Down Periscope

[FCORR]

TSU Motorsports #1495, 2009 Glen Helen Baja Cup Challenge, Race Report

The final race of the season for TSU Motorsports presented a whole new set of challenges that had not arisen during the first 4 races of the season. It wasn’t a grueling desert course or fast competition, it wasn’t racing at night or a technical short course track, it was ole Mother Nature. In the final week before the race the “Live Mega Doppler 7000 HD” was predicting that it may be a wise choice to bring a row boat to race. Instead we brought a 14 year old Toyota pickup that hates water more than a house cat hates taking a bath. Since we didn’t have access to a row boat that floats we decided to make a few changes to the old Toyota, we decided that trying to make the truck run in the water wasn’t important as long as we were dry inside the truck, so Tim and I installed a new windshield, rear window, wipers and a custom washer system.

We arrived at the race track in San Bernardino at 9:30 pm Friday night. It had rained off and on all day, the dirt in the parking lot was damp, but not muddy, the conditions were near ideal for racing, however we knew the weather would change soon. At 4 am it did, it was pouring so hard it woke up all 5 of us in the motor home with a sigh (not of relief) coming from Tim and I, and a chuckle from my parents and girlfriend (knowing they would stay dry inside). The 7 am prerun came and left as the crew was performing maintenance to the track, it appeared that the Hoover Dam would be the only thing that could stop the rivers that were starting to collect in the washes. The rain only continued to fall harder, the little creeks turned into raging rivers complete with Class 5 rapids. At 10:15 Glen Helen decided to start the prerun, the first buggy left the line and drove through the first river. With lots of wheel spin he made his way slowly down the wash, we watched him for about 3 minutes before hearing over the radio he got stuck half way into the lap. Our plan to let a few cars knock all the standing water out of the holes was starting to fall apart. Our only option at this point was to get in the truck and go for it, we had to find out if the truck would get stuck, not run, or make it around the track without issue. Tim and I exited the motor home like 2 fighters about to enter the ring with a sarcastic cheer coming from our friends and family. We entered at the top of the first wash with the windshield wipers on full blast, it felt like a scene from the movie The River Wild, we criss-crossed the wash trying to keep dry, hitting a top speed of 8.4 mph! Another sarcastic cheer rang out from the friends and family above the wash looking down as we screamed down the wash in first gear. As we approached the first jump we saw a large pool of water, we attempted to stay to the edge, instead we did our best Titanic impression (without the iceberg of course). The truck came to an instant stop and would not refire, a whole 100 yards of glory. Neither Tim nor I wanted to get out of the truck so we decided to wait for help. They would come soon, right? At least it was dry inside the truck, so we continued to wait. Finally, our friend JosB came to our rescue in his F-350 4x4 dually. I cracked the window slightly and asked him if he would be hooking us up, never in my life have I felt like such a prima donna, but there was mud out there and a lot of it, JosB hooked us up and began to pull, but we didn’t go anywhere! Someone yelled from the shore, “Lock your front hubs!” JosB locked the hubs and his right foot let loose on that Turbo Diesel, we launched like we we’re shot from a cannon! Not wanting to get stuck JosB kept his foot in it, we at least doubled our previous high speed for the day while on the tow strap. Buckets of mud rained down on the truck, covering the truck and leaving us blind. I thought, “I sure hope he doesn’t hit the brakes because we aren’t stopping!” Tim hit his experimental washer system and I hit the windshield wipers and magically the mud disappeared, we flew all the way back to our pit with ease! Back at the pit we removed the air filter’s prefilter which was soaked with water and the truck fired right back up. At this point we knew Mother Nature had won, perhaps a snorkel, sonar, periscope and emergency diver could have changed things, but without those items we threw in the towel. Fortunately for us, so had Glen Helen, we had reached the office just in time to find out they were canceling the race and refunding all the money, a smart move on their part!

Although it was a disappointment not being able to race we still had fun and had a ton of support from friends and family. We raced hard and smart all season long, and after 4 races this season we led the points by 10 over Steve Herrera, if you include a throw out race we led by only a single point! Truly an amazing accomplishment with an underpowered, leaf sprung truck; it was nothing short of a complete team effort. Without these people we either never would have made it out there or never returned from our bottomless mud hole:

Thanks to Tim Duncan, Kristina Steavens, Dave Plueger, Adam Carter, Brad Lindseth, Pahl McAllister, Trever Leach, Juan Sanchez, Ryan, JosB, Glen Helen Raceway, and all my friends and family.

Also a big thanks to all of our sponsors, DMZ Fab and Race Prep, SUD Productions, Desertfreedom.com, Vista Paint, RPC Commercial Inc., Offset Photography, The Axe Suspension tuning, Lucas Oil, Shell’s Shapes and Steel, Trailglow lights, and Copasetic Designs.

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[310Kid]

Nice Pics Goodluck on in Jan.

[FCORR]

Nice Pics Goodluck on in Jan.

Thanks a lot for taking those pics! The one of the river is the craziest!

[AZmxer]

WOW!! thats nuts. Great write up.I think my truck would have never left the trailer! Good job on you're great year! see ya at BAP

[FCORR]

WOW!! thats nuts. Great write up.I think my truck would have never left the trailer! Good job on you're great year! see ya at BAP

Thanks Kevin! Congrats on another win this year! We'll see you at BAP for sure.