Trophylite #6001 race win dedicated to Louis Chamberland

[ONE_RJ]

We just got home from the "BITD Parker 425" in Parker,Az. Wow what a race.

It all started on Thursday when Trophylite had there 2009 Championship awards at the Bluewater Casino and I was proud to accept on behalf of Louis, Craig & Shrek for the 2x Trophylite Champions. For those of you that don't know, Our driver Louis Chamberland has been and still is in the hospital with a serious infection and we are hoping he can get out real soon.We decided to dedicate this race to him. We recieved the Championship Trophy along with a $8100.00 check from Trophylite,WOW!!! and a nice Milestone award and a $500.00 check from Allcoat Powdercoating(Thank you Gary & Walt Messier that was really cool) for finishing every mile of every race. Great job on the prep Shrek and hope the money comes in handy.

Luckly we had a great friend Darren Donnes from Montana who called to ask if he could come to sunny Arizona and drive the truck or else we would have sold the truck by now because of the economic times we are facing. I was able to wisen up some and remember the only money we made and the only thing paying the bills right now in this economy is the "Trophylite" , so we made a plan to have Darren drive the first 2 laps and Shrek and I would try to take it to the finish.

I thought when I woke up Saturday, it was going to be perfect weather, boy was I wrong. Darren had never seen the truck until Friday night and after a few pointers about the truck and our game plan, he was ready to give it a try. Now "Double D" as we call him and his navigator Coyote are not new to racing in a spec class and he has proved in the past to be the guy to take care of the equipment and get the truck around the course. We decided to take a rear start to give him a little breathing room to get him use to the raw horsepower and handling of the little Trophylite. Starting 12th, it didn't take him long to figure out how well the truck works. I am still not sure if it was due to the throttle sticking or just his abililty to drive, but he was fast. Double D came into the main pits 1st Truck in class. Wow, we fueled him quickly and sent him out to the python were he displayed his driving talents by rolling the truck right in front of us. He was quickly up righted by spectators and fired the truck up, like nothing ever happened and continued on his way with a 3 minute lead over 2nd place.

Double D's second lap was flawless and he continued to build his lead (with minor body damage as he called it) as now it was looking dark and starting to pour rain in the main pits. Shrek and I were now starting to talk about the last lap. I made a deal with Shrek earlier that if we were behind by 15 minutes, I would let him take the wheel and let him drive for the first time and I would navigate, but the call came in from the 2x champion saying it would make him feel a little better if he knew I was driving. Sure put all the pressure on me and I was not looking forward to break the news to Shrek that he would be my navigator. Double D did a great job and handed us a truck with a 25 minute lead. All we had to do was drive it around the track 1 time. When the truck came in, it had a little more damage then minor body work and we had to take a sawzall to the body. Good thing, because it gave the Triple X Posi time to realize the diff skid plate got ripped off and we were lossing a little gear fluid. After they put a bolt or 2 back in I was ready to take to the track. In classic fashion I mashed the gas as hard as I could trying to look and sound like a real Trophytruck leaving the pits. The truck took off and we headed towards our first turn with the throttle stuck now wide open. I was wearing some thick boots and it took me what seemed like a minute or two to figure out how to get the throttle unstuck. Luckly the raw horsepower of the 4 cyl Ecotec motor was managable and the Fox Shox's took all the bumps it could handle. I wish now I would have decided to wear a catheter as it was a little scary for me. At this point I tried to look like I knew what I was doing and had it under control.

The Trophylite handled the bumps well and was very fun to drive until it started to pour rain. At first I thought it was cool that Casey was able to water the track this way for us, but later realized how this could possible ruin our chance to get it to the finishline. The rain started to produce running rivers and halfway thru our lap was now coming down in buckets and to top it off it was starting to get dark and cold.We now turned on the KC Hilites HID's for some much needed light. At first I just tried to drive around the growing puddles not to get buckets of water thrown in our face, but after awhile it didn't make a difference as we were soaked. It did make it easy to wet the lips,but hard to see. We passed many buggies and trucks that were also struggling with the rain and still can't believe how we could drive thru water without the truck shutting off or missing a beat. Shrek did a fine job of guiding me to the finishline and didn't seem to mind splashing thru the ponds, as he put it "It's all good we are racing".

At the finishline we learned there were still 10 other Trophylite's racing to the finishline. I thought to myself that they are going to have even a tougher time then us, as the rain had not let up. Come to find out we finished first with a time of 10 hours 27 minutes,6 seconds and the only other Trophylite to finish took 17 hours ,14minutes. This race was very tough and a lot of people under estimated how tough the Parker 425 race really is. I think Casey said at the awards that 239 started and 80+ finished.

I would like to thank the Lord for keeping us all safe and watching over us. I would also like to thank my wife Brenda for allowing me to race while our son is in the hospital.Thank you Louis for letting me drive your truck.Thank you Darrin Donnes for stepping in and driving the wheels & Body off the the truck, just like Louis would have.Thank you Shrek for the great prep once again and being there to navigate us home for the win.Thank you Triple X Posi , Agave Motorsports and Team 71 for the great pit support.

Thank you Trophylite for a great orginization and it's family of Great sponsors: General Tire, KC Hilites, Fox Shox, Mastercraft Safety,Currie Ent,Fabtech,Azunia Tequila,Lincoln Welders,2XL,Black Box,Method Wheels.

We hope to be back with Louis at the wheel at the SNORE Mint 400

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[GregFoutz]

Way to go guys... Congrats.... you earned that one for sure.....

[BRINGTHERUCKUS]

Congrats on the win! hope louis is doing well, and heals up quick. infections are a tough battle... shrek is an animal you have a great team. if you ever need help let me know.

[Rhinestone Cowboy]

Wow. I didnt know anything happened to Louis...........Get well soon Louis!!!!!!!!

[Mcarlson1]

Thats a great write up and a great race by you guys! Thats awesome that a race program is actually getting payed for by the winnings you guys are recieving! How much does it usually cost to prep a TL? cant imagine its very much, feel free to PM me if you would like as im really interested in one of these and all these amazing write ups about the trucks convinces me even more! Again congrats on a great start to a new year and hope Louis gets well very soon!

Thanks,
Mike

[BFD RACING]

Double D is a great driver no doubt..Shrek prep second to none.THAT RAIN SUCKED BIG TIME

[bajaherbie]

great write up..... post a pic of the trucks body if you have a photo please.....

[Mike Hobbs]

This is the first I've heard of Louis being sick. He's a good dude! Louis helped me out with some unruly types a few years ago at the Adelanto GP, nuff said. Get well amigo!

[ONE_RJ]

The trucks can be prepped pretty reasonable as long as you dont have transmission, body & paint damage to add into the cost each race. I am very lucky as Matt "Shrek" Dowland does an excellent job on maintaining the truck and knows what to look for and is very reasonable. The engine is original and has 10 races on it and never misses a beat.The Fox shox's speak for themselves. We mag everything, rebuild the rack and steering, replace heims,brake pads,driveline etc.. when needed. We are able to get 4-5 races out of the General Tire Grabber AT2 and have only had a flat or 2. We did have wheel stud problems in the begining and it cost us a couple of wheels until we fixed the problems. Trophylite has worked out most of the new truck bugs and they seem to be holding together very well now, we are not chasing structual problems or frame cracks. We have been lucky enough to pay for our racing thanks to Trophylite, sponsors & racers. Again Thank you to General Tire, Fox Shox, KC Hilites, Mastercraft, Curries, Fabtech, Lincoln Electric, Sopwith Motorsports, 2XL Games, Blackbox & Method Wheels.They have a new video game coming out in the near future and there is still great marking opportunities for you to offer to sponsors.

Trophylite just annouced $70,000.00 in prize purse payout for a 5 race series and year end championship.That is crazy!!!

Trophylite paid out for the "Parker 425" $5775.00 1st, $2310.00 2nd, $1470.00 3rd and $945.00 for 4th plus BITD entry money and contingency.

They also announced that the SNORE RATR Laughlin race is a no holds barred, non points shoot out for get this "$20,000. in cash and prizes", and nooo! our truck is not for rent.

[tmesser]

We just got home from the "BITD Parker 425" in Parker,Az. Wow what a race.

It all started on Thursday when Trophylite had there 2009 Championship awards at the Bluewater Casino and I was proud to accept on behalf of Louis, Craig & Shrek for the 2x Trophylite Champions. For those of you that don't know, Our driver Louis Chamberland has been and still is in the hospital with a serious infection and we are hoping he can get out real soon.We decided to dedicate this race to him. We recieved the Championship Trophy along with a $8100.00 check from Trophylite,WOW!!! and a nice Milestone award and a $500.00 check from Allcoat Powdercoating(Thank you Gary & Walt Messier that was really cool) for finishing every mile of every race. Great job on the prep Shrek and hope the money comes in handy.

Luckly we had a great friend Darren Donnes from Montana who called to ask if he could come to sunny Arizona and drive the truck or else we would have sold the truck by now because of the economic times we are facing. I was able to wisen up some and remember the only money we made and the only thing paying the bills right now in this economy is the "Trophylite" , so we made a plan to have Darren drive the first 2 laps and Shrek and I would try to take it to the finish.

I thought when I woke up Saturday, it was going to be perfect weather, boy was I wrong. Darren had never seen the truck until Friday night and after a few pointers about the truck and our game plan, he was ready to give it a try. Now "Double D" as we call him and his navigator Coyote are not new to racing in a spec class and he has proved in the past to be the guy to take care of the equipment and get the truck around the course. We decided to take a rear start to give him a little breathing room to get him use to the raw horsepower and handling of the little Trophylite. Starting 12th, it didn't take him long to figure out how well the truck works. I am still not sure if it was due to the throttle sticking or just his abililty to drive, but he was fast. Double D came into the main pits 1st Truck in class. Wow, we fueled him quickly and sent him out to the python were he displayed his driving talents by rolling the truck right in front of us. He was quickly up righted by spectators and fired the truck up, like nothing ever happened and continued on his way with a 3 minute lead over 2nd place.

Double D's second lap was flawless and he continued to build his lead (with minor body damage as he called it) as now it was looking dark and starting to pour rain in the main pits. Shrek and I were now starting to talk about the last lap. I made a deal with Shrek earlier that if we were behind by 15 minutes, I would let him take the wheel and let him drive for the first time and I would navigate, but the call came in from the 2x champion saying it would make him feel a little better if he knew I was driving. Sure put all the pressure on me and I was not looking forward to break the news to Shrek that he would be my navigator. Double D did a great job and handed us a truck with a 25 minute lead. All we had to do was drive it around the track 1 time. When the truck came in, it had a little more damage then minor body work and we had to take a sawzall to the body. Good thing, because it gave the Triple X Posi time to realize the diff skid plate got ripped off and we were lossing a little gear fluid. After they put a bolt or 2 back in I was ready to take to the track. In classic fashion I mashed the gas as hard as I could trying to look and sound like a real Trophytruck leaving the pits. The truck took off and we headed towards our first turn with the throttle stuck now wide open. I was wearing some thick boots and it took me what seemed like a minute or two to figure out how to get the throttle unstuck. Luckly the raw horsepower of the 4 cyl Ecotec motor was managable and the Fox Shox's took all the bumps it could handle. I wish now I would have decided to wear a catheter as it was a little scary for me. At this point I tried to look like I knew what I was doing and had it under control.

The Trophylite handled the bumps well and was very fun to drive until it started to pour rain. At first I thought it was cool that Casey was able to water the track this way for us, but later realized how this could possible ruin our chance to get it to the finishline. The rain started to produce running rivers and halfway thru our lap was now coming down in buckets and to top it off it was starting to get dark and cold.We now turned on the KC Hilites HID's for some much needed light. At first I just tried to drive around the growing puddles not to get buckets of water thrown in our face, but after awhile it didn't make a difference as we were soaked. It did make it easy to wet the lips,but hard to see. We passed many buggies and trucks that were also struggling with the rain and still can't believe how we could drive thru water without the truck shutting off or missing a beat. Shrek did a fine job of guiding me to the finishline and didn't seem to mind splashing thru the ponds, as he put it "It's all good we are racing".

At the finishline we learned there were still 10 other Trophylite's racing to the finishline. I thought to myself that they are going to have even a tougher time then us, as the rain had not let up. Come to find out we finished first with a time of 10 hours 27 minutes,6 seconds and the only other Trophylite to finish took 17 hours ,14minutes. This race was very tough and a lot of people under estimated how tough the Parker 425 race really is. I think Casey said at the awards that 239 started and 80+ finished.

I would like to thank the Lord for keeping us all safe and watching over us. I would also like to thank my wife Brenda for allowing me to race while our son is in the hospital.Thank you Louis for letting me drive your truck.Thank you Darrin Donnes for stepping in and driving the wheels & Body off the the truck, just like Louis would have.Thank you Shrek for the great prep once again and being there to navigate us home for the win.Thank you Triple X Posi , Agave Motorsports and Team 71 for the great pit support.

Thank you Trophylite for a great orginization and it's family of Great sponsors: General Tire, KC Hilites, Fox Shox, Mastercraft Safety,Currie Ent,Fabtech,Azunia Tequila,Lincoln Welders,2XL,Black Box,Method Wheels.

We hope to be back with Louis at the wheel at the SNORE Mint 400

Congrats on the win, hope you get well also Louis. You mentioned the only other trophylite to finish was 17 hrs 14mins that was my dad Gary Messer he drove the truck from start to finish. It was a crazy day and it showed me how much of a beast he is, on lap one our team changed the transmission at midway so we were down an hour and a twenty minutes. On the last lap we got stuck 5 times and just kept motoring threw the rivers. It was one long lap we were the last finishing truck to go all three laps, we finished around 2 a.m. We had a great time the trophylite was working good all day the motor never skipped a beat with 20 races and hundreds of miles of testing. Thanks to God for watching over us all and making this possible, my Mom and family, Casey and all the BITD team for pulling us out and letting us finish, Bear race cars, Trophylite and sponsors, the Geisers for helping us out with their welder, Allcoat, Cliff Findlay, R&R hitches, and everyones hard work that was the only thing keeping us going was trying to finish for our team.