Words by Rich Walker, photo by Kelly Walker
For once, I am actually happy to say that not much has happened with me since the King Of The Hammers in February. If you read the last issue, you saw how busy our week was and how hard we all worked to represent Canada. It was a blast and all the cars have already been torn down and re-prepped. This means we are all ready to race once again.
Coming up for us next is the Ultra4, MetalCloak Stampede at the Prairie City SVRA in California (near Sacramento). Race dates are June 6th and 7th and Matt Nieman (#4487), Rocco Baldassarre (#308) and Eric Brinker (#312) will all be there, racing on one of the coolest short course tracks I have ever been on. It’s an exciting venue with high-speed short course features (whoops, jumps and the stuff we all love), with some rock sections and sprayed concrete walls for added fun. This will be my 2nd time at this race and I am looking forward to seeing all three Canadians kick some… you know what! Details and coverage will be on the Ultra4 web site.
The KORR (Kamloops Off Road Racing) season will be off to a start fairly soon too. There is a “test and tune” planned for early May and racing will kick off at the end of the month. Test and tune is a fun weekend with no racing planned, but the track is open to all racers to test out and tune their new modifications or builds. It’s a great way for everyone to get ready for the season of crashing and bashing that lies ahead. I plan to head out and see what everyone has in store for this year. Then I’m off to Moab for a week of fun in the sun with my buggy. As you can see, I will be right back to my busy racing schedule in no time. Check out the KORRBC website for all the dates, pricing and details you may need. www.korrbc.ca
Fellow Canadian, Tracy Graf was down in Arizona for the Parker 400 race in March. Graf and his Lone Star racing team took their Trophy Truck to battle it out over the 400-mile (lapped) racecourse. For anyone who knows desert racing and these events, “The Mint” is one of the roughest, toughest races out there. Lone Star’s plan was to start conservative and get faster and faster every lap. Their plan worked out well and paid off with a solid 8th place finish. The truck took the beating like a champ and judging by the rock that broke co-driver Curtis Warner’s helmet, I think it was rougher out there than anyone could have expected.
The WERock Dirt Riot and Crawling season is well under way. The first Crawling event on the West Coast was in Congress, Arizona and Canadian Dion Wakefield took home 2nd place in the unlimited class. Dion and his single seat moon buggy has had a very strong presence in the WERock series over the years. He consistently brings home 1st and 2nd place finishes. Congrats to him and his team. The next events are in Rangely, Colorado (April 26th and 27th) and Goldendale, Washington (July 19th and 20th). If all goes as planned, I hope to take the whole family to the Goldendale event, and maybe even compete.
The only other thing I have to report for now is that I actually got out in my own buggy for the first time since my little ladies arrived. I was able to get away for a weekend and head out wheelin’ with all my friends at a local spot with a cool network of trails. It felt so good to get back out and into the driver’s seat. Although the weather did not cooperate, we still managed to have a good time. I put some hard miles on the buggy, got to break in the new rims, new transmission and make sure everything is hunky dory before I drag this thing over 2000 km to Moab for a week of fun. I can’t even begin to explain how excited I am to get away for a week with the family doing what we love. I have lost the exact count, but I have been to Moab well over a dozen times and we missed going last year. I guess we did have other things on the go.
Next time I write, I hope to have a tan!
Stay safe and see you on the trails.