixed per the rules or take the 50. That said.....

If you would have taken a "Touch" every course to "Fix" it and then the 50 on the course we know that you chose not to then no you would have not been 1st.

Pass the trophies around how you may, but the names for the top drivers should be changed. Had this been anyone else they would have been DQ'ed.

Grover did the right thing but it seems that no one cared.

I hope for the sake of our sport that the real winners get there credit. And that you have learned a lesson here. Rules are rules. It's a simple as that.....

SlickRockSpider · 09-03-2009, 08:02 PM

X2 stand tall chad your pop is right. Don't let him drag you down.

Evan

toyotaboy · 09-03-2009, 08:05 PM

x3 chad you did the right thing

conejo · 09-03-2009, 08:13 PM

Thanks for posting your words. Now I'm certain of the content of your character.

Rich C.

Rockpiledriver · 09-03-2009, 08:32 PM

Grover... I have always admired you from the first time we meet years ago. Thank you for considering the job the rules committe does, and taking it seriously.

What Kami said... Everyone should read his post.

And Jake... Dude, why in the hell would you have not been 100% sure your body was legal? You would have won!

downtown · 09-03-2009, 08:33 PM

Thank you Jake for the posts..
Thank you as well for all of your time and hard work toward this hobby segment.
I acknowledge your accomplishments and skills.
I was NOT there.
However I DID witness your run at WCC...and I as well as others questioned it..
It was HOW you responded about the situation that concerns me.
You are in a high profile stage of the game.
As kamikaze ...and for once I agree.. Stated..
You should really be checkin your Ps and Qs where you're at.
I do admire your accomplishments ... Overall goals... And passion for the hobbiest .
I also like your willingness to push the envelope.
But.. We both(all) know when we are pushing the limit.

joesbruiser · 09-03-2009, 08:48 PM

Jake there is no doubt that you are one hell of a driver.Going into last years nats there were 2 drivers that I was concerned the most about,Kamikaze and you.
I am sure you were trying to sit the body on the rig so the tires would touch when upside down, and not killing any ground clearance was the reason for the fold being so high up on the body.These are goals that lots of us try to accomplish but the way it was on your rig it caused it to fall out of spec.The way I see it with the fold up that high you would have to take a repair almost every time you slid across a rock.That would point you out in a hurry.I personally would feel like crap if I won a event knowing my truck was out of spec.But I will call a gate on myself if the Judges do not see it.
You stated that you know you get watched and called harder than other drivers so why even chance it?Hell why should anyone chance it?

09-03-2009, 05:29 PM	#1
KING BLING I joined the Band! Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: RENO Posts: 1,193	my words. WOW!!!! I’m not sure where to start. I have been attacked on several different threads on this board for 40 different things that I did not have much control over. Either way I would like to truly apologize to anyone who I may have offended and to all the sponsors of the event for the aftermath. I never intended for it to go this way. I have heard people were upset with the way the event was ran. From the raffle, to the end of event times, how rides were given in the full-size crawlers. Etc..... I will start here. It was CLAIMED I was in my hotel room sleeping and drunk from the night before and that is why I did not show up to the event Friday or Saturday until noon. I hope people realize everything for the event is NOT done in front of the crowd. Both days I was working on finishing the trophies, checks, getting fuel and multiple other things that had to be done for the day. When I was done, I came and ran my courses. I was not aware that people were upset I wasn’t there, again I apologize. I was also told that because I was working on things and then ran my courses that I was the reason the days ran long? I fail to see how that is. I was never the last person running or holding up the show. We were waiting for the finals courses to be set up. When I was done there was a 30-minute wait to run finals. I do see how it would look that way, so again I apologize if you felt it was my fault. The raffle..... The raffle has been run in the same way for the last 4 major events we put on. We did not see a reason for changing it and we NEVER said it was only a DRIVERS raffle. It is for everyone to enjoy. There were only 20-30 spectators in attendance anyway. All the drivers DID get tickets in their driver’s packets. Some may have been stuck between the sticker sheets or brochures. If you didn’t have it, you simply could have asked for one. And lastly EVERYTHING for the raffle was gone. We are NOT keeping or selling them in our shop. You can’t expect every winner of hundreds of items to be online and post what they won. It was also commented about me drinking beer all day. This has been true for the last 4 major events we have held or any event I have been to for that matter. I am there to have fun and like to enjoy some beers and the friends around me. I didn’t know drinking was a crime and I was not the only one drinking on the mountain. I am one of the men in charge so…. I can see how people took it the wrong way. Again I apologize, I didn’t know anyone felt that way. Tech...... Many people were unhappy with the tech process. With the mistakes we took from comps we have attended in the past we went to the new system and it worked great for WCC and local comps. Apparently people felt it failed at the worlds, so again my apology for trying to do something to better competition. Honestly, I also feel we were more unorganized as in years past. We attempted to get everything under control, but some times more things are thrown at you then any of us could handle. I apologize for this. Also mentioned was the feeling of disrespect because I did not make the awards ceremony Saturday morning. To the magazines, judges, rccrawler and to who ever. I truly apologize. I was un-aware the awards were changed to first thing in the morning. We obviously had a communication breakdown. Once Matt came and told me I did not make it up the hill fast enough. Again, I truly apologize and I wanted to be there.

09-03-2009, 05:33 PM	#3
jason R.I.P. Chip Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: The Crawler State Posts: 13,938	Thanks for the apologies Jake. Everyone needs to keep this thread civil. Any name calling, slandering, or the like will result in your removal from the forum. Last edited by jason; 09-03-2009 at 05:41 PM.

09-03-2009, 06:10 PM	#6
Gatekeeper RCC Addict Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: LRC Posts: 1,600	Jake you made it possible for me to get there and I will never forget thatYou drove your butt off no doubt .... You try and send that trophy to me and as soon as I get the money to send it back I will,and I really really wanted that thing but I dont think I deserved it you drove great all I know is I cant wait until we meet again because you are a awsome driver and you keep me on my toes.

09-03-2009, 08:48 PM	#19
joesbruiser I wanna be Dave Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: spring hill TN Posts: 2,959	Jake there is no doubt that you are one hell of a driver.Going into last years nats there were 2 drivers that I was concerned the most about,Kamikaze and you. I am sure you were trying to sit the body on the rig so the tires would touch when upside down, and not killing any ground clearance was the reason for the fold being so high up on the body.These are goals that lots of us try to accomplish but the way it was on your rig it caused it to fall out of spec.The way I see it with the fold up that high you would have to take a repair almost every time you slid across a rock.That would point you out in a hurry.I personally would feel like crap if I won a event knowing my truck was out of spec.But I will call a gate on myself if the Judges do not see it. You stated that you know you get watched and called harder than other drivers so why even chance it?Hell why should anyone chance it? Last edited by joesbruiser; 09-03-2009 at 08:51 PM.

09-03-2009, 05:30 PM	#2
KING BLING I joined the Band! Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: RENO Posts: 1,193	And last but not least. Every event I go to I am called out in one way or another on something. I am judged harder and unfairly vs. the rest of the people who attend. I am a good driver, and again I do not need to cheat. Cheating is for those who are desperate and don’t feel they have a chance of winning. I know my chances of a podium finish are high so therefore don’t need to cheat!! You all know that and I welcome a great challenge. This event was a railroad of negativity towards me. I do not understand so much why, but I will take it for what its worth. As far as my super body. When I started the event my body was at the rules. It is at the rules and bent in at 45 to 50 degrees from the window down. The berg was on display at the CKRC booth for hours before it ran and was also online. Nothing was ever said. At some point during my runs the lexan moved upward at the bends. I never noticed it nor did the tech judges. I was never asked about the body until my third course. When asked by Grover about the height, I said, "I believed it to be legal but I admitted it was a little bent up and cost me a cone on the last course". He asked me if it was to the rules and I said" 2.2 competitors and super competitors always run the bottom of the body bent inward. I asked what makes it so different and he said it looked short. End of conversation! We could have fixed it right there. I was told to run my course. I was never told I couldn’t run by any judge or those 2 judges, and I NEVER said I was making a marshal call and my word was final or anything like that. THAT IS A LIE!!! (There were witnesses to this conversation who spoke out to deaf ears at the tech meeting.) All of the judges at this event were not BPRCA or CKRC judges. On 4 daily courses 2 to 3 courses per day were judged by TCS DRIVERS. There was by no means any bias towards me. Ten judges okayed my rig to run. TEN. It never seems to fail though. Not even the shoot out judges questioned the body? If there was a question on my body I am shocked that not ONE person besides Grover had brought it to my attention until after the event. If anyone had asked at any time for me to fix or correct a problem, I would have addressed any issue or even went and bolted on an 18" school bus. Why was it no one said nothing until after the event? IM RIGHT HERE! If you watched me run all 5 courses on video or in person, why didn’t you say something when I teched or when I was running? When you’re on top controversy seems to follow you, so I knew we couldn’t have this kind of thing at our event in any way, from anyone. The fact that no one said anything to me until after the final shoot out course is a slap in the face of this sport and me. If I had run 12"x 18" tall body, it would have made no differences in the scores. –90 to a –2 in 4 courses is a huge difference and the body wasn’t it. The rig did what it did, PERIOD. It’s BS to try and take that from someone after the fact. The body is legal and moved up. After running my final course parker came and took my rig. He wouldn’t tell me why; he just said, "You won’t believe it". After 10 minutes, he came back shaking his head and I wasn’t going to listen. I had mentally had enough that day. I do admit I could have handled the situation in a better way, but I let my emotions get the better of me. We have all been in situations, whether it be crawling or in life, that we look back and say, "I handled that all wrong." I apologize to my sponsors or who ever I may have offended when I left, but I was angry and couldn’t take much more. So again I am apologizing for that, but I didn’t CHEAT! Saturday, I ran my last 2.2 courses when a rear rod end broke at gate 5 on the easy course. I battled it out and finished the course. AFTER my run, it was brought to my attention that I was going to be called out for it because my rig was out of spec. WOW! I have never been to a comp where I have seen someone have to stop and fix there broken link to continue. This includes the Colorado comp or ALL OF THE OTHER COMPS I HAVE EVER ATTENDED. But because it was me, it had to be called out. Again, the judges said nothing but "work it out driver, do work" I did. I drove my heart out for 2 days and think I deserve better than the shit I’m getting back. All of you, who know me, know I wouldn’t do that and I would give you the shirt off my back. There were some there who would not have been there if it wasn’t for my help. They know who they are and THAT’S the kind of person I am. If you think this is about the money its not. I lost over 3000.00 on this event. I have money and don’t need a 100.00 winners check or the money from an usrcca event. We did these comps for the love of the sport and the fun we USED to have. With that said, Jason, John, Parker, and I have all come to a mutual agreement for us NOT to run the USRCCA. I’m sure it will make some of you happy and sadden even more of you who have actually attended our great events or know what kind of person I am. Even thought we feel I deserve the trophies for how I drove. I am going to give them back and you can all decide whom they can go to. I don’t want them if people don’t feel I earned them. You guys have ridiculed and insulted my character, my business, my life and our events. You have done everything except insult my wife, daughter and mother. Many of you weren’t even at the comp but jumped on the bandwagon anyway. You have disgraced the sponsors, and done more damage to this sport with your childish behavior than anyone at the top ever could. For this I apologize to any and everyone of the sponsors or anyone who was involved with this event. I never intended for it to go this way, but then again some other people did. Now go ahead, quote me, insult me, do what ever makes you feel like a bigger person. It seems to be what you do and what you are good at as history shows. That’s it; I have a life and must get back to it. Jake Hallenbeck

09-03-2009, 06:22 PM	#7
biggin69 I wanna be Dave Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Southwestern, Ohio Posts: 2,671	I myself was not at this event and this shows why. Crawling at this level takes all of the fun out of it. ECC was my first and last big event. As far as your body, if it was out of spec and you knew it was out of spec, a man in your position should not have even tried to run the courses. Anyway, .

09-03-2009, 07:05 PM	#9
Kamikaze I wanna be Dave Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Columbia TN Posts: 6,154	Just answer this question and lets leave it at that, because this is a pretty cut and dry situation. The body you competed with in the super class was shorter than 3"? Yes or no? You have a judge that said it was, its out of spec, you didn't fix it. 50 pts per course. End of story. Its hard to see through all the drama and he said she said bull crap sometimes, people are going to complain about things no mater what. However all of that was brought on by this body issue. People don't hate on you because you are at the top. People hate on you because you started pulling shady stuff, and being a good driver only makes the spotlight brighter. I had never even heard of you till someone told me about the foot thing at nationals, and I was right there when it happend. Bottom line is this: No one is saying you didn't work hard at driving your truck, I think you drove your ass off as well, but you still did it with an illegal truck. Did the broken rule make you win, of course not. I look at it this way. If the rule was "no blue bodies" and you ran a blue body then you broke the rules. Thats black and white. Did the blue paint cause you to win, no. What really kills me is I have seen you drive, I have seen you compete, I haven't seen why you would need to cheat, but I have seen you in trouble before. If it was me in your shoes at that event, my body would have been 3.5", but thats just me.

09-03-2009, 07:59 PM	#13
TattooKenny Who's your Daddy-0! Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Augusta Posts: 5,009	I don't think there is any doubt that the driving skills were there. And I will say that folding the body does matter. It allows him to clear stuff that a body within spec might not be able to. Thus is why the rule is in place. I have several bodies "folded under" and have never had them unfold.....I have a lot of bodies unfolded and never had one fold under and stay creased perfectly, let alone 1/2"! I have judged a lot of big events. When you were told by a judge that it was out of spec it should have been fixed per the rules or take the 50. That said..... If you would have taken a "Touch" every course to "Fix" it and then the 50 on the course we know that you chose not to then no you would have not been 1st. Pass the trophies around how you may, but the names for the top drivers should be changed. Had this been anyone else they would have been DQ'ed. Grover did the right thing but it seems that no one cared. I hope for the sake of our sport that the real winners get there credit. And that you have learned a lesson here. Rules are rules. It's a simple as that.....

09-03-2009, 08:02 PM	#14
SlickRockSpider Rock Crawler Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Albany Posts: 640	X2 stand tall chad your pop is right. Don't let him drag you down. Evan

09-03-2009, 08:05 PM	#15
toyotaboy Rock Stacker Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: portland Posts: 54	x3 chad you did the right thing

09-03-2009, 08:13 PM	#16
conejo Pebble Pounder Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Phoenix Posts: 152	Thanks for posting your words. Now I'm certain of the content of your character. Rich C.

09-03-2009, 08:32 PM	#17
Rockpiledriver I wanna be Dave Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: SoCal Posts: 5,027	Grover... I have always admired you from the first time we meet years ago. Thank you for considering the job the rules committe does, and taking it seriously. What Kami said... Everyone should read his post. And Jake... Dude, why in the hell would you have not been 100% sure your body was legal? You would have won!

09-03-2009, 08:33 PM	#18
downtown Quarry Creeper Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: on the edge Posts: 320	Thank you Jake for the posts.. Thank you as well for all of your time and hard work toward this hobby segment. I acknowledge your accomplishments and skills. I was NOT there. However I DID witness your run at WCC...and I as well as others questioned it.. It was HOW you responded about the situation that concerns me. You are in a high profile stage of the game. As kamikaze ...and for once I agree.. Stated.. You should really be checkin your Ps and Qs where you're at. I do admire your accomplishments ... Overall goals... And passion for the hobbiest . I also like your willingness to push the envelope. But.. We both(all) know when we are pushing the limit.

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Thread: my words.