Red Bull Rockcrawler

I am proud to be able to partner with Dustin and Becca Webster's Red Bull RockCrawler.  Dustin and Becca have been in the sport of rock crawling since it's infancy and have always strived to promote the sport and have helped to bring the sport to the level it is today.

Here are the specs on his vehicle:

Vortec V6

Lovell 470:1 Air-Shifted Competition Transfer Case

Diamond Axle Chromoly 9" Housings with Reid Racing KingPin Dana 60 knuckles, True Hi-9 3rd members, 5.38 gears, ARB lockers

CTM 300M axle shafts, CTM U-Joints

CNC 4-way Cutting Brakes

ProComp Custom Beadlock Wheels

37" ProComp X-Terrain Tires

Warn Winches with custom 12voltguy control panels

Sway A Way RaceRunner Air Shocks

And here is a little on the team:

Red Bull RockCrawling Team
"Our whole relationship has been based on competition," Becca Webster says. Her husband Dustin quickly retorts, "Well, no guy wants to get beat by a girl. There's a pride thing going here!"

Fortunately, as partners on the Red Bull RockCrawling Team, the Websters use their competitive energy to support one another - and it seems to be working. Dustin's accomplishments include winning the Pro National Series and the Season Championship of the CalROCs Series, while Becca has already captured the Women's Pro National Championship and is hungry for a World title. It's hard to believe that only a few years ago, the pair were known not for driving over rocks, but for diving off them.

Cliff Diving
Becca and Dustin met as professional high divers. Becca had been a gymnast, then competed in diving at the collegiate level. Dustin had been a diver in college also. Most diving pros perform at amusement parks and fairs to pay the rent, and the couple got acquainted doing shows as members of the U.S. High Diving Team. They married in 1991.

Dustin's competitive results were incredible. He set a record for most gold medal finishes in International competition with fifteen championship wins, including two World Championships, three World Cup victories, and a gold medal at the Acapulco Cliff Diving Championship.

Becca, on the other hand, was finding the competitive arena to be frustrating. "I wasn't allowed to compete with the men!" she remembers. "They would only let me do exhibitions."

Dustin chimes in proudly, "But she did do women's events in Acapulco, and she's still one of the only women ever to dive from the very top cliff there."

Rockcrawling
For Dustin, the move from cliff diving to rockcrawling came naturally. "I bought my first four-by-four to locate cliffs to jump from," he explains. "I kept upgrading the vehicle to find harder cliffs. When competitions started to form, I was primed to get involved."

Becca's transformation didn't come so easily. "She despised the sport!" Dustin laughs. "When I'd come home from a contest, all she'd see was repair bills!"

Becca nods ruefully, "That's true - until he signed me up for a women's competition." Becca had never seen a rockcrawling event, but Dustin was impressed with the skills she demonstrated recreationally, and he was convinced that in a contest her competitive drive would take over. He lured her on an "outing," and once they were on the road, he explained that he had entered her in the 2002 Women's Nationals.

"It was unbelievable," Becca grins. "We had all of fifteen minutes in the parking lot to practice, but of course I wanted to win!" She came in second, losing by 1 point.

"Right then, we knew she was a natural," Dustin says. She returned to Nationals in 2003 and took the title.

The folks at Red Bull (who had sponsored Dustin in cliff diving) realized that together, Dustin and Becca were a natural team, and the Red Bull RockCrawling Team was born.

Dustin drives his "Red Bull RockIt" at the radical Unlimited level, where anything goes: "It's a wild concept. We have spotters on foot to help us navigate, but often the stuff we're climbing is so vertical that the spotters can't walk up - they have to go around and meet us."

Dustin is proud of his wins at the Pro National Series and the CalROCs Championships, but showmanship is his primary concern. "I work toward the podium," he explains, "But if we make a mistake, we can forget about a medal, so my goal becomes putting on a show for the crowd - turning it into something fun. If you're not going to win, you might as well enjoy the ride."

Becca, meanwhile, is thoroughly enjoying a sport that allows her to go head-to-head with the men. She competes in the Pro class, and in addition to seeking the podium in a new higher level at Women's Pro Nationals, she's one of the top contenders for the Open class (male and female) of the World Supercrawl Championships. Her vehicle, brand-new for 2004, is the "Red Bull RockHer."

The Red Bull RockCrawling Team's biggest fans are Dustin and Becca's young sons - Garet and Chase. Chase is already eager to try both cliff diving and rockcrawling, while big brother Garet will have none of it. "I figure my youngest son is going to be an extreme athlete with constant breaks and sprains," Dustin smiles, "And my older son will be a doctor who can fix him up!"

Between parenting and competing, it's a nonstop schedule for Becca and Dustin. The rockcrawling season spans February through November, allowing only two months for rebuilding their vehicles in between. "I put in about 120 hours of work per week," Dustin notes. "I like to say that we're adrenaline entrepreneurs."

And here are a few pix:

Special thanks to On The MarQ for use of some of their photos. Kelly from On The MarQ will be taking some other photos for me over the 2007 season of all of the teams I am involved with so keep an eye out to see more of their fantastic work.  They specialize in off-road photography and do an excellent job at it, they can be reached via email at onthemarqphotos@yahoo.com be sure to hit them up if you have any off-road phjotography needs.