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"Tiny" is the Biggest News in Rock CrawlingSeptember 22, 2003 Nelson & Nelson Racing's radical new rocker racks up 5 season championships on Krawler T/A®KX tires Rock Crawling is a rapidly evolving sport. Only a short time ago, the Karnivore, a radical V8, front-engine/four-wheel drive crawling machine, led the field. Now the Karnivore, with its street-sedan weight and massive construction, has been upstaged by another radical vehicle called Tiny. Driven by Jon Bundrant of Hemet, Cal., the spindly looking VW-powered, mid-engined Tiny, looking like an overdeveloped Lunar Excursion Module, has dominated many of the 2003 major rock crawling circuits, capturing 11 wins and five series championships - including the 2003 UROC Supercrawl. Supported by Nelson & Nelson Racing of Hemet, California, Bundrant's custom-built competition vehicle represents a totally new approach to crawling. Builder Jon Nelson utilized many years of desert racing and Spec Truck experience when conceiving the technology behind this vehicle. 
What Nelson & Nelson Racing produced is an extremely lightweight vehicle that looks like nothing more than a collection of tubes, powered by a 220 HP motor mounted behind the driver, with a transmission and transfer case next to him in what would be a passenger seat.Jon Nelson built Tiny with the driveshaft to one side, allowing the driver to sit much lower than if the driveshaft passed under his seat. The vehicle is much lower than traditional rock crawlers, and has a much lower center of gravity. "This technology allows it to take advantage of lines that would roll other competition rigs," Bundrant says. "Having the engine behind the driver not only optimizes weight distribution, but also contributes to much better visibility. The new configuration is so successful that Bundrant has won the 2003 ProRock Superlift Series Championship, UROC Pro-National Series Championship, CRCA Series Championship (California Rock Crawlers Association), UROC Supercrawl Championships and finally, the RCAA Extreme National Championship (Rock Crawler's Association of America). "The technology used in this vehicle has changed the level of competition in this motor sport," Bundrant says. "We just captured our fifth series championship this year, and Tiny has led the way." The vehicle that Bundrant calls Tiny runs on BFGoodrichR Krawler T/A®KX tires, the latest in a family of BFGoodrich tires that have come to dominate off-roading, including the All-Terrain T/A®KO, Baja T/AR and Mud-Terrain®KM tires. Bundrant said, "I've tried other tire brands during my 20+ years of competitive rock climbing and BFGoodrich is the one that led the way for this epic 2003 season, where we captured five different series championships. "BFGoodrich just plain rocks!" |
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