UHS grad Mackenzie Duncan, rock crawler
“I have Pro Rock 60 axles front and rear with 5.58 gearing and Yukon front shafts. I have two inch box shocks in the front; 2.5” shocks in the back. I run a rear Smitty Bilt suckdown winch in the front with 40 inch tires and a Chevy Vortex 43 engine. It’s geared very low, with not much power. It’s a rock crawler; not a race car. It has 3 gears; 1st is for moving over rocks. I use 2nd and 3rd gear in certain situations on a course, for instance going off a steep drop so that I can get some wheel spin going (and don’t endo), while still being able to stop the car at the bottom of it because these gears won’t drive through the brakes like 1st gear will.”
That’s Mackenzie Duncan, Ukiah High School graduate in 2016 and Associate of Science in Criminal Justice (graduate in honors) at Mendocino College in 2019 and a convert to the new sport of Rock Crawling, popularized all across the Southwest US. “I would say that Rock Crawling is a sport; maybe a less-known sport, but how could it not be? It takes more balls than a lot of the sports around.”
“Maybe it all started because I was always around boys; my brother and my cousins on the Warren Chase Ranch. You had to be tough! I’m no Tomboy anymore, but we were always out there on the back of a 4-wheeler, falling off the back-end. It was a real outdoor world. I learned to take a few risks. And it helped that my little brother played baseball, soccer, basketball and we would butt heads and be competitive against each other.”
“My dad had this Ford Bronco and I loved it. Then at 17, I had a Jeep Rubicon. I learned to drive stick shift first. I’m used to driving with two feet; half the time you’re on the brake; half the time on the gas in Crawling. Early on, I’d go up to Cow Mountain and rock crawl, and thought it was the coolest thing ever. After research I discovered that people do this as a sports’ competition. It was a real thing (not in California).” So, Mackenzie put her dad on notice that she was ready to compete in the Rubicon. He said, ‘no way in the Rubicon.’ “So we ended up going to Sacramento. It was a guy out of Washington, he had a shop called S&N Fab and we actually took that car we bought to rock crawling in Congress, Arizona.”
“We were in for something. This was nothing like California. Rocking was so much more intense. What’d we get ourselves into? Without any practicing area, we had a very steep learning curve; we just don’t get any kind of seat time here in Ukiah. We’ve been competing now for 3- 4 years now.”
But, it’s the tight community Mackenzie Duncan has found at We Rock that draws her to the
“My dad had this sord Tronco and I loved it. Then at 17, I had a Jeep Rubicon. I learned to drive stick shift first. I’m used to driving with two feet; half the time you’re on the brake; half the time on the gas in Crawling. Early on, I’d go up to aow Mountain and rock crawl.”
— Mackenzie Duncan
events. “Well, it’s a road trip with the family and everybody goes, even the dog. The WE ROCK community is way better than I expected. I previously went to Ultra- 4 races and saw the hard-core competition there and wondered if it was going to be the same. We Rock is really the best community in racing ever. I’ve been in the pits behind the scenes on the race track and its’ intense. That’s not me. This is family oriented, hanging out with friends. It’s probably my favorite thing to do and I speak for my dog and mom as well. My mom goes as our photographer. I drive and do social media. My dad does literally everything! He takes the car apart when we’re done and re-assembles it later. He packs the truck and puts the car on the trailer, buys food, water, etc. He’s like the backbone. It really is an allconsuming family endeavor. We all practiced in travel ball with my brother year’s ago.”
“Eddie Ordin and family run We Rock. They’re frequently on the road running events. Eddie is sort of a mentor, and actually watched our trailer and all our possessions, while we stayed the first night in a hotel. As we get to an event, there’s this special thing where we see all our friends and family. It’s one of the coolest things we’ve done as a family. If you don’t have a part and have to be on the course in 20 minutes, they’re willing to lend that to you without questions. You’re always going to get some help with your car, tools, parts.”
A typical run is through four regular gates.
Ms. Duncan continues: “A gate is the most important part of the courses. You have 4 gates which are each made up of two cones that you have to drive the car through to complete each course.”
“Then, there are bonus gates that are sometimes offered. Cones are placed on the ground; and if you hit those cones, you add 10 points. It’s’ like golf; the lowest score wins. You want a negative score. Penalties are assessed as you move forward; if you use a back-up; that’s a plus 1. It’s like golf and chess together.”
“Dad is outside the rig directing me: Right/left, etc. I follow him as the spotter all the way up the race. We walk the course before the first gate; but he still gives me a heads-up on all obstacles as they approach. How to line-up. I screw up; he screws up. We keep at it. Driver’s or spotters errors do happen.”
“We usually go down to Baghdad, Arizona, which is the first venue of the year, and a bunch of locals come out. They don’t compete in the whole series but just that event. And it adds competition. They trail-wheel a lot. They have buggies; and you never know the level of competition they bring. It’s interesting to see how good they are. When you compete with people all year round, you can usually size them up, but the locals might bring something new or great! We’re ranked. We went to one less event this year and still ended up in third, which was weird. Nationally, plans changed because it has been a rough year; but we’ve been on the podium the entire season.”
“In 5 years, I want to be involved in this; I need sponsor support if I continue. I want to be in the industry. Maybe I’m not competing, but I’ll be doing something in the industry. They need enough turn- out for it to be lucrative. You never know when or where an opportunity might take you. Rock Crawling is getting big, and Ordin is working with TV crews now. It could expand and blow up! I might even do interviews in the Nationals in Vegas.”
Mackenzie Duncan is employed at Ken Fowler Motors, handling all outof-state inventory (for the DMV registrations once they’re sold in California), some trade-ins (coordinating with service for what an individual vehicle needs; and release of liabilities) and is a Subaru Redelivery specialist.
I asked Ms. Mackenzie Duncan what she wanted the “take-away” to be for readers of this feature article about her. “There’s a lot more out there beyond Ukiah. As hard as it looks to accomplish; you should at least attempt it. Go out and accomplish that. With local sponsors helping you, everything in starting a new business or sport can take you to completely different places. But, nothing good comes from your comfort zone; you have to take chances to get anywhere, really. If you’re in your comfort zone all the time, you aren’t going as far as you might want to go. Take the risk!”
Here’s a list of Duncan’s sponsors for Rock Crawling: Fowler Auto Center, 4Wheel parts, Pro Comp USA, Yukon Gear and Axle, Front Yard Fab, Northern Aggregates, DJ Pomilia Memorial Fund, Schat’s Bakery, Jodi Todd RDHAP, Lashes by Hailey Drake.