First and foremost we want to extend our deepest gratitude to all of you that come out and support us in the pits and on the chase roads. Your dedication and reliability are a big reason we finished the season third in class. We wish that there was more we could do to repay the efforts. THANK YOU!
So onto the race as was already stated balljoints were an issue...With tech friday evening at slash X we got ouselves out there early friday. Matt pre ran the small loop friday morning and I pre ran the big loop in the bronco friday afternoon. No real surprises we both knew that the small loop would be fast and the big loop would be rougher than some thought. Tech was taken care of and we headed back into camp for chit talking etc....we all stayed up a little too late and sat morning came upon us before we knew it.
Sat morning was the usual hurry around to make driver meeting and then get the car staged. Dad(Gary) who was co-driving was dragging in the morning and moving slow. We got down to the drivers meeting with the herd and dropped of our toys. he drivers meeting was short and BLM even spoke, at least on the appearances it seems that the local BLM is really on our side and doing everything they can to help us keep racing. Anyways it was back to the pits for Matt and Gary to get into the car and to the line. The 990 got to the line right at 8am as the unlimited cars were heading out onto the big loop and the dust was hanging in the chilly morning air. With the sound of the v-8s singing into the distance my own anxiety's began to build. While waiting for our start I was able to raise Tony and crew on the radio and we all were ready for a great day.
At 0832 Gary called in that they were off the line, as luck would have it we were first in the class but being the first cars inot the short loop the clean air was welcome. Matt was passed by the 907 (Bud Ward) but held onto second making great time in about 10 min I got the call on the radio that 990 had passed Tony and crew at mm7. I had to double check my time as they were moving. At some point the 930 car who we were in battle with for season points passed the 990 in a 35mph zone that has lead to some controversy as he clearly at this point was speeding and had been reported as such inot MORE. Matt held the 990 in a solid third position for the next 5 laps staying 30-55 secs from the 930 both cars were running nearly identical lap times and the 907 car was keeping a steady 2 min faster. A battle in 4th and 5th place was forming as well as the two cars were swapping spots every lap. As lap 5 was nearing completion we got the word in main form another team that the front right ball joint was toasted on the car, Tony and crew were working there way back to main to assist in the scheduled pit stop that was coming up next lap. The 990 called in and confirmed that they lost the front ball joint and we made preps to replace it in the pits and spalsh gas. Tony and crew were still out but the Tut Tech racing team stepped up and gave a hand. The 990 got into main and we jumped into action. Matt hopped out of the car to assist with the ball joint and in about 10 min he was back in the car ready to go as I finished up the ball joint and we got the 990 out fueled and running again. Matt was able to cook off another 20 min lap and moved onto the big loop. Tony and crew arrived as the car was finishing up so they had a quick boite to eat and then moved out to the big loop. Once I ran the rough time numbers the 990 was now in 4th 8min out of third and 13 min out of 2nd not bad with 60 miles to go and no scheduled stops needed. The team was in good spirits. Matt and gary completed lap 5 on the big loop at 53 min which was only 1 min slower than the lead car 907 and 4 min faster than the 2nd and third place cars the 930 and 998. THis put the team in a very positive position and then disaster struck about a mile and a half from start finish they lost the right side ball joint again! I loaded up the mobile bag and sped off to assist them. I made it out to them in good time but with the assistance of another friend who was volunteering for MORE Matt and Gary had the ball joint about done but the dust light in the rear was toast. So in fear of being DQd for not having a dust light we went to work pulling off the light form the bronco and locating it on the car. This took more time than we wanted. With many zip ties though the light was on the car and lit but then a hundred yards away the car lost ignition power...the light was disconnected and the car was back on its way. I believe that what happened is that the hot wire grounded out to the chassis. Either way the 990 was off. Unfortunately at this point the down time had ruled out third place for us but the next closest car was a lap down so all we had to do was finish. At some point the lid on the car came off and Tony and team retrieved it and the left side tie rod nut came loose requiring yet another stop. The 990 finished witha solid 4th place. As the car was coming in THe cahse team called main asking if they could borrow my spare from the bronco....haha lesson here bring your key lock for your spare
Thanks again to everyone it was a great season we finished third in points, without all of you we wouldnt have got that far. Every season we improve so next year should be a great one!