We had a blast at the Firecracker 250! EDR and Rock and Roll put on a great event in Odessa. Jeremy, Becca, Ben and I rolled out with the 5 Unlimited around 4PM. Matt Schwoerer and Matt "Goosette" Little were in the long travel Tacoma. We got to Odessa just after the sun set, made camp and called it a night. Tony, Ted and Chris brought the 7S truck and showed up at 5AM.
Friday morning we teched and registered at the Holiday Inn, picked up Phil, then headed to the track. Ted and Matt took the first lap in the race truck. That's when we found our GPS was no longer with us. We even tried to upload the course from another racer. We made the call to have every driver take a lap to get familiar with the course. Chris and Goosette took it out. That's about when Jeremy came back with Will and Eliot from the airport. Ben and I drove the truck to finish the day out. Somewhere in that time, Oren and Natalia showed up. Andy and Dave took the 5 car and did one lap with some minor electrical hiccups.
The course was pretty fast and had a ton of silt. 50 mile laps of loose sand, wash outs, tight trails lined with cedar and a sprinkling of football sized rocks made up the course. We somehow missed the pre-race dinner, but made the driver meeting an hour before the race. Unfortunately, there were no other class 7S (V6 mini trucks) besides us. So we went up a class and raced against the full size V8 trucks in class 8.
I took the first lap with Matt S. We started towards the end of the 8 truck lineup. I drove a bit aggressively to get through the traffic and out of all the dust. After landing hard on a jump, part of the lower hood mount broke and held on for dear life until we pitted. By mile 20, we were in third. After mile 35, we had first place by a good lead. In to the pits we went, after I blew a big turn where there were a ton of spectators. The hood was removed and our pit was pretty clean... Just a minute and a half for a full driver change and look over the truck. A Bronco and an Ultra 4 passed us in the pits.
Ted jumped in and Matt S stayed in the co-driver seat for lap 2. Around mile 3, the truck dug deep in to the silt and buried itself to the frame. The crew team jumped in to Tony's F350, raced across the mid field and extracted the Tacoma. Onward they went. On lap 3, they blew a tire. It was completely shredded. There was a problem with the jack that put the car down for 15 minutes before the spare was swapped. Around mile 34, the brakes went to the floor. Ted and Matt pulled off the course, and pinched off the broken stainless brake line. We scrounged up the parts to make the repair and they limped it back.
The truck came back in to the pits and the crew went to it. Gas, driver change, front end shake down and lug nut torquing. I dove under the truck and swapped out the stainless line. Tony bled the brakes. Off they went... another 15 minute delay in the pits. Despite our hardships, Chris and Goosette powered through and had a flawless 2 laps. They closed the gap between us and first place down to 15 minutes when the Krawltex Tacoma crossed the finished line. Second place finish. Not too shabby for a V6 truck running in class 8!
Unfortunately, our 5 car had a slew of problems that couldn't be fixed out on the course. At mile 5 of lap 1, the ignition system shit the bed. After changing plugs, wires, cap , rotor, and an ignition computer chip, the 5 car finally got back on course. After the first pite, we splashed it with gas and sent them on their way. 20 miles later, the nut holding the alternator pulley decided to fly off in to the woods, shredding the belt and taking the pulley with it. Dave managed to find the pulley but we had to source another nut. The correct fastener is a conical 14mm. All we could find was a non-tapered nut. After an hour of figuring out how to get to the 5 car, the crew patched the car and limped it back to the pits. Back to repair and prep work for both vehicles.
Krawltex is planning to run the Best in the Desert Series Vegas to Reno race in August. In the coming months, we will be doing a full prep, swapping glass, rewiring, and freshening up the interior. The 5 car will be going under prep for the Texoma day/night race in September.
Friday morning we teched and registered at the Holiday Inn, picked up Phil, then headed to the track. Ted and Matt took the first lap in the race truck. That's when we found our GPS was no longer with us. We even tried to upload the course from another racer. We made the call to have every driver take a lap to get familiar with the course. Chris and Goosette took it out. That's about when Jeremy came back with Will and Eliot from the airport. Ben and I drove the truck to finish the day out. Somewhere in that time, Oren and Natalia showed up. Andy and Dave took the 5 car and did one lap with some minor electrical hiccups.
The course was pretty fast and had a ton of silt. 50 mile laps of loose sand, wash outs, tight trails lined with cedar and a sprinkling of football sized rocks made up the course. We somehow missed the pre-race dinner, but made the driver meeting an hour before the race. Unfortunately, there were no other class 7S (V6 mini trucks) besides us. So we went up a class and raced against the full size V8 trucks in class 8.
I took the first lap with Matt S. We started towards the end of the 8 truck lineup. I drove a bit aggressively to get through the traffic and out of all the dust. After landing hard on a jump, part of the lower hood mount broke and held on for dear life until we pitted. By mile 20, we were in third. After mile 35, we had first place by a good lead. In to the pits we went, after I blew a big turn where there were a ton of spectators. The hood was removed and our pit was pretty clean... Just a minute and a half for a full driver change and look over the truck. A Bronco and an Ultra 4 passed us in the pits.
Ted jumped in and Matt S stayed in the co-driver seat for lap 2. Around mile 3, the truck dug deep in to the silt and buried itself to the frame. The crew team jumped in to Tony's F350, raced across the mid field and extracted the Tacoma. Onward they went. On lap 3, they blew a tire. It was completely shredded. There was a problem with the jack that put the car down for 15 minutes before the spare was swapped. Around mile 34, the brakes went to the floor. Ted and Matt pulled off the course, and pinched off the broken stainless brake line. We scrounged up the parts to make the repair and they limped it back.
The truck came back in to the pits and the crew went to it. Gas, driver change, front end shake down and lug nut torquing. I dove under the truck and swapped out the stainless line. Tony bled the brakes. Off they went... another 15 minute delay in the pits. Despite our hardships, Chris and Goosette powered through and had a flawless 2 laps. They closed the gap between us and first place down to 15 minutes when the Krawltex Tacoma crossed the finished line. Second place finish. Not too shabby for a V6 truck running in class 8!
Unfortunately, our 5 car had a slew of problems that couldn't be fixed out on the course. At mile 5 of lap 1, the ignition system shit the bed. After changing plugs, wires, cap , rotor, and an ignition computer chip, the 5 car finally got back on course. After the first pite, we splashed it with gas and sent them on their way. 20 miles later, the nut holding the alternator pulley decided to fly off in to the woods, shredding the belt and taking the pulley with it. Dave managed to find the pulley but we had to source another nut. The correct fastener is a conical 14mm. All we could find was a non-tapered nut. After an hour of figuring out how to get to the 5 car, the crew patched the car and limped it back to the pits. Back to repair and prep work for both vehicles.
Krawltex is planning to run the Best in the Desert Series Vegas to Reno race in August. In the coming months, we will be doing a full prep, swapping glass, rewiring, and freshening up the interior. The 5 car will be going under prep for the Texoma day/night race in September.
