Volkspower Race Team was ready to take on brutal conditions of Parker 425

Jeff Knupp and Eric Greener, the Volkspower Racing team, fresh off their 2005 Whiplash Overall Points Championship decided it was time to test their skills in a much larger arena. They decided to enter the Volkspower 1-2-1600 Hot Rod in the 2006 "Best In The Desert" series and go after Rookie of the Year honors and the Class 2000 Points Championship!

Just weeks before the big race, Gear One King Pin Keith Ayers brought Jeff a newly designed Gear One micro stub kit fresh off the CNC machine to test out on the Volkspower Hot Rod before a full production run is made. All of the Gear One pieces went together perfectly and the car was ready to splash a wave of destruction at the Blue Water! With all of the plans and preparation done it was time to set off for the BITD Blue Water Casino Parker 425. The Volkspower Team made the trip to Parker on Friday morning and got right to business; the car came off the trailer fast and was looking forward to spanking the competition come Saturday! All things went well for Contingency and Tech on Friday and were capped off by a very informative Drivers meeting held by BITD for all of the competitors participating in tomorrow's race.

Saturday finally came and the Volkspower Race Team was ready to take on both the brutal conditions of the Parker Desert and the tough competitors of the 2000 class! Jeff was going to start the race and do the first lap, turn the car over to Eric for the second lap and then get back in and finish up the 425 mile event. The day started off well, Jeff drew the 3rd starting position for the class and within the first five miles had taken the class lead. He continued his cautious yet persistent approach in tackling the 425 mile race course. Everything was going as planned and he had built a solid 10 minute lead on the class until an untimely flat slowed his progress. Fortunately Jeff stopped by some local spectators and they quickly changed the flat and he was on his way, but you know the saying when it rains it pours. Just after getting under way again the car developed a steering problem and thought that it need to test the durability of its roof…..After a tense moment of climbing out of the car Jeff began the tedious task of over turning the race car himself. This process took about forty-five grueling minutes, while rectifying the situation of roof testing; nine Class 2000 cars went by creating that sinking feeling in Jeff's stomach! Once the car was on all four wheels Jeff began the quick assessment of what had happened, he was able to locate a parts failure in the steering shaft which was repaired quickly and then he completed lap one getting the car to the main pits. With a Splash of fifteen gallons of VP Fuel and a once over of the car the driving duties now belonged to Eric. The second lap started out good, passing one of the nine cars in the first five miles and that continued to be the trend of the lap. By Midway, he had made up ten minutes on the lead cars and had reported no problems. Just outside of the Mineral Wash Eric had passed the 4th and 3rd place cars and was now closing back in on 2nd place, he brought the car back around to the main pits for its final service and driver change. Jeff would now get back in and try to run down the two lead cars. He would leave the main pits about three minutes behind second and thirty-five minutes behind the lead car. Charging hard through a much deteriorated race course he was able to take over the second position, but ran out of time to catch the leader. When Jeff crossed the finish line and got out of the car he was amazed at what this car went through and how good everything performed. The new Gear One Micro Stubs performed flawlessly, the Action Auto Gear Box shifted superb, the Fox Shocks dampened the most abusive bumps and BFG Tires navigated the entire course to perfection! In the end the Volkspower Team had successfully finished the Parker 425 in second place with a finishing time of 9:56.24!

This was a good way to start off the New Year and campaign for the Championship! Jeff and Eric would like to give Special Thanks to the following: Morgan's West Valley Napa, Gear One, Action Auto Racing Gearboxes, Fox Shoxs, BFGoodrich Tires, VP fuel, and all of our Friends and Family!

For more information on the Volkspower Racing Team visit: www.volkspowerracing.com

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