Rage At The River

#xpwarrior

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Rage At The River #2925 xpWarrior J. Drew and P. Pinckard


With a record number of entries (approx 500), we started setting up shop days in advance. The car was prepped and a few parts we needed we scheduled to arrive the week of the race. We finished the car the day before we left to Laughlin. SNORE and MORE had their work cut out for them and this was our first race with this organization. Our registration was completed and paid for all online, this is a great feature of SNORE. So, tech and registration...


We got over to the Laughlin Tropicana about an hour prior to registration opening to get our wristbands and sign waivers. This went super smooth and was very simple due to the online process. With paperwork and wristbands in hand we headed back to camp to get the racecar and have it inspected. Tech and Contingency was pretty cool. Most of the big name companies had their setups like PCI Race Radios and Butch’s Speed Shop along with vendors selling t-shirts and such. We had to change the color of our numbers and thankfully a vendor was onsite to print them up for us. Besides the numbers, The Can-Am Maverick X3 Unlimited Racecar passes tech without a hitch.


Temperatures were low and the winds were high, Race day was no different. We woke early, about sunrise to prep the team and car for the race. New colored numbers applied and belt warmed up we were ready to head to the start line. We ensured we had fuel and the engine was at operating temp. Let’s get it on!


Staging was the simplest thing I have seen in racing so far. We pulled up to the first official, she gave me a row and position number. I pulled into the staging area and SNORE had signs placed making it idiot proof. We had row 19 spot 1. Each row had three positions and the first off the line were 3000 cars, then 900’s, then Bugs, SXS Unlimited and finally 1900 (SXS Naturally Aspirated).


I worried about the belt getting cold and by the time we took the flag it was sitting at 68 degrees. The flag dropped and we chased those on our row over 5 kickers and into the infield turns and jumps. I took a conservative pace and throttle because we needed everything to heat up and this cost us two positions before the end of the infield. I could feel a vibration in the car when speeds increased over 50mph and it was real bad above 70. Within two miles we passed one Unlimited SXS with a belt problem.


I worked hard to stay with a car from my row and finally made a pass two miles in. Shortly after that I would be passed by Millen, and then nerfed by Carver as he passed followed by Romo and the Cognito pre-runner. It sucks and confuses you when a car with fuel packs on a roof rack is on the race course. I little demoralized having been passed by three/four Factory Backed drivers on the opening lap, my co-driver calmed me down and explained we didn’t need to be winning the race on lap 1 of a two day event. Within another mile or two we passed Millen who was on the side of the course with smoke billowing from his engine.


On lap 2 a couple of the SNORE legal unlimited cars (they are lighter than a full BITD build) got around me only to get passed back in the big bumps. The later laps were full of 900’s, the bugs and lap traffic refusing to move over. I have never been a nerfing type of driver and waited for these drivers to move so I could pass. Many of these cars simply didn’t seem to car that they were blocking faster traffic. I must have passed 30 cars from lap 2 until the finish and would later regret not forcing some of those passes earlier. We held pace and finished the day in 5th on corrected time.


After the race on day 1 we inspected the car looking for something causing the vibration. We found our drivers front axle and rear passenger side axle with boots pulled from the CV’s. Work began to repair the Axles in camp and without new boot bands that would hold. After search camp for vendors that were selling parts we decided we would have to fix it with what we had. *** Venders if your reading this, many racers needed parts between races and would have paid good money for quality stuff *** Anyway, we cleaned the CV’s, repacked them with grease and used safety wire to try and hold the boots in place. All of the boot clamps we had were just not tightening well enough. With the car repaired we watched some racing from the other classes.


Day 2...we head to staging and discover we are starting row 4 because of the great day we had before. I would be the seventh car off the line and in front of many hungry racers including Carver. He is a threat every time he gets behind the wheel. Romo and Cognito would start in front of me. I don’t think Millen made day 2. This race would be in the opposite direction as day 1 and just as we rolled up to the line Peyton told me the GPS wasn’t tracking. We would Race this basically old school!


The green flag drops and we are driving blind...the other two cars are up wind from us just blinding us out with dust. I try to take the lines we think are best and leave the Moon Bumps behind them. Very shortly it’s Carver on my rear bumper and Peyton tells me to give him the position. He comes around and disappears into the dust. I can’t tell if the course has rocks, square edged bumps or anything. I begin checking up where I should and my co-driver is not happy. We settle in and begin finding the speed from our DynoJet tune. By Lap 2 we are finding lap traffic and making positions back from the horrible start.


I decide we aren’t going to get stuck behind people today and start giving some bumps to move cars out of the way. We have a vibration still but it’s not as bad as the day prior. I don’t really car by lap 3 and start giving the car the throttle. We jump the road crossings and push through the Proving Grounds at a real good pace passing people with ease. On the infield we see one of the Top 3 from day one broken. We pass Carver again as he works mechanicals on his car. As lap 4 starts we know we are in great position to podium if we can turn it up a little bit more.


We cruise through the start finish speed zone at the required 10mph and begin the Straight away to the moon bumps at full throttle. Peyton tells me “take the low line and watch speed as we get the bumps”. We fly into the low lane of the moon bumps at close to 65 mph or so. We hit the end of the low line and cross over to our preferred line for the remainder of the moon bumps trying to increase speed.


We start hitting very high speeds in the 90’s for much of the course and find more lap traffic. A Yamaha following a bug in front of me. I slow to match speed and tap the Yamaha. He doesn’t move. I hit him again...again he doesn’t move. As I move in to connect to him and start pushing he hits the brakes and gets a big hit from us. This gets his attention and he immediately moves out of the way. Then we find a 900 car. We tap him and he doesn’t move. I position my front bumper on his rear bumper and begin to increase speed. After a few seconds of him getting a speed increase he moves over with a quickness.


I fly through the Proving Grounds following the directions of my co-driver. We pass a few more vehicles and get to the final couple miles of the race. I am on a mission. I want to get to the finish line as fast as possible. Peyton is making excellent calls as he guides us through the course. We hit the infield and it feels like we shaved two minutes off our lap times. The final straight has the 5 kickers that cause a few bad crashes over the two days. I check up for the first and take it at a moderate speed. The second I increase throttle and on the third the car bucks sideways and we take out a few course making horses, but save the car and hit the final corner at speed.


We get to the Mesa and see only three vehicles in front of us. We might have done it! It’s possible we get the podium but neither is nor Dirt Live seem to know what the times are. I thank everyone that has supported us Can-Am, Lone Star Racing, STI Offroad, Gates G-Force and DynoJet along with my co-driver, crew and family. When we get back to camp we have no idea what our finishing position is but we are super pumped because we think we hit the mark for at least a third place overall.


Later that evening I would get a text message from a SNORE official saying we hit our first podium for the team with a 3rd place overall finish.


Rage At The River was so much fun. The competition was real. The competitors never gave up. We pushed hard. It has been a long time coming but we finally did it. Our car has been fast and reliable, but with the help of DynoJet it is a powerhouse. This was the first race with the DynoJet Tune and Power Vision CX, that’s the only change we made to the car since our previous races and now the results speak for themselves....Podium Power!


Thank you to all the friends, family and fans that support us. Your Instagram and Facebook likes and comments do help us in our race program. As always, if you know a veteran please thank them and keep showing them your love. Thank you Can-Am, Lone Star Racing, STI Offroad, DynoJet, Gates G-Force, S&B Filters, PCI Race Radios, EEKOE, Shock Therapy, Warfighter Made and the United States Military And Veterans.
 
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It was a great weekend of racing, this was only me and my daughters second desert race and it was awesome to see some top teams there and see how we compared. It was great talking to you at the finish line and we look forward to seeing you out there at the next one Congrats on your finish
 
It was a great weekend of racing, this was only me and my daughters second desert race and it was awesome to see some top teams there and see how we compared. It was great talking to you at the finish line and we look forward to seeing you out there at the next one Congrats on your finish
You were driving the wheels off your car. Your daughter is one hell of a driver! Congrats on the win!
 

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