2012 BITD Blue Water Desert Challenge
Parker Arizona…….We came, we saw, we got defeated…….again!!
Thursday morning, Stewart showed up with the truck, ready to qualify for the 2012 BITD Blue Water Desert Challenge. We showed up at the Blue Water Casino to register for the race as well as qualifying. We were set to start fourth in qualifying. We arrived back at the truck and began prepping it for qualifying. We added a splash of fuel, just enough for the 3 mile qualifying lap, removing the rear tires to lighten the truck enough to hopefully gain some ground. The rain was relentless. Mother Nature decided to open up and water down the track, adding for a little dust control. It didn’t help. Our first lap around was good. It was definitely a lot better than our second lap. Due to the heavy rains, the generator that Casey Folks was using to operate the red and green lights at the start line, malfunctioned and we probably lost a few seconds at the start line. Due to unknown reasons Casey combined the 7200 class and the 1000 class vehicles together. All in all, we settled for a 13th place qualifying spot, starting next the 12th place starter, Randy Merritt, #7281 of KC HiLites/Mongo Racing.
Saturday morning, October 13th, we enjoyed watching the 1st race and then began setting the truck up for the race. Completing our normal, pre-race check list, the truck was ready. Stewart Dixon got into the driver’s seat and Derek Dixon was navigating. They warmed the truck up and staged for the 3rd race. Staging was at 9:45am and race time was 10:15am. We lined up and hung out with the Lost Boys crew, waiting for the time to start our engines and take to the start line. 10:15a.m. rolls around and we start the race next to Randy Merritt. We got the green light and the race has begun! The start of the race was more set up for buggies and not a 6,000 pound truck with a 540 horse power engine. We were bogging down and bogging down bad. We lost off the start line to Mongo Racing but this was about combined times. We still had Sundays to race to better our final position. The truck was holding up. The race course was a 3 lap race. The first and second laps were 26 mile loops with the last lap being 21 miles for a total of 73 miles. We were keeping a average pace at an average of 33 minutes a lap. Stewart and Derek passed Gary Dixon, Jeff McCullough and Kevyn Thaxton in the hot pit, while they were yelling into the PCI radio, it was difficult to understand what Stewart was saying. We attempted to reach them but they were gone. We were going to finish the first race! Looks like Parker isn’t going to get us this time.. WRONG! We went to the Ford Mesa, to watch the 7200 class trucks and 1000 vehicles come to the finish line. At 1 hour and 39 minutes, Lost Boys #7205 unlimited Ford crossed the finish line. Unfortunately, Parker beat us again at their own race….AGAIN!! Four turns from the finish line, Stewart heard a pop in the engine and lost all horsepower. They pulled it into the Ford Mesa, smoke billowing from the engine breather. We were done! We burned up our piston rings. Will there ever be a moment where Lost Boys Racing will beat Parker Arizona at its own race? Stay tuned for the Parker 425 in February.
We hung out at camp and enjoyed everyone’s company. We barbequed! We ate! We had a good time with friends and family. The kids had a great time swimming in the river, and we relaxed. Lost Boys Racing may have lost the 2012 BITD Blue Water Desert Challenge, but having our friends and family out there, cheering us on, WE WON! Next on our agenda, 2012 BITD Henderson 250, November 30th-December 2nd.
Stay Tuned for Blue Water Challenge photos coming soon.
Mint 400 Part 2
Trying to race three cars wasn’t the best idea. We ended up going in too many directions. Since two of the cars were in the morning race we were up early getting Derek and Jeff started then we were off to pit #2 but we also needed people at the main pit to prep the 7200 truck, It worked out fine but some things were sacrificed.
Derek completed the race in 14th overall and 1st in class. The class 9 prep by Doug, Stewart, and Butch paid off. Derek drove at a conservative pace which paid off and still finished 14th. Jeff and the AMC Hornet were off to a bad start, leaking through a bad oil cooler behind the seats. I think they could have finished the race but would have probably finished the car. We weren’t aware of it but the motor was seizing. 1 ½ laps or 150 miles and they are out. The car lived to race another day.
At noon it was time to race the 7200 truck pre-stage behind the railroad tracks. We were set to race around 1:30 pm. It was a side by side start. Our truck locked up quickly by the 1st turn and we were out front by three truck lengths. As we made the last turn to go out into the desert we hit the soft sand and our 5700 lb truck turns into a bulldozer. 540 HP going to waste in a truck that is too heavy for this part of the course. We were passed up quickly.
Back on the hard pack we were picking up speed but something is different about the truck. What is this? At the top of every roller there is a sharp jolt going right through our backs. What is this? Never mind, just man up and race. Sort the same mentality as not asking for directions when you’re lost.
The truck is fast and we passed vehicles already while making our 5th pass in 20 miles. We clipped one of the trucks with the front end. It mostly filled the engine compartment with rocks because it rolled the power steering belt off the pulley and turned the belt inside out.
We needed to change the belts on a very hot engine including the alternator belt which was in the way. It took 30-45 minutes to fix then we are back up to speed again behind a white truck at 40-50 MPH. The truck in front of us clips a large rock and spun it under us taking out two tires only 10 minutes later. You can see where this day is going.
Changed two tires and were off. This was still lap one and three more to go. The truck tops out at about 115 MPH and the adjustment Stewart made to our cooling system is working great full throttle and we are hitting 210 degrees on lap two.
Something was still wrong with our set up and my back felt it. But I hadn’t figured it out. The rear end lets go on lap two. We snapped the locating arm bolt. To fix this under load we needed to lift the rear end of the truck off the ground. We stacked up two tires under the rear bumper and placed our jack under that to raise up the whole rear end and put in a new bolt. We were going to drive into pit one and fix it again. After asking everyone for parts fixed again with the right bolts and misaligned cams.
At this point Stewart was already done keeping this truck together, it’s becoming a full time job and without any finishes no one cares if we go.
We are off to the main pit to finish lap two and the rear end breaks again for the same reason. We rolled into the main pit and got out. We are done now, the arm is also almost through the fuel cell this time.
What did we change this race? The compression on all four corners too loosen up the suspension and use every inch of travel we have. It was the wrong choice for the track and both the truck and I paid the price- my back locked up on me and I couldn’t stand up straight for two days.
Why didn’t we stop and fix this during the race??
Our next race is the NORRA 1000 in Baja.
The Mint 400 Photo Gallery
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Mint 400 Part 1
I have always liked racing the Mint 400, it’s a chance to meet real off road race fans. Thousands of people came out Wednesday before the event to watch the pit crew change on Fremont St. On Thursday afternoon 10,000 fans walked down Fremont Plaza to see every race vehicle up close and to meet the drivers and crew. There was standing room only and we handed out 600 posters—what a hit with the kids. Check it out:
On Friday afternoon it was time to tech our vehicles. The AMC Hornet is center stage at the General Tire press conference where they announced that they will now be the official sponsor of the Mexican 1000 (NORRA 1000.) Jeff McCullough’s AMC is the only vintage car to race the Mint 400.
We entered tech at 9th St. and head towards the Plaza Hotel. We started pushing at 6th St. uphill. There were plenty of people to help since the Plaza was still full of people. There were vendors on both sides of the street, there must have been 80 different companies there.
It’s a lot of work getting three vehicles through the tech inspection but we finished around 4pm. But we weren’t done yet we needed to pick up race fuel at the race track 45 minutes away. Chris and Larry volunteered to pick it up.
I could write an entire story on the helmet we gave to Casey (owner of Best in the Desert) but not today. It arrived in Vegas at 8pm and the driver’s meeting was almost over. I really didn’t think it was going to make it. Derek walked in with the helmet and we took it out of the box where no one else could see. I think there were 2,000 racers at the meeting. The helmet was perfect. Eric Wilmer pulled it off. It was a totally custom helmet to commemorate the first Mint 400 to be led by Best in the Desert and Casey Folks. Eric, thanks for all your hard work. You should have seen the surprised look on Casey’s face.
Wait a minute, I almost forgot the party! Now on to the hot laps with General Tires’ VIP’s. The details on this party are a little… fuzzy. You may be able to piece together the whole night by getting each crew members’ account of the evening. It was held upstairs in the Gold Digger Bar. We spent the night with our own table overlooking Fremont Plaza with free drinks all night and off road videos playing. Last call was at 1:30am and it was time for bed.
Race Day- Started at 4am. BLM’s estimate for spectators was over 25,000 for Saturday alone.
It’s a long drive to Primm and the traffic starts as soon as we hit the dirt going to the Start. Derek and Jeff were in the first race with a 6am start in the dark.
Jeff Marciano and I got fuel for everyone. The AMC gets only 4 or 5 miles per gallon but the 9 car can run all day. We didn’t get to see the start but were getting reports back saying the track is full of large rocks like someone placed them there. But after one lap they’re gone.
Stay tuned for part 2.
Upcoming Race: Parker 425
Anyone who’s interesting in coming out to the race to either help or watch give us a call at the office 951-672-992. Go to Best in the Desert for all the details.
Behind the Scenes
First lap at Blue Water Desert Challenge 2011.
Vegas to Reno Photo Gallery
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Silverstate 300
We are heading to Vegas! Keep checking back for updates.
Parker 425 Recap
We tested on Monday for two hours, focusing in on the rear arms to see if they were going to bend again. Everything looked fine.
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Contingency:
We were off to a slow start, it was very cold the night before and our heater went out, somewhere around 29 degrees. We were entering two vehicles, the Lost Boys Truck #7205 and #938 our Class 9. It took all day to finish tech. There were somewhere around 300 vehicles at the race. The driver’s meeting started at 6:30am. Everyone was there and the building was completely full, including Robbie Gordon, Andy McMillan, and Jesse James. The meeting was very long with more new rules, it seems like there are changes every year. No one live pits, 25 mph parades this year.
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Race Day:
At 5:00am Saturday it was rime to get up and put on our race suits. Pre-staging started at 6:15am at the Casino and then we paraded down to the start. From our truck we could hear the start of the top 20. We left the start line one minute apart starting at 8am. Just before the green light a pastor from Racers for Christ gave us an opportunity for prayer. We were at the start light around 9:30am where Casey greeted all the racers. We were finally ready to do battle with the “soft, sandy” desert floor of the Parker 425.
Just off the start we hit 80 mph and started to slow down for the first turn. We noticed our first problem- the intercom was not working properly and we could not hear each other. It looked like hand signals from there on out. The truck was running excellent with 540 horsepower, it pulled hard through every turn.
We ran on our first set of sponsored BF Goodrich tires. They were excellent. Traction in Parker has always been important. And with the new KRT projects in the rear we had no problems. (Video #2)
We passed four trucks in the first 20 miles.
Our truck weighs in at around 5,700 lbs, how fast do you think it could possibly be weighing that much? I clocked it on our GPS at 100 mph, uphill on Powerline Rd.
The course had a combination of everything, deep sand, deep ruts, high speed fire roads, riverbeds full of trees, blind uphill turns, and solid rock goat trails. At mile marker 120 the engine started to misfire but all the gauges looked OK.
For the 7200 truck that nerfed us on a 40’ wide road, you were only running on five cylinders, so congrats on a terrific pass. We made it to the main pit and it was time to check out the engine and fill up with race fuel. We couldn’t find anything wrong but the engine was still missing at low rpm’s. We completed 93 more miles running wide open trying to keep the engine running at the high rpm. We had never driven this hard for anything but my back was screaming, “slow down!” I think we were driving just as fact on five cylinders as we did with six.
At mile marker 90 on the 2nd lap we lose more power and oil pressure, it was down to 30 lbs. We rolled into the midway pit to try and fix it one more time but at that point the truck and I were both ready for the trailer.
Overall, the truck is capable at keeping up with anyone in our class. I hope someday we can finish a race and prove it.
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Lost Boys Racing 