Team HUMMER® Chalks up 4th Straight Win at Parker 425

Parker, AZ - February 5, 2005: Team HUMMER arrived in Parker, Arizona for Best in the Desert Racing Association’s ‘Parker 425’ with a new look and a new strategy for this opening race of the season. Our new paint schemes, designed by Tony Barraza Designworks and based on a concept submitted by Josh Hall were barely dry when Team HUMMER loaded the trucks on the trailer, February 2nd for the trip South to Parker, Arizona. It’s no secret that Team HUMMER has had more then our share of problems on the Parker course for the past three years but the trucks were in top form and we felt that this year would have a different outcome. The qualifying session went well with the H2 qualifying second and the H1 finishing in fourth position just 12 seconds off the lead. It turned out later that the H1 had a clogged fuel filter which had been overlooked during prep and the main pit was able to track the problem down and replace the filter on race day when the truck came in to the pit, barely running. Still, the 12 second differential between 1st and forth was a considerable improvement over the 2 minute differential that separated Chad & the first place qualifier at last year’s event. We are currently waiting for a new, modified, injection pump for the H1, said to be good for an additional 50 horsepower and expect to have it installed and tested in time for the ‘Terrible’s Town 250’ in April,

The Team HUMMER trucks left the starting line on Saturday morning, about 8:30 AM, with only a few minutes separating Chad in the #8102 H1 and Josh in the #4103 H2. Both trucks spent the first lap (135 miles) running at or near the lead and stopped in the main pit for a routine fuel dump. On the way out on the second lap, The H1 experienced a transmission failure about 9 miles out of Pit# 2 (Midway) leaving only reverse gear left to get the truck to the pit for repairs. It took some time to drive in reverse down the course to the Midway pit where the crew was ready and waiting to replace the transmission.

It’s been quite some time since we had to replace a transmission during a race. We have had troubles in the past with 4th gear not working or the electronics going haywire and causing shifting or torque converter irregularities but we were always able to live with those problems or overcome them. After all, we won the Baja 1000 two years in a row with transmission problems. So this may be the first time we have changed one during a race and my memory goes back some distance with Team HUMMER. I mention this because the spare transmission that we carry in the pit trailer has been there a long time. In fact, it was rebuilt by a local Reno area rebuilder that did our transmissions before we had a relationship with GM Hydra-Matic and as I recall we weren’t always very happy with that particular rebuilder’s skill level.

So to say there was an overall lack of confidence in the backup unit would be a gross understatement. Needless to say, when all you have is reverse, any forward motion delivered by the replacement unit would be better than what was in the truck when Chad backed it into Midway. This was running through my mind as the truck arrived at the Midway pit area and backed into a reasonably flat section of dirt behind the Checker pit.

Team HUMMER is relying on the Checkers Off-Road Racing Team for stationary pit support at most of the races this year and Pit #2 (Midway) was a Checker run pit although Team HUMMER’s Brad Falin and Doug Moore were working with the Checkers at that location. The Checkers are the most sucessful pit organization in offroad racing and while we are set up to chase and repair our vehicles on the course, the Checkers provide fully equipped and staffed stationary pits and they have been doing this for over 30 years. The Checkers are a club and only provide services for Checker drivers, so Josh and Chad are in the process of becoming members to qualify for support. We had no idea that we would be calling on the club’s resources during our very first race under their banner but Team HUMMER’s Brad Falin and Doug Moore, working with the Checkers’ Gary Bates and Roy Moore had the transmission swapped out in just under two hours. An amazing feat in the race shop but even more impressive in the dirt of the Arizona desert. Although any chance of a win was out for the #8102 H1 pickup, a finish was now well within their grasp. In BitD, finishing every race is critical to have any chance for a points championship at the end of the year and the swift transmission change made finishing the race possible.

As it turned out, our fears about the spare tranny were, at least, partially justified. Once the unit was installed, the H1 went out to finish the last 250+ miles remaining to the finish but quickly returned since the truck only had first and second gears. After some discussion highlighted by the fact that we had exhausted our options, Chad pointed the truck back down the course to begin his slow march to the finish, hoping that the two gears that he had would see him through to the end. Night was decending at Midway and we gathered some dead-wood for a fire to keep the chill off while we waited for the H1 to come by two more times.

Josh had had no troubles in the #4103 Team HUMMER H2 and was, by this time on his final lap and so far in the lead he could have pushed it to the finish. There was a brief encounter when he was attempting to pass a slower 8100 class pickup outside of Pit #3 (Mineral Wash). Everytime Josh would pull out to make a pass, the pickup would speed up, attempting to block the H2 for reasons no one could understand. Finally the pickup went wide and up on a berm, and Josh took the opportunity to drive by him when the pickup slid down off the berm and crunched the side of our new paint job. This is off-road racing and I suppose you have to accept the fact that these things happen but it would have been nice to get through one race with the new paint scheme intact. It didn’t slow him down much as he finished just before 6:00 PM, two hours in front of the second place finisher in Class 4100 and five minutes in front of the winner of Class 8100. This marks the fourth consecutive Best in the Desert Class 4100 victory for Josh Hall and the H2.

The going was slow for Chad in the #8102 H1 pickup but first and second seemed solid as he made his final pass through the Midway pit at about 9:00 PM, just as we were burning our last piece of firewood. With a top speed of about 43 MPH, the H1 took the finish in 6th place just after 11:00 PM, a mere 11 seconds ahead of the 7th place finisher.Team HUMMER would like to thank the Checkers Off-Road Racing Team for their invaluable support during the ‘Parker 425’. We particularly want to recognize Checkers Roy Moore, Jeff Hibbard and Gary Bates for their assistance in helping Team HUMMER’s Brad Falin and Doug Moore (no relation to Roy) change the transmission in the Midway pit area. Working together we made it possible for the #8102 Team HUMMER H1 pickup to stay in the race and record a finish under circumstances which would have caused most competitors to call it a day and put it on the trailer.

The next event for Team HUMMER is:
the Best in the Desert ‘Terrible’s Town 250’
April 29 - May 1, 2005 in Pahrump, Nevada

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