That is funnyCentralWAbaja wrote:That makes the dirt epic right? That's what everybody kept telling me.
SNORE Battle at Primm race 2/10-13, 2017
- Leatherneck
- Moderator
- Posts: 17104
- Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2006 6:47 pm
Re: SNORE Battle at Primm race 2/10-13, 2017
- TimS
- Posts: 5723
- Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 10:11 pm
Re: SNORE Battle at Primm race 2/10-13, 2017
Don’t ever yield your gift of dream; Your knack for gumption, too. For “It’s the crazy ones that have all the fun," if dreamers yearn to do.
- bikesndbugs
- Posts: 637
- Joined: Fri May 27, 2016 10:15 am
Re: SNORE Battle at Primm race 2/10-13, 2017
sounds like a good time i almost got to go to koh this year.
Travis
I spend way to much time on this site
I spend way to much time on this site
-
- Posts: 934
- Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:41 pm
Re: SNORE Battle at Primm race 2/10-13, 2017
Fun place to race.
If you feel you are picking up speed you may be going downhill.
- Leatherneck
- Moderator
- Posts: 17104
- Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2006 6:47 pm
Re: SNORE Battle at Primm race 2/10-13, 2017
WE have had some interesting weather lately that is for sure. Rainbows and Racecars, nice one Tim.
- dustymojave
- Posts: 2312
- Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2008 9:08 pm
Re: SNORE Battle at Primm race 2/10-13, 2017
At the end of every rainbow there is a solar farm...One man's source of electricity is another man's source of gold.
Fun part not caught on film was the big dust storm from up north east (NOT from offroad racers) that overpowered the rainbow and dumped a bunch of mud on a few square miles of solar panels right there where the rainbow ends in that pic.
Richard
Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
Speed Kills! but then...So does OLD AGE!!
Tech Inspection: SCCA / SCORE / HDRA / ARVRA / A.R.T.S. OffRoad Race Tech - MDR, MORE, Glen Helen BajaCup
Retired Fabricator
'58 Baja with 955K Miles and counting
Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
Speed Kills! but then...So does OLD AGE!!
Tech Inspection: SCCA / SCORE / HDRA / ARVRA / A.R.T.S. OffRoad Race Tech - MDR, MORE, Glen Helen BajaCup
Retired Fabricator
'58 Baja with 955K Miles and counting
- TimS
- Posts: 5723
- Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 10:11 pm
Re: SNORE Battle at Primm race 2/10-13, 2017
It looks like Kyle is concentrating on important VW things, so I will fill you in on a small piece of a big story....
Ya know the saying "cats have 9 lives"? Well, this is a story of a 9 car with 936 lives. The little old buggy showed up, stood tall for two days of torcher, gave all it have to give, is now patiently recuperating on its trailer as the big v-8 engines took the track.
Its crew, also beaten from a long weekend in the cold sun, stood trackside to help see the trucks to the finish line.
We start to hear of trouble with Richards truck on the second lap. "Stopped!" "Limping.". The information was comming at a snail's pace as the trucks and buggies zipped by throwing out long waves of penetrating sound.
"We are comming to the hot pit, need a coil!". Richard's crew chief reminds us that "It's not a rush, just need to finish." These words were drowned out by 10 jumpy pit guys, myself included, who have been standing around all day wearing work gloves and orange vests with tool boxes full of tools and nothing to work on. In less than a minute we had identified a procedure to remove the hood, take out 12ish quarter-turn retainers otherwise known as dzus fittings, remove a panel, take out the old coil... Do we have a new coil? Blank stares. With nothing but faith and unused energy, we gather around as if the truck was already there.
Hood pins, that was my job. Two per side, I had right front. Hood pins had to come out first, then four latches, then the fiberglass hood needed to be removed by lifting up off the truck and floating over the crowd.
As if planned, a different truck had come in not to long ago with a simple request "remove my hood". This was my first time removing a fiberglass truck hood, and as it turned out was perfect preparation for the task ahead.
As our race truck rolls up and stops I dive onto the hood and grab one pin, then the other. I think it was Tedo who was in charge of the latches on my side. Two of us lift the hood and the madness begins. I'm not sure who knew this truck and who didn't, but the waves of skilled technicians piled in. As if perfectly practiced, the next pair of techs, working from each side, came in with screwdrivers to remove the 12 or so dzus fittings. Two people behind actively grabbed the flying chunks of metal. The panel removers fly off the front of the truck with the panel and the next set of technicians reach in and pull out the coil. Wreches were twisting inches from smoking hot headers.
A coil appears... It looks vaguely familiar with its baby blue exterior. Zip ties follow, then more, then more, then talks of duct tape, then hose clamps, then bolts. Before long the process reverses. The Screwdrivers are being fed by dzus feeders, the hood installers were followed by the latchers and the pinners. In an attempt to seat the hood onto the hood pins, I take a good solid blow with my closed fist and watch it land squarely onto another gloved hand, oops.
Less than three minutes to by and we are all standing with our hands in the air as the truck is cleared back onto the track. "Not a rush"... Ha. We defeated time itself.
It was then the most marvelous thing happened. A cornucopia of junk food fell onto the tailgate. As if feeding lions, The chef spreads out a marvelous bounty of half-full snack bags and quickly backs away so as not to be trampled. As the animals dig in, the chef also destroys a package of twizzlers and scatters it hurredly on to the open tailgate.
I was trying to to decide, in the moment, if I was in fact an animal as my instints took over and I rippEd greedily into a piece of beef jerky while agressively staking claim to more sugary goodness before it dissapeared into the onslaught of hands. I would consider myself a refined gentleman, but being part of a fixing frenzy and the following food frenzy was surreal.
It was about now that I hear about the coil. The coil-finder apparently eyeballed that small, blue, cylindrical coil on the 936 car and had enough imagination to envision this little bitty coil, designed for a 1585cc engine providing the juice to fire a huge v-8 truck.
Beaten and battered, inards in disarray, I'm sure 936 just wanted to crawl home and lick it's wounds. As if 936 had not given enough of itself, someone heartlessly robbed the coil, its life-blood, puts it on a vehicle and watches it dissapeared into the sunset.
936 knows. He knows that, despite the shards of metal painfully grinding through it's gears, he is still in the race. Thank you 936! Your trophy is in the hands of Richard Crestlinger. You earned it!
Ya know the saying "cats have 9 lives"? Well, this is a story of a 9 car with 936 lives. The little old buggy showed up, stood tall for two days of torcher, gave all it have to give, is now patiently recuperating on its trailer as the big v-8 engines took the track.
Its crew, also beaten from a long weekend in the cold sun, stood trackside to help see the trucks to the finish line.
We start to hear of trouble with Richards truck on the second lap. "Stopped!" "Limping.". The information was comming at a snail's pace as the trucks and buggies zipped by throwing out long waves of penetrating sound.
"We are comming to the hot pit, need a coil!". Richard's crew chief reminds us that "It's not a rush, just need to finish." These words were drowned out by 10 jumpy pit guys, myself included, who have been standing around all day wearing work gloves and orange vests with tool boxes full of tools and nothing to work on. In less than a minute we had identified a procedure to remove the hood, take out 12ish quarter-turn retainers otherwise known as dzus fittings, remove a panel, take out the old coil... Do we have a new coil? Blank stares. With nothing but faith and unused energy, we gather around as if the truck was already there.
Hood pins, that was my job. Two per side, I had right front. Hood pins had to come out first, then four latches, then the fiberglass hood needed to be removed by lifting up off the truck and floating over the crowd.
As if planned, a different truck had come in not to long ago with a simple request "remove my hood". This was my first time removing a fiberglass truck hood, and as it turned out was perfect preparation for the task ahead.
As our race truck rolls up and stops I dive onto the hood and grab one pin, then the other. I think it was Tedo who was in charge of the latches on my side. Two of us lift the hood and the madness begins. I'm not sure who knew this truck and who didn't, but the waves of skilled technicians piled in. As if perfectly practiced, the next pair of techs, working from each side, came in with screwdrivers to remove the 12 or so dzus fittings. Two people behind actively grabbed the flying chunks of metal. The panel removers fly off the front of the truck with the panel and the next set of technicians reach in and pull out the coil. Wreches were twisting inches from smoking hot headers.
A coil appears... It looks vaguely familiar with its baby blue exterior. Zip ties follow, then more, then more, then talks of duct tape, then hose clamps, then bolts. Before long the process reverses. The Screwdrivers are being fed by dzus feeders, the hood installers were followed by the latchers and the pinners. In an attempt to seat the hood onto the hood pins, I take a good solid blow with my closed fist and watch it land squarely onto another gloved hand, oops.
Less than three minutes to by and we are all standing with our hands in the air as the truck is cleared back onto the track. "Not a rush"... Ha. We defeated time itself.
It was then the most marvelous thing happened. A cornucopia of junk food fell onto the tailgate. As if feeding lions, The chef spreads out a marvelous bounty of half-full snack bags and quickly backs away so as not to be trampled. As the animals dig in, the chef also destroys a package of twizzlers and scatters it hurredly on to the open tailgate.
I was trying to to decide, in the moment, if I was in fact an animal as my instints took over and I rippEd greedily into a piece of beef jerky while agressively staking claim to more sugary goodness before it dissapeared into the onslaught of hands. I would consider myself a refined gentleman, but being part of a fixing frenzy and the following food frenzy was surreal.
It was about now that I hear about the coil. The coil-finder apparently eyeballed that small, blue, cylindrical coil on the 936 car and had enough imagination to envision this little bitty coil, designed for a 1585cc engine providing the juice to fire a huge v-8 truck.
Beaten and battered, inards in disarray, I'm sure 936 just wanted to crawl home and lick it's wounds. As if 936 had not given enough of itself, someone heartlessly robbed the coil, its life-blood, puts it on a vehicle and watches it dissapeared into the sunset.
936 knows. He knows that, despite the shards of metal painfully grinding through it's gears, he is still in the race. Thank you 936! Your trophy is in the hands of Richard Crestlinger. You earned it!
Don’t ever yield your gift of dream; Your knack for gumption, too. For “It’s the crazy ones that have all the fun," if dreamers yearn to do.
- Leatherneck
- Moderator
- Posts: 17104
- Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2006 6:47 pm
Re: SNORE Battle at Primm race 2/10-13, 2017
More then one way of finishing this race. You guys did a great job, very much appreciate the killer write up.
- CentralWAbaja
- Posts: 4278
- Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:05 pm
Re: SNORE Battle at Primm race 2/10-13, 2017
haha awesome stuff right there!
It is not Mickey Moused.....It's Desert Engineered!
- kyle_pc_75
- Posts: 1804
- Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2009 6:20 pm
Re: SNORE Battle at Primm race 2/10-13, 2017
Nice job, Tim! BOR's been keeping me super busy...I'll see what I can write up tonight.
- kyle_pc_75
- Posts: 1804
- Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2009 6:20 pm
Re: SNORE Battle at Primm race 2/10-13, 2017
I didn't realize I had posted NONE of my story on STF, I apologize for that. My trip with Bo was enlightening to say the least. He's been racing for 30 years or so and introduced me to SO many people. Anyway, here are things so far:
2017 S.N.O.R.E. BATTLE AT PRIMM
Prologue – Ah, the start of a new racing season. I always appreciate the new year for a very special reason, it’s my time to enjoy the racing endeavors of others. Around this time of year, it’s been several months since I’ve wrapped up BOR’s previous season, I’ve been able to finalize the major logistics for the coming season, and I’ve even been able to rest for a bit knowing BOR’s first race is still a few months away.
It has become something of my tradition to spend these first few months attending and working at other organizations’ races. Traditionally, these have included SNORE’s Battle at Primm and BITD’s Mint 400. Last year, I actually raced Primm and financially traded working the Mint for racing the NORRA Mexican 1000 with Tim Seward, Andy, and Chris. This year the racing bit didn’t work out, though, so it was back to the usual routine. That wasn’t a bad thing.
I had a good feeling about 2017. Things were moving positively for BOR, with the doors to racing on public lands opening back up in such locations as Delle, Aragonite, Wendover, and Wellington, all in Utah. I knew we had a good, solid 3 race season lined up going from Vernal, UT to Jackpot, NV, and ending up in Knolls, UT. In that light, I was set to enjoy Primm and the Mint, just working for others and feeling no pressure on myself.
So, on to Primm. We have a pretty regular Utah/BOR contingent that goes to Primm. This year, the Blackleys, Cammans, Tedo, Monte, and Cretsinger were set to attend. Dusty Mojave would also be there in support of a 5/1600. We didn’t find out until a bit later that they weren’t the only ones.
Knowing who was headed down to Primm, I made a few phone calls and found a ride with Bo Brunyer. Bo is one of BOR’s biggest supporters, he and Simco have played a huge part in bringing the 8 trucks and many others back to our races. Bo had just sold his race truck a few months earlier, but we had kept in touch, talking about ways to make BOR a success. Neither one of us wanted to drive a big truck down to Primm alone, so we decided to ride together and share the cost of fuel. I would drive to his house Thursday morning and then we’d hit the road. I spent two nights packing and rechecking what I’d packed since it had been a while since I’d worked a race as a volunteer. I knew I’d still forget something, but that always happens. Someday I’ll make a checklist.
I went to sleep Wednesday night with a smile on my face and dreams of dust and race fuel in my head.
DAY 0 – February 9, 2017 – Travel Day
Bo and I had agreed to meet at his house in West Jordan at 9 AM to hopefully miss the Vegas traffic and make for a quick travel day. He gave me an address and a quick suggestion on the fastest way there. Google Maps tried to misdirect me, but I made it there in pretty much exactly an hour. As I turned around the final corner to his house, I caught sight of something that suddenly made me giddy. Yes, there was the Excursion, but behind it was hitched the trailer with the Yellow Truck loaded up and ready to go. No, Bo had not told me that this lovely beast was coming along for the ride!
The ride was a good one. Bo has been racing for decades and he had stories upon stories to share. We talked about racing in the old days, how to make BOR a growing success, and of course, work. Why does conversation always have to gravitate towards work?
After a long few hours in the Excursion, we stopped in Moapa to refuel. I was waiting for Bo to come out of the store, sitting on the trailer, when I heard some pop-pop-pops. “What was that?” Pop-pop-pop. After a minute, I look up into the early afternoon sky to see fireworks exploding overhead. I really couldn’t comprehend it, lighting off fireworks in broad daylight directly over a gas station, and yet I sat mesmerized.
Bo came out shortly with a somewhat puzzled look on his face. He had heard the pops from inside the gas station and inquired. Apparently, on the reservation it was legal to sell fireworks, so they built a launchpad just behind the fueling station so people could light off their recently purchased fireworks. We laughed uncomfortably about it for a bit as we hopped into the Excursion and took off towards Vegas.
As we approached Vegas, Bo informed me that Richard Cretsinger was testing his truck near Apex. Awesome, we’d get to see some truck action even before qualifying day! Richard and Bo are family of the literal sense, so Bo called his uncle to find out exactly where they were. We got directions, searched for dust trails, but never could locate them so we just trucked on through Vegas and on to Primm.
We arrived at Buffalo Bill’s around 2 PM local time, so we made good time, around 6 ½ hours. After we got checked in and settled, we decided to haul the trucks and trailer over to the pits, to the spot Bo’s friend had picked out. We dropped off the Excursion and hopped in the Yellow Truck to find some food. After circling for a bit, we found a pretty good Greek place. Shortly thereafter, we met up with some of Bo’s longtime racing friends. Little did I know how many longtime racing friends Bo had, but I would find out over the course of this trip.
As the day wore on, we got word from Cretsinger’s crew that testing went mostly well but then they were having engine problems. Theories included a lost intake gasket as they had lost the power valve in the carb, but there was nothing they could do about it that night. The plan was to head into Vegas tomorrow to get the gaskets replaced. It has always amazed me how much time, work and love goes into these one-off vehicles for a negative financial payback but a few amazing hours of pure racing ecstacy every couple of months. We had our fingers crossed for Richard and crew.
The first from our core group started to roll in that evening, and we soon realized that no one was going to pit in the area Bo’s friend had marked off. It was dark, and people had different ideas of what worked best or just plain couldn’t see the signs. For Bo and me it was a good excuse to drive the Yellow Truck around the pits in short bursts of speed and fits of squealing tires looking for more of our friends. Who says you can’t make tires squeal on dirt?
By the end of the evening, we had found Monte and the rest of the Lone Kids, the Blackleys, and knew Tedo, Cammans, crew chief Lance Nielsen and the rest wouldn’t be far behind. For us it was time to get registered, hang around and swap race stories and then head to bed.
DAY 1 – February 10, 2017 – Qualifying Day
Today, compared to the rest of the race weekend, would be a fairly casual one for Bo and me. No need to wake up early as no one in our group was qualifying. At Primm, vehicle classes with more than a set number of entries would “qualify” for starting positions. Otherwise, it was the luck of the draw.
In desert racing, vehicle classes are defined by a set of rules that those vehicles must follow, such as suspension type, engine type, body type, wheelbase, etc. The intent is to group like vehicles into groups that encourage more competitive racing.
As said, no one in our group was qualifying, so the only thing we had to do was go on the pre-run and get everything teched. Cretsinger and crew would have to fix their truck, but they had more than enough competent people and I knew I’d just get in the way. Bo and I decided we’d run around to find those who’d arrived during the night, watch the qualifying runs, and take Yellow Truck on the pre-run.
After a casual breakfast at Denny’s, we met up with Tedo, Cammans, and Nielsen. Tim informed us that he was on his way and would be there sometime in the afternoon. Before we knew it, it was time for qualifying to start, so we headed back over to start/finish to watch.
Qualifying runs consist of one short lap per group with no pitting allowed. Racers often go all out on these runs just to get a good start position on race day, so as we were walking over, we saw the Blackleys pull up in 936. As it turned out, they found out last minute that the Class 9’s were qualifying after all. Unfortunately, not everyone got the memo so not everyone got the chance to fight for starting position.
After the start, we hurried over to the infield to watch the cars come through. As we watched, we started to note a few places that might cause trouble in the coming days. There were a few spots where cars might miss a jump, a corner, or just plain roll over. At one point, we saw a car come in on fire, totally unawares. Luckily, Bo and Tedo were on the ball and grabbed the two extinguishers off the Yellow Truck and ran to the finish line. By the time they got there, the officials had the fire out, but it’s always good to know your fellow racers are looking out for you.
Next up was the pre-Fun-Run. So, back in the day, and still on certain races on private land and in Mexico, pre-running was just as much a part of the race as the race itself. You see, most desert races are run on course that has either never been seen before or that has been drastically changed since the last time it was run. Pre-running is a way for racers to see the course before the race to get an eye on things at less than race speed. However, now in the day of limited land use, pre-running is often limited to a parade lap.
Nonetheless, Bo and I were determined to have a little fun in the Yellow Truck on the pre-run. Bo had paid his $10 fee the night before, and while the course marshall didn’t believe us, they let us go ahead. We hooped and hollored for about the first two miles until we realized that even the 35 mph limit wouldn’t be holding us back. It was all the traffic on course. We got about two 30 second stretches that let Yellow Truck stretch her legs for a minute, but that was it. All in all, it just made us itch for some faster desert action.
The next step was to head to Tech and Contingency. All the race vehicles had to pass tech while parading through the contingency line. Bo had to get his suit and helmet teched as well. We paraded all of our vehicles through tech. I ran into Pistol Pete and we talked about the NORRA 1000, which I have absolutely no hard feelings about. Shortly thereafter, I spied a 5 car with STF and Hedrock decals and after a brief conversation realized I was talking to non other than MadMitch from Shoptalkforums! I had no idea he was even racing Primm. Just about then, Tim showed up, we talked to Mitch for a bit longer, and then saw that Jim Nightengale was racing Primm, too. It was a family reunion of sorts at this point. I had no idea so many friends were going to be here.
By this point, we were all pretty tired and knew the next day would be an early wake up call for all of us. Bo, Jeff, Garth and I headed into the mall for a luxurious dinner and then all retired to bed. The next day would bring racing!
2017 S.N.O.R.E. BATTLE AT PRIMM
Prologue – Ah, the start of a new racing season. I always appreciate the new year for a very special reason, it’s my time to enjoy the racing endeavors of others. Around this time of year, it’s been several months since I’ve wrapped up BOR’s previous season, I’ve been able to finalize the major logistics for the coming season, and I’ve even been able to rest for a bit knowing BOR’s first race is still a few months away.
It has become something of my tradition to spend these first few months attending and working at other organizations’ races. Traditionally, these have included SNORE’s Battle at Primm and BITD’s Mint 400. Last year, I actually raced Primm and financially traded working the Mint for racing the NORRA Mexican 1000 with Tim Seward, Andy, and Chris. This year the racing bit didn’t work out, though, so it was back to the usual routine. That wasn’t a bad thing.
I had a good feeling about 2017. Things were moving positively for BOR, with the doors to racing on public lands opening back up in such locations as Delle, Aragonite, Wendover, and Wellington, all in Utah. I knew we had a good, solid 3 race season lined up going from Vernal, UT to Jackpot, NV, and ending up in Knolls, UT. In that light, I was set to enjoy Primm and the Mint, just working for others and feeling no pressure on myself.
So, on to Primm. We have a pretty regular Utah/BOR contingent that goes to Primm. This year, the Blackleys, Cammans, Tedo, Monte, and Cretsinger were set to attend. Dusty Mojave would also be there in support of a 5/1600. We didn’t find out until a bit later that they weren’t the only ones.
Knowing who was headed down to Primm, I made a few phone calls and found a ride with Bo Brunyer. Bo is one of BOR’s biggest supporters, he and Simco have played a huge part in bringing the 8 trucks and many others back to our races. Bo had just sold his race truck a few months earlier, but we had kept in touch, talking about ways to make BOR a success. Neither one of us wanted to drive a big truck down to Primm alone, so we decided to ride together and share the cost of fuel. I would drive to his house Thursday morning and then we’d hit the road. I spent two nights packing and rechecking what I’d packed since it had been a while since I’d worked a race as a volunteer. I knew I’d still forget something, but that always happens. Someday I’ll make a checklist.
I went to sleep Wednesday night with a smile on my face and dreams of dust and race fuel in my head.
DAY 0 – February 9, 2017 – Travel Day
Bo and I had agreed to meet at his house in West Jordan at 9 AM to hopefully miss the Vegas traffic and make for a quick travel day. He gave me an address and a quick suggestion on the fastest way there. Google Maps tried to misdirect me, but I made it there in pretty much exactly an hour. As I turned around the final corner to his house, I caught sight of something that suddenly made me giddy. Yes, there was the Excursion, but behind it was hitched the trailer with the Yellow Truck loaded up and ready to go. No, Bo had not told me that this lovely beast was coming along for the ride!
The ride was a good one. Bo has been racing for decades and he had stories upon stories to share. We talked about racing in the old days, how to make BOR a growing success, and of course, work. Why does conversation always have to gravitate towards work?
After a long few hours in the Excursion, we stopped in Moapa to refuel. I was waiting for Bo to come out of the store, sitting on the trailer, when I heard some pop-pop-pops. “What was that?” Pop-pop-pop. After a minute, I look up into the early afternoon sky to see fireworks exploding overhead. I really couldn’t comprehend it, lighting off fireworks in broad daylight directly over a gas station, and yet I sat mesmerized.
Bo came out shortly with a somewhat puzzled look on his face. He had heard the pops from inside the gas station and inquired. Apparently, on the reservation it was legal to sell fireworks, so they built a launchpad just behind the fueling station so people could light off their recently purchased fireworks. We laughed uncomfortably about it for a bit as we hopped into the Excursion and took off towards Vegas.
As we approached Vegas, Bo informed me that Richard Cretsinger was testing his truck near Apex. Awesome, we’d get to see some truck action even before qualifying day! Richard and Bo are family of the literal sense, so Bo called his uncle to find out exactly where they were. We got directions, searched for dust trails, but never could locate them so we just trucked on through Vegas and on to Primm.
We arrived at Buffalo Bill’s around 2 PM local time, so we made good time, around 6 ½ hours. After we got checked in and settled, we decided to haul the trucks and trailer over to the pits, to the spot Bo’s friend had picked out. We dropped off the Excursion and hopped in the Yellow Truck to find some food. After circling for a bit, we found a pretty good Greek place. Shortly thereafter, we met up with some of Bo’s longtime racing friends. Little did I know how many longtime racing friends Bo had, but I would find out over the course of this trip.
As the day wore on, we got word from Cretsinger’s crew that testing went mostly well but then they were having engine problems. Theories included a lost intake gasket as they had lost the power valve in the carb, but there was nothing they could do about it that night. The plan was to head into Vegas tomorrow to get the gaskets replaced. It has always amazed me how much time, work and love goes into these one-off vehicles for a negative financial payback but a few amazing hours of pure racing ecstacy every couple of months. We had our fingers crossed for Richard and crew.
The first from our core group started to roll in that evening, and we soon realized that no one was going to pit in the area Bo’s friend had marked off. It was dark, and people had different ideas of what worked best or just plain couldn’t see the signs. For Bo and me it was a good excuse to drive the Yellow Truck around the pits in short bursts of speed and fits of squealing tires looking for more of our friends. Who says you can’t make tires squeal on dirt?
By the end of the evening, we had found Monte and the rest of the Lone Kids, the Blackleys, and knew Tedo, Cammans, crew chief Lance Nielsen and the rest wouldn’t be far behind. For us it was time to get registered, hang around and swap race stories and then head to bed.
DAY 1 – February 10, 2017 – Qualifying Day
Today, compared to the rest of the race weekend, would be a fairly casual one for Bo and me. No need to wake up early as no one in our group was qualifying. At Primm, vehicle classes with more than a set number of entries would “qualify” for starting positions. Otherwise, it was the luck of the draw.
In desert racing, vehicle classes are defined by a set of rules that those vehicles must follow, such as suspension type, engine type, body type, wheelbase, etc. The intent is to group like vehicles into groups that encourage more competitive racing.
As said, no one in our group was qualifying, so the only thing we had to do was go on the pre-run and get everything teched. Cretsinger and crew would have to fix their truck, but they had more than enough competent people and I knew I’d just get in the way. Bo and I decided we’d run around to find those who’d arrived during the night, watch the qualifying runs, and take Yellow Truck on the pre-run.
After a casual breakfast at Denny’s, we met up with Tedo, Cammans, and Nielsen. Tim informed us that he was on his way and would be there sometime in the afternoon. Before we knew it, it was time for qualifying to start, so we headed back over to start/finish to watch.
Qualifying runs consist of one short lap per group with no pitting allowed. Racers often go all out on these runs just to get a good start position on race day, so as we were walking over, we saw the Blackleys pull up in 936. As it turned out, they found out last minute that the Class 9’s were qualifying after all. Unfortunately, not everyone got the memo so not everyone got the chance to fight for starting position.
After the start, we hurried over to the infield to watch the cars come through. As we watched, we started to note a few places that might cause trouble in the coming days. There were a few spots where cars might miss a jump, a corner, or just plain roll over. At one point, we saw a car come in on fire, totally unawares. Luckily, Bo and Tedo were on the ball and grabbed the two extinguishers off the Yellow Truck and ran to the finish line. By the time they got there, the officials had the fire out, but it’s always good to know your fellow racers are looking out for you.
Next up was the pre-Fun-Run. So, back in the day, and still on certain races on private land and in Mexico, pre-running was just as much a part of the race as the race itself. You see, most desert races are run on course that has either never been seen before or that has been drastically changed since the last time it was run. Pre-running is a way for racers to see the course before the race to get an eye on things at less than race speed. However, now in the day of limited land use, pre-running is often limited to a parade lap.
Nonetheless, Bo and I were determined to have a little fun in the Yellow Truck on the pre-run. Bo had paid his $10 fee the night before, and while the course marshall didn’t believe us, they let us go ahead. We hooped and hollored for about the first two miles until we realized that even the 35 mph limit wouldn’t be holding us back. It was all the traffic on course. We got about two 30 second stretches that let Yellow Truck stretch her legs for a minute, but that was it. All in all, it just made us itch for some faster desert action.
The next step was to head to Tech and Contingency. All the race vehicles had to pass tech while parading through the contingency line. Bo had to get his suit and helmet teched as well. We paraded all of our vehicles through tech. I ran into Pistol Pete and we talked about the NORRA 1000, which I have absolutely no hard feelings about. Shortly thereafter, I spied a 5 car with STF and Hedrock decals and after a brief conversation realized I was talking to non other than MadMitch from Shoptalkforums! I had no idea he was even racing Primm. Just about then, Tim showed up, we talked to Mitch for a bit longer, and then saw that Jim Nightengale was racing Primm, too. It was a family reunion of sorts at this point. I had no idea so many friends were going to be here.
By this point, we were all pretty tired and knew the next day would be an early wake up call for all of us. Bo, Jeff, Garth and I headed into the mall for a luxurious dinner and then all retired to bed. The next day would bring racing!
- dustymojave
- Posts: 2312
- Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2008 9:08 pm
Re: SNORE Battle at Primm race 2/10-13, 2017
I saw Nightengale's car racing in the sportsman/pre-runner class, but never had the opportunity to talk to him this time like I did the last 2 years. His car seems to be working better as time goes along.
Richard
Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
Speed Kills! but then...So does OLD AGE!!
Tech Inspection: SCCA / SCORE / HDRA / ARVRA / A.R.T.S. OffRoad Race Tech - MDR, MORE, Glen Helen BajaCup
Retired Fabricator
'58 Baja with 955K Miles and counting
Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
Speed Kills! but then...So does OLD AGE!!
Tech Inspection: SCCA / SCORE / HDRA / ARVRA / A.R.T.S. OffRoad Race Tech - MDR, MORE, Glen Helen BajaCup
Retired Fabricator
'58 Baja with 955K Miles and counting
- kyle_pc_75
- Posts: 1804
- Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2009 6:20 pm
Re: SNORE Battle at Primm race 2/10-13, 2017
Yep, Jim had to replace a CV boot at the end of Day 1 and lost a bolt off the exhaust, but otherwise had a good weekend as far as I know.
Results here:
http://www.snoreracing.net/images/resul ... densed.pdf
Results here:
http://www.snoreracing.net/images/resul ... densed.pdf
-
- Posts: 934
- Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:41 pm
Re: SNORE Battle at Primm race 2/10-13, 2017
Any speed postings off the start of 5/1600 race?
I know it was very fast along northern pit road. I was catching my second 9 car when the motor started to go away.
I know it was very fast along northern pit road. I was catching my second 9 car when the motor started to go away.
If you feel you are picking up speed you may be going downhill.
- dustymojave
- Posts: 2312
- Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2008 9:08 pm
Re: SNORE Battle at Primm race 2/10-13, 2017
North pit road is always fast. To us offroad racers, it's a FREEWAY! Just watch out for the gotcha in the middle. Oh...and watch the outside exiting the short course track and starting the pit straight. That got way tore up and near put some cars on their lids both days, but especially Sunday. I watched a video of a Class 11 that flopped just a couple pits past ours on Sunday.
But no...I don't have a radar gun.
But no...I don't have a radar gun.
Richard
Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
Speed Kills! but then...So does OLD AGE!!
Tech Inspection: SCCA / SCORE / HDRA / ARVRA / A.R.T.S. OffRoad Race Tech - MDR, MORE, Glen Helen BajaCup
Retired Fabricator
'58 Baja with 955K Miles and counting
Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
Speed Kills! but then...So does OLD AGE!!
Tech Inspection: SCCA / SCORE / HDRA / ARVRA / A.R.T.S. OffRoad Race Tech - MDR, MORE, Glen Helen BajaCup
Retired Fabricator
'58 Baja with 955K Miles and counting