The Trophy Truck Killer comes home a winner at the MINT 400!!!

Las Vegas, Nevada March 28, 2009: After a disappointing DNF at the Parker 425 last month, Racers Only Motorsports was on a mission to get back to our winning form at the 2009 MINT 400 off road race held in the desert north of Las Vegas. “The MINT”, a legendary race brought back after a 20 year hiatus last year, returned to challenge racers and teams on some of the roughest terrain known to man.

Technical inspection and contingency row were held on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas under the “Fremont Experience”. There was a lot of excitement in the air and the crowds grew bigger as the day drew longer. Talking with some of the other racers after the prerun, turns out that this would be one of the toughest MINT 400’s to date. Tires and saving your equipment would be key after four 100 mile laps.

Race morning came early, my daughter Lindsey would be in the co-rider seat for the first lap. We drew the 2nd starting spot in our class but started first because the 1st car was a no show….great, one less car to pass. The first three miles of this race gave us a good indication of what we would be dealing with all day…..BLINDING DUST. We followed the race course, barley, using the GPS and driving approximately 20 mph in an area we should have been going 60-70mph. We came up on a five car pile up and just missed being #6, whew, then immediately after drove off a cliff into a wash. Lucky for us it was 4-6’ below the race track but dust free. We went another mile then found a way out and continued down the race course to finish race mile 4, only 396 miles to go! Lindsey did a FANTASTIC job co-riding and proved she belonged in the right seat. About race mile 15 the motor sounded a little rough but the gauges looked good. I figured that one of my plug wires might have come off so we radioed to the crew to meet us at pit A to check it out. Turns out we were right, we stopped for about 30 seconds, James Sutton found the loose wire and plugged it in and Pete Corwin and Pete VanRooy (the two Pete’s) sent us on our way again. The first 50 miles or so weren’t too bad but race mile 60 through 80 was some of the worst terrain I had ever driven on….and we were going to have to go through it three more times. From race mile 80 to the finish was some fast power line roads and a welcome sight after the 20 miles we just went through.

The first lap went uneventful, besides the plug wire, and we pulled into the Collins Motorsports pit for our first fuel stop. Robbie Goerke and crew, along with my guys got us filled up and sent us out on our 2nd lap. During the pit, Lindsey jumped out and Chuck Soper jumped into the right seat for a lap to help with the navigation. Chuck picked up right where Lindsey left off, directing me through the silt, around broken down race cars and picking our way through race traffic, trying to find some clean air to race in. Along the way, Chuck and I found one of those places on the course that could put an end to your day. Traveling at approx 60mph, trying to get in front of a Pro Truck we had been running behind for approx 10 miles, we hit a jump that lunched us well into the air and we felt we were never coming down. The car landed and the King shocks soaked up the terrain beautifully as we kept the pedal mashed to the floor and FINALLY got around the Pro Truck. The good news was I didn’t have to pee anymore.

For lap three and four, Matt Bare would jump in the co-riders seat and finish the day with me. I was feeling pretty tired as I pulled into the pit as my wife Tracy handed me a sandwich, some water and 800mgs of Ibuprofen. Brian Collins turned out to be a savior once again as he changed out my helmet visor with a new one (just like he did at Parker a month earlier). About 30 miles into my 3rd lap I got my 2nd wind. We had built up a 50 minute lead on the 2nd place car and now I was on survivor mode. The car was running great and I couldn’t be happier with my BFGoodrich tires, I even ran into the side of a rock mountain……yes, a MOUNTAIN with the front right tire and the BFG just bounced off it like it was nothing. Changing tires out in the desert will take the wind out of your sails pretty quick. Matt and I only had one scare out on the course and that was when Rick Johnson in the #71 Trophy Truck nerfed us on a fast pole line road. He was very gentle with us but both Matt and I still have nightmares about the Parker 425 mishap and I went flying off the course, and I’m pretty sure I screamed like a girl at one point. Oh well, no harm, no foul.

The 3rd lap came and went as we pulled into the pits for our last fuel stop. The two Pete’s were telling me we now had over an hour lead and I needed to slow it down. The thing was, I WAS driving careful in the rough stuff but now I was running dust free on the fast roads because I could see, so my lap times were getting faster. The 4th lap was nerve racking. I was hearing things, or thought I was hearing things, but I felt better than I did on the 2nd lap and Matt and I were starting to have some fun.

We went through pit B, race mile 60, we radioed to Noah Ostanik who was manning our pit and thanked him for hanging out for us all day, just in case. We even had enough time to talk about when he would be wearing my Steelers jersey for a bet that he lost when my Steelers beat up on his lousy Chargers! Matt and I worked our way through that horrible 20 mile section and made it to the smooth stretch home at race mile 80. Finally, we were able to open up the 360 ponies stuffed in the back of the Chenowth and stretch the legs on the TT Killer with some dust free running all the way into the finish.

10 hours, 40 minutes after we left the start line, Racers Only Motorsports made it to the finish line in 1st place (22nd OVERALL), something my dad tried to do back in the early 70’s when he raced the MINT, but could only manage a 2nd place finish back in 1978.
31 years later he would be standing in front of our race car watching his son celebrate his most satisfying win of his racing career.

I have to give a big thanks to everyone who helps us out: JETJOC, TriState CareFlight, Wide Open MRI, BFGoodrich (still no flats in any of our races), Vision X, MSD, King shocks, Beard seats, C&R racing, Ironclad, Artistic Curbing and Got Sand. Some individual thanks are in order:

Ted Ward- Keeping up with all the timing & scoring and keeping it organized
Pete Corwin- Thanks for the fab and aluminum work and answering numerous questions
Pete VanRooy- Donating your time to help get this car to the start AND finish line
Matt Bare- Co-riding and talking me through the course, keeping me in check
James and Christian- Jumped our chase truck game up a notch
Chuck and family- Our good luck charm
Robbie Goerke- The stuff you think is small stuff that helps this team is HUGE
Brian Collins- Can clean a helmet 2nd to none and keeps my crew in stitches with all his smart ass remarks
Noah Ostanik- The man at Pit B, stepped to the plate to help us out, 1st class, even though he is a Chargers fan
Kras- Thanks for delivering all my stuff from Cali…..I owe you some shirts
Macrae Glass- Working on my shocks until midnight 3 days before the race……priceless
Lindsey Ward- Making her dad proud by proving she can be as good a co-rider as anyone
Hanna Ward- For coming out and watching dad race
Tracy Ward- For putting up with all my crap and letting me live the dream

The Trophy Truck Killer Killed at the Parker 425

Parker Arizona, February 7, 2009: Two weeks after winning the Laughlin Desert Challenge, Racers Only Motorsports loaded up the race car and headed for the epic Parker 425. This race is notorious for eating up race cars and we knew we had to be careful not to get caught up racing too hard too early.

We woke up race day to some scattered rain showers but by the time the sun came up it had all went away…or so we thought. Our class had nine entries, which started dead last behind every race car entered. Yours truly drew the very last starting position. Turns out we had a late entry in our class so he got the honors, now I was only the 274th race car off the line instead of the 275th!

The first lap was a prerun lap for me since I never got a chance to see the course so I would be taking it easy the first time around. The course was already swallowing race cars with approx 30 broke or upside down within the first 60 miles of a 150 mile loop. We passed 26 cars in the first 21 miles and had passed all but two cars in our class, which put us in 3rd place. I knew it would be a long race so I continued to pace myself. Pete VanRooy was pointing me in the right direction with the GPS and keeping me aware of danger spots. By the time we reached race mile 37, I knew the Overall leaders in class one and the Trophy Trucks (TT) would soon be catching us so I told Pete to keep an eye out.

Around race mile 49, I saw a flash of light in my rear view mirror and knew it was the first TT. Andy McMillin was running his Vision X LED light bar on the front of his truck and it made it very easy for us to see him coming, even through the dust. I was looking for a place to pull over, doing approx. 65 mph and saw my chance and turned off when my car caught a ditch and almost sent us over. I’m pretty sure Andy got a kick out of it but Pete was not impressed. No harm, no foul, we proceeded to our first fuel stop at Midway, pit three.

Trey and Dan from Chuck Hovey’s pit flagged us in, topped us off with fuel and sent us on our way in 52 seconds…GREAT STOP. We had passed 40 race cars on the course at this point, not counting the 30 broken down so we kept that pace going. The race course was really fun at this point, smooth roads, tight, twisty, sorta technical, but then we noticed that it was starting to sprinkle. We were somewhat prepared with towels and the water was not too bad until we hit the “Goat trail” at race mile 119. From that point on, this race was not turning out to be very fun. The race car was running great, we never had a motor problem with our MSD ignition and our Turnkey engine. Our biggest problem now was visibility, the rain was coming down pretty hard now and all our dry towels were soaking wet. By the time we made it back to the main pits, the car was unrecognizable, covered with mud, but our 12” LED Vision X light on the front was easy for our crew to spot as they flagged us in.

Turns out we were in 1st place in our class, no one else had come through. Pete was getting out and Matt Bare was set to ride the last lap. Unfortunate for Matt, we did not have the luxury of an intercom or radio due to the rain. TT racer Brian Collins was helping at the pit when he grabbed my helmet and applied some RainX to the visor to help me see. He handed it back to me with a little snicker as if to say he was glad he didn’t have to go out and race in those conditions. I was freezing cold but my Ironclad gloves were keeping my hands warm, although that was the only dry place on my whole body. While we sat in our pit, one of our competitors (#1886) slipped by so we hurried up and set out on our last lap.

The infield was 9 ½ miles long and I could see #1886 making his way through but by the time we got out of the infield I could not see him anymore and was pretty sure he had pulled into his main pit. We were having a hard time seeing out our mirrors watching for class one’s and TT’s. This was a really nervous time for me since I did not want to get rear ended by a faster car because we could not see them coming up on us. Most of all the leaders had head lights on so it made it a lot easier to see them in the dirty mirrors. At race mile 21, my fears came to life as we were racing down the course and a TT came up on us.
Finding out later, he was trying to make up some time, came up on me and was just going to give us a slight nerf when my car went into a whoop-de-do, the back of my car went down, his TT went up and he landed on the back of our car, crushing the manifold, putting us out of the race. I know it was a racing accident but it still didn’t make us feel any better. When ever you are taken out of a race and it’s not of your doing, it’s a tough pill to swallow, so instead of another win, Racers Only motorsports goes away with its first DNF in the TT Killer.

I have to give a big thanks to everyone who helps us out: JETJOC, TriState CareFlight, Wide Open MRI, BFGoodrich (still no flats in any of our races), Vision X, MSD, King shocks, Beard seats, C&R racing, Ironclad, Artistic Curbing and Got Sand. Chuck Hovey and Collins motorsports were kind enough to let us pit with them and they went above and beyond the call of duty to help us with anything we needed. I felt we were in there way a bit but they made us feel at home, THANKS GUYS! To Pete Corwin, Matt Bare, Pete VanRooy, Mike Lindquist (& Kim), my wife Tracy and the rest of the guys out on the course getting soaking wet in the rain waiting for us to come by, WE THANK YOU. If all goes well, we will see you at the MINT 400. By the way, anyone got a spare Manifold for a 5.3L Chevy lying around????

Another win for the TT Killer!

Laughlin, NV – January 25, 2009: The 2009 SCORE off road series got underway in Laughlin Nevada this past weekend with 2 full days of racing. On the banks of the beautiful Colorado River, Laughlin is one of the favorite races on the SCORE schedule with plenty of racing action in one of Nevada’s favorite gambling towns. The weather couldn’t have been better and Racers Only Motorsports got the season off right with its 2nd straight Laughlin Desert Challenge win.

The race started early Saturday morning with no dust what-so-ever after a steady drizzle the night before. Roberts Kukainis, the BFGoodrich motorsports manager would be my co-pilot for the day and did an outstanding job. Roberts pointed the way as we finished 2nd on day 1, only 2 ½ minutes out of 1st. Attrition is always high in Laughlin so we decided to play it cautious knowing that the race would not be won on Saturday, but surviving on Sunday.

Going into the Sunday race, Long time friend Chuck Soper would ride along side as our race plan was the same as Saturday…survive. Drag racing off the start with the 1st place finisher on Saturday (#1403), we kept him in sight for most of the race until the water temp started creeping up to an uncomfortable level. We backed it down a little but kept on the pressure. Low and behold, on the last lap we found 1403 stopped on the side of the course with a motor problem. Our race strategy would pay off with ANOTHER Laughlin win!

I had 2 guys work their butts off for me this week, Pete VanRooy and Matt Bare. They went over the car with a fine tooth comb and found a couple minor problems after Saturday’s race that could have become BIG problems if not corrected for Sunday! Thanks guys.

Huge thanks AGAIN to my sponsors that stepped it up in 2009 to help us go racing: Herb Hess @ JET JOC, Dr. Stamper @ Tri-state CareFlight, Jason, Kim and Mike @ Wide Open MRI, BFGoodrich Tires, Ironclad, Beard, C&R, MSD, Vision X, Butch’s speed shop, Artistic Curbing, Got Sand? and KING shocks. I’d also like to thank the rest of the crew that helped out before the race, Pete Corwin, Chuck Soper and Ted Ward. Tracy, Lindsey and Hanna ran the Racers Only booth all weekend and I definitely could not have done it without them! Next, the Parker 425 in 2 weeks…….see you their!