MONGO Racing Finished BitD McMillin Nevada "1000"

The 2005 Best In The Desert McMillin Nevada 1000 is the longest off-road race in the United States. The McMillin Nevada 1000 held July 6-10 was true test of man and machine against the elements in the Central Nevada Desert. With the race schedule of events similar to a rally race with stages, or the Paris to Dakar with day racing and a short work period before a daily impound.

Mongo Racing began preparing for this race before the season opened. Looking at the four stages as four individual days of racing with only 1 hour of prep work for the next day.

July 6 brought contingency and technical inspection at the Sun Coast Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Followed by the first of daily Driver’s meeting. The team then departed for the first pit of day one.

July 7, day 1 of racing, began at the Beatty, NV Airport with 220 miles of hot and dusty desert ahead of all the racers. The Mongo Racing Ford F-150 driven by Randy Merritt left the line 4th in class. At the first pit, the class had really jumbled up with the 4X4’s having a slight advantage through the silt beds. At pit 2, the class settled into a good pace with Chad Hall, Dave Morrison, Greg Foutz and Randy all keeping pace with each other. Shortly after pit 3, Co-rider Chris Golding radioed in the truck was beginning to over heat when climbing. At mile marker 100, Randy pulled the truck over and let the truck cool. At pit 4, the crew filled the truck with fuel and water and washed out the radiator and coolers. Randy left the pit in 5th place headed to Tonopah. The team finished day 1 in fifth. The crew went to work with 60 minutes to get the truck ready for day 2.

July 8, day 2, after a long first day of racing Manny Esquerra took over the driving duties for half the day of racing. After settling in Manny kept pace with Chad Hall and Dave Morrison, but dust from the 8131 truck of Mike Alden kept Manny at bay. At pit 5, Randy Merritt was back in control of the 8104 Ford F-150 and passed 8131 in the pit. At pit 7, Randy radioed in they had broke a left front shock and was limping the truck in. The crew was waiting and had them back on track in minutes. The truck was low on power, limited throttle, due to electronic issues. Chris determined that to fix the problem drastic changes would have to be done and could not be completed in 60 minutes. The decision was made to complete the race with limited throttle.

July 9, day 3, began with more electronic issues. After repairing the truck 10 miles before pit 1, Randy drove to the pit where a few more repairs were completed. Randy left well behind the class leaders, with intent on beating the Nevada desert. Randy drove the fastest pace the truck would allow. At pit 6, Chris was out of the Co-rider seat and Steve Solaiza was in. Chris used the time to research a little with 60 minutes to prep for the last day; time is critical. At the end of day 3, the crew went to work changing two shocks and several electronic components.

July 10, final day, was a sprint to the finish, with only 120 miles ahead of them. All the racers took the final green light. Randy had a chance to move-up one position, if Nevada luck was on his side. With Chris back in the Co-rider seat and no pits scheduled, Randy left the start line fifth in class. By pit 3 Randy had drove the truck into 4th place in class on corrected time, but 6 miles to the finish line Nevada luck folded and Mongo Racing was stuck in the desert at idle. In the time it took Randy and Chris to cross the finish line, Mike Alden caught up to finish minutes behind Randy to keep 4th place. Mongo Racing may have finished 5th in class, but they beat the Nevada desert this week! A special thanks to Lance Magin for their help, they could not have done it without them.

Mongo Racing would like to thank their sponsors: Ford Trucks, F & M Baldenegro Farms, Visteon, TNC Machine & Metal Fab, Goodyear Tires, Sway-A-Way, Borla Exhaust, Diagtek, KC Hilites, Bodyline Auto body and Paint, For You Tire & Auto, Gibb’s Repair, Desertracing.com, NAPA in Parker, Praxair and Autometer.

For more information you can visit:
www.bitd.com, www.mongoracing.com or www.desertracing.com.