Sacrament kicks off the western season of racing for Ultra4. While some only focus on KOH, we battle our all season long coast to coast. Prepped, cleaned, and hungry for our next race, we venture off to California to battle it out in the 2019 Ultra4 Metalcloak Stampede!
Prerunning:
As we venture to the track we are greeted with bursts of rain, clouds, and cold weather. Getting laps in on the track we set to set the car for short course. Along for co-driver duties is BFGoodrich’s Tim Cromer. Tim has been with our program from the beginning and is no stranger to off-road racing. Feeling out the speed of the turns, rocks, and high speed jumps, we tune the car to what makes us fast. Knowing on race day, it’s going to pour down rain we have to settle in to the conditions.
Qualifying:
As rainfall Friday afternoon rolls in, it’s time to qualify, Tim and I suit up while the crew gets into spotting positions for the single qualifying hot lap. With a slick track we barreled down the course with the drop of the green flag. Cautious not to make mistakes on the course we ran a smooth run and good time. We watched others come around the turn with flats, or case it on the sharp turn and roll. We were sitting in a prime position being top 10 for race day. Once back in the pits we inspected the car and made any final tweaks to the suspension and swaybars as needed. As the sun set, we strategized for the race ahead.
Race Day:
With such nasty weather for Saturday mornings race, our race schedule got moved which allowed more time and laps for the main event. With rows of cars two by two we paraded around the track to the drop of the green flag. Right out the gate we took advantage of the inside pair with the faster line through the rocks. We knew we had to be fast to catch Jimmy Jack and Rants. Coming into the natural rock section we got caught in a 3 car wide fight for the exit and got spun around. We fought lap after lap to keep the car alive and push back towards the front of the pack. All race long our BFG tires and Dirty Life Wheels took a beating and barreled through the course unscaved. We hit the white flag and with Jimmy Jack hot on our tail from a pit stop; we knew we had to keep him behind us. Pushing the car to the limit, we hit the checker flag for a 3rd place finish!
Results:
With a top 10 finish at KOH, this past weekend we made our way to the podium for the 2019 Ultra4 Metalcloak Stampede for a 3rd place finish. Huge thank you to Daystar Products for their never ending support this season. We ran a flawless race with our BFGoodrich Tires and Dirty Life Wheel combo. The car ran smooth and through the rocks with ease with our Fox Shocks and Rock Krawler suspension. This sets our pace for the season in the right direction for the race year. Looking forward, we set our sights on the first eastern series race of the year in Tennessee next month!
