Bitd henderson 400

[bajabum]

the pikes racing team is racing our ramcharger at this weekends bitd henderson 400 event. we will be using iritrack so for those of you at home interested in watching you can track us under class 3700. also it would be great to get some more class 3's for competition out there? anyway we'll be racing the morning race i believe the first truck leaves the start line around 9 a.m.

[Blanco]

Might you have a direct link?

[XterraRacer]

What is class 3700? A new class for BITD?

[jkrell]

3700 is Jeepspeed unlimited Class.

Really excited to see the Ram Charger in our class! With you guys, Barnetts J10, and the ATK Wrangler it should be a pretty good lil race. Can't wait.

[bajabum]

ah good, i was wondering if the wrangler was going to make this race. are you going to do the driving honors, or are you sharing the wheel with the skiltons again?

[jkrell]

Ya we didnt exactly get a full prep on the jeep after baja but hopefully we can just cruise it around to finish out the jeepspeed season.

Sorry no Skiltons at the wheel for this one, all you guys get is me.... but If you would like I can work on my English accent for the prerace smack talk session. :)

How about a 100 side bet? I bet Barnett would be up for it.

[bajabum]

i guess the accent will have to do. i bet barnett would be up for it, that old jeep is pretty wicked looking. i think gale is doing most of the driving for this one, he's only got about 20 race miles behind the wheel since the mint, so at 78 yrs i'm sure he;ll just be cruising around too. he'll probably get in on the side pot action

[straightaxle]

My wife and I will be flying in about noon, I guess I wasn't paying attention to the dates of the race (so, no Bronco). In years past it was interesting to see the race going on from the air. Good to see a class in BITD for these vehicles. May have to detour out there and have a look at the race with the rental car.

[Broncodawg]

Allright, Pinks All Out!
Three well built trucks will make for some good racing, like the 1K shoulda been.
Have fun!
Nice build thread on RDC, Jon.

[jkrell]

My wife and I will be flying in about noon, I guess I wasn't paying attention to the dates of the race (so, no Bronco). In years past it was interesting to see the race going on from the air. Good to see a class in BITD for these vehicles. May have to detour out there and have a look at the race with the rental car.

You talking about big planes or lil planes? You fly? If your coming out to the race stop by our pit or by the bar at the Fiesta after the race. First rounds one me, i'd love to swap some baja stories with you.

Allright, Pinks All Out!
Three well built trucks will make for some good racing, like the 1K shoulda been.
Have fun!
Nice build thread on RDC, Jon.

Racing for pinks would be sweet. Thanks for the compliment!

[straightaxle]

You talking about big planes or lil planes? You fly? If your coming out to the race stop by our pit or by the bar at the Fiesta after the race. First rounds one me, i'd love to swap some baja stories with you.

Big planes this trip, mine is in the shop right now getting new engine cylinders. Besides it is socked in solid with fog up here right now and I don't have an instrument rating.

[BobBower]

i guess the accent will have to do. i bet barnett would be up for it, that old jeep is pretty wicked looking. i think gale is doing most of the driving for this one, he's only got about 20 race miles behind the wheel since the mint, so at 78 yrs i'm sure he;ll just be cruising around too. he'll probably get in on the side pot action

I got my calls from Matt and Gale. I'll be in the right seat for Gale at Henderson.

I'll look for all of you to say hey during the prerun and contingency day. On race day... Who knows where you will be?

Thanks again to the Pike family for inviting me to go with Gale. If I'm lucky there will be time at the beverage emporium in the Fiesta to let me buy a round in the interest of "Fellowship". :D

[bajabum]

I got my calls from Matt and Gale. I'll be in the right seat for Gale at Henderson.

I'll look for all of you to say hey during the prerun and contingency day. On race day... Who knows where you will be?

Thanks again to the Pike family for inviting me to go with Gale. If I'm lucky there will be time at the beverage emporium in the Fiesta to let me buy a round in the interest of "Fellowship". :D

i know he's excited to have you co driving with him, and you should have a blast bouncing around in the dodge!

[bajabum]

here's the link for tracking the race http://www.irctracking.com/2008/henderson/

[BobBower]

Just back home from Henderson...

Pikes Win!
That Ramcharger is one nice truck. The prep was very good. No mechanical issues. Matt & Zach took the first lap, Noah and Zach the second lap, and Gale and Bower on the third and final lap. (Zach is a secret weapon)

Glad to hear that jkrell was not hurt in the roll. I saw you off to the side at Mile 44 with a wave. You were back to vertical, and all looked OK. Tough luck.

And although I have not heard with any confirmation, everyone is OK with the Barnett team. I did not see where they went off into the ditch, but I'm told all was basically OK.

It was nice to chat at the finish with SCORE Class 3 Champion Moss, and his lovely wife.

My most sincere thanks to Gale, Matt, and Noah Pike for letting me be part of their program this weekend.

Hey Nick... I used your helmet. Hope you don't mind.

[Yikes]

Congratulations Pike's!! Someday I would like to see your rig run, so keep it up.

[Broncodawg]

Sorry to hear about the carnage of others, but congrats to the Pikes for the win!! New it was only a matter of time!

[jkrell]

Big Congrats to the Pikes. They drove a great race, it was really a pleasure to meet you guys and Mr. Bowers before the race.

Team ATK had a heartbreaker day. We had a solid lead and rolled it 4 miles from the finish on our third lap. Sheetmetal and ego's were the only damage. Thats racing. We'll get it back together quick.

Just an FYI on Barnett. He lost the motor just off the start. Not sure what happened to Jackson, but I think he finished for a second place.

Congrats again to the Pikes on the Victory, you guys have a sweet truck.

[BobBower]

Big Congrats to the Pikes. They drove a great race, it was really a pleasure to meet you guys and Mr. Bowers before the race.

Team ATK had a heartbreaker day. We had a solid lead and rolled it 4 miles from the finish on our third lap. Sheetmetal and ego's were the only damage. Thats racing. We'll get it back together quick.

Just an FYI on Barnett. He lost the motor just off the start. Not sure what happened to Jackson, but I think he finished for a second place.

Congrats again to the Pikes on the Victory, you guys have a sweet truck.

Hmmm.... I gather that it was not Mike Barnett down in a ditch at the end. When we got to the finish people were saying that Mike was out of the action between where you tumbled and the finish. We did see you, but no other 3700's after that. I have no idea who, or what, people were talking about. It was all radio talk.

Sorry that you guys had your hard luck day that way. There is no question about that Jeep being a rapid machine. I watched it off the start and you had it looking very good. Smooth, tidy, and quick.

No way could I get a good look at the real condition of it when we went by, but the damage looked a lot less severe than it could have been. You had it back on the wheels. Okay, only three of them, but back to upright. The main thing I was looking at was that the humans were alright. That looked good.

So what happened? How did it get from "on course" to "flying inverted"? That was a pretty fast little section there. I could imagine a variety of things that could have happened to the mechanics.

[bajabum]

thanks for the congrats everyone, exciting to hear about the trucks first win although i couldn't watch. sorry to hear about the rollover so close to the finish.

as for the helmet bob i'm glad you put some race miles on it, i haven't worn it in a while and it's only got one race on it

[Broncodawg]

What happened Jon? Did you swap ends in some whoops or hit something?
Add your team file here so you have a place to post up and I don't have to steal the Pike's thread.;)

[jkrell]

Sorry that you guys had your hard luck day that way. There is no question about that Jeep being a rapid machine. I watched it off the start and you had it looking very good. Smooth, tidy, and quick.

No way could I get a good look at the real condition of it when we went by, but the damage looked a lot less severe than it could have been. You had it back on the wheels. Okay, only three of them, but back to upright. The main thing I was looking at was that the humans were alright. That looked good.

So what happened? How did it get from "on course" to "flying inverted"? That was a pretty fast little section there. I could imagine a variety of things that could have happened to the mechanics.

What happened Jon? Did you swap ends in some whoops or hit something?
Add your team file here so you have a place to post up and I don't have to steal the Pike's thread.;)

Thanks Bob -- the jeep is a very fast and well balanced race car, it has a been a real pleasure to drive. Indeed it was a pretty fast section. I clipped a ridge with the front left corner and it sent us over. With two baja wins under my belt and quite a few class wins over the years this in my first time over in a vehicle....I guess that's racing, and it has happened to the greatest in our sport...still incredible disappointing though....but as you said all the human matter is a-ok and that is really all that matters.

But don't worry.....The ATK jeep will be back to 100% and ready to give you class 3 guys a run for your money next year.

[BobBower]

Thanks Bob -- the jeep is a very fast and well balanced race car, it has a been a real pleasure to drive. Indeed it was a pretty fast section. I clipped a ridge with the front left corner and it sent us over. With two baja wins under my belt and quite a few class wins over the years this in my first time over in a vehicle....I guess that's racing, and it has happened to the greatest in our sport...still incredible disappointing though....but as you said all the human matter is a-ok and that is really all that matters.

But don't worry.....The ATK jeep will be back to 100% and ready to give you class 3 guys a run for your money next year.

Well, I hope that you, at the very least, were able to keep your eyes open for the whole wreck! Not everybody does. But heck, seeing as it was your first, it would be a shame if you missed it!!

Aside from the obvious like the expense of fixing it, and watching a win go away, the worst is standing back and looking at it there on the ground. In a pile. As you said, egos suffer right about then.

But, you'll get on with things just fine. It didn't look like a major wad when I saw it. I'm always interested in how things like this get started. At the risk of sounding like someone picking at sores, when the left front hit, was it the inside corner on the turn or the outside corner? Was it a nose to tail roll, or a door to door deal?

I guess I'm just curious because I've been inverted more than a few times and each time there was some good lessons to learn. Not the "don't be a dumb ass" kind of lessons, but driving style stuff. There is not much to say about things when you lose a sector shaft in the steering box. But when we make a driving error it's really smart to see what can be learned.

We learned a lesson from this...
http://www.class3racing.com/picture.php?albumid=13&pictureid=133