Sixty miles south from Oklahoma City, Cross Bar Ranch is home to over 6,000 acers of OHV recreational trails, obstacles, and large rock quarries. For this power packed race consisting of both Ultra4 East and West series, teams from all over came to throw down the eastern dirt, sand, and mud to thrash for the podium. We made our trek from California and Arizona to battle the field of racers and the hot humid summer of OK.
Prerun/Qualify:
Setting up camp early in the week gave us opportunity to have the car registered and prerun the course to give us an idea what we were up against. Running 1/3 of the track, we ran the first loop of highspeed stretches and open brush. Setting markers for dangers on the GPS and also making sure our new cooling system from ORW and CBR was working properly. Day 2 we ran the short course along with the rock section of the course. Helping team Wickem Racing with our spare tire for their flat, we finished the full lap and got back to our pit before qualifying. Noticing oil all over the front differential, we knew we had an issue. Thanks to the help of Tri County Gear, we were able to tear down the front axle, third member, and fix the damaged components to qualify.
With no time to spare, we put wheels down on the car and were the last to qualify for our 4500 class. Qualifying was the short course section and we knew we needed to qualify fast to stay in front of the dust. Barreling through the track we landed a top ten qualifying time, sitting 8th off the start for race day!
Race Day:
The sun rose over the plans of Oklahoma with race fuel lingering in the air. The green flag dropped and we were off. High speed section was first, then short course, then the rocks and tight wooded areas. thrashing through the course, we set in for a long aggressive race. Battling back and forth with John Mathews and team through the day we knew it was going to be a competitive race. As we rounded the half way point of the race we went through the pits to bring a tool bag to Tri-County Gear on the course side. Making our way to them quickly in the high speed section we were off to finish the day in the rocks. Brian from Poor Boy Racing was lugging a large tree stump for their cars axle to get them off the course so we lent a hand in taking them the 7 foot log. Not knowing how close of a race it was we finished off the race just seconds behind Mathews. Unsure of our corrected times we knew we had 3rd or 4th place.
As the race ended, we gathered around for the final results. By mere seconds, we missed the podium for a 4th place finish! We know our car is getting faster and faster and are excited for the rest of the season. We are half way through the season for the national series siting 3rd in points for nationals.
We had a flawless race and the car ran stronger and faster than ever. Thanks to Jack Racing for the help installing the new cooling system the cars temperatures stayed constant all day in the summer heat. We never had to exit the car during the race. Huge thanks to BFG for supporting our team with the best tires on the market. This is the 4th race we have had this season and have not had one flat! Big thanks to Daystar Products for making this season possible with their products and never ending support, Savvy off-road, IMS metals for every inch of material on our car, Rock Krawler Suspension, Currie Enterprises, Fastenal, Motive Gear, Tom Woods driveshafts, and all of our sponsors. Without your help and support we wouldn’t be able to do what we do! Next up for us is the Dirty Turtle in Kentucky in July. We will be ready! Stay on pace with us as we round the half way mark to this Ultra4 season.
