Vegas to Reno Race Report - Thanks Camburg

[Baja Belk]

This race has always had our number - no finishes in 4 attempts. Entered 2 cars, my dad and Dave Bonner in 5011, and me, Jim Anderson, and Tim Rockenbach in 1122.

Race got off to a rough start. 5011 lost the alternator right off the start, and 1122 rediscovered our chronic suspension problem at RM 5 - front driver's side spindle rotated 180 degrees crossing the front arms. Also broke the brake line on that side and broke the power steering ram off its bracket.

Being the only chase vehicle left at the start I frantically and unsuccessfully tried to contact our other teams. Sat phones not working and too far for radio. Incredibly frustrating. Long story short 5011 waited for everyone to leave the line and then backed out to the highway. Luckily I had the spare alternator with me, and word finally got to another truck who came and helped put it in. I took off for pit 1, where we met up with 1122. Took them an hour to fix the arms, and had to be bump started by another race vehicle due to a dead battery. With no power steering Jim's gloves were actually smoking from the friction between the steering wheel. At pit 1 we welded the ram back on and made the checkpoint time by 10 minutes. 5011 had no more problems after an hour or so fix for the alternator and finished 1st in class.

Shortly after leaving pit 1 the ram broke off again, leaving Jim in 1122 without power steering again. At pit 2 - RM 70 - Jim's arms and hands were done so I hopped in the car 80 miles early. Welded the ram back on, much better this time, and miraculously it held the rest of the race. I had no problems, other then the horrendous dust which made passing all the freaking Rhino's that we were behind no fun. Motor didn't like the soft stuff, so we spent a lot of time in 1st and 2nd gear just plowing through the silt and the bushes, which was pretty frustrating. Stopped to throw some water to another 1100 car that was broken down. Slowing down was pretty hectic considering the one working brake up front which pitched the car completely sideways whenever I hit the brakes. Had a pretty fun ride nonetheless except for our new seat which has a cushion like a slab of concrete. Freakin ass and whole body were numb halfway through.

Handed the car off at RM 300ish 4 minutes out of third. Tim drove about 4 miles and inexplicably the passenger side suspension flipped out, crossing the arms. Even with the 1 1/2 twists we put into the limit straps at Pit 1. Scissor jack stripped out so it took them an hour and a half in the dark to get going again. At this point I'm passed out in a motorhome headed to Reno. Didn't find out what happened till morning. Apparently 30 miles from the finish Tim got stuck in the silt behind a 1000 car that was stuck in the ruts. After an hour of fruitless digging in the sand with no jack, along came our saviors - the gigantic 4WD Camburg Tundra. Pulled us out and saved our race. Finished at 5:30 am after probably 5 hours of downtime - 5th (last) in class and 99th overall out of 103 finishers. Pretty much a satisfying finish after a race that turned into a fight for survival right off the bat. And the monkey's off our back

- Belk

[CentralCoastTaco99]

[Stuck Sucks]

A fun read - thanks. And a classic example of why you should never give up: even with all the mechanicals early in the race, 5011 got first in class, and 1122 didn't get a DNF. Congrats on a long-ass race!

[ryguy]

i love the community when we help each other!! This is what it is all about.. Helping and still racing!

[The Boy]

that sounds like a lot of fun!! sad the truck kept breaking, but ide love to try doing a race like that!!!

[dirtytoy]

Thanks for the great read into Race Reality - What do they say

WHAT DOES NOT KILL YA MAKES YA STRONGER!!

Bump - For Determination & more luck next time!!

[Baja Belk]

Originally Posted by CentralCoastTaco99

yeah yeah yeah......

I can't lift any pics from the pro photographers pages who shot the race but I'll try and get some pics uploaded when I go back home this weekend.

[Baja Belk]

Pics:

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