The Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame Annual Awards Ceremony was held on August 22^nd at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, NV.  Although Jack Flannery was unable to attend, nearly 40 Flannery family members were there to represent him.

Jack Flannery

“Those up on the Inductee Wall are the greats of our sport… People like Malcolm Smith, Parnelli Jones, Rod Hall, and Mickey Thompson. The Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame is truly enriched by those 2009 inductees who will join them.” said Bob Bower, Executive Director of ORMHOF.  He continued, “We had people from all over; just under 100 of them. There were about 40 in the Flannery contingent, most from Wisconsin, but also other states. From Montana was the J.N. Roberts clan. And from California, Arizona, and Baja came the supporters of Harold Soen. It was the most emotion filled ceremony we have experienced. At the start of the program there were three groups in the room, one for each inductee. At the close of the evening there was but a single group. Each group reached out to the others. Each celebrated, each became transformed, and each embraced the joy and sorrows shared by all.”

The decision was made that Mr. Flannery was to be honored in person, so Bower and ORMHOF Trustee KJ Howe, made the trip to Crandon for the 40th Anniversary Borg Warner World Championship Off-Road Race®, a nationally televised event featuring the best of the best racers in the premiere Pro 4X4 class.  This event also was to be Rounds 9 and 10 in the TRAXXAS TORC Series.

Jack Flannery

On Sunday, September 6^th, with over 40,000 in attendance, Jack Flannery stepped up to the Podium along with 45 family members for a brief presentation.  The Jumbotron lit up with a video documentary* describing Jack as, “The first powerhouse privateer in short-course racing; an expert in all aspects of the sport from track and truck design to serving as an ambassador to sponsors and fans, Jack was a fierce competitor, but the hospitality shown to his West Coast rivals and rising off-road stars helped bridge the gap and unify the sport across the Country.”

More from the video:

“We’re all from the same community, we’re all good friends and we’re just out here trying to hammer first place…I guess it was my turn.” said Flannery in a post race interview.

“Jack Flannery was the King of Crandon.  He owned it…he owned the records, he owned the trophies.  And for a guy like that, a champion who’d invite someone like me out, who was going to try to take that away from him; that says a lot about the character of Jack Flannery.”   Curt LeDuc

“Jack set some pretty high standards and even though I had been doing it for quite a while, Jack was probably some of my most fierce competition that I ever dreamed of at Crandon.” Walker Evans

Flannery’s race resume is long and impressive.  In 1991, Jack secured a factory sponsorship from Chevrolet, quite effectively launching the Chevy Thunder Truck Team. Jack gave Chevrolet their money’s worth with 9 wins in 10 races that year, capturing the championship in the SODA Heavy Metal Class.  Add to that, 6 SODA/ESPN Championships, 2 wins and one second place finish at Pike’s Peak, a win at SCORE’s 1991 Inaugural short-course race in Phoenix, The Borg Warner Cup 1996, Governor’s Cup in 1997 and 1999, and CORR Pro 4 Championship in 1998.    He also traveled west to race the Mickey Thompson Series at Riverside and twice raced the MINT 400.

The House That Jack Built

Crandon "The Big House"

Crandon International Raceway is all about the Flannery Family.  More than 600 volunteers come out each year to help, many named Flannery.   General Manager, Cliff Flannery, (Jack’s brother), is the undisputed busiest man in off-road racing.  During events, Cliff will be seen driving a grader, front-end loader, water truck, track support vehicle (up righting the rollovers and towing the breakdowns), restocking the food and beverage booths and offering directions, help, advice and hospitality to the patrons, media and volunteers.

Jack Flannery

Race Director of 35 years Jake Flannery, (Jack’s Cousin), took us on a slow lap around the course in our rental car, “This thing ain’t made for off-road but this won’t hurt it”. Jake knows the track well, describing every turn, bank, whoop, the good lines, the bad lines and even the composition of the dirt / clay mixture (water retention is important).  We also toured the famous campground area that they call Jurassic Park.  “It gets a little crazy at night here, you’ll see things that you’ve never seen before for sure.” he said.

There was little talk of politics, money, sponsorships and the different promoters in the business.   Feeling as if I were forcing the issue, I finally asked about the sponsorship wars.  Jake brushed it off as “BS” and said, “What’s next year?  If you don’t have a yellow car you can’t race against red ones or what?”

They just want to race here at Crandon… it’s not about the money.   This was evident in an unsolicited comment made by Cliff Flannery regarding a recent offer they received from a group to buy the track.  “It’s not ours to sell; it belongs to the people of Crandon.  They started it; they volunteer every year to run it, it’s theirs, not ours.  It really has no value without them.”

Jack Flannery is in a race against cancer right now.  In a testimonial to his strength and courage, family members donned T-shirts bearing Jack’s name and car number on the back and the words “WHAT A RIDE” on the front in bold caps.  The emotion and support for Jack was evident everywhere at this event.  We wish Jack, his family and the wonderful people of Crandon, Wisconsin the very best and can’t thank them enough for making us a part this incredible, once in a lifetime experience.

From the documentary video, another post-race comment by Jack:

“Even when you can’t go anymore, you got to pick yourself up and keep going, even if you only make a lap.  This time I made it all the way, I got the checkered flag and I’m tellin’ ya’, I feel great.”

*Video produced by Crandon Raceway and Steve Weiss Clubhouse Productions

August 15, 2009, Lucerne Valley, California

By the numbers:

Entries 96
Starters 80
Finishers 55
Fast Lap 0:44:34 (Mike Bilek on Lap 1)
Course Length 50 miles
High Temp 96
Low Temp 64
Female Podium Finishers 3

The course was the Lucerne Valley “A” Course, running counter-clockwise from the Start/Finish at Bessemer Mine Rd.  About 4 miles in was the “Rockpile”, the Ojos Negros of the US.   This area has traditionally been a total cluster bomb, with the hard partying crowd pushing the limits of the protective orange snow fence, which lined both sides of the course.

Class 100 (7 starters, 6 finishers)

1st 156 Mike Bilek:  ”Good race for us.  We did the first lap in just under 45 minutes, the rest were a little slower because the winds died down at night and we started getting into the dust.   This was our shakedown for the upcoming Vegas to Reno race and I’m very happy with the outcome.  Don’t forget to mention that my daughter, Alexa took second place in Class 12!”

2nd 181 Robert Pickering: This entry was an extreme last minute decision that they made at 2:30 PM on race day. Pickering & co-dog Mikey Childress were showing the truck at 15th Annual Wrightwood Mountain Classic Car Show when someone asked them if they were going to the MDR race in Lucerne.  A couple of quick phone calls were made; one to the crew for spares and another to Mikey’s dad, Reverend Roy Moore, who rounded up a half dozen Checkers for pit support.  They were able to sponge 25 gallons from Art “the Tech Dude” Savedra and a drum from a 1450 team.  Robert Pickering said, (from RDC Forum), “I took one for the team and stayed in the co-driver’s seat for the entire race.  The plan was that Mikey and I would drive two laps each but since we were in the hunt, I stayed put.” Brenthal Industries is building them a new Class 6 truck which, according to Mikey, is “basically a Trophy truck with a V6 in it.”

3rd place went to 158 Danny Wingerning in his Jimco / Chevy

The rest of the finishers in order were:

199 Bryan Yonan
124 Craig Dillar
197 Rory Ward

Worthy of note is #197, Rory Ward of Racers Only.  Wardy planned to enter as a Sportsman, (to dial in the lights and get a little night experience for the upcoming Baja 1000), until he posted a question on RDC about the course.
The thread lit up with hecklers challenging him to run with the pros in Class 100.  Team Locos Mocos, Total Chaos, Checkers and a group from Tony Tellier’s “Cheeze” list banded together to support his formidable finish.
Rory Ward: “No bitches, moans or complaints from me, although I was hoping for a little more attrition in Class 1.  I guess you could let everyone know we went on a tight budget, only brought 3 guys with me, all my buds showed
up and pitted for me.  No problems except loose bolts on the front end through-rod, which slowed us down a bit.”

As an added note, two of the four racers pitted by the Locos Mocos / Total Chaos team enjoyed podium finishes; Dan Vance and Mike Koenig.

Class 1400 (19 starters, 6 finishers)

1418 Kevin McMurray, Peoria, AZ:  “We had a clean race with no real problems except an electrical issue with our radiator cooling fan.  We jumped out in front early and finished with nearly a fourteen minute lead over second place.” When asked about the high attrition rate, McMurray replied, “Some of the guys are just pushing it too hard in the rough sections.  I backed down and took it easy through the slow stuff and went fast in the fast
sections.”

Finishing order for Class 1400:
1418 Kevin McMurray
1419 Tyler Fain
1429 Dan Vance
1446 Ryan Lewis
1420 Russell Hampton
1435 Nathan Strong

Class 1450 (39 starters, 28 finishers)

MDR’s Class 1450 has the same technical requirements and rules as Class 1400, (blowers and turbochargers are LEGAL in both classes!), with the exception that 1450′s are a sportsman class and in this race, only ran three
laps.  (Classes 100, 1400 and 1600 ran four laps.)

Top five in the 1450 Class were:

1451 Steven Herrera
1499 Geoff Falzone
1486 Mike Koenig
1478 Scott Bicknell
1457 Nick Isenhouer

Class 1600 (4 starters, 4 finishers)

1600 Joe Jeffrey
1624 John Manring
1621 Christy Sizelove
1625 Ed Bonanni

Class 1000 (4 starters, 3 finishers)

1025 Kelly Boyle
1056 David Greenhill
1021 Mark Fusting

Class 1200 (6 starters, 5 finishers)

1203 Terry Ingold
1267 Alexa Bilek
1278 Aaron Farkas
1213 Taylor Mofford
1250 Ben Swift

Congratulations to the three women who took home trophies:  Christy Sizelove, 3rd in Class 1600; Kelly Boyle, 1st in Class 1000; and Alexa Bilek, 2nd in Class 1200.

Based on the radio chatter, there were no apparent injuries, accusations, course violations, or other hooliganism to report. Kudos to MDR, for running a successful and fun event.  Kras

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Lucas Off-Road Racing Series Rounds 7 & 8 were held on July 25th and 26th, “under the lights” at Lake Elsinore Motorsports Complex, much to the appreciation of those of us who sweltered through the afternoon races held here nearly a month ago. Attendance figures are not yet available, but Saturday’s crowd was a “sellout” according to LOORRS officials.  From the looks of the grandstands on Sunday, about 75% of the 5000 seats were full; not bad for a Sunday night!  The event was once again, professionally run and for the most part, fast paced with minimal down time between rounds.

During the practice session on Friday, they fell about an hour behind schedule to perform some modifications to the track.  Apparently, the annoying kicker just before Turn 1 – the bump that took out Ampudia and Whelchel last month – needed to be re-groomed.  Ampudia flipped again at almost the same spot on Friday.  Fortunately, his team was able to put everyting back together in time to make the green flag on Saturday.

BIG TRUCKS HAVE BIG TURNOUT

With entries of seventeen Unlimited 2 and ten Unlimited 4 racers, full size truck fans received plenty of bang for their buck.  For the first time in the history of this series, the Unlimited 4′s were able to have an exclusive, “Unlimited 4 only” race.  Previous LOORRS rounds featured combined “Unlimited 2/4″ final events due to low U-4 entry numbers. Breaking this barrier is a giant step for both LOORRS and the short course industry in general.

Making his Unlimited 4 wheel drive class debut in this series, Kyle LeDuc was second fastest qualifier, just .044 seconds behind Carl Renezeder.  Kyle went on to sweep the weekend, finishing first on Saturday and Sunday nights
in his Ford.   Impressive, to say the least, considering that the young LeDuc finished third and fifth in Bark River, Michigan (2222 miles east of Lake Elsinore) the previous weekend.

Alan Pflueger’s #71, (ex-Renezeder) Unlimited 4 wheel drive Chevy was being driven by Mike Johnson, a Hollywood stunt driver who drove for Pflueger in the CORR Series.  Mike had a great weekend, finishing second on Saturday and third on Sunday.

The Herbst boys were there too; Tim & Troy each racing their red Unlimited 4 Fords.  Tim was on the podium both Saturday and Sunday nights, with third and second place trophies, respectively.  Troy had “double nickels”, claiming fifth place both nights.

In Unlimited 2, Todd LeDuc followed Brother Kyle’s lead by sweeping the weekend with two first place finishes in his Ford.  Renezeder was second both Saturday and Sunday.  Third place went to Rodrigo Ampudia on Saturday. In Sunday’s main event, heading into the white flag lap, leader Bryce Menzies looped it in the infield, unfortunately turning his gold to bronze.

Curt LeDuc, (also making his series debut in the #43 Unlimited 4 Ford), was plagued with transmission issues the entire weekend.  Regardless, his incredible skills as a fabricator and team owner were clear and present.

“Although I had some transmission parts failures, the boys ran our good, traditional fast stuff and we got the results we were looking for. The only way my weekend could have gotten better is if I got second behind Kyle so, all in all I’m pretty happy with the outcome.” The elder LeDuc went on to say, “I was excited as a team owner.  On Saturday, I built. well, all three trucks came out of my shop.  I can’t say that I built them but, you know, Robert Naughton’s is one of Kyle’s old trucks, the boys, of course built their own trucks in the shop…  but you know, as bad as I got beat up as a driver, I felt pretty good as a team owner, as a business guy, you know. I’m excited for Rockstar because they got involved with the Series as a sponsor and was sampling.and on Sunday, they swept the (Unlimited) Lites, Chris Brandt won, and the boys so I mean it was a sweep.  For a sponsor to get involved and have that kind of results, it shows that they made the right choices with teams and drivers.”

LITES UNDER THE LIGHTS

Unlimited Lites, (12 entries), was dominated by Brian Deegan for most of Saturday’s race until Rob “Fig” Naughton snuck around in the final turn of the checkered flag lap,  earning a well deserved first place. Chris Brandt rounded out the top three with the third place spot.  Sunday, the podium was shared by Chris Brandt, Brian Deegan, (Uh, that’s M-I-L-I-T-I-A!) and Chuck Dempsey; first, second and third respectively.

Super Lites, with 9 entries went to Ricky James, Dawson Kirchner and Andrew Comriepicard on Saturday.  Sunday’s winners were Ricky James, John Harrah and Chad Leising.  Quote of the day goes to Ricky James, who lost the use of his legs in a motocross crash several years ago: “If I keep this up, you guys are going to have to build a ramp to the podium!”

DRIVE ME BUGGY

In the Unlimited Buggy Class, Saturday’s top three were Greg George, Mike Dondel and Rich Ronco. Sunday’s winners were Mike Dondel, Cameron Steele and Rich Ronco.

Limited Buggy winners were John Fitzgerald, Bruce Fraley and Curt Geer on Saturday, Bruce Fraley, John Fitzgerald and Sean Geiser on Sunday.

Additional details are available at Lucas Oil Off Road Website

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June 27th & 28th, 2009

Lake Elsinore, CA

Under clear skies and 103º of “dry” heat, Rounds 5 & 6 of the Lucas Off Road Racing Series (LOORRS) were held on a brand spanking new track along the south shore of Lake Elsinore.  It was almost as if they were racing in the lake bed, with the microfine silt underfoot.  The Lucas Track Crew had the course watered and compacted to perfection.  When this venue was first announced, many of the Internet “mouse racers” commented that it would never work.

Lucas laid out a nice mile of race course; a dragstrip longer than the three quarter mile TORC course at Perris a month ago.  Turn One was a 180 degree,  slightly banked hairpin to the infield,  crossing over a tabletop jump to a tight hairpin in Turn Two.  A few more jumps led to a higher banked sweeper in Turn Three, then came the fast, “wide open throttle” twin jump back straight.  There was a heck of an off-camber kicker leading into Turn Four, which “educated” many racers.  Some landed outside of the left sweeper, some nosed in and one or two ended up on their lids on Practice Day.  Turn Five was a much smaller U-turn, almost a vee shaped chicane requiring a brake check as they headed into Turn Six and the front straightaway.  A couple of rollers in front of the grandstands had the spectators quite focused, especially on the nasty kicker going back into Turn One.

That little hump really caused a ruckus, ending Rodrigo Ampudia’s Unlimited 2 race on Saturday with a World class triple endo on his White Flag Lap.  The same annoying “topé” also abbreviated Jerry Whelchel’s U-2 Race on Sunday when he “augered in”, just after completing his 11th lap.  Both drivers escaped uninjured, although the looks of the hardware would lead one to believe otherwise.

Whelchel didn’t run in the combined Unlimited 2/4 final event on Saturday.  I overheard in the Press Box that the Team made this decision to avoid unnecessary wear and tear on the truck and drivetrain.  An overall win is difficult against the faster Unlimited 4 trucks and Jerry already had a comfortable lead in points.  It’s likely that he still does, despite his U-2 Race on Sunday being cut short by a few laps.

Maybe some time this season we’ll see enough U-4 entries to facilitate a challenging race of their own. It’s a real show, watching them claw their way through the turns, breaking the Eleventh Commandment; “Always turn into the direction of the skid.” Hopefully, this unique and highly competitive class will survive.

The fastest laps in the Unlimited 4 class went to Renezeder both days.  In Unlimited 2, Carl had the fast lap on Saturday and #99; Robby Woods claimed the fastest on Sunday.   As one of the earlier referenced victims of Turn Four during practice on Friday, Woods was able to pull it together and run an extremely impressive race on Sunday.

“We started in sixth position, immediately moved up to fifth and by Lap Three, we were in second…a position which we held for seven of twelve completed laps.   Friday’s roll created some gremlins such as oil pump cavitation and oil-soaked wiring, which ended our race early.” Woods, the owner, builder and driver went on to say, “Our team is made up of five volunteers with limited experience, racing a home-built truck which was backed off of the trailer for only it’s seventh time this weekend.  Thanks to the help of Billy Schlieper of Pro Power Engines, we have been able to run competitively in this Series.  Billy’s our engine builder but has also spent countless hours working with us on the drivetrain, suspension and setup of the truck.”

Also worthy of mention is another rising star, 16 year old Joey “Jojo” Granatelli. In a phone interview with his father, Joe Granatelli, we spoke of Joey’s Super Lite podium finish on Sunday.

“Joey just returned from Virginia where on June 17th, he won his first Bertil Roos Series Race (open wheel mini Indy cars) on his first time out. Obviously, he is really excited about his first podium finish in the Super Lite Series.  After three years in Karts, he got his license and made the move to Super Lite this year.  We plan to follow the natural progression of the Series and move up to Unlimited Lite next year, then on to Unlimited 2.”

The proud father went on to voice his (prompted) opinion of having two promoters and two short course series’; “You know, I was there for the Indy Car / IRL debacle and from a purist’s standpoint, I don’t like it.  It would be nice to see the ‘best of the best’ racing against each other but if they must remain divided, they should schedule their respective races so the teams wouldn’t have to be in Appleton, Wisconsin one weekend and Perris, California or Phoenix, Arizona on the next.  My own kid turns on the TV on Saturday to watch short course racing and he doesn’t know what race he’s watching or who to root for.  At least Indy has a great following.  Short course needs more momentum and I don’t think it’s going to happen with such a small fan base”, the elder Granatelli said.

That being said, LOORRS reports attendance of 7500 for the Saturday event, 5900 on Sunday.  Although I am unsure of the facility’s exact capacity, there were 7000 bleacher seats with additional seating in the VIP areas and “Cool Zones”, which are large tents at track level housing few hundred seats each.

There’s a very strong possibility that the next LOORRS Race, (July 25th and 26th at Lake Elsinore), will be a night race so if you plan to attend, adjust your schedule accordingly.

Here’s a quick rundown on the results:

Unlimited 2 Saturday: Renezeder, Adler, Whelchel

Unlimited 2 Sunday: Ward, Adler, Dondel

Unlimited 4 Saturday: Renezeder, Coyne, Herbst

Unlimited 4 Sunday: Renezeder, Herbst, Pflueger

Unlimited Lite Saturday: Deegan, Ampudia, Naughton

Unlimited Lite Sunday: Naughton, Cuffaro, Brandt

Super Lite Saturday: Leising, Harrah, Bailey

Super Lite Sunday: Harrah, Granatelli, Leising

Unlimited Buggy Saturday: Job, Pointon, Halliday

Unlimited Buggy Sunday: Job, Dondel, Halliday

Limited Buggy Saturday: Geiser, Pangborn, Fraley

Limited Buggy Sunday: Geiser, Fraley, Menzies

Detailed results are at the LOORRS Website

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IF YOU AIN’T CHEATIN’, YOU AIN’T RACIN’
“King” Richard Petty

Although it’s absurd to compare roundy-round racing with anything off-road, the great Richard Petty’s quote on cheating is universal. My father always said, “You can’t turn a bad deal into a good deal“.   I never really listened to him though.  There’s a story here and I can’t resist telling it! The definition of the word “Cheat”, according to Websters.com, includes the following; “to defraud, swindle, deceive, influence by fraud, elude, deprive of something expected, violate rules or regulations…“

Sounds bad, huh?  Sure, some of the drivers break the rules and many of the rules have been long overlooked.  Recent breaking news is that the rules now are actually being enforced and man, has it changed the outcome of the 2009 SCORE Baja 500.  Some are saying that it will change SCORE racing as we know it…I agree.

“It’s our job to cheat; it’s their job to catch us”

There have been some classic cheater tricks through the years.  I’m not talking about mundane things like heat-reactive-accelerant lined intake manifolds, ride-height violations, body profile mods, “missing” oil tank caps and overly toed-in differential housings. Flat trackers can’t cut the infield at 200+ MPH or stop on a hot course to take a quick splash of fuel. Off-road racing is a totally different animal and that’s what I dig about it.
Let’s start with the nuts & bolts.

functioning yellow light

We’ve all likely heard of hidden on-off switches for dust lights and brake lights, used to slow and confuse competitors trying to “reel you in”.   Here’s a twist… At a recent short-course event, I noticed one of the racers with his brake lights ”stuck” ON!  Think about how this would affect your race, following this guy nose-to-tail through the hairpins & whoops, never knowing whether he’s on or off the long pedal.  Oddly enough, in the pits after that particular heat, the brake lights seemed to be working fine. It’s simple; the mud must have cleared from the pedal switch, right?  Wait, they use hydraulic pressure switches, don’t they?  I’ll have to check next time.

1600cc VW long block

In the limited displacement classes, rumors of “cheater” engines have been around for years.  Start with three 1835 “Big Bore” cylinder kits and one stock bore 1600 jug, put ‘em together for an extra fast VW pancake power plant.  Sure, it’s a rough running, out-of-balance, self destructing, single-use S.O.B., but when you get to post-tech after spanking the entire class,  the tech guy tells you or your crew to “pull any spark plug” so he can “cc” a cylinder. The standard sized hole gets tested and you’re home free… It’s a1600!

“It’s only cheating if you get caught”

Best in the Desert events have a “qualifying” session before their races, where many of the entrants will be timed on a short section to establish the starting order.  This is always scheduled BEFORE pre-race technical inspection so you can imagine the possibilities.  One story involved the use of Nitrous Oxide, but the “juice” added so much power that excessive wheel spin actually caused the car to be slower and more difficult to handle.

In the “Pushing it to the Limit” department, at the Laughlin Pit Competition several years ago, a well known team was said to have installed shorter limit straps on their car to substantially cut the time needed to jack the wheels off of the ground.  They completed the competition in record time, taking home a substantial cash prize as a result. Was this cheating or just plain good prep?

How about the winning Trophy Truck at the 2004 Baja 1000?   This was the first year of SCORE’s mandated 60 MPH highway speed limit.  This particular Trophy Truck team, (racing a mildly modified ProTruck, no less!) capitalized on the rule change, designing a “fuel on the fly” system.  A chase truck was used to “push” the TT at the mandated 60 MPH speed while a brilliantly engineered, forward-mounted snout “mated” with the TT’s aft mounted fuel filler neck, dumping a fast {{pressurized!}} load of fuel.   As a result, SCORE’s “No Fueling on the Highway” rule was added to the book.   Good move on their part, I say.   Although it was a great idea, (a major factor in earning the win), everything about it spells danger.  Pressurized fuel and intermittent contact between moving vehicles (MAJOR static electricity issues!) would bring Murphy’s Law into effect in short order.

In 2007 at The Baja 1000, some guy just hopped on course on a motorcycle, sporting a number which was already entered in the race.  This clown never entered, didn’t pay an entry fee and most likely, didn’t follow the entire course.  He did cross the Finish Line in Cabo and was said to be bragging that he rode the entire race “solo”, including the trip from his home in San Clemente.   No comment.

Many years ago, in the area west and south of Mike’s Sky Ranch, the Baja 1000 course was routed along a zig-zag fence line around a local vineyard. A veteran Indy Car Racer, while doing some “creative” prerunning, found a locked gate to the property.  He was able to “cut a deal” with the vineyard’s owner to have a worker on site to open, then close and lock said gate at the appropriate time, providing an exclusive shortcut directly through the owner’s property.  Talk about “straightening out the line”!

With the addition of tracking devices, a whole new world opens up for those who choose to skirt the regs. You’re at your computer monitoring the tracker site. A car, truck or bike completely disappears from your screen and then after time, suddenly pops back up several miles downcourse?  What happened? Bad satellite signal?  Bad GPS reception?  Computer glitch?  Something blocking the antenna?  SOMETHING BLOCKING THE ANTENNA?    Who hasn’t thought of that?

“Deep pockets can only get you so far…. cheating is the next level.”

SCORE International Rule Book

Let’s talk about air support.  This is really getting out of hand.  SCORE’s Rulebook has clear language regarding the use of aircraft for team support: ”Transmissions from any aircraft to any race or support vehicle(s) are not allowed unless the aircraft is being used solely as a manual or digital repeater for ground crews (a manual or digital repeater is defined as a device or person that transmits messages unchanged from one person to another).”  The rules go on to say, “No aircraft may be used to drop parts, tools, mechanics, pit support personnel, or otherwise create an unfair advantage over non-aircraft support entries”.   Enough said…

The bike guys have a few stories of their own.  Leaders have been rumored to ”kick down” the course markers during races.  Back in the two-stroke days, top-end rebuilds were about a 20 minute job, easily performed in chase vans between checkpoints  Engine changes were not uncommon, (in the mid-late 80′s, Husky used identical blocks for the 250 and 360 cc engines)  and even complete bike changes were said to have occurred.

One seasoned bike racer told me that they used to prerun backwards, (NOT advised!), in order to determine other cheaters’ course entry points.  It’s simple; when leaving the designated course, riders would take extra care not to leave any evidence of the shortcut entry points to avoid giving them away to other teams.  When re-entering the course however, tire tracks and ”roost” marks were easily identifiable, especially when searching for the evidence face-on.

“Rules are made to be broken”

As long as we have rules, people will break them.  As our sport progresses, racers will find new ways to skirt the rules.  Compare it the IRS.  As loopholes are found, the rule book gets thicker.

State and Federal Regulations place our sport in further jeapordy with each new mandate. Will we self-destruct due to our own growing list of rules?  Hopefully not!

Play nice now!

Well, not exactly. The finishing order is yet to be determined, pending
review of the IRC Tracker’s data files.  Allegations of course cutting and
rules violations have cast a shadow over, perhaps, one of the most vicious
battles ever for the four wheel overall win of the 2009 SCORE International
Baja 500.

At the Awards Ceremony on Sunday, June 7th, after announcing that the posted
results were NOT final, Sal Fish, President of SCORE was said to have made a
speech about the need to put “teeth” back into our sport.  Official results
are due on Thursday, June 11th.

Who are the alleged perps?  None other than Robby Gordon and BJ Baldwin; one
of the “best bet” quinelas in our beloved sport.  They were neck-in-neck at
Race Mile 322 with BJ four minutes ahead of Robby.  TT #8 (Roessler/Norman)
and TT #19 (Herbst) were battling for third.  First place finisher Robby
Gordon and runner-up BJ Baldwin were less than 5 minutes apart at the
checkers, (Robby 8:35:49 vs. BJ 8:40:34), with the team of Roger Norman and
Larry Roessler exactly one minute behind Baldwin according to the
“Unofficial Results” released by SCORE on June 7th.  The Press Release
included the following language:

“SCORE has stated that results will become final and official after the
extensive IRC tracking data has been completely reviewed.  Any infractions
will modify the results and final results will be posted on the SCORE
website by Thursday, June 11″

As leaders Baldwin and Gordon entered the beach section at Erendira, TT
#8′s, (Norman / Roessler) helicopter boomed over the airwaves; “SCORE Ops,
are you going to be DQ’ing for cutting the fence line at Erendira?”  Ops
replied that it would be a Competition Review Board (CRB) issue and
recommended that they file a protest. Being in such close contention, (TT #8
finished exactly 1 minute behind Baldwin), was this an attempt to gather
intelligence for the team so that they too, could take the “cheater” line?
Would there have been time for the helo to communicate this information to
Norman’s pit so that they could relay same to the race truck?  (SCORE
regulations specify that NO direct communications are allowed between air
support units and race vehicles).

Another issue which has the forums buzzing is Robby’s crew refueling him at
the highway section entry in Llano Colorado.   What rule did they violate?
I’m no attorney but SCORE Regulation GPT 8 states, “All pits must be fifty
feet (50′) off the edge of the race course. No pit may be in the first fifty
feet (50′) leading into and the first one hundred feet (100′) leading out of
any turn.  Find the link to the video on RDC and decide on this one or
yourself.

Want more?  One report alleges that Robby “cut the course and took a much
faster way to the Finish out of Ojos”.  Others say that he was speeding in
numerous locations and it was witnessed by law enforcement officials.  One
racer mentioned that Robby “intentionally” roosted a Baja Fools Pit,
coincidentally the same group who reported Robby’s course-cutting incident
at the San Felipe 250 last March.

Fourth place finisher, Robbie Pierce, shared driving duties with Mike Julson
in the #35 Master Craft Trophy Truck and was ten minutes behind Norman.  You
can bet that they’re anxiously awaiting the final results on Thursday!

Amidst all of the protests, allegations, accusations and perhaps a little
bending of the rules, let us not forget what started this all.  A simple
Race…two checkpoints…start in Tijuana, finish at the telegraph office in
La
Paz.  First telegram wins.

We’re victims of progress and we’re stuck with it.

I still love it!

Quick rundown on other classes:

Class One had a great race between first place Harley Letner / Cory Halepoff
and second place winners Armin Schwartz / Martin Christiansen, with a time
difference of just over two minutes.  Third place was awarded to the team of
Armin Kremer and Andreas Aigner, both accomplished rally drivers.  (Anyone
see the Start where Armin Schwartz “railed” the first turn?  Amazing!)

Class 1-2/1600 went to Eric Duran, Arnoldo Ramirez and Dave Caspino.

Class 3: Darren Skilton, Gerardo Barragan.

Class 5: Kevin Carr, Shaun Dunbar.

Class 5/1600: Alanso Angulo, Miguel Rosales and Marcos Nunez.

Class 6: Robert Pickering, Heidi Steele.

Class 7: Dan Chamlee, Aaron Celicio, Bill Kunz.

Class 7SX: John Holmes, Oscar Solaiza.

Class 8: Rodrigo Ampudia, Clyde Stacey.

Class 9: Daniel Reyes Jr.

Class 10: Mikey Lawrence (16th overall in a ten car!), Will Higman, Tito
Robles.

Class 12: Lee Banning, Brent Parkhouse, John Langley.

Class 11: Eric Solorzano, Rene Rodriguez.

Stock Full: Joe Bacal (The Lexus!)

Stock Mini: Gavin Skilton.

Pro Truck:  Rob Kittleson .

TORC Series Rounds 3 & 4

May 29th & 30th

Perris Auto Speedway

June 2, 2009 by Greg Krasnow

Fans meet drivers before the big race

I was a volunteer with the track crew, helping with the setup and teardown. This works well for me because all the work is done before and after the event. I can actually watch the race, have a peek behind the scenes, get a free lunch or two, free admission plus the usual shwag.

Admission seemed a little steep at $35 for adults, $10 for youths (11-15 years old) and kids under 10 free. Apparently not too expensive though; they filled about 4000 seats on Friday night for Round 3 and an estimated 6500 for Round 4 on Saturday. An “all access” pit pass would set you back $80 for the weekend or $40 on Saturday only. Regardless, the pits were packed with spectators who, I believe, got their money’s worth.

According to Shannon Boothe, Director of Operations for TORC, “Unlike Rounds One and Two in Texas, TORC did not have control of Pit Passes or gate admission here at Perris. With the exception of these issues, Rounds Three and Four were a huge success. The drivers really liked the technical course and the overall organization of the event.”

It should also be noted that there were no sponsorship issues whatsoever, with many competing products represented by their sponsored racers. Travis Coyne, however, was absent from the weekend’s race event.

The course was built on the half mile, slightly banked clay oval, with a “U” cut in the infield after turn three. Several smaller jumps, a “rhythm” section and a few nasty whoops were groomed into the infield with three or four “showtime” jumps on the front straightaway and several smaller ones on the backstretch. Visibility was 100% from any one of the estimated 8000 seats. Considering the large crowd, there was little or no waiting at the food and beverage counters. Between the races, the rest room lines stacked up pretty deep, but again, this was a function of the facility itself, not the TORC Organizers.

The announcers, Wes Kain and Tim “Dirty” Sanchez (inappropriate moniker for a family event) did a good job on the play-by-play. Commentary was easily heard throughout the entire facility, credit the the in-house 60,000 watt PA system.

We could have easily done without Wes’s frequent cheesy innuendo such as “Metal Mulisha’s gonna bash that truck back into shape with brass knuckles and chains” and other references to gang-like violence. Parents spend hard-earned money to treat their kids to a night of racing in order to keep them off the streets. Clean it up guys.

Being USAC sanctioned, the seasoned organization did an excellent job of running the program in a timely and professional manner. The technical inspection, both pre and post race seemed efficient; although since drivers needed to be present for post-tech, it was late in the evening before this was accomplished. Vehicles placing first, second and third were required to proceed directly to post-tech while the winning drivers conducted interviews at the Podium…an obvious priority.

Pro4 battle

The Pro 4×4 truck class had a field of eight, which put on a great show for the crowd. Friday night, Johnny Greaves, Scott Douglas and Kyle LeDuc finished first, second and third respectively. Saturday night’s Pro 4×4 race was riddled with carnage and mechanical issues, leaving only Rick Huseman, Johnny Greaves and Scott Douglas in the hunt on the last few laps. They finished in that order.

Pro 2WD trucks featured twelve starters and one winner; Ricky Johnson on both nights, followed by Rob MacCachren and Todd LeDuc on Friday, Jeremy McGrath and Dan Vanden Heuvel, Sr. on Saturday. (Yeah, I know what you’re thinking-more on this later)

Pro Light Trucks made their TORC debut in Perris with an impressive field of eighteen entries, including yet, another LeDuc; daughter, Valerie. Friday’s gold, silver and bronze medals were won by Jeff Kincaid, Kyle LeDuc and Chad Hord respectively. On Saturday, Chad Hord, Kyle LeDuc and Casey Currie took home the first, second and third place trophies.

Pro Super Buggy was all about Doug Fortin, taking the top step of the podium on Friday and Saturday nights. Second was Greg George, followed by Randy Minner and John Holmes; same order both nights.

1600 Buggy Class, also racing for the first time in TORC, was represented by a field of nine entries. Curt Geer, John Fitzgerald and Reno Navera took home trophies Friday night, with Saturday’s winners being Fitzgerald, Team of Pangborn & Rayford and Curt Geer.

Ricky Johnson pleased with his race result

Okay, here’s the deal on Ricky Johnson “RJ” winning his own races. First of all, he’s FAST! Watching RJ, Rob Mac, Todd LeDuc & Jeremy McGrath fight for the win in their energy drink sponsored hot rods is absolute art in motion. See it for yourself when you can.

Ricky Johnson is under contract with his sponsor to race this year and he’s doing just that. His role as a promoter surfaced long after the sponsorship agreement was inked. USAC is the buffer….they enforce the rules.

Short Course racing is back and with two different series and there’s plenty of action. I’d sure like to see some kind of “Super Bowl” at the end of the season, where the fast guys from one meet the fast guys from the other…..you know who you are!

Follow the TORC points standing on RDC’s GRID

[Show as slideshow]