At least for the week.

I leave tomorrow morning to Race a Class 17 JeepSpeed truck in the Best of the Desert, SCORE International Vegas to Reno Baja Race. This is our final test race before I race the truck in the 2011 Baja 1000 race in November.

Wish me luck and I hope to bring back some killer photos and videos. Perhaps even a podium? Nah, finishing is the goal for this week's race.

Anyway, some pics to wet your appetite...

Out with the old (for now)...


In with the new...





These pics were taken of the Previous Owners, Truck is now owned by Warrior Products, Inc and co-sponsored by General Tire and Hella. Pic of the truck as it is ready to ship out the BOTD- VTR:



I'll be back in the EVO soon though. English Racing is rebuilding the Motor and we will be competing at the Mt. Hood Club rally in October for you local folk that want to come see us take some revenge on the Oregon Stages.

See you there?

Scott

 

Looks like a blast for sure! Best of luck with both races, we expect pics for sure!

See you at Mt. Hood!

Are you the same guy who raced the Evo at the RallyX races at the Washington County fairgrounds? I used to race the yellow Lancer! lol

 

How'd you hook that up? Lol good luck! And it looks like it's going to be a blast!

 

Monkey,

Yep. That was me. Black and White for the past year, Silver for a couple years before that. Red Talon before that. Black, White and Red All-Trac before that... I've been there a while. If you have too, you've sat through many of my Driver's Meeting too

FORSAKEN.... The Marketing Director of the Race Team has always been a fan of me and myother rally cars and EVO. I also raced a Supercharged Durango for several years too... they LOVED that

When they bought the truck from the Fiske brothers, they called me before the truck even arrived. I am very, very grateful for the opportunity to drive it.

Scott
-------

 

Say hi to my cousins the McMillins when you get out to baja =)

 

Totally! Good deal, all the times I was there you were in the silver for sure! I think I even have some pictures =]

I've been in and out as I have been between cars and college for a while, now that I'm getting my Evo setup it shouldn't be long before I'm back to play in the dirt! I may have some questions on car setup at some point too as everyone seems to be setting their cars up for track days and whatnot, goal is to be a full caged stage car at some point. Can't wait!

-Seth

 

its good to try different things men goodlock.

 

good to hear it Seth. Hope there IS a venue for rally cross in 2012. doesn't look good right now.

If you need help, advise or contacts to help you set up your EVO for stage, let me know. I'll do what I can.

S

 

Okay, so... About the Vegas to Reno Desert Race.

First off, HUGE props to the Event Organizers that managed to put on a flawless 530+ mile desert race winding to as high as 5800 feet and through three separate BLMs and dozens of private sections of desert property. They put out 413 volunteers on course that were in place from the Start of the Bikes, Quads and UTVs at 5:15 AM until the final pits closed at noon30 HOURS LATER!!!

Huge thanks. Casey, YOU ARE THE MAN!!!

So how'd we do? Well, I got into the Jeep at mile 36 after the owner took the first stage. We were 5th in class. I handed off the driver's seat at mile 162 in 2nd, having close the gap on the leader (overall class 17 2011 championship points leader). Very much within striking distance.

The next couple of drivers were relatively new to any kind of motorsport and we dropped back to 4th as they drove conservatively and safely. Kudos for them not getting over their heads. It's a tough race, they brought it into the pits safely every time. I was looking to get back into the truck in the last 3rd to race to the finish.

Then stage 13 happened... One of the other owners and his son got in for a single stage joy ride that ended up literally destroying the entire thing in under 10 miles. Axles bent, knuckles bent, suspension clapped, hydraulic bump stops were flattened and since the suspension was now useless, they came off a drop and stuff the nose into a bank and crushed the front end, compressed the entire right side so the door wouldn't open and broke the motor loose from a couple of the motor mounts, one of which snapped over and struck the Distributor and shattered the cap and rotor.

We got the call just after 12:30 am and the truck finally arrived back at pit 14 around 5:30 AM. It took 3 hours for the truck to move 15 miles and get to us. We did what we could but only had 45 minutes to get the thing out of the pits before the pits closed on us. We ran a chase truck into the other pits to beg/borrow a distributor to try and get us to the end but it was the wrong part and we had to call it at 6:38. Race done... just under 100 miles from finish.

We were close enough when the truck broke that would could have passed 2nd and 3rd in the pits. 1st was about 45 minutes ahead but gut stuck in a silt bed for about 48 minutes.... it would have been close, but I think I could have taken him in the last 100 miles. We would have for sure landed 2nd.

When we broke out, we were 94th overall out of 298 entries. We did manage to make it farther than a lot of folks and ended up being listed at 194th overall and 5th in class.

There were little things to work out like better air filtration (breathing silt sucks) and better gauge visibility, better seats maybe. More aggressive Pit Strategy. Little stuff like that. But overall, the truck ran flawlessly.

The King Suspension is AWESOME! I launched off a cattle guard at around 70, maybe 4 feet off the ground and it came down like it was never in the air at all. Like a feather on a soft pillow. Amazing stuff!!! General Tire gave us some amazing tires that allowd us to plow through talk-like silt that was at times, some 18 inches deep. Baja Pits had our fuel covered the entire event with clean, quick fuel stops. Thanks also to Lightforce and Hella that gave us incredible lights for the Race and Chase Trucks that lit up the desert like daylilght. the Lightforce HIDs on teh race truck were nothing short of amazing.

Of course, special thanks to the Warrior and Seubert guys for buying the truck and giving me the opportunity to drive such an amazing race.

There is alot of work to be done to get the thing repaired and ready for SEMA and the Baja 1000 in just a few short months. So keep your fingers crossed for us.

On the upside, they were very please with my driving and have confirmed by seat at the 1000 and they have expanded my sections tremendously, so more miles for me

I will post some pics as they become available.

DNFs are never fun and never any good. But it was a great shake down and we found a few things we can improve. Overall though, managing those things will clearly get us through the 1000 in a capable, class winning truck. I can't wait!!!

Visit us as SEMA and see you at Baja!

Scott

 

Very cool update, Scott. Too bad about the end result, and I hope that no joy rides will be occurring in future events.