Rookies. The mere term conjures up images of crazy initiation rites and cruel practical jokes. No one wants to be one, yet everyone must have a rookie season if they're to go on and become a successful, seasoned veteran.
If you're a CORR rookie, it doesn't mean you're new to driving off-road. It doesn't mean you're new to competition. It doesn't even mean you're new to winning. It just means you're new to CORR. Being a rookie takes guts. It means you're a contender who isn't afraid of a new experience, and the learning curve that goes with it.
Steve Barlow is such a contender. Barlow, a long-established veteran of Ivan Stewart's Protruck series, had already chalked up an impressive win list. Steve had piloted his Red Bull Protruck to the points championship in both Protruck and Best in the Desert during 2001. He followed with a SCORE and Protruck championship in 2002. For 2003, Barlow ventured beyond the familiar Southwestern deserts into the tight, twisty tracks of the CORR series. The veteran had become a rookie.
Steve started out the 2003 CORR season with strong showings in CORR's hotly contested Pro-2 class. He finished in or near the Top 10, but his dominating ways had not followed him from the Protruck wars. The CORR season toured the Wisconsin courses at Dresser, Antigo, and Crandon before landing in Bark River, Michigan. Steve found the course to his liking. "Bark River fits my driving style as it is closer to the desert. It has a lot of long, fast sections, and it wasn't as tight as some of the other courses. Bark River allowed us to go out and excel."
Although the Bark River course bore some resemblance to high-speed desert conditions, the driving styles required still differ. "It's a totally different driving style," Barlow advised. "With the Pro-2, you drive out the side window, but with the Protruck, you drive out the front window, basically meaning you are sideways most of the time in the Pro-2." Strategies differ, too. Steve offered, "With the Pro-2, you push from the time the green flag drops until you see the checkered flag. There is only one pace - run hard. Desert racing is a strategy focused on the long term; when do you need to push and when do you take it easy." As for the differences in machines: "Besides each having four wheels and tires, the trucks are completely different. Pro-2 is based on pure horsepower and the ability to corner at high speeds. Protruck is based on handling going straight through the rough, and having long-term reliability. You don't want to destroy the truck in a 500-mile race."
CORR's Bark River, Michigan, rounds covered two weekends a month, totaling four rounds in all. Racers were treated to clear weather until the last round. The skies then opened up and the track turned into a greasy brown mess. Racers made the best of it with roll-off goggle systems, splash guards, and tire-grooving irons.
Steve posted Top Five finishes at all four Bark River rounds, landing a pair of Third Place finishes in Round Nine and 10. His consistency and quick learning skills earned him Rookie of the Year in CORR's Pro-2 division.
Guess what, folks? That means that the man driving the Red Bull Pro-2 Ford has done his rookie duty. The multi-time Protruck champ has served notice. Watch out next year.