Mint 400 Wrap Up

[OldGreen]

I'll let the other guys tell their sides of the story. . .but here's mine:

7 of us in two chase trucks plus the race truck took off from Kennewick, Washington, for the 17 hour journey to Vegas. In Twin Falls, ID, we picked up an 8th along with his Cherokee (chase 3) on a trailer. #9,10, and 11 would meet us in Vegas on Friday morning. The trip was GREAT. We left at 4:00AM and arrived in Primm at about 9:30 PM. 17.5 hours and 1000 miles. . .We stayed in Primm so we didn't have to worry about our stuff in Vegas and so that we could drop our gear in the main pit easily in the morning.

Along the way we bench raced our tails off and told lies about our conquests in days gone by. The road trip is almost as fun as the race. . .almost.

We had to replace some wiring for our IRC and one of our helmet wires. IRC and Rugged hooked us up with the goods during contingency while the crew buttoned everything up. Half of us went to the driver's meeting while the other half headed off to put the truck to bed at Main. We stayed downtown for the next two nights. . .and boy was it an early morning on Saturday.

Up at 3AM, out the door by 3:45 and in Main again by 4:20AM. The crew adjusted the lights one last time while we got set up inside. I was driving off the start with my 14 year old son co-driving his very first race. We were to take the truck to Pit B for fuel and driver changes. We had 2 other drivers and 3 other co-drivers for this race. Our biggest goal was to have fun finishing the race and get as many of our crew in the truck as possible.

The race started right on time at 6AM. We were the first "framed" class on the road behind all of the tube cars. Well. . .not all of them. The VORE and Zero1 cars were late or something?? Anyway, we got off to a great start and pulled the 7101 off the line. . .unintentionally. . .(I don't think that either one of us was drag racing). I backed off in the last corner before the merge and let him go. That D*&$ yellow Ranger is faster than me in the rough and I know it. My entire race strategy was to ignore him completely and just drive at about 75%.

The trouble with that plan is that at the Mint 400, 75% in the first 6 miles HURTS. Holy cow was it rough. Nothing to get a rhythm going. GPS showed me between 25 and 35mph but it felt like. . .well. . .bad.

Around the time the track started to smooth out, we saw the 7106 truck behind us and then, on a switchback in the gravel pit, we spotted the 7115 as well. Then we hit the pavement, kicked El Chivo up to 94mph and got the heck out of there. We never saw them again either. The pace was fast from there to PRC2 into the Rock Garden. With our years of 4 wheeling experience, we made short work of it and got back out into the open desert. Will told me that there was a car gaining on us in the dust, but he was maybe 1/4 mile back. Since he was still a ways back, I thought I'd pick up the pace and see if I could maintain position (I still had plenty of cushion for my ability and the truck). So, we rallied up to the 160 degree hairpin in the NE corner of the track and, when we cleared the corner and started heading the other way we realized that someone had entered a Class 1 car in the Sportsman class and that was what was catching us. Maybe a mile later, around RM18 or so, he caught us and passed without incident.

From there, I think that a VORE car and a Zero1 car passed us over the next few miles. They must have gotten back on track! No nerfs or anything. Will was right on the mirrors. The truck was solid and we were flying along at a really good clip. Mostly 3rd gear at 40-60mph except in some of the softer sections of the washes. Somewhere around RM32 or 33 we got passed by an 8100 truck and a yellow VORE truck at the same time. No sooner had the VORE truck gone around than his hood flew off. . .we promptly ran over it and continued racing. Just about that time, we started catching him again. I laid back thinking he'd take off again (same motor as us and 3x the suspension and 2/3 the weight), but he didn't. The video below post explains what happened next.

http://youtu.be/aVWpNnBm5UM

We continued on across the lake bed and through Pit A without stopping. A couple more sportsman cars caught us along the way while we made our way through what was already becoming a pretty good junk yard. Mostly Trophylites and a few 2000 cars littered the road. There were plenty of used parts and tools around as well. On one of the powerline roads, we saw a zero1 car on its roof. Looks like he was probably overdriving to flip it on a straight section. I could see how too. . .the rollers there were just small enough that we could do 60 over them.

Just after that, we were coming around a hairpin on another powerline road when, from out of nowhere, a Bajalite popped up in front of us. He must have been changing a flat or something. I nailed the brakes to avoid hitting him and then just stuck to his tail until he got up to speed. The bumps got bigger and he pulled away. Pete said that his rentals got 11 flats. I can see why. You can't win a race driving like an A$$. By this time, we were at around RM 72 or so. Will called out that we were getting caught by something BIG. It turned out to by a VERY nice Raptor prerunner. Weyrich's I think. We tried to pull off the track, but the tail of the truck slid down. They tagged our driver's side bedside. No harm, no foul. . .well. . .we did loose a bedside, but that's racing!

From there, we turned onto the lake bed at RM78 or so, hit 95mph and slowed in time for the mandatory stop. I point this out because we saw quite a few people slide through the stop dangerously. One even took out the stop sign and almost got the BITD worker.

Baja Pits gave us 16 gallons of fuel and I pulled into our pit to swap out with our newest driver, Clayton Voss along with his co-driver and our pit captain, Kevin Rucker. In the pit, the guys noticed that the skidplate was loose. It took a couple of minutes to torque it down, When we entered the pit we were in second place by about 4 minutes.

Clayton was to race back to main, get a splash and then head back to complete his lap at Pit B. He did exactly that. We did loose the Passenger side bedside along the way. I have a theory. . .but it wasn't his fault and they are disposable anyway.

When he got back to Pit B, my partner, Jose Ybarra, along with Lead Mechanic, Tim Booth, got in the truck. Their lap was almost equally perfect. They did have to stop for a few minutes to remove the jack mount and save the jack. When we redid our bumper, we forgot to re-secure the front of the jack mount, I believe that this is somehow responsible for killing the fender stay and, ultimately, the fender. The jack handle was secured to the fender stay. They were able to save the jack and get it tied down in the extended cab of the truck and get back under way. By this point, our contacts at home let us know that 7106 was out and that 7115 was BACK up and running and making up ground. However, before Jose got back to Pit B, 7115 was out again and 7101 had finished the race.

After a quick once over and more fuel, I climbed back to the helm with Don Healy (Squirrel). Don had a couple of cracked ribs from a quad accident a couple of weeks ago. I explained that I was going to show no quarter. He agreed not to complain. After the speed zone, we took off like the lead truck was within striking distance. Yes, we had second sewn up. No problem. However, we came to have fun and the truck felt GREAT. Don, on the other hand, felt like someone was punching him in the lungs for 20 miles. . .imagine tranny alley at 38mph with 9" of travel and cracked ribs. . .poor little fella.

What seemed like a minute later, Miss Mint (who is HOTTY McHOTPants, BTW) gave us the checkers. Casey and Cliff shook our hands and we were on the actual mesa. . .but on the figurative box. Solid second. The truck could do the race again tomorrow with no further prep.

We celebrated by making a big mistake. NEVER go to the Heart Attack Grill. The food is not only bad for you (as advertised) but it is terrible. NOT good. We skipped the after party. Some started on the road home while the rest of us opted for a good nights sleep. Up early and back to main to collect the race truck, home by 3AM. MUCH top secret bench racing occurred on the way home. NONE of it involved how we could have beaten 7101. We executed perfectly and only had the intention of having fun finishing. In that sense, we WON.

Not only that, I was able to share the experience with my 14 year old son. I gotta say fellas, y'all better be watching your six in a few years when he starts sharing driving duties. He is dead solid calm under fire and feels more comfortable at 90 than he does standing still. He and I combined for a 2:25 lap. For our Finish, we were 80th overall for all classes after 3 laps and 37th overall for the morning race.

Why? GREAT prep by the team. NO FLATS. General Tires?? Holy cow are we glad we switched. Good strategy, and a Rock Solid Ford Truck!!

Next race for us: Vegas to Reno. It is possible that we may not be so reserved.

[OldGreen]

Crew:

Roman, Lurch, Jafo, Tobyw, Danny, Don, Will, James, Trevor, and me.

A special thanks to our newest driver and sponsor Clayton Voss who made it possible for us to enter in a pro class and did a GREAT job of driving on Lap 2!