Facing some of the most difficult obstacles in rock racing, BFGoodrich Tires driver Roger Lovell bested 32 of the top rock racers in the U.S. to capture the 2007 Xtreme Rock Racing Association (XRRA) National Championship. The final event of the season took place September 29 at the RAM Off-Road Park in Colorado Springs, CO. “Ask the Experts” caught up with Roger and his brother, co-driver Brad Lovell, to get their take on the race.

So Brad, tell us about what it was like to watch Roger take the title?

“This was a huge victory for the team,” said Brad. “Roger has had a tough rookie season and earned every bit of this win. Many thanks to our sponsors and especially our tire sponsor, BFGoodrich. They have continued to develop competition tires that hook up better than any other tire in the field. We simply could not compete without the support of the world’s winningest off-road tire manufacturer.”

What tire did you guys choose for the final event?

“We implemented our strategy early and vowed to remain conservative regardless of the circumstances,” said Roger. “We decided to go with BFGoodrich Baja T/A KRT tires to tackle the tricky course, which proved to be one of the most intimidating of the season and included several jumps, climbs, side-hills and cracks, which challenged the teams and their equipment. The courses were tough enough and the jumps were big enough that we knew teams were going to be breaking and we hoped to win by driving smart.”

Their strategy worked as the duo became one of the most consistent on all the courses throughout the day and entered the final round solidly in third place, nearly two seconds ahead of 2006 XRRA Champion Shannon Campbell.

What was it like going into the finals?

“We wanted to lay it all on the line in the finals,” said Roger. “We knew how fast Campbell was but after thinking it over, we decided to run the same strategy as before because we wanted to make sure we finished.”

Again, the Lovell’s patience and perseverance paid off as Campbell clipped a banner while landing a jump and became wedged in a notch, while second-place qualifier Joachim Schweisow’s steering broke. Despite the intense pressure, the Lovell’s remained cool and collected as they traversed the narrow rock notch and finished within the time limit. The final hurdle to clinch the championship for the Lovell’s came when the last runner of the day (and race leader) Brian Shirley broke a rear axle housing while landing a triple jump. In the end, Lovell Racing was the only team to finish all the courses and thus took the 2007 XRRA Championship title.

It seems like all the hard work and calculated thinking paid off, would you have changed anything?

“Not really, we never had the fastest time but we did run the smartest race,” said Roger. “As Brad said, we owe much of this championship to BFGoodrich Tires for giving us the confidence to not only run hard but also run smart this season and it worked to our advantage.“