July 20, 2008
7/14
OC Meet: Orange County/Socal Buggy Breakfast
1/23
BITD: Official Parker 425 Course Map
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Team HUMMER® Flawless at Las Vegas 200
Both H1 & H2 Leave The Competition in the Dust
October 16, 2004 - Jean, Nevada: Just North of the California ~ Nevada border off interstate 15, lies the Northeastern section of the Mojave Desert. Although the Mojave is host to over 545 species of vegetation within it’s 25,000 square mile boundaries, this particular section of the Mojave doesn’t see much rain and is populated primarily by mountains, jumble rocks, desert washes, dry lakes, creosotebush and the occasional scorpion. And rocks, lots and lots of rocks.
On
raceday morning, there was plenty of dust and no wind. The numerous flags and
banners which had been placed around the start/finish area by race promoter,
Best in the Desert Racing Association, hung like lifeless cotton fabric from
their poles, without a flutter. So, too did the dust hang over the course once
the race was underway at 7:00 am Saturday morning, making visibility a problem
throughout the entire event. Chad Hall started the race for Team HUMMER in the
#8106 H1 Pickup with Mike Winkel riding in the co-rider seat. Chad was in third
place, six minutes off the lead at 
Pit
B, about 55 miles into the race. The new cooling system was keeping the engine
temperature under 200 degrees and he seemed comfortable with the way the truck
was running early on and content to pace himself. The first place Ford F-250
(#8111) driven by Charlie McDowell was sidelined with mechanical problems shortly
after Pit B so Chad inherited second behind Greg Foutz in the #8101 Ford F-250
V-10 pickup as they completed the first lap and the pair chased each other for
the next 90 miles.
Josh Hall left
the start with Thad Stump riding shotgun about 10 minutes later in the #4106
H2 SUV, and quickly settled into a race with John Sunderland in the #4102 Ford
Expedition. Just prior to the race, we had discovered that the seal material
we were using in our new shock design was melting at the 425 degree temperatures
which were normal for the shocks, causing them to fail within a few minutes
of testing. John Marking at Fox Shox, who had worked with us on the new design,
supplied us with the seals used by Fox. 
According
to H2 driver Josh Hall, “The Fox seals cured the problem! We pounded them
hard during the entire race and they didn’t leak a drop”. Hall swapped
the lead with Sunderland throughout the race and the two were running a virtual
dead heat when they passed through Pit A on lap #3, about 160 miles into the
race. At this point, Hall turned up the wick and began to make a hard run for
the finish. Sunderland responded for a while but picked up a flat tire trying
to meet the challenge. At the finish the H2 had a 30 minute lead on the #4102
Ford, putting Josh Hall and the #4106 Team Hummer SUV in the winner’s
circle for the second consecutive race.
Chad
Hall was busy chasing the #8101 Ford down on the final lap when he passed the
big V-10 Ford sidelined in Pit A, with a broken rear spring. He had a 15 minute
lead on the #8102 Ford driven by Randy Merritt but knew that his lead could
vaporize with a flat tire so he kept the pressure on while trying to avoid the
sharp rocks. Something was loose in the back of the truck and was rattling but
didn’t seem to be causing any performance problems so Hall decided to
ignore it until and unless it became an issue. It didn’t as the #8106
Team HUMMER pickup crossed the finish line for the win 15 minutes in front of
Merritt.
The next race for Team HUMMER is the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, November 18-21, 2004 starting in Ensenada, BC, Mexico and finishing in La Paz, BC, Mexico.
For more information, call or write:
Best In The Desert Racing Association
3475 Boulder Highway
Las Vegas, NV 89121
(702) 457-5775, (702) 241-6431 fax
www.bitd.com
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