Knock, knock, is the sound of a Mint-400 opportunity that I can't pass up.
- CentralWAbaja
- Posts: 4278
- Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:05 pm
Knock, knock, is the sound of a Mint-400 opportunity that I can't pass up.
Not really even sure how it came about but Ray Promer posted up in the Class5Coalition.com site that he had a right seat open for 1/2 of the MINT400. For those of you that don't know, this is the only car out there that is as wide if not wider then mine, so I think I might fit in it I jokingly responded something like that and next thing you know my wheels start spinning and after a weekend of discussing things with the wife and family "I'm In." Details to follow in the next couple weeks.
FWIW....I blame all of you guys
2012 Mint-400 STF gang
FWIW....I blame all of you guys
2012 Mint-400 STF gang
Last edited by CentralWAbaja on Sun Feb 19, 2017 8:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
It is not Mickey Moused.....It's Desert Engineered!
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Re: Knock, knock, is the sound of a Mint-400 opportunity that I can't pass up.
Make sure you have a couple boxes of Depends with you . To be honest, this is going to be great experience/introduction to the sport; good luck; keep your harness tight and your eyes open and be aware.
Lee
Lee
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Re: Knock, knock, is the sound of a Mint-400 opportunity that I can't pass up.
Awesome CWB, have the time of your life.
Ed
Ed
- Leatherneck
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Re: Knock, knock, is the sound of a Mint-400 opportunity that I can't pass up.
This should be interesting for sure. Going from watching to riding, who knows what is next.
- TimS
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- Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 10:11 pm
Re: Knock, knock, is the sound of a Mint-400 opportunity that I can't pass up.
Wish I could be there to cheer you on. Sounds like a good time. Enjoy!
Don’t ever yield your gift of dream; Your knack for gumption, too. For “It’s the crazy ones that have all the fun," if dreamers yearn to do.
- kyle_pc_75
- Posts: 1804
- Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2009 6:20 pm
Re: Knock, knock, is the sound of a Mint-400 opportunity that I can't pass up.
Wave at us! We'll be there at a double check at both MM 52 and 57, the Blackleys will be at the road crossing right after us. Looks like the car # is 5013, any recent pics?
- CentralWAbaja
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Re: Knock, knock, is the sound of a Mint-400 opportunity that I can't pass up.
Correct on the car 5013. All black Steve Griffith built Grasshopper style that is widened out a little. As for recent pics, the last ones I seen was a pile of stickers laying on the floor ready for the next batch. lol
We are not do any graphics for him as this was just way to short notice and really I think he has all the equipment to do the stuff himself...in fact he texted me last night to ask the correct spelling of my last name for the side of the car....wow! that was different haha.
Here, stolen from Rays C5C build page
great picture from robby midea .
We are not do any graphics for him as this was just way to short notice and really I think he has all the equipment to do the stuff himself...in fact he texted me last night to ask the correct spelling of my last name for the side of the car....wow! that was different haha.
Here, stolen from Rays C5C build page
great picture from robby midea .
It is not Mickey Moused.....It's Desert Engineered!
- kyle_pc_75
- Posts: 1804
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Re: Knock, knock, is the sound of a Mint-400 opportunity that I can't pass up.
Sweet! What radio freq are you guys running?
- bajaherbie
- Posts: 9959
- Joined: Sat Jul 15, 2006 7:07 pm
Re: Knock, knock, is the sound of a Mint-400 opportunity that I can't pass up.
Steve Griffith is a nice guy, met him at a Texas race, he built Steve Tyos 5 car (now owned by someone else).
Sent from my SM-G920R4 using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G920R4 using Tapatalk
Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.
- CentralWAbaja
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Re: Knock, knock, is the sound of a Mint-400 opportunity that I can't pass up.
For sure Steve is one of the good guys. Not sure which one I will be riding with yet and I really don't care lolbajaherbie wrote: Steve Griffith is a nice guy, met him at a Texas race, he built Steve Tyos 5 car (now owned by someone else).
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I will get back to you on that as I will probably be having PCI do some programming on my radios on Friday. I will be sure to let you know. Has BITD released the track map officially yet? sounds as though it is the same course as last year but not sure I have seen something official.kyle_pc_75 wrote:Sweet! What radio freq are you guys running?
It is not Mickey Moused.....It's Desert Engineered!
- dustymojave
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Re: Knock, knock, is the sound of a Mint-400 opportunity that I can't pass up.
I got to know Ray and the rest of his former Team Skittles along with car builder Steve Griffith (who I probably should have known since the 1960s when we were both running around the pits at SCCA sports car races), and Steve Tyo and Allen and the rest of that gang through the forums on DesertRides.com. Came to be friends who look each other up when we get to races. Worked the pits helping out with Ray's car (there, but really didn't DO anything) and Zac's along with some other cars at the Rage At The River and with Daron (CWB) as well.
All great people.
All great people.
Richard
Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
Speed Kills! but then...So does OLD AGE!!
Tech Inspection: SCCA / SCORE / HDRA / ARVRA / A.R.T.S. OffRoad Race Tech - MDR, MORE, Glen Helen BajaCup
Retired Fabricator
'58 Baja with 955K Miles and counting
Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
Speed Kills! but then...So does OLD AGE!!
Tech Inspection: SCCA / SCORE / HDRA / ARVRA / A.R.T.S. OffRoad Race Tech - MDR, MORE, Glen Helen BajaCup
Retired Fabricator
'58 Baja with 955K Miles and counting
- CentralWAbaja
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- Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:05 pm
Re: Knock, knock, is the sound of a Mint-400 opportunity that I can't pass up.
The Mint400 Through a Rookies Eyes
Better grab a fresh cup of coffee or whatever you need to settle in for a long read. What a week, what a ride!
Less than 2 weeks before the 2017 Mint400 Ray Promer posted up that he had a right seat available for a portion of the race. I jokingly responded with the question of if I would fit? Yes was the answer, and my wheels were spinning. Not really mentally or physically ready to take on this challenge I needed to decide real quickly if I should or not? You know what they say about opportunity? So I put together a crew to help get me there and back.
For those of you that do not know, I lost my childhood best friend of my first 20ys of life last week before I left for Vegas. Although we have not seen each other much in the last 25 or so years, it for sure weighed heavily on my mind. However, when I visited him in the hospital I told him of my upcoming adventure and although he was unresponsive visually, I know in my heart he was giving me the thumbs up and that I needed to go do this. So as I said goodbye to my old friend with my heart, I saw it fitting in some weird way that I would head off on one the biggest adventures of my life with my best friend for the last 25+ years, my son, and a guy that I just only met a couple weeks ago that has a massive huge enthusiasm for motorsports as I do. I knew we would all get to know Darrin (Yes his name is Darrin also) over the next few days and yeah I think it’s safe to say we like him now.
Drive down was uneventful as the 4 of us split the drive leaving WA about 2:30PM and rolled into the Vegas Speedway area right about 8:00 or so. Grabbed some breakfast, and topped the truck off with fuel and made our way to TT and C-1 qualifying which was actually held up north of Vegas near where we were. (Perfect!) We were able to find a spot to park the truck and trailer out of the way but off the road and knew we would be blocked in by others but we had a plan for that.
I think the draw to this sport for me is that I, me, some lowly little fat kid from Washington State can stand next to Rob MacCachren at the qualifying drivers meeting knowing that we are both in Vegas for the same reason this weekend….To Race the Mint400. Yeah, yeah, yeah I know he is in the afternoon race in the premier class of offroad racing. But I will be taking the green flag in the morning race, at the same track, and at the same event, The Mint400. Yeah he’ll still be in bed when that happens, but dammit let me have my moment. LOL Seriously, I do not get starstruck, I really think that guy puts his race uniform on one leg at a time just like me. Granted I put mine on at 3:30AM and it doesn’t fit like his, nor does it have all those fancy sponsor names on it…hell mine is kinda tight, and doesn’t even have my own name on it. But I really I am standing next to the guy that would eventually win the overall championship on Saturday and yes, today I am just a fan, but by 10:00AM Friday I will have signed the same forms as he did to be a part of this great event and to me that’s just really cool. Anyway, we hang out watch him and others qualify standing close enough to the action to be getting peppered by pebbles, rocks and boulders. Dang those trucks can seriously relocate the desert rocks in a big way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lf8vhz ... e=youtu.be
I have been around this a few times now but my crew with me had not, so they were like kids in a candy shop. After about a 3rd of the rigs had qualified I decided that since I really had not slept yet (an hour in the truck doesn’t count) I told the guys that I was headed for the trailer to take a nap. That did not take much talking into as we were all in the same boat on the sleep deprivation thing. So we retreated to the trailer as a group to get some rack time. A couple hours later Cory says “Hey guys we are the only rig left out here in the desert.” Perfect, I love it when plan comes together.
We loaded up in the truck and headed for Primm,NV and the main pit area. About the time we hit the lights of Vegas, Ray called and said that Steve and him had just left the main pit and were headed to check into their hotel room at the Gold Strike in Jean,NV about ½ way between Vegas and Primm. We agreed that we would come there and hang with them and grab some dinner. Well, the only thing open was Denny’s in the casino and a steakhouse. None of us were keen on the Denny’s idea and this is when Ray informed us that he was a Vegetarian. Ha! That’s a perfect diet for the steakhouse menu. Actually they were the worst I have ever seen as to being able to cater to this. So we decided to load up and head down to Primm. There was more to this story but let’s just say we did not eat at Denny’s and we all had steaks and Ray had a salad and some taters.
Having no real idea where we were going to hang our hat for the weekend we decided we would just crash right there behind Buffalo Bills in the parking lot. Wrong, as I came out to a tag on the window from Bills asking us to move to the desert or another Casino. Really WTF? We just drove here with 6 guys to eat at their casino. Worst part was that they did not have anything open either and we ended walking next door for dinner. We decided right then to go camp out at Pit-B in the desert for the night and leave the trailer there for Friday’s Tech and Contingency up in Vegas. About the time we pulled into Jean to go access Pit-B I made the call to just pull into the same gravel lot off the edge of the desert that we had camped our first night of the 2012 race that JT and I had attended. So we did just that.
8:00AM Friday we hit the racers parking lot within about 30seconds of Ray, Steve and the car. Pretty good considering we really had not communicated much that morning. Some of the guys got the car into the line waiting to be police escorted the 6 blocks down to Freemont St where the contingency line started, while us “Racers” went to get registered. Ray and I along with Christian Fessler and his team that we were paired up with for pit support as they had caught up to us. Christian and I had done this same walk last year going into his first Mint with Zac. Most guys that have done this a few times hates this whole wait and time suck that is the Friday deal at the Mint400. But for a rookie like me, I am just taking it all in for the reasons I stated earlier. After about 2-1/2 hours of waiting in line we were finally signed up to officially race the Mint400. We walk back up to find the two cars really have only made very minimal progress, maybe 10 car lengths. So we hung out with everybody, doing the wait thing. This is a very special moment for me as we have been providing graphics for race cars for about 5 years now and I am always the one asking for correct spelling of driver names so that we get it right on the car. When Ray asked me for mine I got a little giddy down inside. haha
Finally we are escorted over to Freemont and begin the slow process of pushing the car through 12 blocks of product vendors.
Again it’s a huge time suck, but I love it! For me it was a trip to realize how many people said hi to me in this process and how many people I have become friends with over the last few years in the racing community. I made sure to take the time to seek out the guy who would eventually win the class5 race that I would be racing in. Travis Chase, good to meet you sir and congratulations on a big win. Somewhere about ½ way down the line comes “Hollywood” that the nickname my buddy Cory would give this guy in his white rim reflective sunglasses, and riding a skateboard down Freemont Street. That guy none other than Zac Reish the driver of The Grinch, or former driver turned crew support guy. Like he thinks we will all believe that. Ha! We continue down to the bottom of the long line to where I would receive a sticker on my helmet saying that my gear is all up to snuff and the car has its required safety gear as well. Ray takes the police escort back to the top of the hill and we begin our long walk back to the truck. At 4:00PM we are now in the parking Lot with a decision to make. Ray, Steve, Christian and the rest of his crew are already headed back to Primm 3 miles away. I called Ray and told him that we were going to just hang in the parking lot catch a nap and that we would attend the 7:00 drivers meeting here in Vegas thus freeing them up to tend to last minute car stuff in Primm. We would catch up to them after the meeting, probably close to 10:00PM. All that time in line and we never talked about the car. So here we are 10:00 at night. Where is the jack, how to work it, impact wrench, lug nuts, spare lug nuts, fire extinguishers ect. Driver must stay in car and the co-driver must hustle to get a flat tire changed, tools out, jack out, lugs off, tire off, spare out of the rack and onto the car, flat back on the rack, new tire on, jack put away, tools put away and then back in the car to try and strap yourself in without any help this time….OH DAMN I HOPE WE DO NOT GET A FLAT! I might have a heart attack right there LOL. Then we finally fit me in the car, yeah 4 hrs to race time we finally see if my knees hit anything, if the belts are going to work ect. Few adjustments and were good.
The gang and I head to bed sometime just before midnight in the trailer parked in the parking lot behind the outlet mall in Primm this time. I am so excited there is no way I am going to sleep, but I need to. I lay in bed going over the course in my head as I have been studying it for days. Mostly thinking where the worst part of the course to break would be and how far we can drive on a flat to make it to one of the three pits, because OH DAMN I HOPE WE DO NOT GET A FLAT! I do not want to get out of this car till our 109 mile lap is over. Toss, turn, mind racing, where is the jack, where is the wrench, toss turn, how far across the first lake bed is it and how sharp is the corner at the end? Toss turn, how far is it across the second lake bed? Haw fast will our top speed be? Can we hit 100mph in this little car? Toss turn, I have friends working the course, where are they? What checkpoint? if we have an issue can I get to them? Toss turn, deep breath, it’s almost 1AM and the alarm is set to go off at 3:00AM I finally settle off to sleep.
3:00AM Raceday the alarm goes off. I wake look around at 3 guys snoring I hit the generator and start the coffee and settle back into my rack while I listen to that bubbly brew happening. I pour a small cup of that lifeblood that gets me going each day. Just a small cup, not the 2 or three 20oz that is the norm. Gotta get things going, but too much. I have taken extra special care as to what has gone in my body for the last few days. Lots of water, a couple sandwich’s is all on Friday. OK I am going to get real for a minute people. My biggest fear of getting in this race car (leading up to the flat tire discussion) was violating the 3-Ps of racing in somebody else’s race car. No, you see crashing in the car doesn’t really cross my mind much. Fire? Yes I respect that and have more gear then a lot of racers to defend that. I am a big guy packed in a small car, even in fire I will take a little while to get out of an unfamiliar car and situation. So I have the socks, shoes, underwear, gloves, 3layer firesuit, helmet skirt ect. I feel I am good there. I have the neck restraint, I feel good and safe in the race car….but what are the 3-P’s as I call em? NO Puking, NO Peeing, and NO POOING especially in somebody elses race car! You do it in mine I am going to laugh at you and hand you a wrench at the end of it all and tell you to pull the seat and put it in your rig because you now have a date with the cleaners. But I can’t even begin to tell you how much anxiety this brought me. So I did everything I could to take care of that but there is no guarantee in racing. LOL
4:00AM I get the guys to start waking up as I am getting all of the aforementioned gear on. I pop a couple Dramamine that I had tucked in my shoe so that I would not forget to take it. I have now switched from coffee to water but again only in small amounts. 4:30AM it’s time to walk over to the pits to get my big ass in that car. I am so excited, but trying to remain calm. I am anxious, and nervous, but filed with anticipation. I make a couple laps around the car and Steve Griffith my driver is getting himself ready in the open cargo trailer just in front of the race car. I feel as though I am pacing….F-this …get me in the car guys where I know I will settle in and be comfortable, and let’s do it before Steve is ready. This is the moment and the reason I needed J.T. with me. Even though we are surrounded by people with years of racing experience, I wanted him strapping me in the car. Cory, my buddy of 25+ years watching me live out a dream, Darrin has been around some racing and understands my anxiety. Simple but important tasks, hold my glasses, hold my gloves thank you guys. I am in. We’re belted down tight. Helmet please? I slide it over my head and pull my gloves off to buckle it. Where’s my gloves JT? On the dash dad. OK. Clip in my neck restraints JT? I’m working on it dad. OK. You get it JT? I’m working on it dad. Where’s my gloves? On the dash. OK. Am I clipped? Yes. Where’s my gloves? On the dash. OK. Glasses? Here. OK. I’m in! Glasses fog, Fu#%$! Glasses off, glasses on, glasses off, I fricken hate wearing glasses! Steve gets in the car, shivering almost uncontrollably. It’s in the mid to high 30’s actually not bad considering where I had just come from right? Then Steve begins what would be a rant for the next 45-50 minutes about how cold it is and I am sweating my ass off over here and fogging my glasses LOL.
4:55AM we begin to roll out of the pits and make a stop off at the Class -10 car of Allen and Steve from Texas to wish them luck. Steve laughs at my fogged glasses and asks if he needs to wipe them for me and I show him the rags I am clinching in my fists. I will be fine once we get going. 5:15AM we roll up to staging. We did not qualify, our class start order was determined by a draw. And as luck would have it, we drew front row next to John Willard, the car and team that JT and I helped man Pit-B last year to win. Ray and JT reach in and check on us both. GoPro’s are turned on and I am informed that I am being recorded. Oh this could be good.
I have no idea what to expect, I have never been in one of these cars at race speed in the open desert. Never passed cars on a track that is only wide enough for one, never been passed by cars that are on a different mission and have a different race plan. We have John beside us and Travis right behind us along with Chris, LJ, and Adam back there. We know those guys are coming for us. Then there is that Subaru powered Grabowski car with the rock throwing monster tires on it. There back there also. 13 cars in class, all with a chance to win the Mint400.
5:45AM we begin to roll the parade to the starting line, Steve still complaining of being cold, me still fogging my glasses. As we roll around to the track I tell Steve thank you for helping me live out a lifetime dream of off-road racing. He says “What do mean the Mint?” “No,” I replied I have never been in any race. “What!” He says “I thought you had raced with Zac?” “Nope just a 4 mile lap on a graded course qualifying lap at Laughlin” Yiu see Ray never told Steve that I had never been a race before LOL We quickly begin the “Offroad-101” lessons of driver co-driver expectations, communications ect. As Steve began to tell me of his driving style and the absolute chaos that would be the first 20-25 miles of this race, I stopped him and told him I was way more nervous about maintaining the 3-Ps then I was about anything he might do or could happen in this race car. He gave me a few comforting words about making sure I kept my guts about me.
I am just now realizing that I have probably rattled my driver just a little bit as we approach the start line. And ready or not were doing this right………NOW!
Green light 3 jumps and into a left turn and we are side by side, wheel to wheel with last years Mint400 class-5 winer. Hell yeah! The next couple turns were probably the most intense thing I have experienced in a long time, if not ever. Adrenalin is pumping and we are off, one corner we had to have been just inches apart. Those guys will probably tell you that we were 5ft apart, but to me it felt like 5 inches. This is going to be crazy I am thinking and then it happens we roll up to the 1 mile stretch of 25mph controlled speed zone that is the NV Energy Bridge and solar farm. I am in charge of the GPS speed and I am not going to get us a penalty for speeding. I think I hold us closer to 21-23 vs 23-25 the whole time Steve is asking how long, when, when, when? I will tell when to go Steve. I knew that we had this stretch as I had been studying, but Steve had no idea and his frustration was mounting. Finally we pass the resume race speed sign and I turn Steve loose and away we go into the desert. We had just done our first driver co-driver exchange and it went just fine. I probably gave away too much in the speed zone but that’s OK we had a plan to just run a solid clean lap and get a clean car to Ray and Rich and let them push on to the finish. I am quickly realizing that I sit way too high in this car to see the GPS mounted as low in the dash as it is in this car especially as we are bouncing off the rocks in the desert at speed. I have the list of hazards tightly clinched in my left hand and although I have it pretty much memorized that doesn’t help as much in realty when neither of us have ever seen the track in person. I think Travis caught us about 3 or 4 miles in and we let him by pretty quick. The details get a little fuzzy for the next few miles as I am settling into the reality of all of this and just how hard we are pounding the desert at speed. I was not much help with the mirrors at first so to all those that caught us in the first 10 miles or so if we held you up much I apologize. We did get a few love taps and a couple of solid move the F over bumps to our rear bumper but for the most part it was going OK. It was 10 miles or so in before I even realized that there were mile markers on the course. And that is about where the carnage began. As we began to pass class-10 and class 2000 cars that had left the line in front of us that were stopped to change flat tires or assess other troubles. We also are starting to catch a few cars on track also including Allen Engleberts 10 car. Steve says that’s my friend Allen I can’t hit him. I said don’t he sees us he’ll move as soon as it’s safe for us both. We are in one of the few spots on this track that would make for a long day or a long walk if you are get in a situation that takes you out of the race. We are now rounding the mountain and starting down the back side into the open desert valley below. Steve is complaining relentlessly about the car and the way it’s hitting hard on the rear end. Maybe the fuel load but more likely my big ass in the car is the cause is what I was thinking. He is also questioning if we might have a tire going down. OH DAMN I HOPE WE DO NOT GET A FLAT! I am spending some time thinking hard about what he is saying and trying to decipher between his questions, comments and his general talking to himself about the car.LOL We make the left towards the 15frwy and down the powerline rd I know there is a hairpin corner coming up but where. Steve says I think we have a flat, can’t you smell the rubber burning. I said yeah I smell it. About then we make the hairpin and head back towards the mountains. Again I know there are dangers on the list in this area but really not clear of what they are. We also start to see some of the guys that had passed us earlier on the side of the track. And fortunately for us we see a few guys pulling over with smoking tires. For now it’s not us. We pass Christians 10-car stopped with an issue and I hope for him it’s not terminal. I also know in my mind that he can probably cut directly to A for repairs and get back this spot if needed so I hopping the best for him and his team. Steve is convinced that we still have a flat but the ride is smoothing out. In my mind I am calculating how far we are to Pit-A knowing we are still 8-10 miles out I am hoping that we do not get into some really nasty stuff with a tire down, but this is the Mint course and there are rocks everywhere it’s just a matter of how big and how square. At this point I am also noticing that I have not been queezy at all, my guts are good! But at about RM22 or so I am noticing that my mouth is so dry that my tongue is getting leathery. I am on the radio ever mile or two to give the team updates and I’m sure my pitch is probably increasing. Steve tells me to slow down when I talk but I am like I can barely think about getting anything out as it is. We’re only a ¼ of the way into the race and I am drying out. OH DAMN I HOPE WE DO NOT GET A FLAT! As we make the turn and start back down the valley I can see Pit-A in the distance and it looks almost exactly like it did in my pre-race studies. I am on the radio every ½ mile or so telling them to be ready with a tire because we are coming. I finally get word back that they are ready and I start to calm down. 25mph zone Pit-A we’re here, don’t stop at this stop sign Steve I say. Really? Yes, their waiving you passed and they told us last night to roll this one. As we go down the hill in Pit-A we catch Christians 1003 car and they waive us passed. My biggest fear sharing a pit with them was this if he had a problem ahead of us and we catch him on track. He had cut down just as described but was letting us get in for service ahead of him. We’re in! Check the tires, check the suspension Steve is yelling. The crew is on it. They lean in the windshield and two thumbs up were good and no flats. The crew sends us and Steve asks me if we are clear and I give him the go when we almost take out the side of the 5011 car! I am not sure if that was on me or the crew for sending us right at that moment but didn’t see them and gave Steve the clear so I am sorry to those guys for the close call. The grizzly vet in the left seat let loose of some explicatives and I and I am not sue if it was because of the close call or the fact that we were passed by another 5-car. But we have 4 tires full of air and we are off.
The car is handling better and I think Steve has some confidence back. I know we are coming up on the right hander that is the entrance to the lakebed. I have no idea of where it is or how to tell Steve to hit it so we are a bit conservative getting on. We are in the dust of the 5011 car and a couple others. And Steve is telling me to keep my eyes peeled. I keep telling him to keep the markers out his left side and he wants to drift to the right out of the dust. I tell him we have no idea what the exit of the lake looks like and we need to stay on course. He says to keep an eye on the GPS and I am trying but the damn thing is so low that I am riding with my right hand pulling the back of my head forward in the neck restraints to get my head tilted down low enough to read it. We’re off the bed and headed for the mountains again. I know where we’re going and I am good I go back to me forward viewing, giving it only slight glances. Super fun stretch of track with the big open turns back and forth, and then like somebody flipped a switch, big rocks again. I do not remember where we were exactly but we hit a couple pretty big holes. Well-marked dangers but not on the list. Steve barked at me that I needed to call that stuff out! “If it’s not on my list I don’t know about it anymore then you Steve” I responded. I am not sure if those are on the GPS but dang I just can’t read the thing?
For the most part we seemed to be settling into a groove. Iles are clicking off, I am settled in and not feeling as dry anymore. I started trying to breathe through my nose more and talking a little less. As we worked our way up the canyon towards the halfway point of my lap I knew there was on old friend waiting at the double checkpoint of RM52 and RM56 to give us a wave I remember being torn between thinking I have made it half way, I can do this and are really already half way done with our lap? Any warm fuzzy feelings about this place went away in the next few miles in what I felt was the worst part of the whole track. After you make it through the rocks and stuff her you also pass over what looks like a debris field of an old landfill or something. Wood and glass debris everywhere. Really? The desert here is not tough enough we need to drive across debris field too? All I can think is OH DAMN I HOPE WE DO NOT GET A FLAT! Oh wait, I am surrounded by friends that would love to help us if needed. I have guys at the last chk point and the next ck point too. We are now the furthest from any Pit support and we still have friends close by in Kyle, Cameron, and Richard and the rest of their gang. These guys are my ol Shoptalkforums gang that JT & I took in our first MINT400 with in 2012. So comforting to know you have familiar faces that far from the Main pit areas. And poor Steve was trying to figure out what hand signals I was giving when all I was doing was waiving to my fans! Ha! Yeah this rookie had people cheering for him and dang it that felt good. So thank you to those smiling faces out there and friendly waves, that was awesome!
I am not sure exactly where were in our lap when we had our really one and only close call. I will insert it here since it was definitely in the rocks when Steve decided to show off his 2 wheel driving skills. Not sure exactly what happened but next think you know the horizon went into a vertical status and Steve decided to personally check my chin strap of my helmet or something. The car settled back down and really I have no idea how close it was to going over but without missing a beat I tell Steve “We’re good, nice save, keep going, keep going.” And away we went.
Next thing we know were on pavement and I know we are headed for the only danger they warned us about at the drivers meeting. I told Steve that when we get to the turn back it down a little extra as I do not know what to expect of this turn. We’re good and were through it and into the rock pit when we get a bump from behind. This is the first to pass us in a long time. Maybe it is one of those hot dog 5-car guys the past us at the start and had to pull off right after? Nope it’s the Turbo ATV class leader and this dude is on a mission. We pull over to the right to let him pass and of course he tries to pass us on the right. I am convinced it’s an ATV driver thing after some of my encounters on the sand with those guys. But anyway he is around safely and all Steve keeps asking is if we are on course as we head down into the rock pit portion of the race course. The dust is bad the rocks are sharp and square, the shelves in the rock are tall and straight up and down and Steve begins to reach deep into his reserve of swear words to describe this place. He is also cursing at the dust and the distraction of the helicopter flying right above our heads. I was not going to tell him right then that Ray not only withheld my race history info from him but he must have forgot to mention the that he had bought into the helicopter footage along with some other class5 guys. Yup that helicopter was there for us LOL.
The rest of this race course is simply amazing from the rock pit on. We start our return trip to Primm with a pass through the spectator area that I had watched the 2012 version of this race. And then into the biggest section of monster rolling rock whoops that rival anything I have ever seen. When in rhythm they are almost smooth and then when that rhythm gets broken you lose the all the air that exists in your body. And about the time you are just really done with them mentally they stop as quickly as they started. We are now less than a mile out of Pit-B where we will get 5 gallons of fuel. I am on the radio with no response from them. Not knowing where they are located and if they know we are coming is kinda an uneasy feeling from inside the car. Pit-B is a long uphill 25MPH with a U-turn and back downhill at the same speed. As we reach the top of the hill Steve begins to get more and more vocal thinking we have missed our pit when I tell him we are only halfway through the pits. He calms down and tells me that they had told him that they were at pit exit…just wish somebody would told the codog that! We pull into our pits to find Zac and Ben Swift and gang ready to dump some fuel. What a trip this was for me. For the last 3 years or so I have helped pit Zac’s Grinch race car. I love looking in at him and seeing the smile in his eyes of that race car. This time he was looking in at me. Now he can’t see my grin from ear to ear but I know he sees the smile in my face. I turn my attention to the mirrors and this time I make damn sure that we have nobody we are going to pull out on. Clear? Clear and away we go leaving Pit-B. Within a few miles we are on the valley floor and the next 20miles of this course was so much fun I could have made loops on it all day. We left so much on the table here not knowing the course. There are some rocks and some sand, long sandy whoops that reminded me of playing at the dunes. And then the long pull across the dry lakebed where there is nothing to do but watch the GPS speed number to see just how fast this race car could go. I wish we had known what the exit of the lakebed had looked like because we backed it down way too early. But it’s better safe than sorry I guess. We would spend the next 5 miles working our way past a couple of cars. Working the dust of the small skirt pass on the lakebed again and weaving the power poles out to the edge of the mountains. We did clear those two cars before we hit the high speed pole line road back to Primm. This section is one I want back for sure. Having no idea what to expect, we probably left 10-15mph on the table here. I think we could have taken this 3 mile long section of graded powerline road a lot faster than we did. The lakebeds are fun but a gravel road at similar speeds with bushes, trees, and powerline towers zipping by give you such a sensation of speed that even describing it right now makes me want to go hit it again. And just like that we are in a 25mph zone again crossing the bridge back into Primm. We are having a chance to communicate with the main pit at this point and I am coming to the realization that my ride is nearing its end. I tell Steve that we still have a few miles of the Primm infield section to do and that there is no way I am going to even look at the GPS and that we will just be watching signs through this part. It takes all of about 300ft to get Steve’s blood pressure up again as it is clear to me now he is not a fan of a watered track. I on the other hand, I am loving this place. It’s soft and technical with jumps and tight turns. I could have done without the standing water in places that temporarily blind you by coating your visor in mud, but dang this is fun. Steve is cursing and asking how much more of this stuff is left and I am almost laughing at him because we are on such opposite ends of this deal. I will say that the crew has no idea how technical this section of the course is and are barking in our ears asking questions about the car. Steve is getting pissed at this point reaching for radio buttons to clear his head of the radio chatter and I finally key the radio and simply say NOT NOW just about the time we are going over the giant table top jump on the old short track section at the Primm race track. Hitting that jump for the first time ever in reverse of its intended design meant we would jump off of the takeoff ramp. This felt to me like we had just driven the car off a 3 story building at speed. The cars suspension sucked it up just fine but it was still a pretty wild sensation.
Before you know it, 25mph once again and we are in the main pit. I compare this feeling right now to the end of that epic rollercoaster ride at the (Name your theme park here) where you go from wild ride to the slow return to the loading and unloading dock. Suddenly I realize I never spent even 1 minute looking at the map of the main pit and have absolutely no clue where we are pitted in relation to the pit entrance. I tell Steve exactly that and he responds with “I got it, I got it, I got it.” And just like that we are surrounded by our crew. I had already unbuckled my belts, radio and fresh air hose. Now to just get my big ass frame out of the roof of this car so that Ray and Rich can get in and finish the race. Thank you to the crew guy the was big enough to catch me as I jumped from the edge of the car. I know now that had he not done so, my legs would have never held me. OH DAMN I’M GLAD WE DID NOT GET A FLAT! I took a second to look around and my guys were busy looking the car over. That’s cool, Ray gave those guys tasks to make them part of this deal too. I now know they have their own version of this experience just as I do. Gas in, Ray & Rich are in, and the car leaves the pits. Steve and I are done. We did what we set out to do, and gave those guys a good car within reach of the podium. It was up to them to battle the Nevada desert and the rest of the remaining class-5 competition now.
I begin to recount the lap with my guys as well as the rest of the crew. Steve and I discussed how it all went. Laughing at some of the stuff like me apologizing for dropping the rooky bomb at the starting line. He asked if I had ever gotten queasy at all. I said no, and really the only thing did get me at all was the dry mouth at 24-25miles in but I coped with that and really was not a problem. He said “I am glad you didn’t puke or poo either, because I would have stopped and let you out to do so…. and then left you ass in the desert to walk back hahahaha.” I was glad that my biggest worries did not happen either as that would have probably sealed my fate as to ever getting back in anybody else’s race car. I now know what to expect and will probably fill myself with other anxiety next time I am sure. It’s just in my DNA to do so.
We settle in to some chairs and begin to monitor the progress of Ray and Rich as they take on the Mint course. It looked as though they had an issue with the steering on the car somewhere near the rock pit. I am still unclear as to if they fixed it there or limped to Pit-B and made repairs. Judging by the tracking speeds across the lakebed they were confident in their repairs. They did make it back to us in the Main Pit and we looked the car over. Steve was very concerned about sending them back out because the T-trucks and Class-1’s would be starting soon and bearing down on them before they could finish their last lap. A win was now out of our reach but a real shot at a podium finish was still possible. Heck at that point a Mint400 finish becomes an accomplishment in itself. And so we send those guys off into the desert again. Unfortunately as we are sending them off we realize that their radio antenna has broken off at the base, so coms would not be very good at all, and we would be limited to tracking them via the system.
Cory, Darrin, J.T. and I decide to walk over and watch the start of the TT and C1 race. About half way through the starting order we decide to make use of the empty Buffalo Bills casino and go get some lunch. As we finished lunch we see that Ray and Rich are stopped out on course at RM48. That is a tight section with not a lot of room. Not a super-fast section so crash concern is not the first thought, but breakage is and the lack of room to safely work on it is a pretty big concern especially with the fast trucks and buggies headed their way. We make our way back to the pits to find Steve talking to Rich on the phone. Rich had hiked to the top of a mountain to get a cell call out. They were discussing getting them to a safe place to watch the TT/C1 action that was about to bear down on them. They were also working out the details of a trail fix to get the car to a spot that it could be towed back to us. After Steve hung up the phone he was visibly concerned about their wellbeing if they could not make repairs. He was afraid that they would freeze out there and that they really did not have much water with them. I then set his mind at ease with the fact that this rookie has his fans out there near where they are broken and worst case they had a couple mile hike to get to them. I assured Steve that those guys would take good care of them and they would not be cold, hungry or thirsty. And we would be able to get them and the car when safe to do so.
As it turned out they were able to desert engineer a trail fix and limp the car out to where Ben could get to them with a trailer from Pit-B. But not before a stop off at my STF crews checkpoint for some water. Thank You to those guys.
With everybody and the car back safe at main including Christians 10-car who had made repairs and managed to finish the Mint400. Good job to those guys! Sometimes a finish at the Mint is a victory in itself. The guys and I decide to get a few hours of driving in tonight and get north of Vegas. We would finish our drive back to Washington on Sunday. The trip home was uneventful accept for trying to get the trailer in my driveway due to all the new snow that once again had fallen. The 4 of us had great heavily involved conversations about dream cars, life goals and life experiences. So much fun was had with these guys and I am so glad they helped me take in this Mint400 experience of a lifetime.
What’s next? Who knows? We’ll decide when that opportunity presents itself.
Thanks to all of you out there especially Ray Promer, Steve Griffith, Rich Henry and BF Goodrich Tires for NO FLAT TIRES!
Better grab a fresh cup of coffee or whatever you need to settle in for a long read. What a week, what a ride!
Less than 2 weeks before the 2017 Mint400 Ray Promer posted up that he had a right seat available for a portion of the race. I jokingly responded with the question of if I would fit? Yes was the answer, and my wheels were spinning. Not really mentally or physically ready to take on this challenge I needed to decide real quickly if I should or not? You know what they say about opportunity? So I put together a crew to help get me there and back.
For those of you that do not know, I lost my childhood best friend of my first 20ys of life last week before I left for Vegas. Although we have not seen each other much in the last 25 or so years, it for sure weighed heavily on my mind. However, when I visited him in the hospital I told him of my upcoming adventure and although he was unresponsive visually, I know in my heart he was giving me the thumbs up and that I needed to go do this. So as I said goodbye to my old friend with my heart, I saw it fitting in some weird way that I would head off on one the biggest adventures of my life with my best friend for the last 25+ years, my son, and a guy that I just only met a couple weeks ago that has a massive huge enthusiasm for motorsports as I do. I knew we would all get to know Darrin (Yes his name is Darrin also) over the next few days and yeah I think it’s safe to say we like him now.
Drive down was uneventful as the 4 of us split the drive leaving WA about 2:30PM and rolled into the Vegas Speedway area right about 8:00 or so. Grabbed some breakfast, and topped the truck off with fuel and made our way to TT and C-1 qualifying which was actually held up north of Vegas near where we were. (Perfect!) We were able to find a spot to park the truck and trailer out of the way but off the road and knew we would be blocked in by others but we had a plan for that.
I think the draw to this sport for me is that I, me, some lowly little fat kid from Washington State can stand next to Rob MacCachren at the qualifying drivers meeting knowing that we are both in Vegas for the same reason this weekend….To Race the Mint400. Yeah, yeah, yeah I know he is in the afternoon race in the premier class of offroad racing. But I will be taking the green flag in the morning race, at the same track, and at the same event, The Mint400. Yeah he’ll still be in bed when that happens, but dammit let me have my moment. LOL Seriously, I do not get starstruck, I really think that guy puts his race uniform on one leg at a time just like me. Granted I put mine on at 3:30AM and it doesn’t fit like his, nor does it have all those fancy sponsor names on it…hell mine is kinda tight, and doesn’t even have my own name on it. But I really I am standing next to the guy that would eventually win the overall championship on Saturday and yes, today I am just a fan, but by 10:00AM Friday I will have signed the same forms as he did to be a part of this great event and to me that’s just really cool. Anyway, we hang out watch him and others qualify standing close enough to the action to be getting peppered by pebbles, rocks and boulders. Dang those trucks can seriously relocate the desert rocks in a big way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lf8vhz ... e=youtu.be
I have been around this a few times now but my crew with me had not, so they were like kids in a candy shop. After about a 3rd of the rigs had qualified I decided that since I really had not slept yet (an hour in the truck doesn’t count) I told the guys that I was headed for the trailer to take a nap. That did not take much talking into as we were all in the same boat on the sleep deprivation thing. So we retreated to the trailer as a group to get some rack time. A couple hours later Cory says “Hey guys we are the only rig left out here in the desert.” Perfect, I love it when plan comes together.
We loaded up in the truck and headed for Primm,NV and the main pit area. About the time we hit the lights of Vegas, Ray called and said that Steve and him had just left the main pit and were headed to check into their hotel room at the Gold Strike in Jean,NV about ½ way between Vegas and Primm. We agreed that we would come there and hang with them and grab some dinner. Well, the only thing open was Denny’s in the casino and a steakhouse. None of us were keen on the Denny’s idea and this is when Ray informed us that he was a Vegetarian. Ha! That’s a perfect diet for the steakhouse menu. Actually they were the worst I have ever seen as to being able to cater to this. So we decided to load up and head down to Primm. There was more to this story but let’s just say we did not eat at Denny’s and we all had steaks and Ray had a salad and some taters.
Having no real idea where we were going to hang our hat for the weekend we decided we would just crash right there behind Buffalo Bills in the parking lot. Wrong, as I came out to a tag on the window from Bills asking us to move to the desert or another Casino. Really WTF? We just drove here with 6 guys to eat at their casino. Worst part was that they did not have anything open either and we ended walking next door for dinner. We decided right then to go camp out at Pit-B in the desert for the night and leave the trailer there for Friday’s Tech and Contingency up in Vegas. About the time we pulled into Jean to go access Pit-B I made the call to just pull into the same gravel lot off the edge of the desert that we had camped our first night of the 2012 race that JT and I had attended. So we did just that.
8:00AM Friday we hit the racers parking lot within about 30seconds of Ray, Steve and the car. Pretty good considering we really had not communicated much that morning. Some of the guys got the car into the line waiting to be police escorted the 6 blocks down to Freemont St where the contingency line started, while us “Racers” went to get registered. Ray and I along with Christian Fessler and his team that we were paired up with for pit support as they had caught up to us. Christian and I had done this same walk last year going into his first Mint with Zac. Most guys that have done this a few times hates this whole wait and time suck that is the Friday deal at the Mint400. But for a rookie like me, I am just taking it all in for the reasons I stated earlier. After about 2-1/2 hours of waiting in line we were finally signed up to officially race the Mint400. We walk back up to find the two cars really have only made very minimal progress, maybe 10 car lengths. So we hung out with everybody, doing the wait thing. This is a very special moment for me as we have been providing graphics for race cars for about 5 years now and I am always the one asking for correct spelling of driver names so that we get it right on the car. When Ray asked me for mine I got a little giddy down inside. haha
Finally we are escorted over to Freemont and begin the slow process of pushing the car through 12 blocks of product vendors.
Again it’s a huge time suck, but I love it! For me it was a trip to realize how many people said hi to me in this process and how many people I have become friends with over the last few years in the racing community. I made sure to take the time to seek out the guy who would eventually win the class5 race that I would be racing in. Travis Chase, good to meet you sir and congratulations on a big win. Somewhere about ½ way down the line comes “Hollywood” that the nickname my buddy Cory would give this guy in his white rim reflective sunglasses, and riding a skateboard down Freemont Street. That guy none other than Zac Reish the driver of The Grinch, or former driver turned crew support guy. Like he thinks we will all believe that. Ha! We continue down to the bottom of the long line to where I would receive a sticker on my helmet saying that my gear is all up to snuff and the car has its required safety gear as well. Ray takes the police escort back to the top of the hill and we begin our long walk back to the truck. At 4:00PM we are now in the parking Lot with a decision to make. Ray, Steve, Christian and the rest of his crew are already headed back to Primm 3 miles away. I called Ray and told him that we were going to just hang in the parking lot catch a nap and that we would attend the 7:00 drivers meeting here in Vegas thus freeing them up to tend to last minute car stuff in Primm. We would catch up to them after the meeting, probably close to 10:00PM. All that time in line and we never talked about the car. So here we are 10:00 at night. Where is the jack, how to work it, impact wrench, lug nuts, spare lug nuts, fire extinguishers ect. Driver must stay in car and the co-driver must hustle to get a flat tire changed, tools out, jack out, lugs off, tire off, spare out of the rack and onto the car, flat back on the rack, new tire on, jack put away, tools put away and then back in the car to try and strap yourself in without any help this time….OH DAMN I HOPE WE DO NOT GET A FLAT! I might have a heart attack right there LOL. Then we finally fit me in the car, yeah 4 hrs to race time we finally see if my knees hit anything, if the belts are going to work ect. Few adjustments and were good.
The gang and I head to bed sometime just before midnight in the trailer parked in the parking lot behind the outlet mall in Primm this time. I am so excited there is no way I am going to sleep, but I need to. I lay in bed going over the course in my head as I have been studying it for days. Mostly thinking where the worst part of the course to break would be and how far we can drive on a flat to make it to one of the three pits, because OH DAMN I HOPE WE DO NOT GET A FLAT! I do not want to get out of this car till our 109 mile lap is over. Toss, turn, mind racing, where is the jack, where is the wrench, toss turn, how far across the first lake bed is it and how sharp is the corner at the end? Toss turn, how far is it across the second lake bed? Haw fast will our top speed be? Can we hit 100mph in this little car? Toss turn, I have friends working the course, where are they? What checkpoint? if we have an issue can I get to them? Toss turn, deep breath, it’s almost 1AM and the alarm is set to go off at 3:00AM I finally settle off to sleep.
3:00AM Raceday the alarm goes off. I wake look around at 3 guys snoring I hit the generator and start the coffee and settle back into my rack while I listen to that bubbly brew happening. I pour a small cup of that lifeblood that gets me going each day. Just a small cup, not the 2 or three 20oz that is the norm. Gotta get things going, but too much. I have taken extra special care as to what has gone in my body for the last few days. Lots of water, a couple sandwich’s is all on Friday. OK I am going to get real for a minute people. My biggest fear of getting in this race car (leading up to the flat tire discussion) was violating the 3-Ps of racing in somebody else’s race car. No, you see crashing in the car doesn’t really cross my mind much. Fire? Yes I respect that and have more gear then a lot of racers to defend that. I am a big guy packed in a small car, even in fire I will take a little while to get out of an unfamiliar car and situation. So I have the socks, shoes, underwear, gloves, 3layer firesuit, helmet skirt ect. I feel I am good there. I have the neck restraint, I feel good and safe in the race car….but what are the 3-P’s as I call em? NO Puking, NO Peeing, and NO POOING especially in somebody elses race car! You do it in mine I am going to laugh at you and hand you a wrench at the end of it all and tell you to pull the seat and put it in your rig because you now have a date with the cleaners. But I can’t even begin to tell you how much anxiety this brought me. So I did everything I could to take care of that but there is no guarantee in racing. LOL
4:00AM I get the guys to start waking up as I am getting all of the aforementioned gear on. I pop a couple Dramamine that I had tucked in my shoe so that I would not forget to take it. I have now switched from coffee to water but again only in small amounts. 4:30AM it’s time to walk over to the pits to get my big ass in that car. I am so excited, but trying to remain calm. I am anxious, and nervous, but filed with anticipation. I make a couple laps around the car and Steve Griffith my driver is getting himself ready in the open cargo trailer just in front of the race car. I feel as though I am pacing….F-this …get me in the car guys where I know I will settle in and be comfortable, and let’s do it before Steve is ready. This is the moment and the reason I needed J.T. with me. Even though we are surrounded by people with years of racing experience, I wanted him strapping me in the car. Cory, my buddy of 25+ years watching me live out a dream, Darrin has been around some racing and understands my anxiety. Simple but important tasks, hold my glasses, hold my gloves thank you guys. I am in. We’re belted down tight. Helmet please? I slide it over my head and pull my gloves off to buckle it. Where’s my gloves JT? On the dash dad. OK. Clip in my neck restraints JT? I’m working on it dad. OK. You get it JT? I’m working on it dad. Where’s my gloves? On the dash. OK. Am I clipped? Yes. Where’s my gloves? On the dash. OK. Glasses? Here. OK. I’m in! Glasses fog, Fu#%$! Glasses off, glasses on, glasses off, I fricken hate wearing glasses! Steve gets in the car, shivering almost uncontrollably. It’s in the mid to high 30’s actually not bad considering where I had just come from right? Then Steve begins what would be a rant for the next 45-50 minutes about how cold it is and I am sweating my ass off over here and fogging my glasses LOL.
4:55AM we begin to roll out of the pits and make a stop off at the Class -10 car of Allen and Steve from Texas to wish them luck. Steve laughs at my fogged glasses and asks if he needs to wipe them for me and I show him the rags I am clinching in my fists. I will be fine once we get going. 5:15AM we roll up to staging. We did not qualify, our class start order was determined by a draw. And as luck would have it, we drew front row next to John Willard, the car and team that JT and I helped man Pit-B last year to win. Ray and JT reach in and check on us both. GoPro’s are turned on and I am informed that I am being recorded. Oh this could be good.
I have no idea what to expect, I have never been in one of these cars at race speed in the open desert. Never passed cars on a track that is only wide enough for one, never been passed by cars that are on a different mission and have a different race plan. We have John beside us and Travis right behind us along with Chris, LJ, and Adam back there. We know those guys are coming for us. Then there is that Subaru powered Grabowski car with the rock throwing monster tires on it. There back there also. 13 cars in class, all with a chance to win the Mint400.
5:45AM we begin to roll the parade to the starting line, Steve still complaining of being cold, me still fogging my glasses. As we roll around to the track I tell Steve thank you for helping me live out a lifetime dream of off-road racing. He says “What do mean the Mint?” “No,” I replied I have never been in any race. “What!” He says “I thought you had raced with Zac?” “Nope just a 4 mile lap on a graded course qualifying lap at Laughlin” Yiu see Ray never told Steve that I had never been a race before LOL We quickly begin the “Offroad-101” lessons of driver co-driver expectations, communications ect. As Steve began to tell me of his driving style and the absolute chaos that would be the first 20-25 miles of this race, I stopped him and told him I was way more nervous about maintaining the 3-Ps then I was about anything he might do or could happen in this race car. He gave me a few comforting words about making sure I kept my guts about me.
I am just now realizing that I have probably rattled my driver just a little bit as we approach the start line. And ready or not were doing this right………NOW!
Green light 3 jumps and into a left turn and we are side by side, wheel to wheel with last years Mint400 class-5 winer. Hell yeah! The next couple turns were probably the most intense thing I have experienced in a long time, if not ever. Adrenalin is pumping and we are off, one corner we had to have been just inches apart. Those guys will probably tell you that we were 5ft apart, but to me it felt like 5 inches. This is going to be crazy I am thinking and then it happens we roll up to the 1 mile stretch of 25mph controlled speed zone that is the NV Energy Bridge and solar farm. I am in charge of the GPS speed and I am not going to get us a penalty for speeding. I think I hold us closer to 21-23 vs 23-25 the whole time Steve is asking how long, when, when, when? I will tell when to go Steve. I knew that we had this stretch as I had been studying, but Steve had no idea and his frustration was mounting. Finally we pass the resume race speed sign and I turn Steve loose and away we go into the desert. We had just done our first driver co-driver exchange and it went just fine. I probably gave away too much in the speed zone but that’s OK we had a plan to just run a solid clean lap and get a clean car to Ray and Rich and let them push on to the finish. I am quickly realizing that I sit way too high in this car to see the GPS mounted as low in the dash as it is in this car especially as we are bouncing off the rocks in the desert at speed. I have the list of hazards tightly clinched in my left hand and although I have it pretty much memorized that doesn’t help as much in realty when neither of us have ever seen the track in person. I think Travis caught us about 3 or 4 miles in and we let him by pretty quick. The details get a little fuzzy for the next few miles as I am settling into the reality of all of this and just how hard we are pounding the desert at speed. I was not much help with the mirrors at first so to all those that caught us in the first 10 miles or so if we held you up much I apologize. We did get a few love taps and a couple of solid move the F over bumps to our rear bumper but for the most part it was going OK. It was 10 miles or so in before I even realized that there were mile markers on the course. And that is about where the carnage began. As we began to pass class-10 and class 2000 cars that had left the line in front of us that were stopped to change flat tires or assess other troubles. We also are starting to catch a few cars on track also including Allen Engleberts 10 car. Steve says that’s my friend Allen I can’t hit him. I said don’t he sees us he’ll move as soon as it’s safe for us both. We are in one of the few spots on this track that would make for a long day or a long walk if you are get in a situation that takes you out of the race. We are now rounding the mountain and starting down the back side into the open desert valley below. Steve is complaining relentlessly about the car and the way it’s hitting hard on the rear end. Maybe the fuel load but more likely my big ass in the car is the cause is what I was thinking. He is also questioning if we might have a tire going down. OH DAMN I HOPE WE DO NOT GET A FLAT! I am spending some time thinking hard about what he is saying and trying to decipher between his questions, comments and his general talking to himself about the car.LOL We make the left towards the 15frwy and down the powerline rd I know there is a hairpin corner coming up but where. Steve says I think we have a flat, can’t you smell the rubber burning. I said yeah I smell it. About then we make the hairpin and head back towards the mountains. Again I know there are dangers on the list in this area but really not clear of what they are. We also start to see some of the guys that had passed us earlier on the side of the track. And fortunately for us we see a few guys pulling over with smoking tires. For now it’s not us. We pass Christians 10-car stopped with an issue and I hope for him it’s not terminal. I also know in my mind that he can probably cut directly to A for repairs and get back this spot if needed so I hopping the best for him and his team. Steve is convinced that we still have a flat but the ride is smoothing out. In my mind I am calculating how far we are to Pit-A knowing we are still 8-10 miles out I am hoping that we do not get into some really nasty stuff with a tire down, but this is the Mint course and there are rocks everywhere it’s just a matter of how big and how square. At this point I am also noticing that I have not been queezy at all, my guts are good! But at about RM22 or so I am noticing that my mouth is so dry that my tongue is getting leathery. I am on the radio ever mile or two to give the team updates and I’m sure my pitch is probably increasing. Steve tells me to slow down when I talk but I am like I can barely think about getting anything out as it is. We’re only a ¼ of the way into the race and I am drying out. OH DAMN I HOPE WE DO NOT GET A FLAT! As we make the turn and start back down the valley I can see Pit-A in the distance and it looks almost exactly like it did in my pre-race studies. I am on the radio every ½ mile or so telling them to be ready with a tire because we are coming. I finally get word back that they are ready and I start to calm down. 25mph zone Pit-A we’re here, don’t stop at this stop sign Steve I say. Really? Yes, their waiving you passed and they told us last night to roll this one. As we go down the hill in Pit-A we catch Christians 1003 car and they waive us passed. My biggest fear sharing a pit with them was this if he had a problem ahead of us and we catch him on track. He had cut down just as described but was letting us get in for service ahead of him. We’re in! Check the tires, check the suspension Steve is yelling. The crew is on it. They lean in the windshield and two thumbs up were good and no flats. The crew sends us and Steve asks me if we are clear and I give him the go when we almost take out the side of the 5011 car! I am not sure if that was on me or the crew for sending us right at that moment but didn’t see them and gave Steve the clear so I am sorry to those guys for the close call. The grizzly vet in the left seat let loose of some explicatives and I and I am not sue if it was because of the close call or the fact that we were passed by another 5-car. But we have 4 tires full of air and we are off.
The car is handling better and I think Steve has some confidence back. I know we are coming up on the right hander that is the entrance to the lakebed. I have no idea of where it is or how to tell Steve to hit it so we are a bit conservative getting on. We are in the dust of the 5011 car and a couple others. And Steve is telling me to keep my eyes peeled. I keep telling him to keep the markers out his left side and he wants to drift to the right out of the dust. I tell him we have no idea what the exit of the lake looks like and we need to stay on course. He says to keep an eye on the GPS and I am trying but the damn thing is so low that I am riding with my right hand pulling the back of my head forward in the neck restraints to get my head tilted down low enough to read it. We’re off the bed and headed for the mountains again. I know where we’re going and I am good I go back to me forward viewing, giving it only slight glances. Super fun stretch of track with the big open turns back and forth, and then like somebody flipped a switch, big rocks again. I do not remember where we were exactly but we hit a couple pretty big holes. Well-marked dangers but not on the list. Steve barked at me that I needed to call that stuff out! “If it’s not on my list I don’t know about it anymore then you Steve” I responded. I am not sure if those are on the GPS but dang I just can’t read the thing?
For the most part we seemed to be settling into a groove. Iles are clicking off, I am settled in and not feeling as dry anymore. I started trying to breathe through my nose more and talking a little less. As we worked our way up the canyon towards the halfway point of my lap I knew there was on old friend waiting at the double checkpoint of RM52 and RM56 to give us a wave I remember being torn between thinking I have made it half way, I can do this and are really already half way done with our lap? Any warm fuzzy feelings about this place went away in the next few miles in what I felt was the worst part of the whole track. After you make it through the rocks and stuff her you also pass over what looks like a debris field of an old landfill or something. Wood and glass debris everywhere. Really? The desert here is not tough enough we need to drive across debris field too? All I can think is OH DAMN I HOPE WE DO NOT GET A FLAT! Oh wait, I am surrounded by friends that would love to help us if needed. I have guys at the last chk point and the next ck point too. We are now the furthest from any Pit support and we still have friends close by in Kyle, Cameron, and Richard and the rest of their gang. These guys are my ol Shoptalkforums gang that JT & I took in our first MINT400 with in 2012. So comforting to know you have familiar faces that far from the Main pit areas. And poor Steve was trying to figure out what hand signals I was giving when all I was doing was waiving to my fans! Ha! Yeah this rookie had people cheering for him and dang it that felt good. So thank you to those smiling faces out there and friendly waves, that was awesome!
I am not sure exactly where were in our lap when we had our really one and only close call. I will insert it here since it was definitely in the rocks when Steve decided to show off his 2 wheel driving skills. Not sure exactly what happened but next think you know the horizon went into a vertical status and Steve decided to personally check my chin strap of my helmet or something. The car settled back down and really I have no idea how close it was to going over but without missing a beat I tell Steve “We’re good, nice save, keep going, keep going.” And away we went.
Next thing we know were on pavement and I know we are headed for the only danger they warned us about at the drivers meeting. I told Steve that when we get to the turn back it down a little extra as I do not know what to expect of this turn. We’re good and were through it and into the rock pit when we get a bump from behind. This is the first to pass us in a long time. Maybe it is one of those hot dog 5-car guys the past us at the start and had to pull off right after? Nope it’s the Turbo ATV class leader and this dude is on a mission. We pull over to the right to let him pass and of course he tries to pass us on the right. I am convinced it’s an ATV driver thing after some of my encounters on the sand with those guys. But anyway he is around safely and all Steve keeps asking is if we are on course as we head down into the rock pit portion of the race course. The dust is bad the rocks are sharp and square, the shelves in the rock are tall and straight up and down and Steve begins to reach deep into his reserve of swear words to describe this place. He is also cursing at the dust and the distraction of the helicopter flying right above our heads. I was not going to tell him right then that Ray not only withheld my race history info from him but he must have forgot to mention the that he had bought into the helicopter footage along with some other class5 guys. Yup that helicopter was there for us LOL.
The rest of this race course is simply amazing from the rock pit on. We start our return trip to Primm with a pass through the spectator area that I had watched the 2012 version of this race. And then into the biggest section of monster rolling rock whoops that rival anything I have ever seen. When in rhythm they are almost smooth and then when that rhythm gets broken you lose the all the air that exists in your body. And about the time you are just really done with them mentally they stop as quickly as they started. We are now less than a mile out of Pit-B where we will get 5 gallons of fuel. I am on the radio with no response from them. Not knowing where they are located and if they know we are coming is kinda an uneasy feeling from inside the car. Pit-B is a long uphill 25MPH with a U-turn and back downhill at the same speed. As we reach the top of the hill Steve begins to get more and more vocal thinking we have missed our pit when I tell him we are only halfway through the pits. He calms down and tells me that they had told him that they were at pit exit…just wish somebody would told the codog that! We pull into our pits to find Zac and Ben Swift and gang ready to dump some fuel. What a trip this was for me. For the last 3 years or so I have helped pit Zac’s Grinch race car. I love looking in at him and seeing the smile in his eyes of that race car. This time he was looking in at me. Now he can’t see my grin from ear to ear but I know he sees the smile in my face. I turn my attention to the mirrors and this time I make damn sure that we have nobody we are going to pull out on. Clear? Clear and away we go leaving Pit-B. Within a few miles we are on the valley floor and the next 20miles of this course was so much fun I could have made loops on it all day. We left so much on the table here not knowing the course. There are some rocks and some sand, long sandy whoops that reminded me of playing at the dunes. And then the long pull across the dry lakebed where there is nothing to do but watch the GPS speed number to see just how fast this race car could go. I wish we had known what the exit of the lakebed had looked like because we backed it down way too early. But it’s better safe than sorry I guess. We would spend the next 5 miles working our way past a couple of cars. Working the dust of the small skirt pass on the lakebed again and weaving the power poles out to the edge of the mountains. We did clear those two cars before we hit the high speed pole line road back to Primm. This section is one I want back for sure. Having no idea what to expect, we probably left 10-15mph on the table here. I think we could have taken this 3 mile long section of graded powerline road a lot faster than we did. The lakebeds are fun but a gravel road at similar speeds with bushes, trees, and powerline towers zipping by give you such a sensation of speed that even describing it right now makes me want to go hit it again. And just like that we are in a 25mph zone again crossing the bridge back into Primm. We are having a chance to communicate with the main pit at this point and I am coming to the realization that my ride is nearing its end. I tell Steve that we still have a few miles of the Primm infield section to do and that there is no way I am going to even look at the GPS and that we will just be watching signs through this part. It takes all of about 300ft to get Steve’s blood pressure up again as it is clear to me now he is not a fan of a watered track. I on the other hand, I am loving this place. It’s soft and technical with jumps and tight turns. I could have done without the standing water in places that temporarily blind you by coating your visor in mud, but dang this is fun. Steve is cursing and asking how much more of this stuff is left and I am almost laughing at him because we are on such opposite ends of this deal. I will say that the crew has no idea how technical this section of the course is and are barking in our ears asking questions about the car. Steve is getting pissed at this point reaching for radio buttons to clear his head of the radio chatter and I finally key the radio and simply say NOT NOW just about the time we are going over the giant table top jump on the old short track section at the Primm race track. Hitting that jump for the first time ever in reverse of its intended design meant we would jump off of the takeoff ramp. This felt to me like we had just driven the car off a 3 story building at speed. The cars suspension sucked it up just fine but it was still a pretty wild sensation.
Before you know it, 25mph once again and we are in the main pit. I compare this feeling right now to the end of that epic rollercoaster ride at the (Name your theme park here) where you go from wild ride to the slow return to the loading and unloading dock. Suddenly I realize I never spent even 1 minute looking at the map of the main pit and have absolutely no clue where we are pitted in relation to the pit entrance. I tell Steve exactly that and he responds with “I got it, I got it, I got it.” And just like that we are surrounded by our crew. I had already unbuckled my belts, radio and fresh air hose. Now to just get my big ass frame out of the roof of this car so that Ray and Rich can get in and finish the race. Thank you to the crew guy the was big enough to catch me as I jumped from the edge of the car. I know now that had he not done so, my legs would have never held me. OH DAMN I’M GLAD WE DID NOT GET A FLAT! I took a second to look around and my guys were busy looking the car over. That’s cool, Ray gave those guys tasks to make them part of this deal too. I now know they have their own version of this experience just as I do. Gas in, Ray & Rich are in, and the car leaves the pits. Steve and I are done. We did what we set out to do, and gave those guys a good car within reach of the podium. It was up to them to battle the Nevada desert and the rest of the remaining class-5 competition now.
I begin to recount the lap with my guys as well as the rest of the crew. Steve and I discussed how it all went. Laughing at some of the stuff like me apologizing for dropping the rooky bomb at the starting line. He asked if I had ever gotten queasy at all. I said no, and really the only thing did get me at all was the dry mouth at 24-25miles in but I coped with that and really was not a problem. He said “I am glad you didn’t puke or poo either, because I would have stopped and let you out to do so…. and then left you ass in the desert to walk back hahahaha.” I was glad that my biggest worries did not happen either as that would have probably sealed my fate as to ever getting back in anybody else’s race car. I now know what to expect and will probably fill myself with other anxiety next time I am sure. It’s just in my DNA to do so.
We settle in to some chairs and begin to monitor the progress of Ray and Rich as they take on the Mint course. It looked as though they had an issue with the steering on the car somewhere near the rock pit. I am still unclear as to if they fixed it there or limped to Pit-B and made repairs. Judging by the tracking speeds across the lakebed they were confident in their repairs. They did make it back to us in the Main Pit and we looked the car over. Steve was very concerned about sending them back out because the T-trucks and Class-1’s would be starting soon and bearing down on them before they could finish their last lap. A win was now out of our reach but a real shot at a podium finish was still possible. Heck at that point a Mint400 finish becomes an accomplishment in itself. And so we send those guys off into the desert again. Unfortunately as we are sending them off we realize that their radio antenna has broken off at the base, so coms would not be very good at all, and we would be limited to tracking them via the system.
Cory, Darrin, J.T. and I decide to walk over and watch the start of the TT and C1 race. About half way through the starting order we decide to make use of the empty Buffalo Bills casino and go get some lunch. As we finished lunch we see that Ray and Rich are stopped out on course at RM48. That is a tight section with not a lot of room. Not a super-fast section so crash concern is not the first thought, but breakage is and the lack of room to safely work on it is a pretty big concern especially with the fast trucks and buggies headed their way. We make our way back to the pits to find Steve talking to Rich on the phone. Rich had hiked to the top of a mountain to get a cell call out. They were discussing getting them to a safe place to watch the TT/C1 action that was about to bear down on them. They were also working out the details of a trail fix to get the car to a spot that it could be towed back to us. After Steve hung up the phone he was visibly concerned about their wellbeing if they could not make repairs. He was afraid that they would freeze out there and that they really did not have much water with them. I then set his mind at ease with the fact that this rookie has his fans out there near where they are broken and worst case they had a couple mile hike to get to them. I assured Steve that those guys would take good care of them and they would not be cold, hungry or thirsty. And we would be able to get them and the car when safe to do so.
As it turned out they were able to desert engineer a trail fix and limp the car out to where Ben could get to them with a trailer from Pit-B. But not before a stop off at my STF crews checkpoint for some water. Thank You to those guys.
With everybody and the car back safe at main including Christians 10-car who had made repairs and managed to finish the Mint400. Good job to those guys! Sometimes a finish at the Mint is a victory in itself. The guys and I decide to get a few hours of driving in tonight and get north of Vegas. We would finish our drive back to Washington on Sunday. The trip home was uneventful accept for trying to get the trailer in my driveway due to all the new snow that once again had fallen. The 4 of us had great heavily involved conversations about dream cars, life goals and life experiences. So much fun was had with these guys and I am so glad they helped me take in this Mint400 experience of a lifetime.
What’s next? Who knows? We’ll decide when that opportunity presents itself.
Thanks to all of you out there especially Ray Promer, Steve Griffith, Rich Henry and BF Goodrich Tires for NO FLAT TIRES!
It is not Mickey Moused.....It's Desert Engineered!
- bikesndbugs
- Posts: 637
- Joined: Fri May 27, 2016 10:15 am
Re: Knock, knock, is the sound of a Mint-400 opportunity that I can't pass up.
the coors truck my girlfriends cousin's husband or boyfriend is the codriver.
Travis
I spend way to much time on this site
I spend way to much time on this site
- CentralWAbaja
- Posts: 4278
- Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:05 pm
Re: Knock, knock, is the sound of a Mint-400 opportunity that I can't pass up.
That pic was just for JT1967....and because I like blue mountains also. And well it was the only truck that I could get a clean Nevada desert pic ofbikesndbugs wrote: ↑Tue Mar 07, 2017 12:42 pm the coors truck my girlfriends cousin's husband or boyfriend is the codriver.
It is not Mickey Moused.....It's Desert Engineered!
-
- Posts: 1126
- Joined: Fri Sep 20, 2013 3:02 pm
Re: Knock, knock, is the sound of a Mint-400 opportunity that I can't pass up.
Sounds like you had great time, happy for you .
Ed
Ed