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
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
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