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Matt Nieman charging through the rockery.
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Matt Nieman working the rocks. Unfortunately, a broken locker would cost too much time.
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Rocco Baldassarre was off to a flying start, making several passes in the first lap.
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Rocco showing off for the cameras.
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Rocco attacking BackDoor. Unfortunately, a broken axle would ruin a great showing.
By Richard Walker, Matt Nieman, Rocco Baldassarre and Dave Warner - Photos by Paul Baldassarre, Mario Baldassarre and Josh England
For the rest of the Canadians that made the trek down to the Hammers, I am actually going to use words from the teams owners and/or drivers. They did some reports on Crawlin’BC and I figure it’s best to let them tell their story so I don’t miss any details. It’s tough to get all the finer points for the other teams when you’re already on one yourself. We start out with the Entite Motorsports team.
#4487 ENTITE MOTORSPORTS - By Matt Nieman
We left early Thursday morning (Jan 30th) towing down the buggy and a truck full of tools and spare parts. After 28 hours of driving, we arrived on the lakebed. Everything was going good and the truck seemed to have no issues. That changed on Sunday afternoon, around 4:00 pm, I suddenly got sick and everything vacated my body for the next 14 hours. I’m glad I got that out of the way early. The next morning after not sleeping at all, I could at least keep some water down. Things could only go up from there.
Monday afternoon, Daryl and I decide to go pre-run the first lap to shakedown the truck. The first thing I noticed was how much deeper all the ruts were and how much rougher the course was compared to last year. We pretty much ran the entire first lap when I clipped a rock going up a big sand hill. That jarred the ram and caused the hydraulic fitting to come loose, draining all the power steering fluid. We made a field fix, filled it back up with ATF (all we had), and limped back to camp. New ram clamps, pump, fluid flush and we were back in business ready for shock tuning with Rad-flo the next day.
Tuesday morning while shock tuning, it turns out we needed to pull the front and rear bypasses to remove some of the rebound valving. This helped the axles drop out faster as we were maxing them both on the bypass adjusters. Some fine-tuning over the next couple days took us from 40 mph to 60-plus mph in the same section.
We were set for qualifying on Wednesday behind Rocco and Dave. We wanted to put down a reasonable time, but didn’t want to beat on the car very much for a better time. The only problem we had was the Atlas (transfer case) was pretty fresh and did not want to shift smoothly into low range for the waterfall. We wanted to keep the stress off the transmission as much as possible so this was necessary. We ended up with a time around 4:50 and our start position was 110 out of 158 competitors.
We spent all day Thursday re-prepping and going over the buggy. That night we discussed our plans for pitting with the other teams and finalizing who was going where. Everyone went to bed early as the buggies had to be lined up and ready to go by 6:00 am the next morning.
I woke up Friday morning at 5:30 am to what sounded like a million engines firing up and chugging away on race gas. I suited up and met Daryl in the line at 6:00 am. We sat in line for quite some time; I would guess we didn’t get off the line until 8:45. We left the line taking it easy for the first few miles as the suspension and gear oil warmed up. It was crazy dusty. We battled that for a while then started picking up our pace. We were going quite a bit faster than when we had pre-run, but were getting comfortable. We were passing a lot of slower buggies and those who were already broken down.
As we got closer to our first pit, we started having some sort of power issue as the communications and GPS started constantly shutting off and turning back on. We pulled into pits, but missed our group, as we didn’t realize that they were at the BFG trailer. As we pulled to a stop, a fire burst out and the car sputtered and died. I hopped out while BFG put out the fire and Daryl tried to figure out what happened. Our winch solenoid box had broken away from its mount and was shorting out, welding itself to the front differential. We fried both batteries, the solenoid box and burnt a bunch of the wiring. Then John ran over to Warn and they gave us a new solenoid box, winch remote, and a handful of solenoids to get us going again. We were able to scrounge up another yellow top and were on our way in about an hour and a half. Without Daryl, there to diagnose and fix the burnt up wiring there is no way we would have been able to continue.
Our original plan was to hit BackDoor this lap but with a questionable battery/charging/winch system, we opted to bypass. We ended up hitting 91 mph on Galloway Lakebed (which I would consider scary fast and I wasn’t even pinned). Once we hit the first rock trail, which I think was Aftershock, we realized the front ARB was leaking internally and we had no front locker. With some skinny pedal and Daryl’s rock stacking skills, we only had to winch three times. The BFG stickies were hooking up and we were making lines I would normally question even with a locker. We finally made it to pit two where we radioed they guys at pit 2A that we needed the spare front 3rd and were going to have to swap it. I was amazed how quickly they got there after having to pack up the other pit. 45 minutes later, we were out of the pit and on our way back out on course. It was already getting dark when we left, so we did most of the rock trails with our Baja Designs light bars lighting up the course for us. We picked our way through the rock sections with no issues other then getting stuck in a few traffic jams.
We knew when we came through pit 2A right before 6:00 pm that there was no way we would be making it back to main pit in time to continue our 3rd lap. We were pretty bummed so we headed back out on course and back to hammer town. We helped a few guys along the way including Levi Shirley who had broken the front output of his atlas halfway up Elvis. By the time we got back to town, I think it was around 7:30 and we were beat. Of course, we were disappointed we didn’t get to finish the race, but we were stoked to complete two laps and not be completely broken. I can’t think of a better crew to help us on race day and all week. The people on all three teams worked their tails off, sacrificing their time and missed watching the race to help us. I don’t think I can thank everyone enough for making this great week possible.
#308 ROCCWORKS MOTORSPORTS - By Rocco Baldassarre
After a very long month prepping the car for KOH, we were finally ready to leave. Our prep included a complete tear down of the chassis for paint, revising some of the wiring to add breakers, a new engine, transmission and an Atlas.
We hit the road early Friday (Jan 31st) en route to Vegas to meet the guys at FOA's shop to check all the shocks and adjust some valving. Also, we upgraded to their new bumps and changed all the coils to Viper springs. After our quick stay in Vegas, we hit the lakebed Sunday afternoon and proceeded to setup camp.
It was an odd feeling for the team and me to be completely ready to go for the race, unlike last year. Tuesday morning, we did some quick shock tuning and headed out to pre-run the first lap to feel out the car and new power. All I can say is wow! She gets it!
After a relaxing Tuesday and early night, it was time for qualifying Wednesday morning. We were 25th up and after a clean run (we had to back up a couple feet on the waterfall), we put down a 4.17. Not fast, but respectable and that earned us a 90th starting position for KOH.
Thursday my team did another once over on the car, packed our tools and had a pit meeting. We are now ready for the big show.
We lined up next to one of the Bomber cars and all I could think was I better take him off the line. Flag drops and we are off, leaving the Bomber in the dust, never to see him again. We had a clean first lap and even helped a guy roll his car back over at mile 30. We passed almost every car we could see. Reeled them in, ate some dust and rolled by. It was great, granted some IFS (Independent Front Suspension) cars did blow by us. After 1:30, we are back at BFG main pit for a splash of fuel and quick check. All is well and after a few minutes, we are gone for our second lap. Coming up to BackDoor, it looked busy so we passed by and planned to hit it on lap three. After a super clean run, we stopped at pit two for just a once over and went on our way through the bulk of the rock trails. We cleared Chocolate Thunder like it was nothing and pulled up to the waterfall on Wreckingball only to see a winch fest. We pulled rope and got up in no time.
Just to be safe, we hit pit 2A to get some fuel and tighten a couple small things. We then had a clean run to the main pit and fueled once again before heading out for lap three.
We had to do BackDoor this lap so as we rolled up our plan was to take a poke or two then winch if needed, and we did. So well into our third lap with still lots of daylight, we get to Outer Limits. It’s now around 4:00 we get a little hung up. I tried a few things and heard a crack. Sounded like an axle but everything was still working, we winched off the rock and kept on moving. About another 100 feet, I notice something isn’t right with the drivers’ front tire. I hop out to investigate and to my surprise the CTM axle joint is broken and basically missing, yet the yolks seemed ok. I then run to the back of the car and pull the spare tire to get to our tools and spare parts. To my surprise, the lid of the toolbox was missing as well as all the spare parts and tools that were in it. A very disappointing discovery let me tell you. I made the call to keep going but knew it was the end for us. Without tools and parts, I surely couldn’t remove the axles to save them and by driving on them, I would surely destroy them. Not even remotely possible to fix everything without my custom shafts that are now somewhere in the desert. And with no radio contact, we were on our own.
We drove it in three-wheel-drive, only winching a couple times and got out by dark. It took a couple hours to get back to camp since we had to drive slowly. According to my crew when I left on lap three we were around 17th and only 1.5 hours behind the leaders. We got a DNF and sit in 41st for points. All in all, I guess not bad for starting at 90th.
A special thanks to my crew and sponsors, we couldn't of done this without your help.
#4410 THE FLYING ZUCCHINI BROTHERS - By Dave Warner
First off, thanks to all those who helped pit and prep the car for KOH this year.
We showed up with a car that seemed pretty well prepared. However, after taking it out in the desert for a shakedown, something seemed off right away. At around 60 to 70 mph, the back end would kick out every time I hit the gas. We thought it might be the shocks, so our King buddies stepped up and rebuilt the shocks for us overnight. This helped a bit but not a lot. I drove the time trials and got a decent time given the fact that the rear end was everywhere. The car drove like we had a flat rear tire. I believe I got a 4.23. This put us starting 95th.
Sometime on Thursday, Bart Dixon (who got us into the race last year) stopped by the pit and asked about sharing driving duties. A couple of our crew members had the flu and Curtis was feeling iffy, so we were looking for a backup anyways, and agreed to let him have the first lap.
On race day, Bart took off with Curtis co-driving. When they came in after the first lap they were having fueling issues and Bart said the car was a handful with the shocks. The pit crew tore apart the top of the fuel cell and weighted down the pick up as it had lifted up and jammed between the foam. I jumped in and tore out into the course.
Now normally I'm the calm driver between us brothers, however just over the first ridge, we were running along at a decent speed given the rear end issue and someone came up behind us and started honking. I pulled off the main track to let them by and started taking a beating from the rough track. The guy in the other car pulled up beside me and wouldn't pass. I had to actually slow down to get back on the main track and I swear it seemed like he slowed even more at that point. Curtis and I were both yelling at the guy while eating his dust with no ability to pass in the whoops. All the sudden, Curtis yells, “We are in the lakebed. Pin it!” One thing my car has is horsepower, so when it came to a drag race on the flat I knew I could take the guy. We emerged from his dust into clean air and saw another couple cars ahead trying to pass each other.
I stood on it some more and flew between them both at 101 mph before remembering the car had handling issues, and if we hit even a little bump, I probably wouldn't be able to control it. By this point, I was a little jacked up as we started hitting the rocks. I was passing people left and right, even where there were no lines. We actually caught up to our friend Bruce who I think started 60th, so I knew we were moving because he had been passing people the whole time as well (we were all running the same frequency). I think this fueled my fire.
So I passed him and a few others, then we got a flat. We changed the tire and went back on our way. Eventually we got to a point where there was a major traffic jam around RM 77 or 80. I patiently waited for the area to clear. Guys were doing crazy things. Getting stuck, then winching themselves forward and getting stuck even worse. After 30 minutes, my patience was done and I saw a line up high that no one was taking. We went for it but slipped off a landing with the weight of the truck on my control arm snapping it in two. In hindsight, I actually suspect that the arm may have had a stress fracture or something and that it was the cause of our crappy rear end handling, but we'll never know. The arms are 7000 series aluminum and usually flex instead of break. Haven't actually snapped one in ten years of rock crawling.
My lesson learned from this race is I need to calm down even though I was having way too much fun hauling the mail and passing people. That or find someone to give me money to build a high dollar rig.
CONCLUSION
As you can see, 2014 didn’t bring much luck for the Canadian teams. Not to worry though. There are many more races coming this year, and as far as I know most of these guys plan to be at them all. Check out the Ultra4 web site for their West Coast schedule and be sure to support these guys an their tremendous race efforts. Stay tuned to the next issue of the magazine for some features on these vehicles so you can see for yourself how gorgeous and well built they are.