Meet John Retzloff, Covelo, California, Team #44, '77 GMC K15.

Q What made you want to compete in TTC?

A "TTC is like the Olympics of four-wheeling to me and being able to compete at something I truly love (wheeling) is one of the biggest honors for me!"

Q What TTC event are you most looking forward to, and why?

A "The event I'm looking forward to the most is probably the Tank Trap.  Despite 5-foot-deep water and poison oak, I love wheeling in ravines."

Q What TTC event are you not looking forward to, and why?

A "The event I'm not looking forward to is Mini Rubicon because if the Warthog rolled it two or three times in the middle I know I have my work cut out for me."

Q What is your favorite wheeling location, and why?

A "I love wheeling, so where ever there is a chance to go wheeling is a good spot.  Favorite kind of wheeling is probably steep ravines and rockcrawling."

Q If you could go wheeling anywhere in the world, where would that be, and why?

A "I would like to go wheeling down through South America to that tallest waterfall that Four Wheeler did the story on.  Man, I have to go dig that issue up."

Q What was your first 4x4?

A "My first four-wheel drive that I could get my hands on was a '68 Jeep Wagoneer.  I remember pushing snow over the hood until I got stuck on our driveway when I was 14.  Before that it was a '74 Honda Civic that I would take up in the hills around the place."

Q What's your daily driver?

A "2003 Ford F-250 Super Duty."

Q What's playing on your iPod/CD player right now?

A "Alice in Chains 'Live' or Z-Rock 106.7 on the radio!"

Q What was the last movie you watched?

A "Machete.  Gotta love aciton comedies."

Q Are you allergic to poison oak, wild boar, or driveline failure?

A "Luckily I'm not as allergic to poison oak as I used to be thanks to the fact I had it for six months one time.  Driveline failure, hopefully not anymore..."

Q What's one thing people should know about you?

A "I built my truck almost entirely myself, right down to the concept of the doubled 205s and the bodywork.  I do have a lot of time in my truck, but not a lot of money, and hopefully I can show that it doesn't necessarily take a lot of money to compete but a lot of ingenuity and a good driver."