1 of 6
Photos by Rich Walker
Ultra4 - Glen Helen 2013
2 of 6
Photos by Rich Walker
3 of 6
Photos by Rich Walker
4 of 6
Photos by Rich Walker
5 of 6
Photos by Rich Walker
6 of 6
Photos by Rich Walker
Story and Photos by Rich Walker
The infamous Glen Helen raceway is located in San Bernardino, California and is one of the coolest race facilities I have ever been to. It is such a great race to attend that we don’t even complain (well, we do a bit) about the 2500 kilometer (each way) drive. This year, instead of just towing one buggy down, we borrowed a giant 26-foot trailer that could fit two and proceeded to squeeze Matt (#4487) and Rocco’s (#308) buggies onto the deck. It was a tight fit, but we got it done. After loading up the rest of the gear the four of us hit the road.
The drive down was fairly uneventful until we got to Sacramento and picked up our friend Josh who was going to tag along for the remainder of the trip. Many of the conversations from the truck will have to be saved for campfire stories, if you catch my drift. Just picture five tired, smelly dudes juiced up on energy drinks crammed into the cab of a truck, rolling down the I5 for 8 hours and I think you will get the picture.
We arrived at the track and were actually quite early. We were so early in fact that they hadn’t even set up the pit area yet. It worked out well for us though as we had first choice for pits. It didn’t take us long to unload and get our two pits prepped. We also held a third spot for Shane Gilroy (in the #380 car) who was coming down solo from Mayerthorpe, Alberta. Shane iron-manned the almost 3000 kilometer (each way) drive as his co-driver had recently had corrective eye surgery and couldn’t make it. It’s amazing what we are willing to do to get to a race.
Although the race course (route) was slightly different than last year, the organization of the race was the same. There was a qualifying run which dictated the starting order (fastest first and so on), then there were two “heat” races and one Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) to see who would advance to the main race. The main race was an endurance race lasting 3 hours and whoever could do the most laps in that time would be the winner.
Right off the start line for qualifying Matt’s car started acting up. There was a severe lack of power and it just wouldn’t run right. We started to diagnose the car before the first heat, but couldn’t figure anything out. We tried some fuel related troubleshooting and hoped for the best for the first heat race. Unfortunately the problem persisted and Matt only got in a few laps before his race was over.
Rocco’s qualifying race went as planned. They went out and got a feel for the course and settled for a start position near the back for the first heat. When all the dust settled, they didn’t quite make the main race and would try again in the LCQ. The LCQ was an awesome race. It came down to Rocco and Shane battling it out for the last spot in the main race. It was super close, but Shane got Rocco by a few car lengths and would move on.
Shane’s car was also acting up a bit during qualifying and heat one. The symptoms were similar to Matt’s and someone from another pit hinted that it could be injectors. When we were working on Matt’s car we called the local auto parts store to buy new ones, but nobody had any in stock. Luckily for Shane, another racer had some used (but still good) injectors so we decided to give it a shot. Turns out that was the problem. Between that and a new fuel filter, Shane’s car was running tip-top. It’s just too bad we couldn’t get two of everything for Matt as well.
During the main race, Shane kept a steady pace and kept knocking out laps. Since Matt and Rocco weren’t in the main race, we had a ton of pit support for Shane. He pulled in a few times for fuel and general checks, but other than a broken sway bar he stayed out there for the whole race and finished in 27th place. He deserved his vacation to Disneyland after that (his wife and kids flew down and met him there).
All in all, Glen Helen was a lot of fun. Another super road trip with good friends and even though there was some bad luck, that won’t stop us from heading down again. You can count on that!