AngerIssues
02-15-2007, 02:11 PM
For those that want to know more about me (Ken Leavitt), here you go. I'll try to post pics later, if I can shrink them down enough. If you don't want my life story, don't read it!! :p
I've been interested in desert racing as long as I can remember. I guess it is because my dad raced bikes with Malcom Smith, Casey Folks, and others, back in good old days of bonfire land-rush starts. I raced motorcross a few times, but it never went anywhere.
As a 14-year-old, I began driving too fast in the desert and destroying rims and tires on the family Datsun and eventually moved up to a 79 short-bed 4x4 F-150. Many rims, tires, and shocks later, I finally had a chance to spectate a race in around '87. My buddy Mike Coleman and I got goose-bumps when the first class 8 went by; we were hooked. :D He had a few more dollars after college than I did, so he built one of the first Stone Stock Fullsize trucks for racing in the La Rana Desert Series. I rode a lot of miles in that truck that we used to hunt bunnies in. Eventually Mike earned the 91/92 Class champion. The ***hole never did let me drive in a race!
Mike eventually moved up to Class 4 and then took a break, and then got into 7s. More co-riding for me, but I was getting anxious to race. After one LONG drinking session waiting for Mike to make it to a tech inspection, I finally snapped and announced the formation of my own team - Anger Issues Racing. My friend Chris Curtis didn't help by encouraging me!
I announced to my wife at the time that i was taking her Bronco (150,000 miles) and making a race truck. At the time, first place in BITD Stone-stock SUV paid 10,000. Half the time the racers broke down anyway - piece of cake, right?
I paid dearly to have the cage made by Bunderson, which is a long story in itself. Anyway, I did all the rest of the work myself, over countless long nights in the garage. A note to those younger guys out there... before you get married, remember to ask your bride-to-be what she thinks about racing and being gone a lot. My divorce literally cost me enough $ to buy a Trophy Truck.
My first race was the biggest joke. We changed the oil in the parking lot of the hotel, and I remember sitting in staging wondering "Did I tighten the front bumper bolts?" Uh... apparently not. After many funny incidents, and a very long day, I think we finally lost oil pressure near Goldfield, or some god-forsaken place like that. My dad came to the race and became the crew chief, whether he wanted the job or not. To this day he has not missed a race and I couldn't do it without him.
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/485566/original/caliente-race.jpg
Each race got a little better, but I could not get past being 2nd place. Argh. Eventually the Ford money disappeared and I got tired of going 15 miles an hour, so I went to Laughlin to test my theory about racing in Class 3. My dream had always been to race baja anyway. I took 2nd behind a certain big black bronco, and decided to make the swap. 5000 in shocks later, and many many long nights with only 6 weeks until San Felipe. It was so much work. We had a great race, and as I recall, took 2nd behind a certain black bronco.
The 2005 Baja 500 was probably my best race ever, except for my cousin Andy Leavitt being stuck behind bottlenecks for 4 hours. Moss (finally) had a problem, and we managed to get ahead of him for a change. At 2:30 in the morning, we came to Valley T in first place, with Moss hot on our tail. We were told to "go home" because check 5 had closed. Moss decided to keep racing and Sal eventually changed his mind, thanks to the Ralley Logger BS. It was a risky move for us to quit and for Moss to go on. He nearly got the finish, but all Class 3, Stone-stocks, Class 11's, and Class 9 (except 1) got the big DNF. I was SO miffed about that. Sal stood on the podium and talked about what a great race it was. Argh.
Anyway, let's hope this Class 3 thing goes somewhere, because I truly love racing and look forward to some quality sportsmanship, not politics, expensive races, and poor paybacks.
kwl
I've been interested in desert racing as long as I can remember. I guess it is because my dad raced bikes with Malcom Smith, Casey Folks, and others, back in good old days of bonfire land-rush starts. I raced motorcross a few times, but it never went anywhere.
As a 14-year-old, I began driving too fast in the desert and destroying rims and tires on the family Datsun and eventually moved up to a 79 short-bed 4x4 F-150. Many rims, tires, and shocks later, I finally had a chance to spectate a race in around '87. My buddy Mike Coleman and I got goose-bumps when the first class 8 went by; we were hooked. :D He had a few more dollars after college than I did, so he built one of the first Stone Stock Fullsize trucks for racing in the La Rana Desert Series. I rode a lot of miles in that truck that we used to hunt bunnies in. Eventually Mike earned the 91/92 Class champion. The ***hole never did let me drive in a race!
Mike eventually moved up to Class 4 and then took a break, and then got into 7s. More co-riding for me, but I was getting anxious to race. After one LONG drinking session waiting for Mike to make it to a tech inspection, I finally snapped and announced the formation of my own team - Anger Issues Racing. My friend Chris Curtis didn't help by encouraging me!
I announced to my wife at the time that i was taking her Bronco (150,000 miles) and making a race truck. At the time, first place in BITD Stone-stock SUV paid 10,000. Half the time the racers broke down anyway - piece of cake, right?
I paid dearly to have the cage made by Bunderson, which is a long story in itself. Anyway, I did all the rest of the work myself, over countless long nights in the garage. A note to those younger guys out there... before you get married, remember to ask your bride-to-be what she thinks about racing and being gone a lot. My divorce literally cost me enough $ to buy a Trophy Truck.
My first race was the biggest joke. We changed the oil in the parking lot of the hotel, and I remember sitting in staging wondering "Did I tighten the front bumper bolts?" Uh... apparently not. After many funny incidents, and a very long day, I think we finally lost oil pressure near Goldfield, or some god-forsaken place like that. My dad came to the race and became the crew chief, whether he wanted the job or not. To this day he has not missed a race and I couldn't do it without him.
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/485566/original/caliente-race.jpg
Each race got a little better, but I could not get past being 2nd place. Argh. Eventually the Ford money disappeared and I got tired of going 15 miles an hour, so I went to Laughlin to test my theory about racing in Class 3. My dream had always been to race baja anyway. I took 2nd behind a certain big black bronco, and decided to make the swap. 5000 in shocks later, and many many long nights with only 6 weeks until San Felipe. It was so much work. We had a great race, and as I recall, took 2nd behind a certain black bronco.
The 2005 Baja 500 was probably my best race ever, except for my cousin Andy Leavitt being stuck behind bottlenecks for 4 hours. Moss (finally) had a problem, and we managed to get ahead of him for a change. At 2:30 in the morning, we came to Valley T in first place, with Moss hot on our tail. We were told to "go home" because check 5 had closed. Moss decided to keep racing and Sal eventually changed his mind, thanks to the Ralley Logger BS. It was a risky move for us to quit and for Moss to go on. He nearly got the finish, but all Class 3, Stone-stocks, Class 11's, and Class 9 (except 1) got the big DNF. I was SO miffed about that. Sal stood on the podium and talked about what a great race it was. Argh.
Anyway, let's hope this Class 3 thing goes somewhere, because I truly love racing and look forward to some quality sportsmanship, not politics, expensive races, and poor paybacks.
kwl