“I’m 60 years old. I’m supposed to be retired.” But he’s not. John Brock has been racing for 40 years, everything from dirt track, stock cars and drag racing to tractor pulling and extreme rock crawling. He owns Rocking J Offroad, LLC, in Tucson, where he specializes in rock crawler chassis fabrication, modification, and drive trains.

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John drives his #777 in the Dirt Riot races. He wishes he could race King of the Hammers; but he can’t.

“It’s like 200 miles; or close to it. It’ll be anywhere from 8 to 14 hours depending on how fast we can go.” Mike Klensin drives Brock’s car because the grueling distances are just too much; in 2003 John’s back was shattered when he was run over by a 12,000 lb. tractor.

“I’m lucky to have lived through the thing. I spent the first 3 years on painkillers, lying in bed watching TV; I thought ‘I gotta get on with my life, I can’t do this.’ Had to wean myself off the painkillers and get on with my life. The more I sit at home and worry about it, the worse it seems to be. I mostly work on the racecar.”

Mike built the chassis and John did everything else; the shock absorbers and seats make it possible for him to race. “This is a purpose-built vehicle, strictly for the combination between desert racing and rock crawling. I give up a little speed there so I can go quicker through the rocks.”

He’s proud of their record so far. “Since we’ve been doing the Dirt Riot and Ultra4 series I’ve had one first place finish, one second and one third place. In two years, that’s pretty good.” But success comes at a price. “It takes me three or four days to recuperate after these races. I’ll be sore for a week at least.”

So what keeps him racing? “I’m a fairly competitive person.” He paused and added, “There’s a lot of camaraderie between the drivers and organizers and all. It’s like if one guy’s car breaks down, all the pit crews will try to help it get going again. Or if somebody needs a part … last year we had a starter go bad and my co-driver had to run back to the pit to try to find someone who would loan him a starter.

He came back with two; the guys were just great about it.”

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