V2R Update- We were off to a late start. It’s 12 noon on Friday 8/22. It’s already over 100 degrees. There are over 319 entries here. We always knew our truck was underpowered but this is ridiculous. The combination of deep sand and an uphill grade make it impossible to go over 40 mph. We are nursing the engine to keep it under 240 degrees. Stewart is driving and he states “We can’t even race!” as we watch four trucks pass us. The track starts to level out now and going downhill we were able to pick up speed. We are making up time and the front end is handling the track easily. Maintaining speed through this section kept us in the race.
After Pit #2 we start to see people broken down. We are now in 2nd place. Engine temperature is still a real problem. Stewart has to slow down every time the temp hits 240. It takes up to 5 minutes to cool down at 1/2 throttle.
Pit #4 there are two crews helping us check out the truck. They find loose wheel bearings. Quickly they pull out bearings, re-pack, tighten, and replace missing dust cover with a water bottle and duct tape, good job too… bad inner bearing is completely gone too! Also, tightened loose crush nuts on beams and we’re back in the race.
Five miles later the front end lets go. See Tech Tip #1. We worked on the truck for 3-4 hours and it’s getting dark now. The race is over for us around 7:30pm. Time for a steak dinner in Tonopah. We have not seen the final results but we think we still placed 4th.
Lost Boys Racing 