1955 DSR1 Mint 400 race recap

rupert14

Raber Racing - UTVUnderground Approved
Jan 14, 2010
436
14
18
1955 DSR1 Mint 400 race recap with pics




The 1955 DSR1 car went to the mint with new aluminum, new wrap, new sponsors, and all new wider suspension that puts us at the 77" max. With all the changes we were not able to tune the suspension before the race but knowing it would be rough, we set the shocks with lots of compression valving and headed to Vegas.

Contingency was fun. We came through around 4:00 and believe it or not a lot of booths were gone and folks were heading home or to the drivers meeting. The great thing about Vegas is all the people willing to help push the car down fairmont street!!





We started off the line affter the jeep speed trucks and for the first time in my life, there was NO WIND in southern Nevada. The start line was followed by some fairly deep silt that continued for aobut a mile. Right after we started we came up on some flashing lights. Due to the limited visability we were in first gear just noodling along. As we approached the lights we realized the car was not moving, and my co-driver said "go left, go left". I cut left and to my suprise I found a burm on the left side of the road. I hit the gas, the motor came to life, but the car did not move. We were stuck in the silt just like the truck.

We sat there for 30 minutes while all the other cars passed, the dust cleared, a recovery team pulled the truck out TWICE, then left us there, and finally someone came and gave us a tug.

The dust was 90% cleared on most of the course for the next 10 miles. We knew we had some ground to make up but I had to keep from destroying the car in an effort to catch up. As soon as we got to the first section of whoops the back of the car bucked up in the air. Oh no, to stiff in the rear, this is going to be a long race. We quickly found ourselves at the first spectator area and turning right onto the pavement. This was the first time we could use the Yamaha R1 for what it is good at........ top speed. We were soon at 90mph and drifting the car around the sweeping turns. What a rush it is to drive a bike powered car!! The first lake crossing was covered by a cloud of dust that made driving very difficult. I watched the GPS and drove by location, not just by sight. I later found out there were several accidents on the lake bed. We never saw them and luckily never ran into them.

From there it was onto some roads I have never seen before. Or should I say jeep trails. The rocks were everywhere, large, and sharp. The pit bull tires did a great job on this terrain. In the rough my car was beating the crap out of us but we were happy that it was not hitting the ground. It was in this area, around mile 15 that we began passing the slower Jeepspeed and class 7 trucks.

At one point we came around a corner to see a RZR XP on it's side. The driver gave us the thumbs up and we kept going. This was a great reminder that the course was rough and we needed to keep it together.

Around mile 30 we came upon our first class 8 full size truck. I chased him for about 2 miles and wondered if he saw us back there. I estimated where my front bumepr would hit if I had to try and bump him. About the time I came to the realization that our front bumper should line up great with his rear diff cover, he pulled to the right and let me by. Whew!

The roads eventually began to speed up and we were out of first gear. I quickly closed the gap on a yellow class 7 truck and began honking. I stayed behind this guy for what felt like 15 miles. In reviewing the go-pro, it was more like 10 minutes. I was running 3-5 feet off his bumper and then in a rather smoothe area, he slammed on the brakes and almost completely stopped. I smashed into the back of his truck, after which he drove off. I think it was a warning to stay back as he did not think a UTV should be passing a truck. Luckily a couple miles later he blew a 90 degree turn after a fast straight and I snuck by on the inside. I am mounting an automatic paintball gun to my hood before the next race. I know I could hit his helmet from back there and get his attention next time. The racing community is not entirely excited about getting passed by a rhino.

Right after the pass we were on a 5 mile whoop section. I think my back tires were in the air 50% of the time. I could not wait for this to end. When it finally did, we were coming up on a bunch of dust and lights as we entered the lake bed headed to pit two. On the lake bed I opened it up and passed 3-4 trucks as I crossed the lake. What a great feeling to pass in such an open and easy way. I love the top speed of my car. I was passing cars but I know my car can go faster. As we drove through the pits on the other side I heard a whining from behind my head. I thought it was my radiator fan and kept going. I would later learn that my fuel pump was on its' way out. That cost me about 10mph on the top end but 90 is still pretty fast in a UTV. I have a second pump mounted in the car but the wires and hoses must be switched over. If I knew it was the pump, I would have stopped, not knowing I kept going.

Back across the lake bed and we had overtaken another buggy. As we were getting close to completing our first lap my co driver asked if I was feeling ok and if I was planning on staying in the car. Of course I answered, but that made me think. I wonder if he was not doing ok. "How are you feeling?" I asked. Not so good actually he replied. I called in to get one of the other two teched team members suited up and we had no radio.

We approached the main pit and found ourselves next to a chopper! I looked over and there was a helicopter flying along sideways filming us. It followed us until we got to the last turn before the stop sign entering the main pit. That was cool!!

Into the main pit and off to pit #102. We pulled up and everything was orchestrated perfectly. One person had water bottles, two more were fueling the car, another checking tire pressure, etc. I yelled to my brother to get a fire suit on and he said, " No No, keep going, you are catching them." My co driver jumped out and I told my brother to hurry and suit up. By the time the pit stop was done he was in the right seat securing the window net. Right before we left one of my pit crew came to my net and said, "both rear CV boots are gone". The thoughts of being stranded in the desert for hours on end crossed my mind. Then I remembered, my team mate made some killer mud flaps that would keep the rocks fron getting to the rear CV's. I decided to go for it. We had a long road to exit the pits, just enough time for him to buckle up and get ready to go. I wondered if the radiator fan was going to hold on not realizing the noise was the fuel pump.

We left the pit like we should have left the starting line, screaming through the gears and floating through the silt. We kept picking off cars, buggies, and UTV's. The lake bed was on us before we knew it and for the first time I could see more than 10 feet in front of the car. The road following the lake bed was the worst. There were tons of trucks and buggies that could not handle another pass down this road. There were so many broken down rigs I thought I was passing a spectator area.

My brother kept saying "let her eat a bit, you are not even pushing it". Not able to see the IRC tracker and where the only remaining DSR1 car was I kept adding gas. The car has the power if you have the balls. As the road finally began to smoothe out and speeds crept up, I found myself pushing the car faster and faster. As we came to a right sweeper I tried to stay on the gas and let it drift. The corner got progressively tighter, I tried to hold on and keep the car on course, tighter turn, more sliding, .......... OH crap!! My drivers front tire hit a rock about 2 feet tall and I heard a loud BANG! Off the gas and coasting everything seemed ok, the car was not pulling, no wierd noises, maybe I got lucky. As I brought the car back up to speed I realized I could feel every bump from the front end. I pulled off and my co dog jumped out to asses the situation. Flat dirvers front tire. He took to changing it and I stayed in the car. We have an impact and quick jack so the strategy is to be ready to race when the tire goes on. The sand and loose dirt made jacking up the car the most difficult part. The total stop totalled 10 minutes and we were back on course. At this point it crossed my mind that I was out of the race and I should just try and save the car. Nah, what fun is that. We crossed the dry lake at 90mph again and headed for the finish line.

We crossed the podium sixth overall and second in class by less than four minutes. Not bad considering the events of the day. I was down over 40 minutes total. The car was in one piece and we had no substantial damage. After the race someone came up to me and said " that sucks that you got a flat and were stuck in the beginning of the race". I had to disagree. If we get upset when we get stuck or get a flat, then we should not be desert racing. I am very happy with the way the car handled, the effort put forth by my team, and all my sponsors for making this race possable.

AZP fabrication - Jason and Brig built an amazing car. Their race prep is second to none. If you want to build a race car and don't want to spend 100K, give these guys a call. They took an old worn out rhino and built a screaming racing machine. Great job guys. Let me point out that you can have a car just like mine but better for 30K complete. If you have a car already there will be substantial savings. THis is a steal considering a new polaris XP4 is 24K and you still need to spend another 20K to get a competative car.

Black Rhino - They provide exceptional pit support and a reat discount on anything UTV related. If you are racing and doing well, give them a call and send your resume. This is a great organization promoting our sport.


Pit Bull Tires - I can't say enough about the quality and durability of these tires. I am very suprised that I did not destroy the left front of my car when I nailed that rock at speed. The tire took the impact and saved my car. To travel the remaining 180 miles without any tire issues is a testament to the amazing durability of the product. Some UTV's had to stop racing because of all the flats.

Thanks Pit Bull!!!

Weller - Great product, amazing reliability, expert UTV racing knowlege.

Rigid Lights - I just hooked up with Rigid before this race. If I had a good amber perhaps I would have seen the truck sooner and had a better start. Lights are super important in the morning and I can't wait to get these mounted on my car.

I have full HD GoPro coverage of the race. From start to finish. I am working on some clips for YouTube so keep checking back.

Silver State 300, here we


 
Last edited:

rupert14

Raber Racing - UTVUnderground Approved
Jan 14, 2010
436
14
18
If anyone has seen any race photos of the car let me know. Apparently we were too fast to be caught on film!
 

rupert14

Raber Racing - UTVUnderground Approved
Jan 14, 2010
436
14
18
I just edited my video, now I just have to figure out how to get it on you tube. Apparently it is to long. Does anyone know the size or time limit for the tube?
 

rupert14

Raber Racing - UTVUnderground Approved
Jan 14, 2010
436
14
18
Very cool write up Bobby! The car looks fantastic!

Hope to see you at SS so we can get some new UTVUG decals on there!
I was waiting for some new stickers in vegas but all the UTVUG support abandoned me. I thought I lost the love of the UG. Anyway, bring some new ones to SS. We have some mods going on that should add some more HP to an already fast car. We just need a few more cars to race the DSR1 class so we can get more press.
 

rupert14

Raber Racing - UTVUnderground Approved
Jan 14, 2010
436
14
18
I think it might be 15mins?

Ok, that makes sense. I have four hours to chop up. I will try to make a highlight video of just the passing and exciting stuff. It is fun to watch, it is like being there all over agian.
 

Ignore Amos

Active Member
Jan 14, 2011
422
32
28
Tucson, AZ
I was waiting for some new stickers in vegas but all the UTVUG support abandoned me. I thought I lost the love of the UG. Anyway, bring some new ones to SS. We have some mods going on that should add some more HP to an already fast car. We just need a few more cars to race the DSR1 class so we can get more press.

Just what you need....more HP!!! you guys are so fast as it is...your car looks fantasitc, Man I AM JEALOUS!!! You have footage tagging us from the rear? I'd like to see that..See you at the SS!
 

JoeyD23

#utvunderground
Jan 9, 2009
18,569
1,368
113
44
North County San Diego
www.utvunderground.com
I was waiting for some new stickers in vegas but all the UTVUG support abandoned me. I thought I lost the love of the UG. Anyway, bring some new ones to SS. We have some mods going on that should add some more HP to an already fast car. We just need a few more cars to race the DSR1 class so we can get more press.

I don't know how I missed you guys. I am trying my hardest to find and see everyone but I had so much going on project wise at Mint with Mad Media. I got love for ya! lol
 

rupert14

Raber Racing - UTVUnderground Approved
Jan 14, 2010
436
14
18
Just what you need....more HP!!! you guys are so fast as it is...your car looks fantasitc, Man I AM JEALOUS!!! You have footage tagging us from the rear? I'd like to see that..See you at the SS!
I do have footage, I will have to post that section up specifically. The car is fast, but how can someone not want more when the lake beds are like the boneville salt flats. Even 90mph feels slow. I know the car will do 105 but we did change the rear sprocket so I may only be able to do 95 with the current gearing. I don't really need more top end, but I am looking for a little more torque. I found a simple mod that doubles the torque output below 4K rpm. I know that sounds trivial to a 14K rpm motor but we are down there in first occasionally. ( silt beds ) It is so easy to make up time on the flats with good top end. In one section I passed 3 or 4 trucks/jeep speeds on one lake bed crossing. Those guys are so hard to pass on the course. I will try to post up the pass. I did say to my co-driver that I only want to tap you guys, I hope it felt that way.
 

kennyo15

Paramount Motorsports / Black Rhino - UTVUndergrou
Aug 19, 2009
272
8
18
64
Alpine, CA
Bobby congratulations on your finish and representing Black Rhino. I love your recaps, they really give us a feeling of being out there with you. Keep up the good work and give us a call if there is anything we can do to help out.
 

junior quisquis

I AM NOT BLUE - YOU LIFT-YOU LOSE! - UTVUndergroun
We are Building our DSR1, Our first race is going to be the Henderson 250 in November.

I hope to help out with the Press on the DSR1's

I was waiting for some new stickers in vegas but all the UTVUG support abandoned me. I thought I lost the love of the UG. Anyway, bring some new ones to SS. We have some mods going on that should add some more HP to an already fast car. We just need a few more cars to race the DSR1 class so we can get more press.
 

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