After racing this race for the past 4 years and taking home 2 x second-place class finishes, my co-driver John “Hammer Down” Bray and I were on the hunt for the overall spot.
The start to our race didn’t go as planned with an over-temperature issue 1 mile from going off the start line.During our pre-race testing, we experienced this same over-temp issue. We addressed it and we were confident we had it fixed.With this issue right off the bat, I knew our chances for the top spot were unlikely, but we pushed and tried to maintain as much speed and pace as possible.We made some in-class car passes so we figured everyone in our class was having similar over-temp issues.We pushed as hard as our temperatures allowed and ran a trouble-free race until the sun set, outside temperatures cooled down, and our temp issues weren’t holding us back.
We pushed hard and got to pit 10 where our pit crew got us full of fuel. The distance between pit 10 and pit 12 had us covering 109 miles which is a stretch for our stock fuel capacity. We knew we had good fuel mileage due to our over-temp issues and not pushing the car, but without the overheating issue, we knew we were going to have to conserve to make it to pit 12.
Outside of pit 11, we came up on a slower vehicle while racing through some thick silt beds.We attempted to make a few passes without any luck.The car in front of us would not pull over to let us pass even though they were clearly limping along. We patiently waited until we saw an opportunity and as we were on their bumper in the poor visibility, they decided to stop on course where we collided with their rear tire and sending us up on top of them and then on our side. At this point, the hopes of our top spot finish were nearly impossible because we were on our side, tangled up with a class 4800 truck.
After climbing out of the rolled car and assessing the situation, the driver of the 4800 Ultra 4 car used his winch to help get our car off its side and partially righted on top of his vehicle.After a few attempts and repositioning the winch rope, we were able to get the car untangled and on 4 wheels away from the stuck 4800 truck. John and I assessed the car and determined it was good enough to continue, so we got strapped in and kept moving.Although the incident stopped us for 25 minutes, we had built up a sizeable lead to maintain a slight lead over the second-place car.
We made it to pit 12 where our team looked over the car and fueled us for the final stint to the finish.Re-energized and knowing we were still leading our class, we pushed to the finish and took the #1 spot ahead of our team car /son Jacob and EVP Sales Manager co-pilot, Sam Rode.Before the race, we knew we wanted the S930 and S970 to finish 1&2.
We didn’t care about the finish order, just that we finished in the top 2 positions.We did just that and we were able to go across the podium stage together, which was an emotional experience to do with my son, Sam and John.
What a rollercoaster ride of emotions throughout the nearly 12 hours that it took us to race 555 miles, win our class in the 2024 BITD Vegas to Reno desert race and take over our class points lead with 1 race remaining this season.
Besides the overheating issues, our car performed flawlessly. The partners who help us get to the finish include: Evolution Powersports, EVP.MOde, Shock Therapy, Maxxis Tires, Triple R lights, S3 Powersports, Alsup Racing, CT Race Worx, Rugged Radios, HPR, PWR, KMC, LG Creative, Sparco, Star Stream, Hostyle, EVOSPEC, Rancho Bella, Soul Seekers Podcast and our amazing team that supports us prior to and during the race.Without these partners, friends and family, none of this would be possible.Thank you to all that help make this race a great success.
New Parts tested this race:
Evolution Powersports / EVP.MOde:
- Prototype CVT Clutch Belt
- ECU software calibration – Custom fuel conserve tune w/ pit limiter
Triple R Lights
- Carbon Race Series LED light bar
