Last weekend we had the opportunity to participate in the Pure 200 in Cal City. We participated in a multiple of ways as we were not just a racer or sponsor but both. This is the first race that my son Matt raced and I took the crew chief position and didn't get in the car. Talk about a nerve racking experience...
A last minute decision to leave our Race Teryx at home and field a backup Teryx in the race added a little more pressure. I won't go into too much detail on this but thank goodness for the ISA. For those of you who have never raced and have always thought about it the ISA makes it so easy. I may be a little biased because of my involvement but when we made the decision to run Matt's Teryx and not my race car it was a seamless transition. If you've got a well equipped play car that you want to be a little competitive with you really don't have that much to do. Matt's Teryx was set up nicely with a XMF long travel, 4 seat roll cage with Aluminum roof, Pro Armor doors, 5 point harnesses and seats to begin with. A few simple modifications and we were ready to go. All we had to add was a rear amber light, window nets, caution triangle, horn, first aid kit, and a camel pack. In addition we needed a fire suit and Snell 2005 helmet or newer.
In just a matter of a couple of days we had a race legal Teryx. Thanks to Aaron at PRP seats for busting out a set of window nets for us in a hurry. We put the final touches on it as we loaded it in the trailer on Thursday night to head to Cal City. A very cool part of this event is that you are allowed to prerun all day Friday before the event starts on Saturday.
We showed up late Thursday night to the AVE ranch and found our pit spot. Lou has graded a large section of his property to make a great location for the pits and start finish line. The pit row is in a horseshoe type shape with the start finish line at the top of the property. Friday came and we spent the day running the course and checking out the race lines taking time to mark our GPS with all of the corners and dangers. The 50 mile loop was a great blend of desert and offered challenges for all skill levels. It was one of the funnest courses I have been on in a long wile. Friday evening we spent a little time adjusting our lights and getting the car fine tuned for Saturdays race.
Saturday came and it was full race mode making it nice to have a 4pm start time and not be up at the crack of dawn getting ready to race. For once UTVs are the premier field. A motorcycle race took off Saturday morning meaning the course was closed to prerunning but gave us time to get our pits set up and race strategy put together. It still amazed me how fast 4pm came.
Matt's goal for the race was to simply finish. I didn't want him to push just put miles on the car and get used to the racing environment. He'd spent a ton of time around the races in the pits with us but never been behind the wheel. My buddy Pete was riding shotgun with him helping him navigate and keep him calmed down. When the race started a total of 13 UTVs lined up to take the green flag. Matt and Pete did an awesome job as the boys were able to complete all four laps and finish 6th overall and first in the Production 850 class. They had zero issues with the Teryx and only stopped for fuel in the pits. All in all it was a pretty uneventful race for us. When it came to tires, we ran the 28x10x15 GBC Motorsports Mongrels on 15" OMF billet centers and loved the combination and durability it offered on the trail and in the rocks. Best part was no flats!
Lou and the AVE staff did a great job putting the event together and laying out the race course. In my opinion the coolest part of the race was the fact that they had the Lucas Oil Helicopter flying following the UTVS. Watching the pilot maneuver thought the desert and follow the UTVS was awesome! I can't wait to see the footage from the helicopter. This alone is reason enough to race in the AVE series.
If you've ever thought about racing your UTV take a look at the AVE Series, you won't be disappointed one bit. The ISA rules make it easy to make your car race legal and Lou does a great job putting together an event and racecourse. I hope to see more entries at the next race in June.
I also want to say thank you to all of our sponsors for making it possible and keeping Matt safe out there. Thank you to SXSPerformance.com, Kawasaki, PRP Seats, Walker Evans Racing, GBC Motorsports, Simpson, Pro Armor, OMF Performance, and XMF.
A last minute decision to leave our Race Teryx at home and field a backup Teryx in the race added a little more pressure. I won't go into too much detail on this but thank goodness for the ISA. For those of you who have never raced and have always thought about it the ISA makes it so easy. I may be a little biased because of my involvement but when we made the decision to run Matt's Teryx and not my race car it was a seamless transition. If you've got a well equipped play car that you want to be a little competitive with you really don't have that much to do. Matt's Teryx was set up nicely with a XMF long travel, 4 seat roll cage with Aluminum roof, Pro Armor doors, 5 point harnesses and seats to begin with. A few simple modifications and we were ready to go. All we had to add was a rear amber light, window nets, caution triangle, horn, first aid kit, and a camel pack. In addition we needed a fire suit and Snell 2005 helmet or newer.
In just a matter of a couple of days we had a race legal Teryx. Thanks to Aaron at PRP seats for busting out a set of window nets for us in a hurry. We put the final touches on it as we loaded it in the trailer on Thursday night to head to Cal City. A very cool part of this event is that you are allowed to prerun all day Friday before the event starts on Saturday.
We showed up late Thursday night to the AVE ranch and found our pit spot. Lou has graded a large section of his property to make a great location for the pits and start finish line. The pit row is in a horseshoe type shape with the start finish line at the top of the property. Friday came and we spent the day running the course and checking out the race lines taking time to mark our GPS with all of the corners and dangers. The 50 mile loop was a great blend of desert and offered challenges for all skill levels. It was one of the funnest courses I have been on in a long wile. Friday evening we spent a little time adjusting our lights and getting the car fine tuned for Saturdays race.
Saturday came and it was full race mode making it nice to have a 4pm start time and not be up at the crack of dawn getting ready to race. For once UTVs are the premier field. A motorcycle race took off Saturday morning meaning the course was closed to prerunning but gave us time to get our pits set up and race strategy put together. It still amazed me how fast 4pm came.
Matt's goal for the race was to simply finish. I didn't want him to push just put miles on the car and get used to the racing environment. He'd spent a ton of time around the races in the pits with us but never been behind the wheel. My buddy Pete was riding shotgun with him helping him navigate and keep him calmed down. When the race started a total of 13 UTVs lined up to take the green flag. Matt and Pete did an awesome job as the boys were able to complete all four laps and finish 6th overall and first in the Production 850 class. They had zero issues with the Teryx and only stopped for fuel in the pits. All in all it was a pretty uneventful race for us. When it came to tires, we ran the 28x10x15 GBC Motorsports Mongrels on 15" OMF billet centers and loved the combination and durability it offered on the trail and in the rocks. Best part was no flats!
Lou and the AVE staff did a great job putting the event together and laying out the race course. In my opinion the coolest part of the race was the fact that they had the Lucas Oil Helicopter flying following the UTVS. Watching the pilot maneuver thought the desert and follow the UTVS was awesome! I can't wait to see the footage from the helicopter. This alone is reason enough to race in the AVE series.
If you've ever thought about racing your UTV take a look at the AVE Series, you won't be disappointed one bit. The ISA rules make it easy to make your car race legal and Lou does a great job putting together an event and racecourse. I hope to see more entries at the next race in June.
I also want to say thank you to all of our sponsors for making it possible and keeping Matt safe out there. Thank you to SXSPerformance.com, Kawasaki, PRP Seats, Walker Evans Racing, GBC Motorsports, Simpson, Pro Armor, OMF Performance, and XMF.
