JoeyD23
#utvunderground
Well where do we begin? I guess this isn’t your normal race report as so much has changed in the last three weeks so I’ll just lay it out.
On Friday January 6th the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series announced the end of the SR1/UTV class at the National level citing issues with class size and racer participation, a business move if you will and with little desire to race on a local level we were left with the task of calling our sponsors to let them know what had happened and what options we were exploring.
The following Monday the first call was to Superchips and the response was “Were with you no matter where you land.†OK! Tuesday a call to Justin at Cognito Motorsports was made to let him know where we were at. After some discussion we decided to team up and try to secure a ride for the upcoming World Off Road Championship Series or WORCS. Justin then called Joey D of the UTVUnderground.com on Wednesday to discuss our idea with him. He said “I like it, I’ll get back to youâ€. Then late Thursday morning we received a call from Joey stating Polaris was on board. That afternoon Justin took delivery of a 2012 Polaris RZR 570 and the plan was hatched, race the 2012 WORCS Series in a Polaris Industries, Cognito Motorsports, UTVUnderground.com RZR 570 with Superchips driver Cody “Code†Rahders at the wheel.
With seven days to go Cognito handled getting the car a race legal roll cage, doors were supplied by Pro Armor, and we met up at Glen Helen the following Friday for Round 1 of WORCS . With the exception of the roll cage the RZR was all stock, stock motor, stock suspension, stock wheels and tires, stock clutch, so competing against the highly modified regulars in the 700 class was going to be the true test of the RZR 570’s capabilities.
49 cars total lined up for the start with 10 of them competing in the 700 class, WORCS uses a motocross style of starting and the first turn at Glen Helen raceway is a 55’ wide 180* right turn at a 45* banking and is commonly referred to a Talladega, with 1.6â€s of rain falling the night before up to race time Cody played it safe with the brand new 570 and came out in last place on the start. With a 45 minute race there was plenty of time to move forward.
By the 20 minute mark Code was 5th in class. At 30 minutes he was in 3rd five seconds off of 2nd place then, the left front tire went flat and came off the bead so with two laps to go he pushed the car as hard as he safely could but with only three wheels driving Cody was finally passed halfway through the last lap and finished 4th place in the Production 700 class.
So, in two weeks time with the help of some fantastic sponsors we switched series, cars, went racing in a bone stock car, and finished 4th. The goal for the next race, Cognito Motorsports is developing a long travel suspension system, Black Rhino Performance will be supplying new tires and bead lock wheels, and we will meet up on Feburary 11th in Primm Nevada for Round 2.
Thanks to Polaris Industries, Cognito Motorsports, UTVUnderground.com, Superchips, Black Rhino Performance, Pro Armor, K&N Filters, & RacerX Race Radios. The Polaris RZR 570 is a solid machine and we look forward to racing the rest of the 2012 WORCS series in this highly competitive UTV.
Doug Rahders
R3motorsports
816 Production 700, WORCS
