MDR Mojave 250
Race Report 4/1/06
SNORE Buffalo Bills 400
Primm, Nevada

The race weekend started early for me as I had to do the Orange County parts run a totally all day affair which got me to Victorville around 6pm. After pulling the rear suspension and replacing all the shocks and bumps stops in the rear end I got to bed around midnight.

Stretch met me at Dan Larsons we hitched up the Jeep and loaded the expedition to the roof with spares and a welder and left arriving at the prerun with about 2 minutes to un load. The pre run was fun but slow, a lot of old race courses would be used for this race and it would be a true test of being steady and not breaking. At the end of the pre run around mm72 I hit a large rock, (it was the smaller of the ones to hit), and the steering wheel tweaked. I stopped and got out looking for a broken hiem or something. Nothing. So we continued the rest of the 80 mile loop. After arriving back at Primm we found a spot in the parking lot where we could make camp and prep the Jeep. Cameron had brought new springs to replace the rears that were too soft and while they did that I looked over the front end. We were in trouble. The entire panard bar mount was ruptured and torn away from the frame, along with some supporting mounts. I unloaded the mig and proceeded to spend the next 4 hours welding and patching. We stopped at 8pm, the welding done and springs replaced, went to register, teched the Jeep, then I went back and finished the last little things. I got to the room around 11, showered went and ate and got to bed around 1am.

Race day morning and it was beautiful. A slight breeze and clear skies I was some what worried about my repairs. It was a really rough course and I would have to be careful. We planned to do 2 two and a half hour laps win the race and go home. I let everyone go early and after stopping for about 12 minutes to repair an ignition control, I set a casual pace and did a 2:22.00 first lap. Got out checked the front end which was perfect, no new cracks and no failed welds, told Dan to “take it easy”.

We had been over 25 minutes behind the leader but he was still in the pits when we left and he would fail to complete another lap. Dan was trailing the new leader by 12 minutes.

Things went well till mm26 where the right front shock bolt sheared and let the shock flop around. After trying to hold it in place with a screw driver and vise grips, Dan decided to let Cameron hold it in his lap and nurse the Jeep 21 miles with out a front shock. OUCH !

They made it and Boyers pit at FAIR pit Bravo had them repaired and down the course the new leader. Somewhere while limping around they had passed him. They cruised home the next 40 miles without issue. The repairs still holding up.

We would like to thank Trail Ready Beadlocks, Mickey Thompson Tires, (we ran a new MTZ radial and it was awesome, with no flats!
Also National Spring, Lucas Oil, Sign–Pros, Racer-X, Torco Fuels, Radflo Suspension, FAIR PITS, Lucas Hand for saving us a pit, the GEER Family, Frank Wagner for the “facilities”, Stretch, Joseph Dillon, and Greg Crew for the great radio work, and Dan Larson for the race prep and co –driving.

Special thanks to Cameron for riding the whole way and baby sitting the shock.

Six races into the 06’ season with four wins already. Next race is next weekend at Plaster City then we get two weeks off.

Giti Gowland