October 12, 2008
9/27
Score: G&R Primm 300 Race Report
DIXON BROS. FORD RANGER DRAWS FIRST STARTING POSITION
IN CLASS 7100 AT BEST IN THE DESERT'S 'VEGAS TO RENO'
Lompoc, CA - August 20, 2007: Hoping to capitalize on a favorable starting position at Best in the Desert Racing Association's 'Vegas to Reno' race on August 24th, Aaron and Ian Dixon bring their #7177 Dixon Bros. Racing Ford Ranger pickup to Las Vegas only seven points off the lead in the race for the 2007 Class 7100 points championship. The Dixon Brothers, who won this event in 2003, on their way to the Class 7300 Silver State Series points championship, which they won in 2003 and 2004, have their sights set on another championship in 2007, this time in Class 7100. Billed as "The Longest Off-Road Race in the United States", festivities for the 'Vegas to Reno' race begin with tech and contingency throughout the day on Thursday, August 23 at the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. On Friday morning the action moves 72 miles west, to the starting line in the old mining area at Johnnie, NV, where more than 150 cars and trucks are scheduled to stage for the start of the race at 10:30 AM. During the race, which covers 570 miles across parts of the Mojave and Great Basin deserts, racers will face elevation changes ranging from 2,000 feet through the sand washes and river beds in the south to over 6000 feet across the northern mountain ranges to finish in Dayton, Nevada just south of Reno.
There's no question that such a demanding race requires serious attention to detail if you hope to finish, let alone finish well. After the 'Terrible's Town 250', in April, team leader, Aaron Dixon began preparing the truck to meet the challenge of the 'Vegas to Reno'. Since building the Class 7100 Ranger in January, the Dixon's have been paying close attention to any problems in the Ranger's design and have devoted all of their available time between each race to perfecting the truck's performance. After the 'Parker 425', Aaron and his crew made a number of modifications to the front suspension, designed to increase the front suspension travel. At Terrible's Town however, the increased travel allowed the shocks to contact the driver's side upper A-arm at full compression causing damage to both outer shafts of the front shocks. To cure that problem, the shocks have been remounted to allow for adequate clearance and the conventional bump stops have been replaced with a set of Light Racing's JounceShocks TM to eliminate damage to the front suspension at full compression. Another issue which cost us time at the last race was a fuel starvation problem.
Although it turned out to be nothing more than a fuel line that came loose, repairing it required disassembling the fuel cell out on the course, costing the team over an hour of downtime, once again demonstrating that the devil is in the details. Once back at the shop, the cell was disassembled, one more time, and the fuel line rerouted so this particular gremlin would not jump up and bite us again in the future. After giving the truck a detailed race prep and adding a new HID lighting system from KC HiLiTES, the #7177 Dixon Bros. Racing Ford Ranger has been tested and is ready to take the green flag on Friday morning.
Aaron will start the race with Ed Ramirez in the second seat. At Goldfield, 186 miles into the race, Ian Dixon will take over behind the wheel and Phil Ramirez will navigate until the truck reaches Mina, at racemile 379, where Aaron and Ed will get back in the truck and take it to the finish. Rounding out this family effort, in the support vehicles, will be Jim Dixon, the driver's father and Andrea and Manny Ramirez, the co-rider's parents. Everyone on the team is looking forward to a family reunion at the finish line, in Dayton sometime in the early morning hours on Saturday.
For more information about Ford vehicles visit www.Ford.com .
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