Figured I would try my shot at story telling. its a long one too.
Quick back story first.
My nephew in law bought a used Speed UTV last year with the hopes of racing it this year. This kid has zero previous experience of racing anything. But has owned some kind of SXS for the last 6 years . Pit crew is just family and friends that are willing to show up at the races.
He also just sold his toy hauler and bought a used class A motorhome 2 weeks ago. So he can pull the enclosed trailer with the RV now.
The first race was the MORE series a few months back. He won his class but only by completing more laps then the other 2 cars entered. Yes the car had issues. Overheating and going into limp mode. Ripped all the rear CV boots. Grease everywhere. Then one CV joint left the game. The finally the exhaust broke off at the turbo.
So lots of work and lots of money to fix and get the car ready for this DP4 race in Spangler Hills . This will be his second race attempt. and its going to be a night race.
Couple test days the month before and car seems all is good.
So here we are. Friday all packed up and ready to race.
My kid and I are going to out there to help pit and chase if needed in his ranger.
Fuel op off in Mojave.
Show up early got the pit all set up.
Nephew in law goes to get the car out of the trailer. Car is hard to start. But it fires up. They take the car to Tech where the car ended up and died on them. Either way car passes tech. It fires up enough to get back to the pits. Well it seems the 2 batteries are dead. And of course we have no quick battery charger on the trailer. Remember this is only his second race. so its all a learning process. So one guy if off to Ridgecrest to buy a charger.
In the meantime we use my kids ranger idling for 30 minutes to try and charge the batteries so we can figure out why the batteries died.
Got the car started and the alternator is not charging. Brand new high voltage alternator with only one run on it. Nephew in law just bought this because this is going to be a night race and he wanted something to power all the lights on the car. We start to attempt to put in the stock alternator and just run half the lights for the night race. But that's when we discovered a wire pulled out of the alternator plug somehow. Must of happened on the last test day. If you know these cars. you have to pull the inside apart to see the alternator plug. Repaired the wire. Car is charging. All good now. They go out and do a couple test runs before the race.
So my kid and I take off in his ranger to go play until the start of the race.
Found a decent little jump.
Then we went to check out the memorial site for Jake and Blake that were killed in the Borderline shooting in 2018.
Quick story on this. Jake and Blake were my nieces best friends. They were part of the 12 that were killed in the Borderline bar shooting.
Jake and Blake both grew up in the desert. Both owning prerunner rangers. My niece and the families of Jake and Blake made this memorial at Spangler Hills for them. That's where the 2 boys always went. They made custom metal benches. One bench is for Jake and the other for Blake. Their names are laser cut into the metal backs.
They used Blake tailgate off of his ranger to create a memorial box. The tailgate opens and there is a memorial inside of it. They also made a laser cut plaque of their trucks.
Getting back before the drivers meeting. My kid made a quick run along the tracks.
So here we are. They call for the cars to line up. This is 15 minutes before the actual race. Driver and Codriver get suited and in.
Welp, the Speed car wont start. This time it just cranks and no fire. Now we all start trying to figure out why this thing wont fire. Checking and swapping fuses and relays. Try getting to the plugs, to much a pain in the ass. Nephew in law put in an aftermarket ecu a few months back. So now we are digging out the stock ecu and wiring harness out of the trailer to try and swap it all out.
Now the race has started and we are still in the pits. Officials said we can still start late. Just that time will be added to your race time. Still no luck.
I start think some kind of neutral safety on the brake pedal or shifter not working. So I hop in the car. Grab the key fob. Yes this POS has a key fob. I start jamming on the brake pedal and hitting the shifter to try and trigger the switch incase its stuck. The third time I hit the start button. Stupid thing fires up. I rev it a couple times. seems all good. its idling. Driver and Co driver hop in and take off to the start line 45 minutes late. But hey. we are racing now.
We suspect that the battery in the key fob was low. And by me holding it in one hand and pushing the button with the other. It created a ground or more juice. Kind of like holding your old car alarm fob to your chin to get it to work.
And who puts a damn key fob in an off road car.
Well 2 miles into the race and 45 minutes late, the car looses power. Cant put your foot in it. The car cuts out trying to accelerate. Feels like its starving for gas.
Bring it back to the pits and we called it a DNF.
So we pack up. Hang out a bit. Have some dinner there. Then we decided to leave. Time is 9:00 pm
Now the slide out on my nephew in laws 2 week old to him used Class A wont go in. So talking with some RV repair techs on the phone. We are told we need to take the motors out of the 18 foot slide out. So now we have to take all the trim and panels out of the inside to access the motors. The first motor we find this. Motor came loose, spun and ripped all the wires of the circuit board we he opened it up.
So now we are trying to push in the slide out in on one end and use the motor on the other end.
Ranger to the rescue for our lighting and idling again for 30 minutes.
Still not going in. So repair tech says take other slide out motor out. But the set screw that holds it in is on the out side up top.
Great who has a 6 foot ladder out here. Back the Dodge up for a make shift ladder.
Both slide out motors are out. Still cant get the slide out to go in. Top keeps getting stuck and we only push from the bottom.
Solution back the Dodge and the kids ranger up so some of can stand on the spare tire and push from the top.
That worked. Time is now 11PM.
2 hours to try and get the slide out in. At this point people who actually finished the race are leaving. Remember he only did 2 miles.
But now we have to keep the slide out from opening driving back home.
How about a ratchet strap through one window, wrapped around the outside and in though the driver window.
Sorry for the blurry pics. Some were screen grabs of a video.
We got home at 1:30am.
Over 12 hours in the desert for a race he went 2 miles in.
But hey, "when it rains it pours' and we will back for another race.
All this, but laughter and good memories were had the whole time.
That's the desert.
As for the Speed UTV being race ready like they say. Yeah that's a negative.
Quick back story first.
My nephew in law bought a used Speed UTV last year with the hopes of racing it this year. This kid has zero previous experience of racing anything. But has owned some kind of SXS for the last 6 years . Pit crew is just family and friends that are willing to show up at the races.
He also just sold his toy hauler and bought a used class A motorhome 2 weeks ago. So he can pull the enclosed trailer with the RV now.
The first race was the MORE series a few months back. He won his class but only by completing more laps then the other 2 cars entered. Yes the car had issues. Overheating and going into limp mode. Ripped all the rear CV boots. Grease everywhere. Then one CV joint left the game. The finally the exhaust broke off at the turbo.
So lots of work and lots of money to fix and get the car ready for this DP4 race in Spangler Hills . This will be his second race attempt. and its going to be a night race.
Couple test days the month before and car seems all is good.
So here we are. Friday all packed up and ready to race.
My kid and I are going to out there to help pit and chase if needed in his ranger.
Fuel op off in Mojave.
Show up early got the pit all set up.
Nephew in law goes to get the car out of the trailer. Car is hard to start. But it fires up. They take the car to Tech where the car ended up and died on them. Either way car passes tech. It fires up enough to get back to the pits. Well it seems the 2 batteries are dead. And of course we have no quick battery charger on the trailer. Remember this is only his second race. so its all a learning process. So one guy if off to Ridgecrest to buy a charger.
In the meantime we use my kids ranger idling for 30 minutes to try and charge the batteries so we can figure out why the batteries died.
Got the car started and the alternator is not charging. Brand new high voltage alternator with only one run on it. Nephew in law just bought this because this is going to be a night race and he wanted something to power all the lights on the car. We start to attempt to put in the stock alternator and just run half the lights for the night race. But that's when we discovered a wire pulled out of the alternator plug somehow. Must of happened on the last test day. If you know these cars. you have to pull the inside apart to see the alternator plug. Repaired the wire. Car is charging. All good now. They go out and do a couple test runs before the race.
So my kid and I take off in his ranger to go play until the start of the race.
Found a decent little jump.
Then we went to check out the memorial site for Jake and Blake that were killed in the Borderline shooting in 2018.
Quick story on this. Jake and Blake were my nieces best friends. They were part of the 12 that were killed in the Borderline bar shooting.
Jake and Blake both grew up in the desert. Both owning prerunner rangers. My niece and the families of Jake and Blake made this memorial at Spangler Hills for them. That's where the 2 boys always went. They made custom metal benches. One bench is for Jake and the other for Blake. Their names are laser cut into the metal backs.
They used Blake tailgate off of his ranger to create a memorial box. The tailgate opens and there is a memorial inside of it. They also made a laser cut plaque of their trucks.
Getting back before the drivers meeting. My kid made a quick run along the tracks.
So here we are. They call for the cars to line up. This is 15 minutes before the actual race. Driver and Codriver get suited and in.
Welp, the Speed car wont start. This time it just cranks and no fire. Now we all start trying to figure out why this thing wont fire. Checking and swapping fuses and relays. Try getting to the plugs, to much a pain in the ass. Nephew in law put in an aftermarket ecu a few months back. So now we are digging out the stock ecu and wiring harness out of the trailer to try and swap it all out.
Now the race has started and we are still in the pits. Officials said we can still start late. Just that time will be added to your race time. Still no luck.
I start think some kind of neutral safety on the brake pedal or shifter not working. So I hop in the car. Grab the key fob. Yes this POS has a key fob. I start jamming on the brake pedal and hitting the shifter to try and trigger the switch incase its stuck. The third time I hit the start button. Stupid thing fires up. I rev it a couple times. seems all good. its idling. Driver and Co driver hop in and take off to the start line 45 minutes late. But hey. we are racing now.
We suspect that the battery in the key fob was low. And by me holding it in one hand and pushing the button with the other. It created a ground or more juice. Kind of like holding your old car alarm fob to your chin to get it to work.
And who puts a damn key fob in an off road car.
Well 2 miles into the race and 45 minutes late, the car looses power. Cant put your foot in it. The car cuts out trying to accelerate. Feels like its starving for gas.
Bring it back to the pits and we called it a DNF.
So we pack up. Hang out a bit. Have some dinner there. Then we decided to leave. Time is 9:00 pm
Now the slide out on my nephew in laws 2 week old to him used Class A wont go in. So talking with some RV repair techs on the phone. We are told we need to take the motors out of the 18 foot slide out. So now we have to take all the trim and panels out of the inside to access the motors. The first motor we find this. Motor came loose, spun and ripped all the wires of the circuit board we he opened it up.
So now we are trying to push in the slide out in on one end and use the motor on the other end.
Ranger to the rescue for our lighting and idling again for 30 minutes.
Still not going in. So repair tech says take other slide out motor out. But the set screw that holds it in is on the out side up top.
Great who has a 6 foot ladder out here. Back the Dodge up for a make shift ladder.
Both slide out motors are out. Still cant get the slide out to go in. Top keeps getting stuck and we only push from the bottom.
Solution back the Dodge and the kids ranger up so some of can stand on the spare tire and push from the top.
That worked. Time is now 11PM.
2 hours to try and get the slide out in. At this point people who actually finished the race are leaving. Remember he only did 2 miles.
But now we have to keep the slide out from opening driving back home.
How about a ratchet strap through one window, wrapped around the outside and in though the driver window.
Sorry for the blurry pics. Some were screen grabs of a video.
We got home at 1:30am.
Over 12 hours in the desert for a race he went 2 miles in.
But hey, "when it rains it pours' and we will back for another race.
All this, but laughter and good memories were had the whole time.
That's the desert.
As for the Speed UTV being race ready like they say. Yeah that's a negative.
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