MOROC Racing Series

Insight into MOROC

Wondering what it feels like to attend an event?

Stop working for a moment and just relax. Try to imagine yourself at one of the events.

You are sitting down in a camping chair in the assigned spectator area with a group of friends. You can see the whole course: all the jumps, the hill climbs, the boulders, the mud sections, the logs, etc. Can you feel the sun or is it raining? A couple vehicles just crossed the finish line. Can you hear the excitement in the crowd; the cheers, the clapping? Up next is a pair of Jeeps. For some reason, you eyes are fixated on this bright lime-green jeep. It is sitting on 39" tires with a deep lug tread. You can tell by the sound of the motor that it has a V-8. It's a Chevy LS1 motor, with headers, no exhaust, running a high octane racing fuel…just sitting at idle. Can you hear it? Now imagine that same jeep and a similar blue jeep taking off the starting line, tires folding with the torque, biting the loose dirt and tossing it backwards.

Imagine that jeep hitting a large table top jump, flying 5 feet in the air, landing fairly smoothly just slightly more on the front end. Twenty feet later the driver hits the brakes hard slowing down to a mere 10 mph so it can climb a series of 3 boulders, each the size of Volkswagens. The front tires flex over the first rock, go air-born and land after the rear tires hit the same rock and land on the top. The suspension flexes to the point it raises the rear passenger tire about 1 ½ feet of the ground. Finally the jeep gets back to flat ground for another 100 feet, engine screaming as the tires grab the loose dirt causing rooster tails out the back; speeding up a 50ft vertical hill climb.

Once at the top, the driver turns through a drift corner and lines up for the 6ft drop-off quickly approaching. As the front tires drop off the ledge, you can hear grinding sound of the skid plates on the rocks below. As the front tires hit the ground, the rear tires come off and the force of gravity takes the rear of the jeep over the vertical line of the front of the jeep, pushing the jeep into a forward end-over-end roll over. The jeep comes crashing down the hill at 10mph only gaining momentum. The jeep lands on its roof, then tires, roof, then tires. All of a sudden the driver floors it and drives out of the roll on the front 2 tires. The driver and the jeep aren't hurt except there is a dent on the hood and a few scratches on the grill. Next up is a short hill climb with a log across the path at the top. The log is laying straight across the path sitting about 8 inches in diameter. Hitting the log at 35 miles per hour forces the whole jeep airborne. The front tires land first about 6 ft from the log. After the landing the team has about 1/10 of a mile straight shot over a couple rolling hills and slight turns.

With no large obstacles to slow down for, the driver hits high range 4wd and takes off. The jeep tops out at nearly 65mph. A small 3" tall rock sticks out causing the jeep to get about 2.5 ft of air and lands smooth. The LS1 continues to scream, bouncing off the rev-limiter. The jeep crosses the finish line. A 1-mile course was completed in 3-minutes 10-seconds. That is 28 seconds slower than the guy in the next lane over. Can you hear the crowd cheering around you? Can you feel the excitement in the air? Now that team heads to the pits to inspect the jeep while they wait for their next turn.

Could you hear the sounds the car and equipment were making? How about the sound of the ground, rocks and dirt hitting the undercarriage of the jeep? Could you hear the roar of the spectators around you cheering and hollering in excitement and gasping their breath in fear during the crash?

Next imagine yourself in the driver's seat. You have your fire suit on, helmet and neck brace fastened, and you're sitting at that start line. You mostly hear the engine as you discuss the course last minute with your co-driver.

3…2…1…GO!