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Cooper-sponsored Jake Good and his Rubberbelly Racing rock crawling team took a W.E. ROCK first place in the Eastern Nationals for maneuvering through tight spots like these, above and right, with the help of spotter Scott Angell. A spotter acts as the driver's eyes outside the vehicle
and is crucial to helping him navigate safely
across boulders and around cones.

Cooper-Sponsored Team Takes First Place

Jake Good’s Cooper-sponsored Rubberbelly Racing team won the W.E. ROCK World Extreme Rock Crawling Championship Series Eastern Nationals event May 29-31, joining the ranks of teams headlined by Derek West, Kurt Shramovich and Ricky Artes.

This marks Jake’s third year in competitive rock crawling and second year riding on Cooper Discoverer STTs.

Of the STTs, he said, “Cooper tires have been long known for their great performing on-road tires, so it only makes sense that they have the ability to build a great off-road tire as well. At first glance, the STT looks like a compromise for on-road driving, but after taking a closer look you would be mistaken. The aggressive tread and great compound give the STTs the ability to grab the rocks even when they are wet or muddy!

“We have run Cooper Discoverer STTs in the desert in California, where tire failures are common, without one single problem,” added Jake, 31, an engineering technician who works for a civil engineering firm in Kansas City, Mo. “The tires provide great lateral traction and a tough side wall, which our sport demands. We are definitely glad to be a part of the Cooper team.”

In the professional sport of rock crawling, the national organization sanctioning body is W.E. ROCK. W.E. ROCK operates two divisions, the West Coast series and the East Coast series. RROCK is the largest regional series, and all the RROCK events are held at Hannibal Rocks Off-Road Park in Hannibal, Mo. Cooper is corporate sponsor for Hannibal Rocks Off-Road Park.

Rock crawlers start a course with zero points and try to avoid accumulating points. Every reverse counts as a point. Running over a cone means a 10-point penalty. Completing a set of bonus cones, or gates, subtracts 10 points from the score.

“There’s really a lot of strategy involved in how you go about a course,” Jake said. “You’ve got to do it fluently. And sometimes the obstacles are so hard, you have to run over a cone. It’s a real big head game, in trying to beat not only the other competitors, but trying to beat the courses. Just about everybody uses those same basic principles.”

Drivers get help from their spotters, who walk on ahead and guide drivers through the course to make sure they miss cones. Rules allow spotters to stack rocks, preventing tires from falling into holes and keeping the underbelly from getting stuck on rocks. Scott Angell is Jake’s spotter.

“Scott acts as my eyes outside the vehicle,” Jake said. “Missing a cone with the vehicle with less than an inch to spare, his advice is priceless. It also doesn’t hurt that he can stack rocks that allow the car to easily climb large boulders.”

At the W.E. ROCK event, Jake said he and Scott focused on time management – a team downfall in the past. The strategy paid off and Rubberbelly Racing was the sole team to finish C2, a really long and tough rock garden-style course. The team wrapped up the first day’s competition with a score of 49, just one point in front of nationally recognized second-place team Ricky Artes.

The second day’s events took place on tight, technical courses plotted over huge boulders. Ricky Artes broke a driveshaft, widening Rubberbelly Racing’s lead. In fact, Jake’s team was the only one to attempt and complete the single bonus gates for the day, further stretching their lead and building their confidence.

“What a great boost for a regional team to come in and not only be very competitive against the eastern national competitors, but also to take home the victory,” Jake said. “It’s a great tribute to the hard work of our team, and to the great traction our Cooper Discoverer STTs give us.”

Rubberbelly Racing continues the push towards the Aug. 28-30 All Stock Nationals this weekend, June 13-14 at Hannibal Rocks, for the second and third events of the RROCK season.

Cooper Discoverer STTs provide Jake Good with the grip he needs in steep ascents, left.

Rubberbelly Racing team members Jake Good, driver, and Scott Angell, spotter, collect first-place trophies in W.E. ROCK's Eastern Nationals.