1985 Volume 2 Number 6 Dusty Times Magazine : simplebooklet.com

Volume t Number 6 June 1985 In This Issue ••• Editor-Publisher Jean Calvin Associate Publisher · Brad Goodrow Controller John Calvin Contributors Cindy Chamberlin Daryl D. Drake Peggy Ellenburg Winnie Essenberg Homer Eubanks Jan Flick Tom Grimshaw Martin Holmes Cam McRae Danny McJ(enzie Bill Oursler Brenda Parker David R yskamp Richard Schwalm Wayne Simmons Judy Smith John Sprovkin Joe Stephan T racl<§tde Photo Enterprises ,;-·· Art Director Larry E. Worsham , .. ":'.Typesetting & Production Michelle's Typesetting Services Printing News Type Service THE on1c1AL vo1c1 OF $C()RE CANADA AND , ~ -.-, ti'.'.! -uc.a ... Subscription Rates: ~ ==--$12.00 per year, 12 issues, USA. Foreign subscription rates on request. Contributions: DUSTY TIMES welcomes unsolicited contributions, but is not responsible for such material. Unsolicited material will be returned only by request and with a self-addressed, stamped envelope. · Classjfied Ads will be published as received, prepaid. DUSTY TIMES assumes no liability for 0missions or errors. All ads may be subject to editing. DUSTY TIMES is published monthly by Hillside Racing Corp., 5331 Derry Ave., Suite 0, Agoura, CA 91301, (818) 889-5600. Copyright 1983 by Hillside Racing Corp. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Applica-tion to Mail at Second-Class Postage Rates is Pending at Agoura, CA 91301. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Dusty Times, 5331 Derry Ave., Suite 0, Agoura, CA 91301. CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Four weeks notice is required for change of address. Please furnish both old and new address, and send to DUSTY TIMES, 5331 Derry Ave., Suite 0, Agoura, CA 91301. SNAPSHOT OF THE MONTH ••• I FEATURES Page The 18th Annual Mint 400 ..................... . ... 12 SNORE Yoko Loco . ............ .................... 23 Score Off Road Industry Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Marlboro Safari Rally .............................. 26 · Stadium Racing in Vancouver ....................... 28 C.C.A.R. Tulare Bug Off ........................... 29 Short Course Racing in Tucson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 A.D.R.A. Loma 150 ............................... 32 Pro CanAm Kittitas 250 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 SCCA Rally Week Northwest ....................... 37 VORRA at Prairie City ..................... : . . . . . . . . 40 Corona Farewell ................................... 42 DEPARTMENTS Snapshot of the Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 5 Soap Box by Daryl D. Drake ......................... 6 Trail Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Side Tracks by Judy Smith ..... • ............... -....... 7 Class2-1600Update ........ -....... ,; ............... 7 Happenings ............... ·. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 BFGoodrich 6-50 Club .....•.......... : ............ 10 Pony Express .............................. .' . . . . . . 36 Bounces from the Berm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Good Stuff Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Classifieds Ads .......... -. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Index to Advertisers .............. ................. 46 ON THE COVER-Flying fast for over 400 miles, it was a dusty, dirty but triumphant Mint 400 for Jim Temple and Kenny Cox. Their stout Class 2 Raceco gave them no trouble at all, and they had b11t one tire change en route to the overall victory. For Temple it was his second . overall win on the Mint 400, and this year he also set fast time of the day on the first lap, a swift and not repeated two hours and a few seconds in total time for the 105 miles. Congratulations to the overall winners, to all the winners and to all who participated in the 1985 Mint 400. Color Photography by Chris Haston of Trackside Photo Enterprises. /\~ DUSTY TIMES THE FASTEST GROWING OFf ROAD MONTHLY IN THE COUNTRY!! □ 1 year -$12.00 o 2 years - -$20.00 □ 3 years -$30.00 Take advantage of your subscription bonus ••• Free one time classified ad up to 45 words. (Form on inside back page) Name------------------~----------; Oops ... this Funco is either too long or tc)O short for the famous ditch beyond El Rayo in the pine forest on the Baja California race route.Today's long wheelbase racers might have easily spanned the ditch. It is still there and waiting for drivers who zig instead of zag when · exiting the forest section. One of the drivers 0f this ear is known to us, but the other is not, . nor is the race, since it was back in the early 1970s. If you know this entry and the race, tell '. · it to DUSTY TIMES and we will print the iq.entification in the next issue. . · DUSTY TIMES will feature pictures of similar "funnies" or woes.on this page each month. Send us your snapshot of something comic or some disaster for consideration. DUSTY TIMES will pay $10 for the picture used. If. you wish.the photo returned, enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Only black & white prints, 5x·7· · or 8x10 will be considered. I I I . I Address --------------------------City _-----------~~---------------State ----~------------Zip ________ _ Send check or money order to: DUSTY TIMES · 5331 Derry Ave., Suite 0, Agoura, CA 91301 ( Canadian - 1 year $15 .00 U.S. • Overseas subscription rates quoted on request) ·I ,, I I June 1985 Pagc5 -f

Page 6

------------------~---------------------------------------------------~-------------, I Soap Box ••• By Daryl D. Drake · Observations on the 18th Mint 400 Although I've been involved with off road racing in one form or another since my childhood days in Riverside, California, 1985 was the first year I had an opportunity to attend the spectacle that is the Mint 400. At the Mint Hotel on Friday, it was like a huge convention as we met many new faces and saw plenty of familiar ones during driver registration. Mr. Walt Lott welcomed us and our hosts, Phil and Phyllis Auernheimer (of ADRA), and with a hearty laugh and a wink to my wife, Jane, told us he still had a checkpoint to man. He had Phil going for a moment. Stepping outside, Contingency Row on "Mint Boulevard" gave us a chance to inspect, up close and at rest, the racing machines that would take on the tough Nevada desert in the morn. The money and prestige of the Mint 400 seem to beckon a lot of racers that don't make the rest of the off road circuit, and we saw everything from old clapped-out buggies to a very well prepared AMC Pacer. The Chrysler zone office in Phoenix provided us with an '85 Dodge Ramcharger to view the race, so Friday afternoon we headed out to the Speedrome and points beyond to get a feel of the course. No wonder the government chose Nevada for the nuclear test range. This is some of the roughest, toughest terrain on earth. And to those who don't appreciate its beauty, it probably seems worthless. We made it out to Check 5 before returning to downtwon Las Vegas. As we watched the dust plumes of the pre-runners race across the desert, I couldn't help but be reminded of the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote. Returning to Contingency Row that night was like stepping into Francis Ford Coppola's film "One From the Heart." A full moon centered above the -midway vied for attention with the wildly flashing casino lights, giving the scene a truly surreal flavor. Racecars, racers, fans, hangers-on, partiers, gamblers, and of course the ubiquitous camera-laden Oriental tourists -it was a carnival like atmosphere with everyone in good spirits. This was my first trip to "Lost Wages" since reaching 21, and my first· try at a slot machine payed off. A dollar-fifty wasn't enough to boil my blood and give me gambling fever though. We caught a few hours sleep and headed out to the Speedrome early Saturday morning. The Auernheimers were inter-ested in the computerize~ scoring Page6 set-up and spent the race working with Mint 400 officials. Jane and I headed out to the course with a group of vehicles and soon got our first taste of Nevada's silt and dust. Even though the truck ahead of us was only going 15 mph at best, we couldn''t see past the Dodge's windshield. I could imagine what it would be like during the race. Just past the freeway underpass, a tabletop jump attracted us -along with about 2500 other spectators -and we parked the Ramch;irger upwind and well off the course. I took up my camera and joined the throng. People of every description lined the course as we waited for the first racers. Fearless, desert-crazed A TC riders wheelied back and forth, and I was reminded of the · bull runs through the streets of Barcelona. -Tpen it was on. We photogra-phers jockeyed for the best camera positions while attempt-ing to keep from getting run over as the racers took their own lines over the jump. The high fliers got roars of approval from the fans, and it wasn't long before the_ first endo. One down, 373 to go. Pandemonium ensued as the stricken racer was pushed to the side, and one fan had tire marks on her leg the next day. I was through my first roll of film, so we retreated to relative safety and the excellent view from the freeway embankment. Many fans continued to hug the course, jumping out of the way of errant race cars. Albert Arciero wowed 'em -and made the front page -with a wild endo. His Class 1 car landed upright, unharmed, and we cheered as he put it to the metal and was off again. Through all this, fans continually crossed the course, drove their Datsuµs between the entrants and generally created havoc for the racers. While the vast majority of the · estimated 90,000 people on hand to watch the race were courteous and helpful, I was appalled by the actions of a few, and feel they constitute a serious threat to off road racing. If a racer were to hit and kill a spectator, I fear the image conscious spon-sors would soon disappear -and the sport may not survive such a setback. After the racers had passed, we worked our way through the desert to Checkpoint 1. Al-though we rarely needed 4WD, the going was rough, with ditch after ditch after ditch. Idle speed was fast enough in the Dodge. I'm still amazed at the amount of punishment the suspensions of today's race cars withstand. We saw another endo, that of Don Rego's Chenowth. He was okay, but his left rear wheel was akimbo. Eager fans drove to his pit for help while another group shared their shade and offered drink. This is the kind of comararderie I love about off road racing. From the organized pit clubs like C.O.R.E. and the Chapala Dusters to the family in an old pickup, most folks do all they can to help. Later, we were able to keep a racer moving ourselves by donating a quart of Pennsyl-vania's finest. But the few spectators that cause problems_ cause big ones. Yuma's Richard Binder and Mary Beth West were tapped out on the dry lake in their 2-1600 car when a fan's truck allegedly running backwards on the course collided with them. The fans and Richard came through relatively unscathed, but Mary Beth is hospitalized with four broken vertebrae and a cracked sternum. Henry Bartolo had to head for a ditch to avoid a spectator, and tore a wheel off Lou Peralta's 1-1600 car. And the stories go on and on. The Sunday Las Vegas Review-Journal headlined the injuries off the course, and this is the kind of activity that makes insurance harder and harder to get. I don't have the solution, but can see open course racing becoming a fond memory if the current treng continues. Perhaps access can be controlled before short course is the only· venue left. The dry lake offered some spectacular sights from a safe distance. We were struck by the beauty of the racers' trails as they streaked across the waste land. Each car raised its own particular plumes, and the spiral patteri;is off the open wheeled racers were as unique as snowflakes. Really beautiful! Back at the Speedrome late Saturday night, it seemed like the '60s as we watched Larry Schwacofer tear down the dragstrip in his green '55 Chevy. We also enjoyed seeing "lron-man"lvan compete in his Class 1 Toyota. Though he's had lots of equipment troubles, my hat's off to Toyota for going heads up against the buggies in the race for the Overall. We need to keep that "No. l" excitement going if the general press is to ever recognize off road racing. The plethora of class winners serves only to confuse the average scribe. All in all, the Mi1,1t 400 continues to be the pinnacle of off road racing, and let's hope it can continue. I'm planning to be there next year. Volunteers are invited to climb on their "Soap Box" and fillthis space with their thoughts about what is good and what is not so good about the state of off road racing. We would welcome some discussion on the state of the Pro Rally Series as well. Call or write DUSTY TIMES with your ideas for a Soap Box column, and get on the schedule. June 1985 Trail Notes ••• MAJOR AUTOMOTIVE ATTRACTIONS has found a new home for the 1985 Budweiser short course series that managed to complete two events at Corona before the facility was closed and the land put into development. Ken Herkimer ofMAA has relocated the series to the all new Perris Raceway, near Riverside, CA. The new course ranges between 50 and 65 feet in width, and it is surrounded by an entire watering system, which will eliminate water truck problems, and over -watering too. Herkimer says the course is not as rough as Corona, and it will be real fun racing, Along with the new course, MAA has added the Sportsman class category to the schedule, and this class will follow A.D.R.A. rules. The Pro classes include 1, 10, 5-1600 and 1-2-1600. A points fund has been established by MAA for year end extra rewards, and it does not come out of the entry/ purse money. The points fund has been donated by MAA and its sponsors. The new dates are June 16, August 25, September 22, and October 20. It sounds like a winner! THE SCIDA RACE SCHEDULE has been announced for the 1985 season, and two ~vents have already taken place. All the races will be night runs at Ascot Park in Gardena, CA, freeway close. SCIDA schedules heats for Unlimited Sprint Buggies, Unlimited Baja Bug sedans, and 5-1600 Baja Bug-s. The coming Ascot dates are June 7, July 7, July 21, and October 19. For contacts on SCIDA and other sc_hedules, check the Happenings column in this issue. SCORE CANADA has had a tough time getting their race calendar together this season, but it is finalized now. For their fifth full season in off road racing, Score Canada has designed a schedule that is middle of the road, not too long and not too short. The schedule is shorter than in 1984, in response from input at · several driver seminars held last winter. It all starts with the invitational Montreal Olympic Stadium race, that is happening as you read this issue on June 1; Montreal is not part of the points series this season. A points fund has been established by Score Canada for the full Schedule of "outdoor" short course races. George Dodd is continuing the two day format of past seasons, and all Score classes will run in all the points events. The far north season starts in Rimouski, Quebec on June 8 and 9, and to• kick off the season, 100 bonus points will be given to.every entrant. OnJune 15 and 16 Score Canada moves to Crandon, Wisconsin, and this is another 100 point bonus race for members as well as a points race for the Brush Run folks in Wisconsin. Score Canada's other 1985 dates are June 29-30 at Notre Dame du Nord, Quebec, July 27-28 in Peterborough, Ontario, September 7-8 at Thetford Mines, Quebec, and September 28-29 in Middletown, New York. ISUZU IS RACING a pair of vehicles this season. They will be defending -their Baja championship in Class 7S with the same Isuzu P'UP pickup that won Class 7S last November in the 1984 Baja 1000 driven by Mike Leon and Javier Tiznado. The winning truck has been completely refurbished for the Bala Internacional, and Mike Leon will again head up the driving team.-Additionally, a Trooper II is being prepared to compete in Class 12 for sports/ utility vehicles, and it is expected to give the Jeep Cherokees some stiff competition. The Trooper II will be built by K-Kars of Riverside, California, and the engine will be prepared by Jack Bayer. That is the same team that put together the winning combination that triumphed at the Baja 1000 last year. THE AIR FORCE is the current government branch attempting to permanently acquire more vast lands to add to their gunnery range. The big compromise between the Department of Interior and the Department of the Navy over the Imperial Valley land in California was settled last spring. Word now comes via the Lincoln County Record that the Air Force is after a big chunk of property in southern Nevada, the Groom Mountain Range in both Lincoln and Clark Counties. If geography is not your forte, Lincoln County is just north of Clark Count'y (Las Vegas), and in past years the Mint 400 race course has touched on Lincoln County. The Silver Dust Racing Association's high country events take place in Lincoln County. _ The newspaper report concerned renewing the transfer of 89,600 acres from public use, passing from Bureau of Land Management hands to the Air Force, and the Environmental Impact Study is still in progress. Meetings are scheduled to provide opportunities for concerned citizens and government officials to participate in the Air Force decision making process by sharing information for possible alternatives for the potential environmental effects of renewing the Groom Mountain Range Withdraw. Issues already identified are Cultural Resources, demograpics and population, ecology, economy livestock grazing, mineral potential and mining claims, along with rare and endangered species and recreational activities such as hunting, a big source of income for the small towns in Lincoln County. According to the Air Force, the withdrawn lands are necessary to provide a secure buffer between the areas of public use and the areas secured for National Defense. That song does have a familiar ring. The Nevada lands would be used for weapons testing and training, for electronic warfare, tactical maneuvering and air suppprt, but would not include air to ground or targeting activities. Remember gang, these lands are not that far from the areas not available for use on the Mint 400 race course because of environmental concerns, including, but not limited to the health and future existence of big horn sheep and desert tortoise. THE SCORE BAJA INTERNACIONAL is the fourth race in the combined HDRA/Score desert series. It is shaping up to be a typical and dandy Baja run, using most of the course familiar to Baja regulars, with the new twist of going outbound from Ensenada through Tres Hermanos and returning, hours later, via the pine forest. A late flash from Score headquarters indicates that 144 teams had their names in the hopper for _the drawing in mid May, and more entries are arriving daily for the desert classic. Score says there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that the race has·moved to Lucerne like last year. It is the traditional coast to coast race from Ensenada to San Felipe and return. Dusty Times

Page 7

• • • Side Tracks ••• The 1985 Mint 400 has come and gone, leaving in its wake the · usual long list of broken cars. This year there seemed to be a greater than _usual amount of personal injury on the course. Or maybe it was just that communi-cations were good this year. Only one incident that we note hereis fully race involved. That was the unfortunate rear ending of the Lenny Newman/Mike Gaughan car by Ivan Stewart in his Toyota. · Newman and his co-driver, Mike Smig were stopped at Checkpoint 3A, a late addition, after the dry lake, which was meant to prevent the wandering of race cars out on to Indian lands. Newman had stopped to receive his check when Stewart roared up, out of a cloud of dust, and hit them before he really knew they were there. Both Newman and Smig were knocked cold, and needed some time to be revived. They were briefly hospi-talized, then released with no apparent .serious injury. Their two seat race car, always a front runner, was permanently out of the race. In another on course incident, . Richard Binder, with Mary Beth West as passenger, was charging across the first piece of dry lake, amidst a whole herd of other race cars. Binder, in his 2-1600, had caught up with some Class 1 cars, and had a car in front of hJm, two to his left, one to his right, and one immediately behind him. He was following the Mint stakes, used to mark the trail across the flat dry lake, and just trying to stay out of the dust enough to see· what was happening. He was going as fast as his limited engine wovld allow, in fourth gear, and then thiire was a spectator's Toyota Land Cruiser in front of him. Binder ran into the back corner of the Toyota, and the Class 1 car behind him ran into him.· Both cars• ~ere damaged beyond the point of continuing, and Mary Beth was badly hurt. She blacked out on impact and actually never saw the Toyota, nor felt either of the collisions. The force of the blow knocked the wind out of her and when she came to she was in pain from the damage to her upper back, as well as frightened by being out of breath. A helicopter was flown in to take her to the hospital, where she was discovered to have four · crushed vertebrae and a concussion. While Binder waited for his pit crew to come fetch his car, he talked seven or eight other spectators into moving their vehicles from the area, which was clearly much too close to the course for safety. He convinced them that when the Class 8 trucks got there they'd be in terrible danger. As this was going on, Binder noticed that someone was removing the tires and wheels from the Land Cruiser that he had hit, so he took the precaution of sending a young man over near it to write down the license number for him. Sure enough, by the time the Sheriff's Posse got there, not only were the wheels By Judy Smith and tires gone, but also the license plate, the registration, and the driver. Binder handed over the ficense number to the officer. At this writing, Mary Beth .West has been in the hospital for six days, and is much ii:nproved, finding her worst problem being how to get permission to wash• her hair and take a shower. (Anyone who's been in Mint silt will appreciate that problem.) She anticipates r.ecovering in time to walk down the aisle on her July 27 wedding day. One other accident, off the race course,, was widely dis-cussed, and widely exaggeratea. Bob MacCachren, owner of the Nevada Off Road Buggy Supply in Las Vegas, had taken Mike Smig's four door pickup out to go get his son; Robbie, who had broken down on the last lap, after doing very well for the major part of the race, in Class 10. As he traveled out towards wherever Rob's car \¥as, he traversed the part of the highway that paralleled the silt beds between miles 50 and 53. Vision was poor on the highway for much of the day, as well as on the race course. Whether or not the du.st contributed to the accident, we're not certain, but we do know that another vehicle ran into Smig's truck, not"quite fully head on, but near enough so it didn't matter much. Both trucks were badly damaged, MacCach-ren 's front seat passenger, Phil Robins, had a badly cut face that required 238 stitches around his eye, and his back seat passenger, a friend of Bob's daugh~er, had a bloody nose. Bob himself, first rumored to have two broken legs and multiple internal injuries, was found to have a dislocated hip and many bad bruises. He suffered some torn ligaments when the hip was put back in place, and has plenty of pain, but looks forward to being out of the hospital by the middle of May. The two folks in the other truck, a young man and his sister, were also injured. We were unable to discover their names by deadline time, but were told that the young lady was treated for bruises and cuts and released, while her brother was still in the hospital with . a broken collar bone, broken elbow and lacera-tions. They were all very lucky, as those who saw the badly damaged trucks will attest. We wish all the injured folks a speedy recovery. On a much lighter note, we thought it might be fun to relax after the tough Mint with a few more Off Road Trivia questions. You'll find the answers on page 46. 1. The first California 400 was held on January 29 and 30, 1972, at Barstow. Do you know how many laps there were? And who won it? 2. Can you name the promoters of that race? How many entries did it have? 3. How many classes were there in the first California 400? Can you name them? 4. What year was the last Mint Race to run at the Gun Club? Can you reme.mber what kind of a purse it had? 5. The first annual NORRA Dam 500 was held in February of 1972. There was a furor over the course, which was considered very rough. Can you remember who withdrew? Who won the race? 6. Back in 1971, for the NORRA Baja 500,. what were the rules about cars with two occupants? With· one occupant? · 7. Someone made and sold special maps of the Baja 500, complete with driving notes, landmarks and mileages, back in the early 70s. Who was that, and ·can you .describe the maps? 8. Who was the winner of the second annual SNORE 250 on September 25, 1971? Remember what the course was like? 9. There was a brand new category.for the 1972 NORRA Baja 500 called Category 10. What were· they? 10. Who won the Production two wheel drive class in the 1970 Mexican 1000? And what were they driving? Attention 1·1600 Competitors By Jim Greenway, Class Rep. There has been significant Changing restrictor plates discussion in recent weeks in again has been brought up to regard to the combining/splitting increase parity in the class; of the single and two seaters in however, if we increase the 2-o u r class. In review of the 1600 or decrease the 1-1600 finishing positions -in the restrictors, it is my feeling that Laughlin and Lucerne races, ·you this will surely split the class will find that the two seaters have again. secured six of the top ten finishingpositionsinbothraces. I need your input. The Apparently the two seaters are suggestions are to leave the classes combined with the competitive with the single seaters, however the best two current rules, the status quo; seat finish is second place, Jack modify the minimum weight Ramsay at Laughlin and Richard req_uirements; change the re-Binder at Lucerne. strictor plates; mandatory weigh-The question has also been in at pre-and post race tech; split raised regarding the minimum the classes leaving current weight requirements between the cars in our class. The minimum weight for 1-1600 is 1300 pounds and the minimum for 2-1600 is 1350 plus the weight of the rider. This would be a significant difference if we were -all running right at the minimum . weight. Maybe some are, but many are not. If neither the 1-1600 or 2-1600 cars are at minimum weight now, then establishing an additional weight handicap to the 1-1600s would be difficult at best. restrictions the same . Initially, 58 of these letters with attached solution sheets were mailed to 2-1600 drivers. · More than half responded and 77 percent of those that responded want two classes, one for single seat cars and one for two seat cars. If you wish to voice your opinion_, please contact me, Jim Greenway, at 1903 Doreen Ave., South El Monte, CA 91733, or phone me (213) 686-0052, (714) 739-8900, or (818) 442-1730 . . THE ORIGINAL GAS PRESSURE SHOCK ABSORBER l. , WINNERS ON BILSTEIN SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES Ivan Stewart _ 1st Place, Class 7 Mint 400 "Never before have I had so much con-fidence in a shock. · After extensive testing and. numerous races on the same set of Bi/steins, I am very pleased by their excellent perfor~ mance and reliability." June 1985 Ray Aragon 1st Place, Class 10 Laughlin Desert Challenge 1984 "We finished 2nd at the Cal City 12-hour in 1983, 1st in Class 10 at the Parker 400 1984, and 1st in Class 10 at the Laughlin Desert Challenge 1984. all on the same set of Bi/steins with no failures." Jerry Leighton 1st Place, Class 10 Fireworks 250 1984 "The shocks worked super; no such thing as broken or leaking . shocks with Bi/stein." Jim Wright - 1st Place, Class 2 Mint 400 "By far the most impor-tant parts on any off-road vehicle are the shocks. Using Bi/steins is like cheating." For further information and special off-road applications .contact Tom Hoke at BILSTEIN Corporation of America, 11760 Sorrento Valley Road, San Diego, CA 92121. 619 / 453-7723. • , R-2000 " CAACAAE """"-"'TS Page7

Page 8

1985 HAPPENINGS ••• A.D.R.A. Arizona Desert Racing Association 1408 East Granada Phoenix, AZ 85006 (602) 252-1900 July 13 Flagstaff High Country 150 Flagstaff, AZ August 31 8th Annual Giant Off Road Centers Snowflake Buggy Bash Snowflake, AZ October 19 9th Annual Penasco 150 Rocky Point, Mexico December 7; 1985 · 9th Annual Sonoita to Rocky Point Hare 'n Hound Sonoita, Mexico January 11, 1986 Annual Awards Banquet Phoenix, AZ AMSA American Motor Sports Association P.O. Box 5473 Fresno, CA 93755 (209) 439-2114 June 1 12 Hour Mojave Desert ChaJlenge California City, CA August 31-September 1. 24 Hour World Championship Desert Endurance Race California City, CA October 26 California 500 Palm Springs, CA Pages AMERICAN OFF ROAD RACING ASSOCIATION John Ohanesian P.O. Box 31811 Phoenix, AZ 85046 (602) 867-4769 June 1 Coors Off Road Classic Tucson International Raceway Tucson, Arizona BAJ A IN WISCONSIN OFF ROAD SERIES Kevin Dawson . Rt. 3, Box 895 Lake Geneva, WI 53147 ( 414) 248-8566 June 29 Lake Geneva Raceway July 13 Lake Geneva Raceway August 10 Lake Geneva Raceway August 24 Lake Geneva Raceway BANZAI OFF ROAD CENTER Brya .. r'liristensen 2729 No. 62nd Omaha, NE 68104 ( all eH'.nts ar Rit•erfronc Motorsporrs Park) June 16 Flatland 4 Wheelers June Bust Out July 21 Sportsman - Odysseys - 3 Wheelers August 18 Sportsman - Odysseys - 3 Wheelers September 8 Sportsman - Odysseys - 3 Wheelers October 6 Flanders Day -Sportsman Season Finale BERRIEN AUTO CROSS SERIES Coordinator - Gil Parker 7406 S. 12th St. Kalamazoo, Ml 49009 (616) 375-1233 June 8-9 Old Style Off Road Challenge Fountain City, WI June 22-23 Bay Area Classic Green Bay, WI July 6-7 Sugar Camp Challenge Sugar Camp, WI July 12 Santa Fe Speedway Chicago, IL July 20-21 U.P. Off Road 100 Bark River, MI July 27 Macon County Fair Decatur, IL August 4 Parragon Raceway Parragon, IN August 17 Red Bud Trail Buchanan, MI August 24 Motorsports ChaHenge Casey, IL August 31-September 1 Brush Run 101 Crandon, WI September 21-22 Dixie Autocross Birch Run, MI C.C.A.R. Central California Associated Racers P.O. Box 7921 Fresno, CA 93747 (209) 255-5995 or 255-3594 June 8 Short Course Race Tulare County Fairgrounds Tulare, CA July 13 Summer Nationals Short Course Race Tulare County Fairgrounds Tulare, CA June 1985 August 10 All Classes Short Course Race Tulare County Fairgrounds Tulare, CA September 22 BFGoodrich Western Off Road Nationals Tulare County Fairgrounds Tulare, CA COBRA RACING P.O. Box 19407 Oklahoma City, OK 73119 (405) 232-4231 -(405) 685-3450 (All off road races will be held at the 59th & Douglas track, Oklahoma City.) FORDA Florida Off Roaders Driver.s' Association 5349 Hansel Ave., C-1 Orlando, Florida 32809 (305) 851-6245 FUD PUCKER RACING TEAM 250 Kennedy, #6 Chula Vista, CA 92011 (619) 427-5759 August 10 Superstition 250 II Night Race El Centro, CA GORRA Georgia Off Road Racing Association Box 11093 Station -A Atlanta, GA 30310 ( 404) 927-6432 June 9 100 Mile Race Montgomery, AL June 23 50 Mile Race Atlanta, GA July 28 100 Mile Race Atlanta, GA August 25 50 Mile Race Atlanta, GA September 8 100 Mile Race Montgomery, AL September 22 50 Mile Race Atlanta, GA October 27 100 Mile Race Atlanta, GA GREAT WESTERN POINTS SERIES, INC. 1507 South Lincoln Loveland, CO 80537 (303) 669-0640 or (303) 663-2922 June 2 WKR · St. Francis, KS June 30 RMORRA Colorado Springs, CO July 14 DORR Denver, CO August 4 WKR St. Francis, KS August 18 DORR Denver, CO September 8 CORRA Berthoud, CO September 22 RMORRA Colorado Springs, CO October 5 Bandimere Championship Race Denver, CO HORA High Desert Racing Association 961 West Dale Ave. Las Vegas, NV 89124 (702) 361-5404 July 5-7 Fireworks 250 Barstow, CA September 6-8 Frontier 500· Las Vegas to Reno, NV December 6-8 Frontier 250 Las Vegas, NV HODAG50 Information (715) 362-6550 August 304 Hodag 50 Rhinelander, WI IOK FOUR WHEELERS P.O. Box 36 Cleves, Ohio 45002 (All et•enrs staged ar rhe club grounds in Clet•es, Ohio) June 30 Kiss Point Series Drags July 14 Kiss Point Series Drags August 23-26 Gravelrama XV Oct~ber 6 Kiss Point Series Drags MAJOR AUTOMOTIVE ATTRACTION P.O. Box 3741 Orange, CA 92665 (714) 997-2247 June 16 Perris Raceway Perris, CA August 25 Perris Raceway Perris, CA September 22 Perris Raceway Perris, CA October 20 Perris Raceway Perris, CA MICKEY THOMPSON'S OFF ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP GRAND PRIX Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group 53 W oodlyn Lane Bradbury, CA 91010 (818) 359-5117 June 22 Orange Show Fairgrounds San Bernardino, CA July 20 L.A. Coliseum Los Angeles, CA September 14 Orange Show Fairgrounds San Bernardino, CA Dusty Times

Page 9

MORE Midwest Off Road Racing Enthusiasts P.O. Box 181021 Fort Worth, TX 76118 (817) 577-1102 June 7-8 Cowtown Speedway Fort Worth, TX July 5-6 Cowtown Speedway Fort W orth, TX August 2-3 Cowtown Speedway Fort Worth, TX September 6-7 Cowtown Speedway Fort Worth, TX October 4-5 Cowtown Speedway Fort Worth, TX PRO CAN AM SERIES Pro Can Am Racing Inc. P.O. Box 323 Seahurst, Washington 98062 (206) 242-1773 (503) 620-0313 June 21-23 Little Rock 300 Olympia, WA . August 16-18 Location to be announced September 27-29 Millican Valley 400 Bend, OR SCCA PRO RALLY SERIES Sports Car Club of America 6750 Emporia St. Englewood, CO 80112 ( 303) 779-6625 June 8-9 Susquehannock Trail Pro Rally Wellsboro, PA July 4-7 Olympus International Pro Rally Tumwater, WA August 16-September 20 Ralle Michigan Pro Rally Battle Creek, MI September 21-22 Budweiser Forest Pro Rally Chillicothe, OH October 25-27 Budweiser Press On Regardless Pro Rally Houghton, MI November 16-17 Oregon Trail Pro Rally Beaverton, OR December 6-8 Carson City International Pro Rally Carson City, NV SCIDA Vince Tjelmeland 5226 Norris Lane Yorba Linda, CA 92686 ( 714) 779-6889 June 7 Ascot Speedway Gardena, CA July 7 Ascot Speedway Gardena, CA July 21 Ascot Speedway Gardena, CA October 19 Ascot Speedway Gardena, CA Dusty Times SCORE Score International 31356 Via Colinas, Suite 111 Westlake Village, CA 91362 (818) 889-9216 June 7-9 Baja Internacional Ensenada, B.C., Mexico August 16-18 Off Road World Championship Riverside International Raceway Riverside, CA November 8-9 Baja 1000 SCORE CANADA 390 Chemin Du Lac Lery, Quebec, J6N 1A3, Canada (514) 692-6171 June 1 Montreal Olympic Stadium Montreal, Quebec, Canada June 8-9 Bonus Points Rimouski, Quebec June 15-16 Bonus Points Crandon, WI . June 29-30 July 27-28 Peterborough, Ontario September 7-8 Th('.tford Mines, Quebec September 28-29 Middletown, New York SILVER DUST RACING ASSOCIATiON P.O. Box 7380 Las Vegas, NV 89125 (702) 459-0317 June 8 August 17 Nevada 300 Pioche, NV November 16 Silver Dust 400 Henderson, NV SNORE Southern Nevada Off Road Enthusiasts P.O. Box 4394 Las Vegas, NV 89106 (702) 452-4522 June 22 Points Race Ensenada, B.C., Mexico Norte Dame du Nord, Quebec Delamar 400 Caliente, NV Las Vegas, NV Join in the ~l~Tle MA.IL COUPON TODAYI Experience the Excitement of the MINT 400 without the dust Above photo is prototype. Actual game may differ slightly. ERIKSSON INDUSTRIES, INC. 326 W. KATELLA AVE., SUITE 4-H DT ORANGE, CALIFORNIA 92667 (714) 538-5878 YES! D Send me __ copy of the new and exciting "MINT 400 OFF-ROAD GAME" for $24.95 (Plus $2.50 each shipping & handling). My check or money order for $ ____ enclosed. VISA □ MASTERCARD□ Card# _ _ _____________ _ Expirationdate: ____________ Signature: ___________ _ Name _____________________ __________ _ Address ______________________________ _ City _______________ State __________ Zip ____ _ (California residents add 6% tax) Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery. June 1985 Page9

Page 10

July 27-28 Holiday Casino & KC Hilites Midnight Special Las Vegas, NV September 20-22 Holiday Casino & KC Hilites Snore 250 Jean, NV. November 23 Points Race· Las Vegas, NV SUPERIOR OFF ROAD DRIVERS ASSOCIATION 460 No. Beaumont Ave. Brookfield, WI 53005 (715) 272-1489 June 8-9 Old Style Off Road Challenge Fountain City, WI June 22-23 Bay Area· Classic DePere, WI July 6-7 Sugar Camp Off Road Challenge Sugar Camp, WI July 20-21 U.P. Off Road 100 Bark River, Ml August 3-4 Hodag 50 Rhinelander, WI August 31-September 1 Brll.5h Run 101 Crandon, WI September 21-22 Colorama 100 Sugar Camp, WI TRIPLE CROWN POINTS SERIES Brush Run 101 PD. Box 101 Crandon, WI 54520 (715) 478-2430 June 15-16 Crandon, WI August 31-September 1 Brush Run 101 Crandon, WI · VORRA· Valley Off Road Racing Association 1833 Los Robles Blvd. Sacramento, CA 95838 (916) 925-1702 June 22-23 Virginia City 200 Virginia, City, NV July 20 The Ingold Short Course Classic Baylands Raceway Park Fremont, CA · September 1-2 Dayton/VORRA 300 Dayton, NV September 28-29 VORRA Bonus Points Race Millican Valley 400 Bend, OR October 13 Championship Off Road Race Prairie City OHV Oark Sacramento, CA WESTERN OFF ROAD RACING ASSOCIATION 8596 Harvie Road, RR #10 Surrey, British Columbia, V3S 5X7, Canada ( 604) 576-6256 June 16 Mt. Cheam Raceways Rosedale, B.C. July 21 Mt. Cheam Raceways Rosedale, B.C. August 18 Mt. Cheam Raceways Rosedale, B.C. September 15 Mt. Cheam Raceways Rosedale, B.C. October 13 Mt. Cheam' Raceways Rosedale, B.C. ATTENTION RACE ORGANIZERS List your coming et'ents in DUSTY TIMES free!. SL'Hd your r985 schedule a., soon as po.ssible for listing in this column. Mail your race or rally schedule to: DUSTY TIMES, 533 r Derry At•e., Suite 0, Agoura, CA 91301. i':is NEVADA . Vegas OFF-ROAD it's ... BUGGY N ~ w > >-~ · < :., Street Stock -· Baja Race or Sand Whatever Your Pleasure Play'or Pay We've Got Your VW Parts See Brian or Dave See Rob or John SAHAHA X 2 N. I A"iTLHN "ilHll ''-, Locations rX z z -0 to ~ I-(;) ~ '-,PHI'.\<, MTN Serve You :x: (/) Better! i WEST NORTH 3054 Valley View 1541 N. Eastern 871-4911 • 871-5604 642-2402 • 642-1664 No·w 2 LOCATIONS The new Snore pit team is ready and eager to serve out of state entries competing in races around Las Vegas, NV. Save the cost of bringing a lot of pit people to the Vegas events by using the Snore pit team. The co-op with C.O.R.E. worked great at the Mint 400. Next for the team service is the Snore Twilight Points Race on June 22, and the Midnight Special on July 27. Call the Snore Hot Line (702) 452-4522. Page 10 June 1985 N ' THE BFGOODRICH 6·50 CLUB REPORT Jim Temple Wins the Mint, Henry Arras Leads the Points Henry Arras hopped to second in 5-1600 at the Mint 400 and back into the overall lead by a goodly margin in the BFGoodrich 6-50 points race. By Jean Calvin While most folks are still gm;ping for clean air after the Mint 400 silt beds, the 6-50 club drivers in the race did an outstanding job in the extremely tough terrain and dust condi-tions. Congratulations go to Jim Temple and co-driver, just a kid, Kenny Cox. They not only won Class 2, but they also won overall.Temple is a comparative youngster at 55, and he also won the Mint overall with Rolf Tibblin in 1982. He said this victory seemed sweeter. Jim set absolute fast lap of the day on his first lap in the big yellow Raceco as well, two hours flat plus a few seconds, incredible time! In the four major desert races so far this year, 6-50 members have won two of them overall, and have graced the cover of DUSTY TIMES too. It started with Frank Snook at Laughlin, and Jim Temple continued the success of the older drivers, going for the overall gold. Who knows, we may have a bunch of class champions at year's end in the combined HORA/SCORE desert series. Among the 374 starting entries at the Mint 400, 31 registered on the entry form as 6-50 club folks, merely by checking the box on the form. K.J. Howe and the magic Mint Hotel computer provided an exclusive print out of 6-50 club drivers at the Mint race, and it is a tremendous help in compiling points. The _mature drivers established a much better finishing record than that of the entire entry at the Mint 400. Of the 31 who started the race, ten finished the four laps for an official finish, 32.3 percent. Of the 374 who started the race, 101 finished, 27 percent. Experience counts apparently. Incredibly, the ten who did finish produced three class winners, including Jim Temple. Andy Devercelly won Class 5-1600 and Dave Girdner did the same in the Score Challenge Class. When the 6-50 points were toted up, the new leader on points with four races in the records is Henry Arras. Henry won Class 5-1600 at both Parker and Laughlin, was a DNF at Lucerne, and took a fine second .· place at the Mint 400, and he leads with 203 points. The huge numbers in Class 2, 52 at the Mint, brought Jim Temple up to second on points; adding in his second place at the Great Mojave 250, Temple now has 158 points. Staying close at 154 points is Corky McMillin, and his forte, Mexico is the site of the next race on the 6-50 calendar. Breaking up the buggy driver's domination of the top spots is Vern Roberts, in fourth-with 152 points, very close to second. Vern is the first 6-50 driver who has finished well in all four events with a third in Class 4 at Parker, fifth at Laughlin, third at Lucerne, aftd third at the Mint in his Jeep Honcho. With his first in Class 1 at Laughlin and a tough sixth at the Mint, Frank Snook is fifth on points with 123. Although he has driven in just two ra,ces th is year, Andy Devercelly, who won 5-1600 at the Mint and was seventh at Parker, is sixth with 109 points. Class 3 Jeeper Gene Hightower, who led the class early on at the Mint but did not finish, is tied with Devercelly at 109 points. Standing in eighth spot is Stan Parnell who scored a third at Lucern~ and fourth at the Mint in Class 5. Stan has 95 points, just one point ahead of Jack Irvine, who had a bad day in Las Vegas. Rounding out the top ten after four events is Dave Girdner, who won the Challenge Class at the Mint and was fifth at Lucer~e. Dave has 85 points driving a car he and his son built from scratch in their garage at Barstow. To date there are 40 drivers on the 6-50 points list. Space does not permit listing all the names, but, if you would like to know if · you are on the list, and might not be, since we must use informa-tion provided by race organizers, call Jean Calvin at (818) 889-5600 to be sure you are getting credit for your positions in races in the 6-50 points standings. There is nothing to join, nothing to pay to be a 6-50 member. The only requirement is that you are the Driver of Record and over 50 years of age. It helps if you list over 50 on your entry form, so we can find you after the event for points. Prizes at· year's end include gold, silver and bronze medals for the top three, so why not join in the fun run for points. In 1985 all eight races in the combined HORA/SCORE desert series count for points, along with the Mint 400. Your best six finish positions out of the nine even'ts will count for year end points, so you don't have to run them all, nor are you out of the running at this point. Still to come are the Baja Internacional, the Fireworks 250, the Frontier 500, the Baja 1000 and the Frontier 250. All races count the same in 6-50 points. Dusty Times

Page 11

Page 12

MINT 400 Jim Temple and Ken Cox Win it All at the Dusty, Ditch Filled Mint 400 Photos: Trackside Photo Enterprises By Jean Calvin Jim Temple and Kenny Cox had a great day at the Mint, setting fast lap of the day, leading most of the way, and winning the race overall and in Class 2 in the Raceco that ran all day without trouble. The 18th annual Mint 400 lived up to its reputation as the roughest, t<oughest off road enduro race in the world. This year the general consensus of opinion about the race route ranged from rotten to horrible. The long time Mint racers, many past winners, thought it was the nastiest course they could ever remember. The route sure seemed more unfriendly than any Mint 400 course in memory. To ·be fair, the course was planned with another set of trails, but the migrating big horn sheep came down the mountain, and the new roads slated to replace the silt beds were therefore not open for the race. This change came just a couple weeks prior to the event. There was no place else to go but across the infamous silt beds north of Las Vegas, and this year the route crossed the same deep dry lake not once, but twice in one short 20 mile jaunt. With the course changes the route turned out to be one of the longest in history as well. What has been around 95 miles a lap turned into a good 105 miles a lap for the 1985 edition of the off road race· classic. As usual the hoopla started early, with Las Vegas filling up with the race crowd early in the week. When registration opened early on the Thursday morning, the area was jammed with eager drivers getting their packet of goodies, race jackets, and a briefing from officials about the dos and don 'ts on the race course. A small city of motor homes sprang up in the desert around the Las Vegas Speedrome, site of ,the start/ finish line. Midweek the layers of dust were already hanging over the far hills on the race course as pre-runners searched for the best way through or around the silt beds and silt hills. On the Thursday night the new Mint 400 Board Game from Eriksson Industries added a new contest to the race week. A full scale tournament for invited players from the ranks of drivers, press folks and other off road notables took place in the Poker Pit a_t the Mint Hotel. The tournament provided the win-ning two man team of players with a Vegas sized purse of two grand in long green. The lucky winners' were Billy C. Wright, who with his son Jim were defending overall race champi-ons, and photographer Kris Pallesen of Centerline Photos. The wags said it made 2½ consecutive wins at the Mint for Billy Wright. The real circus started early Friday morning with the tradi-tional parade down two blocks of Fremont Street and around the corner on First Street that is the contingency row at the Mint 400 race: Although the streets were closed to traffic for 24 hours, the adjacent casinos, including the host Mint Hotel, did a resound-ing business. The streets were literally packed with people from eight in the morning until the witching hour. When the last decal was in place and the final entry tucked away in fhe impound, there were 374 starting cars at the 1985 Mint 400, a very healthy number for the big desert event. Class 2, at 52 starting cars, was first away, as the class has been for the last few years. With a sunny, warm day, and the extra doses of silt, the badly needed stiff wind was lacking. The early starting slot was a definite advantage to the hot dogs in Class 2, who could break free of the traffic on the first lap and run in the clear. Still, eleven failed to complete the first lap and out of the race in a mile was the Raceco pickup of Dave Kreisler and Jim Nobles, possibly the first retiree from the race. Starti,ng number 203, the Raceco of Jim Temple and sub co-driver Ken Cox got first on the road early in the game, and Jim ran dust free to fast lap of the day, an incredible two hours and just 42 seconds change. Jim's usual co-driver, his son Mark, was busy race day becoming a new father. But Cox, also a second generation off road racer, was a most capable replacement. Matt McBride and Rick W est were next on time at 2:01.04 in a Raceco, followed on time by Bob Richey and Tom Baker at 2:04.21, but their Raceco came to grief on the second round, 8½ hours worth, and they went no farther. Staying close were Jerry Penhall and Ron Gardner, Chenowth, at 2:05.04, Jack Woods/Don Bailey, 2:05.59, Jim Bunty/Mike Hershaw, 2:07 .03, but the latter two teams only went one lap. Midway the Temple Raceco was still first on the road and on time with a fast 4:09.14 ET at that point. A number of two seaters were parked on the desert by now, with another 13 missing after one lap, This grou p included Mint 400 Race Director K.J. Howe's new Raceco and the Toyota SR5 truc_k of Frank Arciero, Jr. · Behind Temple at the half way mark it was close in Class 2. Running second here was the Raceco/Porsche of Danny and Marty Letner at 4:22.02, tagged by Penhall/Gardner at 4:23.57. Next came Tom and Steve Martin, Raceco, 4:25.25, and the '83 and '84 overall winners Jim and Billy Wright, Raceco, 4:30.39. Both Jake Fogg, 4:36.52, and Jim Sumners, 4:37.26 were close enough to pounce in their Racecos. Spectators were really active at the Mint this year, and the BLM Manager Bill Civish estimated the total crowd at about 90 thousand, with a good 20 thousand in the Apex Road spectator area alone. On the third round the McBride entry Making it a Las Vegas sw·eep in Class 2, the Herbst boys, Ed and Tim drove their Raceco into 2nd in class and a keen 4th overall. Only a couple of minutes out of 2nd place, Cam Thierot &Greg Lewin settled for 3rd in Class 2 in the ORE built Funco Warrior. Up among the leaders all day, a last lap mishap dropped the Porsche powered Raceco of Danny and Marty Letner to fourth in Class 2 at the flag. Jimmy Crowder iron manned his Class 2 at the Mint, and a flat cost him time, but the Tallahassee, Florida driver arrived fifth at the finish. Page 1-i The third lap leader in Class 2, the Chenowth of Jerry Penhall and Ron Gardner had big trouble on the last lap and the team did not finish. June 1985 Steve Tetrick and Fred Ronn had the Class 10 lead at mid distance, but trouble on the third round dropped them to second in the ORE, and third overall. Dusty Times

Page 13

Soaring past the crowd out of the Speedrome, James Krumme kept his Funco in contention all day, and finished third in Class 1 O and sixth overall. Marty Reider and Jeff Hibbard drove the Raceco hard in Class 1 O, had no big problems, and were fourth by only 15 seconds after four laps. Rick and John Hagle had some pit time in their ORE Raceco, but the boys kept charging and were fifth in Class 10, and a wild eighth overall. Dave Richardson went solo in the Steve Sourapas Raceco, led the last two laps handily, and came in the Class 10 winner and a terrific second overall as well. had more trouble and dropped to an eventual eighth place. The usual rash of spectator accidents began happening also. Eight more were missing from Class 2 on the third loop. Contender Len Newman was crashed from behind while stopped at a check, and a pickup hit the Bunderson so hard that it knocked both Len and his co-driver out, and out of the race. After three laps of the torture test, Penhall/Gardner led Class 2 by a mere five seconds over Temple/Cox, who in turn were just 24 seconds ahead of the . Letners. The Wrights were next, about five more minutes back, and Fogg was up to fifth with co-driver Gene Buchanan in the Raceco now. But, the fourth lap dashed a lot of hopes, including those of the Wrights. Their try for an unprecedented third straight overall Mint 400 victory went down with a broken transmission. Penhall/ Gardner also vanished into the desert on the last lap, and the Fogg Raceco had the spare tire come loose, break the frame and take the oil cooler out, and that was that. Jim Sumners had electrical woes, · sent his rider Doug Renfro ·out looking for parts, then fixed the problem and went looking for Doug. Sumners couldn't find his rider, and figured the time loss was too much for a competitive finish and retired. Up front Ken Cox was now in the Temple Raceco, and he did a quick 2: 18 final round for a total time of 9:08.02 and the overall and Class 2 victory. Their time loss on the third lap included a precautionary stop to change CV joints. They had no trouble en route to the title, and it was the second overall Mint 400 victory for Las Vegan Jim Temple, who won overall with Rolf Tibblin in 1982. The second generation race team of Ed and Tim Herbst of Las Vegas hauled their Raceco into second in Class 2 and fourth overall on the final lap, and they turned consistent times all day. Cam Thieriot and Greg Lewin broke up the Raceco trail by arriving a ~trong third, just two minutes behind the Herbsts in a Funco Warrior. The Letners had serious trouble on the last lap, an hour's worth, but they still took fourth in class, 14th overall. Jimmie Crowder came all the way from Tallahassee, Florida to race, and Crowder drove all four laps to place fifth in class, another two minutes back after having a flat on the last round. In all twelve of the Class 2s finished the race in good time. Class 10 was second off the start, and what a horde it was Mike Lund had a see saw battle with Jack Johnson all day, and when the race was over, it was Lund's Chenowth Magnum _that took the Class 1 win. Dusty Times June 1985 with 62 on the line, and most of them state of the art cars. Thirteen never saw the Speedrome again, including one of the favorites, Jack Irvine. Up front it was a real battle for the lead as the 1 Os soon tangled up in the Class 2 traffic. At the end of one lap Jim Stiles, Raceco, snagged fast lap for the class with 2: 14.29. Ron Ellenburg, Hi Jumper, was close at 2: 15.06, but This is the system run by most off road race winners neither of these drivers did another full lap. In fact 19 cars disappeared on the second lap, over 50 percent out before the halfway point. Running third on the first loop were Rick and John Hagle, Raceco, at 2: 16.12, just 35 seconds ahead of Steve Tetrick and Fred Ronn in an ORE. All the front runners were driving single seat cars, + + + + TAl•MIL BOBCAT· CHROME DUAL CAN BOBTAIL FOR BAJA BUGS ..____._11 g 2740 COMPTON AVENUE LOS ANGELES, CALIF. 90011 (213) 234-9014 WHOLESALE ONLY DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED Page 13

Page 14

. . Chet and Lloyd Huffman had some power steering woes, but they kept the Funco together to take a good second ir:i the Class 1 competition. · · ,. Tom Koc.h had his Raceco storming the course, finished only four minutes behind Lund in Class 1, but was dropped to third in clas_s by penalties. In the thick of it all day, Mitcti Mitchell and Ray Croll, Jr. put their Neth home 2nd in 2-1600, doing the number on the Very last lap. The Nevada based team of Brent and Tim Bell dominated Class 2-1600; they led every lap in the Bunderson, set fast lap time in c'iass, and won with an 18 minute margin. · ~ +-+-+ and a dozen more were within five minutes of the leaders at this point. Midway the picture changed. Tetrick/Ronn took the lead with a quick 2:20 flat in the deep dust,. but the Hagles were merely two minutes back and charging as both teams made the driver change. Coming on strong with a 2: 18 second lap, Dave Richard~ son had his Raceco in third, about two more minutes back, but only 20 seconds ahead of Marty Reider/Jeff Hibbard, Raceco, plus James Krumme, Funco, was just another three minutes behind. It was a real race heading into· the third lap. • Somewhere in the third go Tetrick/Ronn dropped about ten minutes and it cost-them the race and nearly three grand. At this point Dave Richardson took a firm grip on the Class 10 lead with a 2:22 lap, and he was running second overall as well. Richardson's Driver of Record, Steve Sourapas, Was in bed with a severe case of the flu, so Dave was doing the iron man bit. Close behind the leader, Russ Welch CAREFUL! WE'RE CONTAGIOUS CA3 -COMPETITl,9N BRAKE WITH BALANCE BEAM MANUFACTURERS OF THE FINEST IN OFF ROAD PRODUCTS Contact your local JAMAR dealer or write -42066-C·Avenida Alvarado• Temecula, CA 92390 . (714) 676-2066 Page 14 was just 2½· minutes back in second in his. Funco, and Krumme-was another three minutes behind in third. Jerry and Bob Leighton,' with a wild 2: 16 third lap, inched into fourth, only seven seconds ahead of T etrick/Rorin, while Reider/ . Hibbard also dropped off the pace. . But, the race is never over, etc. Despite a little overheating in the new Rabbit engine, Dave Richardson turned a 2:23.07 on the final lap on a course that by now was a total disaster. He sailed on to finish first in Class 10 and a fine second overall, · merely 18 minutes behind the winning ·class 2. His was the ·biggest purse at the Mint 400, a hefty $ 7180 in prize money. · Tetrick and Ronn came back with a fine 2:21 last lap to climb . _back into second place, about five minutes behind the winner, . and they scored a· great third overall too. James Krumme and company slowed on the final lap, but held on to third place and "sixth overall by a skinrw 15 seconds over Marty Reider and Jeff Hibbard. Also finishing in under ten hours were Rick and John Hagle, •fifth in Class 10 and eighth overall. Ninth overall and sixth in class were Jerry and Bob Leighton in the LRP 1 SS, and Mike Julson/Jim Dyer were five minutes behind them in the . Jimco, claiming 11th overall. The Welch Funco had big trouble on the final round with relief driver Roger Mortensen at the helm, and eventually arrived 12th in class. In all 19 in Class 10 saw the checkered flag within the 18 hour time allowance. With their June 1985 POS CAR 1 106 2 130 3 110 4 . 104 5 103 1 1622 2 1600 3 1601 4 1616 5 1615 1 2 3 4 5 203 205 244 225 244 MINT 400 FINAL RESULTS DRIVER[S] VEHICLE CLASS 1-Unlimited Single Seat [37 start• 9 finishr MIKE LUND .Chenowth • CHETHUFFMAN,.LLOY.D HU.FFMAN Funco TOM KOCH Raceco NICK NICHOLSON, M. WEIXELDORFER Outlaw ROGER RODERICK, JOE BOGGIO Funco Hustler CLASS 1-1600-Single Seat 1600cc [31 start -13 finish] BOBBY NETH, TOM NETH Chenowth ALAN ROHRER, BILL CANON Varnes SS BOBBY DAVIDSON , JEFF VASQUEZ Bunderson MICHAEL STOKELY, ALEX DECUIR Radical Franie BILL STOKES Raceco CLASS 2-Unlimited Two-Seat [52 start .12 finish] JIM TEMPLE, KEN COX Raceco ED HERBST, TIM HERBST . Raceco CAMERON TH]ERIOT, GREG LEWIN Funco Warrior DANNY LETNER, MARTY LETNER Raceco JIMMIE GROWDER, C. JACKSON Raceco CLASS 2-1600-Two Seat 1600cc [·41 start• 17 finish] TIME 10 :05.01 10: 27.59 11:09.30 12:12.37 12:12.47 10 : 28.25 11 :08.55 11 :43.31 11 :57.24 12:27.31 9:08.02 9:42.23 9: 44.34 10:29.31 10:31.45 1 2612 BRENT BELL, TIM B.ELL ' Bunderson 10: 37.15 2 . 2697 MITCHMITCHELL,RAYCROLL,JR. Neth 10:55.12 3 2606 SHARON JULSON, RON STACY Chenowth 11 :28.51 4 2626 BOB DENAULT, DON DENAULT Raceco 11 :44.47 CLASS 3·-short Wheelbase Four Wheel Drive [23 start - 2 finish] _ 1 307 J.M. BRAGG, MIKE BRAGG . Jeep CJ-7 14:08.44 2 311 MARSHAl.,L MAHR, MICHAEL.MAHR Jeep 17:24.44 CLASS 4-Long Wheelbase Four Wheel Drive [16 start - 3 finish] 1 403 ROD HALL, JIM FRICKER Dodge PU 11: 28.56 2 406 JIM BELL, WALT LAYCOCK Jeep Honcho 14:28.17 3 · 412 VERN ROBERTS, BILL DONAHOE Jeep Honcho 16:26.35 1 507 2 549 3 . 509 4 508 5 514 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 559 568 565 553 598 601 702 700 CLASS 5_;_\Jnlimited Baja Bug [25 start - 9 finish] JEFF JORDAN, AL JORDAN \ . Baja Bug NICK FIRESTONE, RICH CARBAJAL Baja Bug GREG DIEHL, BRAD PERSON Baja Bug STAN PARNELL, DAVE PARSONS Baja Bug GENE NORMAN, MARK JOHNSON Baja Bug CLASS 5-1600-1600cc Baja Bug [24 start• 6 finish] A. DEVERCELL Y 11, A. DEVERCELLY Ill' Baja Bug HENRY ARRAS, G. SCHNEKENBUHGER Baja Bug NORM SHAW, MANNY CORTEZ Baja Bug LARRY RICKMAN Baja Bug GREG TUTTLE, DAVE JACKSON. Baja Bug CLASS 6-Production.Sedan[6 start'• 1 finish] LARRY SCHWACOFER, S. SPRADLING '55 Chevrolet CLASS 7-Unlimited Mini Truck [5 start -1 finish] MANNY ESQUERRA, TUDY ESQUERRA-Ford Ranger SHERMAN BALCH, S. HUTCHINGS Nissan CLASS 7-S-Stock Mini Pickup [14 start -1 finish] 11 :53.47 12: 10.39 12:15.18 12:12.17 13 :09.13 12: 12.21, 12:31.15 13:38.03 14:43.30 . 15:17.57 16:06.22 11 :56.48 31aps 736 WILLIE VALDEZ, JOE ALVARADO Ford Ranger 14:28.04 2 734 GLENN HARRIS, BRYANT HIBBS Mazda B-2000 3 laps CLASS 7 4x4-Four Wheel Drive Mini Truck - Under 21150cc: [3.start - O finish] 1 799 G. T. GOWLAND, RON SPATES Toyota 2 laps CLASS 8-Pickup [13 start - 3 finish] 1 808 STEVE KELLEY, JON NELSON GMC 2 804 JERRY MCDONALD,.BEN METCALF Chevrolet 3 809. JOHN OABLE, BILL HOLMES Ford 4 803 WALKER EVANS, DICK MAXWELL Dodge CLASS 9-.1200cc VW Single Seat [12 start.- 2 finish] 1 905. LARRY WEBSTER, BOBBY MAHONEY Funco 2 907 . RICK H.ARRAH, TOM ELLIN,GHAM Sandhawk CLASS 10-Unlim,ited 1650cc [62 start -19 finish] STEVE SOU RA PAS, D. RICHARDSON • ,Raceco 1 1035 2 1023 3 1049 4 1025 5 1006 1 1497 2 1400 3 1499 STEVE TETRICK, FRED RONN· ORE JAMES KRUMME . . . Ft.mco MARTY REIDER , JEFF HIBBARD Raceco RICK HAGLE, JOHN HAGLE ORE Raceco CLASS-Score Challenge [8 start - 3 finish] DAVE GIRON.ER, ROY PERFECT Home Built TERRY WALSH, RHONDA WALSH T-Mag RICH MINGA, PETER ALESI, JR.. Chenowth CLASS 12-Four Wheel Drive Sport Wagon [2 start - O finish] 11: 16.45 12: 48.56 15: 07 .16 31aps 11 :57.46 15:52.31 9: 26.40 9: 33.53 9: 45.38 9 : 45.53 9:57.43 16: 59.09 17 :02.00 17: 58.00 1 1200 DON ADAMS, JASON MYERS Jeep Cherokee 3 laps TOTAL STARTERS -374 TOTAL FINISHERS -101 = 26% RACE DISTANCE -APPROXIMATELY 420 MILES TIME ALLOWANCE -18 HOURS FAST LAP OF THE DAY -JIM TEMPLE, #203 -2:00.42 strong positions overall, it is a good possibility that · Class 10 will start first next year at the Mint 400. The 37 starters in Class 1 were third off the line, and with 114 buggies ahead of them on the filthy course, many of the drivers were disgruntled about being relegated to third off the line. But, the clock times from previous years are the method used to determine starting order. One oddity in Class 1 was the many time short course winning Funcoof Pancho +- +-+-+-Dusty Times

Page 15

Page 16

The team of Sharon Julson; Ron Stacy and Bob Prather kept their 2-1600 Chenowth moving quickly to claim third in class at the checkered flag. Alan Rohrer and Bill Canon started out flying the first jump, kept a good pace. all four laps, and the Varnes SS finished second in 1-1600 class. The silt didn't bother Las Vegas drivers Bobby Davidson and Jeff Vasquez; They drove the 1-1600 Bu11derso11 to a good third in the tough class. Bobby and Tom Neth drove a smartly paced race, moved into the 1-1600 lead after three laps, and ended up winning the class by 40 m111utes, and they were 13th overall. --+- -+--+--+-Weaver, driven ,_on its first and only lap by car owner Fred Keiser. Seven Class ls vanished in the first miles, and 14 more covered _ just one lap, a high attrition rate. changes. Johnson lost a good half with in hours. Snook/ Arras hour with ekctrical _woes, and struggled home sixth, Stewart · also got a weld job in the pits. lost the front end but came in Mike Lund took over the lead in seventh/and Finney/Foddrill his Chenowth Magnum with" a to6k eighthours totlo the last lap-2: 15 lap and total time of and they were eighth. James and 4:40.13. Koch had some pit time Stephen Butler from St. Louis, and dropped back. Second place · MO were ninth in their Hi was contested by Frank Snook/ Jumper, the final Class 1 Eric Arras, 4:53.11, Finney/_ finishers. Foddrill, 4:55.16, and Jack Although 41 started in Class Johnson, 4:56.29. Stewart had 2-1600, it was almost no contest. · some pit time too, but he was still Young Brent Bell and his Uncle in contention. Tim did a number on the class, with a 2:33.54, but that was their only lap. Jack Ramsay got his Bunderson around in 2:36.12, and home with 2:37s were the teams of Jerry and Larry Leslie and Jerry Jeffries/Wayne Martin, all racing for secoqd place. Midway the Bells had a time of 4:54.19, Mitch Mitchell and Ray Croll, Jr. had-their Neth in second with 5:14.03, and the Leslies time was 5:14.40. Ramsay scored 5:23.24, and Sharon Julson/Ron Stacy had 5:25.28, although Sharon injured her hand on the first lap and recruited Bob Prather to help get the Ch~nmytb, home with . Stacy. . - · · Most of the c,ontenders slowed for one reason or another on lap 3, the Leslies dropping hours to finish 12th. Ramsay retired on· the fourth round, and at the flag Mitch Mitchell and Ray Croll, Jr. · took second in their Neth, and they were 18th overall. The Julson/Stacy /Prather combine nailed third, another 33 minutes back, followed in 16 minutes by Bob and Don Denault, Raceco, who were less _ than a minute ahead of Joe Adzima, Jr. and Kenny Stein in a Hi Jumper. The 1-1600s showed up 31: strong, proving that the pair of 1600cc restricted classes do have the numbers for individual classes, at least at the big races like the Mint 400. The class leaders ran in a single dust cloud on the first lap. Art Peterson and Bob Scott snagged the fast lap for the class on the first round, a keen 2:32.36 in their ORC. Mike Stokely and Alex Decuir were close with 2:33.11, followed by Alan Rohrer and Bill Canon at 2:33.45. Bobby and Tom Neth were around in 2:35.24, and incredibly all but two of the 1-1600s completed the first lap. Peterson and Scott did another 2:32.40, remarkable lap times, to keep the lead at mid distance. But, Rohrer/ Canon whipped off a 2 :31.58 and now were just 2 7 seconds behind in a ding dong battle. Ten more in the class dropped out on the second round. The Neths were four minutes back in third now, and Stokely was another six minutes out, followed by Mike Olson and Roger Caddel in a Funco Hustler. Peterson's ORC had a four hour th-,irg, la,.p ;md was parked, Stokely slowed by about 25 minutes and so did Rohrer. Heading into the final lap in the dark, Bobby and Tom Neth had a commanding lead of 26 minutes over Rohrer/Canon, who were -18 minutes ahead of Stokely, who inturnwereju_st 24 seconds ahead of Bobby Davidson/ Jeff Vasquez, Bundersori, whfle · Olson/Caddel were ten minutes back in fifth. The Neth brothers turned in a great 2:45.23 lap in the deep silt to roar across the finish line in super time, 10:28.25; they won the .class by 40 minutes and plac~d 13th overall. Alan Rohrt;.r and Bill Canon held on in second easily, and abou~ 34 minutes behind them Davidson and Vasquez came in third in clasi. Stokely/Decuir were back another 14 minutes in fourth. Olson/Caddell finished fifth on time, but a 30 minute penalty for putting a wheel on the pavement on lap 3 dropped them to tenth. Bill Stokes in a Raceco moved into fifth, the last money paying position in the class. Thirteen finished iii 1'-1600 ·class, including the venerable Funco Starting third in class, Jack Johnson got his Chenowth up -front in a big hurry, turning 2:05.05 while passing scads of cars en route to the fast lap for the class. Kenny Krumme had his Funco second after one lap with a 2: 18.42, but nearly five hours on the next round put him on the trailer after three laps. Third on the firsr go was the big race, as Tom Koch did a 2:24.35 in his Raceco, Mike Lund dil 2:24 .17 to claim the spot, and Ivan Stewart turned 2:24.51 in his Toyota pickup. In the h~nt too were Jerry Finney/Dan Foddrill in a Chaparral. Johnson drove hard on lap 3 to leading every lap in the Bunder-a 2: 15 time, but Lund still led by son, and they won-with an 18 over five minutes. Snook/ Arras minute margin in victory, also lost hours changing a torsion bar placing 16th overall. Bell got fast in the desert. Lund lost a CV lap for the class, a 2:26.60 on the joint on the last lap and changed first round, backed that with a it himself in the dusty dusk. Jack 2:27 .19 for an early_ and decisive Johnson continued tocharge, but lead. On round one Doug just short of the finish line his Hovis/John Prosser were second engine let go. According to ----------------~-------'--------'----~--------reports Jack got a push into the Speedrome, then pushed the car Midway there were drastic r:s· THUE'MIGHTM MPI.ACEE•RELCAJONTl'MCA:-:-,E himself across the finish line, I ~ J E I recording a 2:26 lap at that, and a ~ ; total time of 9:37.52. Initially ~ F LJ N ! 8 Johnson was listed as the Class 1 2 winner, but late in the night, the il SUPERSTITION ~-result of a protest was the ruling ;;<; · · f that he would not get credit for ~ 250 ~ the last lap. The rule quoted was ~ ~ that of not being pushed, pulled, ! 11 c::s etc. within a mile of the finish ~ ~ line. ~ SATURDAY NIGHT· ~ Originally second, Mike Lund ~ moved into first in Class 1, and ~ AUGUST 10, 1985 ~-tenth overall with a time of tr a 10:05.01. Tom Koch's total time I INFO: ~ was close, 10:09.30, apparently ; DAYS: JEFF WRIGHT ~ good for second in class, but he _ !'I was penalized a full hour for ~ {619) · 561-4810 g_ passing in a checkpoint area, and Ii: EVENINGS F ~ he dropped to eventual third in ~ : U D 1a class. Moving into second then -u· (619) 427-575~-. - -wastheFuncoofChetandLloyd Huffman, doing the course 1n Fua>ucKER RACING TEAM . 10:27.59, and no one else was Victory was s)Neet for Larry Webster and Bobby Mahoney, with fast lap in Class 9,110 trouble with Ifie Fun co, and they le_d every lap to win by nearly four hours. . . . Page 16 June 1985 Dusty Times

Page 17

It was close running for a time in Class 9. Eventual second place winners Rick Ha~rah and Tom Ellingham, Sandhawk, lead Andy Blue out of a hole. The young team of Nick Firestone and Richard Carbajal turned good lap times all day, took second in Class 5, and had no real problems. Greg Diehl and Brad Person had a 25 minute lead midway in Class 5, but they lost an hour on the next round, and ended up third in the tight class. driven by Publisher Jean Calvin, ' heading into the final round, and Journalist Judy Smith and long the McDonough Funco was gone time Checker and super relief on the fourth lap. Larry Webster driver Al Rogers. and Bobby Mahoney finished in An even dozen took the flag in dandy time, 11.57.46 for the Class 9, but the nasty course was victory. In second, the only other too much for most of them, with finisher, was the Sandhawk of five going out on lap one, and RickHarrahandTomEllingham, · two more parking after a long · almost four hours later. With first lap. Up front Larry Webster three laps done, the McDonoughs and Bobby Mahoney took fast earned third place money. lap honors on the first go with a Class 5 was next to start, and 2:42.50 in their Funco, but Tom by now the two car every 15 Burns and Bob Isam had their seconds starting system had Funco close at 2:45.38, followed turned the. whole area into one by Dave and Bryant Wood at giant dust cloud. There were 25 2:49.02. unlimited Bugs on the line, and it fave made it to mid distance, was a close run for them on the and here Webster/Mahoney had first lap. The Greg Diehl/Brad a big lead, over 30 minutes on Person Oirtrix Bug whipped off Burns/Isam. Defending HORA the first fast lap, 2:41.05. Jeff Class 9 champion Kelly Jordan/John· Cornwell were McDonough Prescott and her close at 2:43.42, followed by brother Dave were in third, Darryl Gibson and Rich Fersch another nine minutes back. The at·Z:51.55, and Chris Neil and field was down to three cars Jerry Miller at +- +-~ +-Running very close all day, Jeff Jordan and John Cornwell survived serious last lap troubles to win Class 5 handily, and here the Bug is just ahead of Larry Ragland's Class 1. l SWAY•A•WAr ~~ Congratulates the Winners at the Mint 400 ... JIM_ TEMPLE . CLASS 1 - MIKE LUND FIRST OVERALL AND IN CLASS 2 FIRST IN CLASS 10-SECOND OVERALL-DAVE RICHARDSON CLASS WINNERS KENNY cox CLASS 2-1600 - BRENT & TIM BELL CLASS 1-1~00 - BOBBY & TOM NETH CLASS 5 - JEFF JORDAN & JOHN CORNWELL CLASS 9 - LARRY WEBSTER & BOBBY MAHONEY. SCORE CHALLENGE CLASS-DAVE GIRDNER & ROY PERFECT CLASS 5-1600 - ANDY L. & ANDY R. DEVERCELLY CLASS 12-DON ADAMS SECOND PLACE WINNERS CLASS 7 - SHERMAN BALCH CLASS 7S - GLENN HARRIS SWAY·A·WAr 7840 Burnet Ave., Van Nuys, CA 91405 ?'tJa, 818-988-5510 Suspension Components Dusty Times June 1985 Page 17

Page 18

Steve Kelley, with Evan Evans riding, got stuck in the silt, but came back strong to set fast Class 8 lap in the GMC, take the le'.3d on the last lap and win the race. Dave Girdner and Roy Perfect put their home built Score Challenge car in the lead on the last lap, and the odd looking single seater won the class at the Mint 400. Despite some problems on course, Jerry McDonald and Ben Walker E_vans led Cla~s 8 in tt")e,Qodge all the w"il:y,"iixcept for the Terry and Rhonda Walsh. set fast lap in the $core Challenge Metcalf kept on trucking in the Chevy to come in a strol)g seco,:ic;f ,,--;-final ten m-iles:~wt)en the engine went; here he gets a fast tire. class, led by a bunch for three laps, but trouble dropped the in Class 8. ,. _ .., .. = _.-:; -~ ""'.:·~•, • , ·--"'-,-,.,,.,.' '·"' · change on course. . . _ T -~ag 'to second at. the flag. __ jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiliiiiiiiiiiii•iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii1-+--:---:+-:--+--=-...:...+--:---:2:-:-:5-:4-:::,2:--::3:--.~A~l:l;b_u_t-:{o_u_r_o~u-t_o_n_t-;-h-e-;f::--ir_s_tl:--a-p_a_n-;d-o-n-;--ly four B~gs covered one lap, and three made the finish line. two more failed to go half way in Walker Evans took off fast in his the race. new, _air condit'iom:d Dodge , SUPER BOOT TURBO DRIVE AXLES LARGEST AXLE STOCK ANYWHERE OF SIZES 16" to 25"" • 2-Piece Stub Axle for · Turbo & Bus • Super C/V Cage • Super CV Joints SUPER BOOT AXLES ARE BUil T "IN HOUSE" WITH THE MOST ACCURATE SPLINE AVAILABLE FOR THE BEST C/V FIT AND THE LONGEST C/V WEAR POSSIBLE. CUSTOM LENGTH AXLES AVAILABLE ON SHORT NOTICE. 1 YEAR.WARRANTY Sedan.and Bus Axle sizes available by custom order. • Super Boots & Flanges for Turbo & Bus • Special C/V Lubricants SUPER -BOOT PRODUCTS . . Page 18 1649 W. COLLINS ORANGE, CALIF. 92667 714-997-0766 June 1985 Diehl and Person had,a husky 0150 to lead the class aftecone 25 minutes lead after two rounds lap by 13 minutes; Steve Kelley. over Jordan/Cornwell, who got his GMC stuck in a silt bed were on! y eight minutes ahead of and a buggy slid unde_t the truck · second generation racers 'Nick. in the dust. It took,some .time . Ffrestone and Richard Carbajal, before Keily was rolling again. who were about four minutes John Gable and Bill Holmes had ahead of Stan Parnell and Dave their Ford in second on the"first Parsons, and the rest were well lap, followed bythe Chevy of,J3ill back by now. Howard and Richard Nelson. Gib.son and Fersch retired Ev~ns continued to 'build his after three laps, and Neil had lead, and rtlidway he had 32 vanished after two rounds. Diehl minutes in hand, with his boss. and Person had an hour down Dick Maxwell, of Chrysler, riding time on lap 3, and they dropped shotgun, Kelley, with Walker's to fourth on time. Jordan and son Evan Evans riding shotgun, Cornwell whipped into the lead, got moving well enough to slide a good margin of 23 minutes in into second, but only by 15 hand over Parnell/ Parsons, who seconds over Gable/Holmes, were just four minutes ahead of and the Chevy of Jerry McDonald Firestone/ Carbajal, and the race and Ben Metcalf was now in was for.second place. _ third, about eight.minutes back. On the final lap the leading · The leading Dodge continued Bug had myriad problems, to storm around the course, including a stuck wide open holding a 24 minute lead after throttle, driving on a flat for 20 three rounds over Steve Kelley, miles, and, with just a few miles who zinged off fast lap for the to go, the engine caught fire. A class on the loop of 2:33.58. nearby pit crew put out the fire Evans lost oil pressure on. the and loaned Cornwell a spare, final round, and retired close to good enough to make the finish the finish line. Steve Kelley had and win Class 5. Parndl/Parsons no visible woes and romped lost half an hour to a flat on the home the Class 8 winner, in final hw, and the youngsters 11:16.45, good for 24th overall from Phoenix, Nick Firestone despite the time spent in the silt and Richard Carbajal came in bed. Jerry McDo_nald/Ben second, only 17 minutes out of Metcalf kept moving well to the victory. Diehl and Person finish second, about an hour and survived to finish third, five a halflater. With a five hour and minutes later, and seven more -change third lap, Gable/Holmes minutes back, Parnell and. survived the course to finish Parsohs were fourth. Last in class third.· and almost last overall, missihg · Eight brave teams started out that honor by one position, were in the Score Challenge Class, and Malcolm Vinje and Mark miraculously three of. them Hansen in a two week wonder finished four laps. Terry and built brand new Bug that, had Rhonda W.alsh got fast lap for more than its share of tet!thing the class on the first round in a troubles. . ,, T~Mag, 3:09.49. They led Rich The rugged deSeFt was tough Minga/Peter . Ale;si, Jr. in a on the 13 Class 8 trucks, with Chenowth by ·· '· ·· · · Dusty Times

Page 19

Page 20

Page 21

Henry Arras and Gary Schnekenburger had some minor woes, but kept their 5-1600 running strong to finish the tough run in a good second place. The first lap leader in Class 5-1600, the Bug of Norm Shaw and Manny Cortez had troubles on the second but survived to take third place. Sherman Balch started out flying high in his Class 7 Nissan, but after leading two laps, mechanical woes put him down and out on the final lap. , father and son, and several more were just over the three hour mark. Midway the Devercelly Bug moved into a good lead, about 14 mfnutes ahead of Henry Arras and Gary Schnekenburger, while Shaw/Cortez slowed, and dropped to fourth. Larry Rickman was now third, another 12 minutes behind the leader, and Alan and Darryl Cook were fifth, but didn't go much farther. The leading Bug increased the margin over Arras to 24 minutes on the third round, Rickman lost over an hour somewhere, and Shaw/Cortez were up to third. Not much changed on the final lap, which had to be a horror for the limited suspension cars. A many time Baja winner in past years, Andy Devercelly and. his son triumphed in 5-1600 class, setting fast lap of 2:55.02 on the second go, and winning by 19 minutes over Henry Arras and Gary Schnekenburger. Shaw and Cortez hung into third easily, and Rickman did the same in fourth, followed home by Greg Tuttle/ Dave Jackson and Dick D' Amato/ Rich Hayes. Class 7 produced its largest entry of the year, five starters, at the Mint 400. But, after one lap, it was a two truck race between Sherman Balch/Shane Hutch-ings, Nissan, and Manny and Tudy Esquerra, Ford Ranger. Contender Mario Alesi took almost five hours to cover one lap and retired with engine troubles. Balch was storming around, and midway he had .a nine minute lead over Esquerra, who turned fast lap for the class on the second round of2:46.35. Balch broke an axle on the third lap, and Esquerra headed into the final round with a 50 minute lead. Sherman vanished on the last lap, and Manny Esquerra won. The Ford was the only Class 7 finisher, and it was the seventh class victory at the Mint 400 for Manny, matching the records of Rod Hall and Walker Evans. A horde of 23 showed up to contest Class 3 honors, but only two made it to the checkered flag. Most folks agreed the course was just too rough and rotten for the short wheelbase 4 x 4s. After one lap only a half dozen were in contention, and Gene and Kirby Jeep competitor put his CJ 7 Hightower led the pack with fast home first in Class 3, winning lap for the class of 3:03.19. In over· the Mahrs by more than second were Eric and Mark three hours. Hei'den, 11 minutes back, There were 16startersinClass foll owe~ in seven minutes by 4, but for half of them the torture J.M. Bragg, and all the contenders test was over after one lap. As were driving Jeep CJs. expected, Rod Hall and Jim The Hightowers led midway in Fricker took off in the Dodge the fray, but their CJ 7 was not with a fast class lap of 2:43.09 to seen again. Bragg, with his sons assume a lead they never lost. Mike and Gregg alternating in the The Dodge had no obvious right seat, was only six minutes problems, and it finished four back at this point, and 40 rounds in 11:28.56, good for minutes. ahead of the Heidens, 29th overall. In the race for who had only eight minutes on second place, Tom Strong and Marshall and Michael Mahr. The Steve Borden did a 2:53.13 in Heidens took nearly seven hours their Chevy to hold the slot after to cover the third lap, and they one lap. Midway, however, Tim did not finish, but still placed and Chris Casey, the defending third and in the money. Bragg __ cb!lmps, were in second, their slowed a bit, but the long time · Jeep-holding a:.-+- -+-·-+- -+- -+-SMITTYBILT-----Larry Schwacofer and Sid Spradling did the Class 6 act again in the old Chevrolet, leaping out of the Speedrome, having a good run to victory, the only finisher in class. Dusty Times June 1985 The Look that started it all. FRONT BUMPERS A Smittybilt original ... the strong bold look of this 3" double tube bumper contours closely to the body lines. Some models available for winch mount. The massive look that started it all ... the ultimate in style. Big 3" tubes available in Single, Double/Single, or Double/Double This pace-setting look is not only rugged, it is the most versatile. It features big bold double 3" tubes. For mini and mid-sized trucks we offer the optional light duty hitch or the heavy duty hitch receptacle (pictured). Your truck can have the look ... we manufacture a complete line of bumpers, truck bars, grill guards, cage 'kits, and in-cab-cages. Available for most Full Size, Mid Size (including the new Jeep Cherokee, Chevy & GMC S·Series pickups & Blazers) and Mini Trucks (incluoingthe new Toyota Pickup & 4Runner and Nissan Pickup.) For direct ordering information send for our CATALOG: $2.00 SM/TTYS/LT, Inc. (818) 442-1788 2124 N. Lee, Dept OT, South El Monte, CA 91733 Page 21

Page 22

Marshall and Mike Mahr had a lot of down time, but they kept on Jeeping along to finish late, but finish four laps for second in Class 3. Jim Bell and Walt Laycock kept their Jeep Honcho up front in the Class 4 battle, and survived the pitfalls on course to finish strong in second place. Glenn Harris gave the new Mazda quite a ride, staying close to the Class 7 lead for two laps, but the engine went in the B-2000 on th·e last lap. Wil.lie Valdez, with Joe Alvarado riding in the Ford Ranger, snagged fast lap in Class 7S on the first round, kept the lead all the way home to score his first Mint 400 victory. Undefeated this year·in class 7 4 x 4, Giti Gowland and Ron Spates covered two laps of the Mint route in the Toyota, easily winning the three truck class again. +- +-+-seven minute lead over Strong. Jim Bell/Walt Laycock had their Jeep Honcho in contention, another nine minutes behind. The Caseys were out after two laps, and Strong had an eleven hour third lap and retired. Jim Belt and Walt Laycock kept on Jeeping to take second place, about three hours behind Hall. Another two hours back, Vern Roberts and Bill Donahoe, also in a Honcho, were third and last in Class 4. Greg Moser in a Ford Ranchero. Three were already missing and a fourth did only or\e lap. Midway Schwacofer led the Masers by about 13 minutes, but the Ford retired on the third round. Schwacofei: and Spradling won again with four laps done in good time, 16:06.22. Of the 14 that started out in Class 7S, six were out on the first lap and only one finished the four laps. Right off the line Ranger, followed in just two minutes by Mike and Pat Falkosky in a Toyota. Valdez turned a 3: 16 second lap to have a 19 minute le;d midway over Harris. Norris was up to third, about ten minutes ahead of Jim Travis and Dave White in a Ford Ranger, and the Falkoskys had a five hour lap. Most of the survivors faltered on lap three, except Valdez, who then had over two hours lead on Harris. Willie went on to win the big one, his first Mint 400 victory with Joe Alvarado riding along, and his total time of 14:28.04 was quick for the dass _an_d:·_tne cori-ditions. Hifrris sanded the engine, but struggled on with three cylinders working to finish the course, overtime, but his three official laps were good for second place money. Travis and White were third, with three laps done also, just ten minutes ahead of the Falkosky Toyota, which didn't make the finish line despite a lot of welding work on the front end. In the special classes.for 4 x 4 minis, G.T. Gowland and Ron Spates won Class 7 4 x 4. They are undefeated this year with four big wins. They covered two laps in 10:13.19, while the other two in class did one lap and none respectively. In Class 12, for sport wagons, both Jeep Cher-okee entries covered some ground. Don Adams won the duel by a full lap, doing three rounds in 14:28.28, while Tom Peltier and Dave Mendrin covered two laps.· While the winners in n;i.any classes were celebrating with a victory dinner in Las Vegas, the stragglers kept arriving at the Speedrome into Sunday Morn-ing, many out of time but just happy to be someplace on solid ground. Winners and losers alike agreed the route was undoubt-edly the worst, nastiest course since the Mint 400 moved out of the Gun Club area in 1973. For sure there were more silt beds on course, and the doubling back into the silt and other areas was an obvious "make miles" ploy by the designers.Officially the route was 105 miles, one of the longest ever at the Speedrome, and it lacked the fun running in gravel washes, canyons and the rock pile on the route. Most of the distance wai over raced before the pre-running was over. °In fact, on the Friday before the race, the route looked as chewed up as it had last year on Sunday after the race. Continuing the low key attitude this year toward some of the traditional Mint 400 activi-ties, the awards picnic was at the Speedrome with the trophies and checks presented in front of the grandstand. Most folks missed the easy living on the grass at the Mint Gun Club, usual site of the awards, but t'he facility had been sold. Many also missed the free lunch; this year there were two __ tickets per entry, and the rest of the crew bought tickets for hot dogs and hamburgers. Add in the definite morning after aspect of the start/finish line, and the awards were not up to the usual Mint 400 gala. But, it was still the Mint' 400, still the most prestigious victory for those who won, still a proud finish for those who did, and still a place where everyone said "it will be better next year," meaning anything from the race course to their · finish position. Six sedans started in Class 6, and only one finished; not surprisingly it was the '55 Chevy of Larry Schwacofer and Sid Spradling. They set ·fast lap of 3:23.16 on the first round, about 15 minutes faster than Wes and . Willie Valdez put his Ford Ranger out front, with fast lap on the first go of 3: 12.28. However, Glenn Harris, in the new Mazda B-2000, was merely 2½ minutes behind, and it looked like a real race in the making. Max Norris and Steve Luport were only six more minutes off pace in a new Don Adams and company had some rough going in the deep stuff, but they covered three laps in the Jeep Cherokee to take the Class 12 victory by a full lap in the two truck class. Page 22 June 1985 Dusty Times

Page 23

THE SNORE YOKO LOCO Ron Ellenburg Triumphs in Southern Nevada Photos: Photo T echnik Ron Ellenburg did fast lap of the day in his Class 10 on lap 3 to take over the lead in his Hi Jumper, and win the Yoko Loco overall by over ten minutes. The SNORE Yoko Loco points race was the second in the Yokohama sponsored SNORE points series for 1985. It began with the traditional pancake breakfast for all on hand. The race was four laps of a short, 25 mile route, starting and finishing on the El Dorado Dry Lake south of Las Vegas, Nevada. It drew a total of 21 entries. The entry number suffered· from the proximity of the Mint 400, just two weeks later, but the competi-tion was keen and the weather beautiful, sunny and not too warm. Classes 1 , 2 and 10 were combined into one ten car group, and Class 1-2-1600 held eleven entries. This was another event where SNORE tried the concept of no pre-running, marking the course early race mornin g . Consequently the first lap times for most entries were the slow laps, although there was a parade lap pre-run before the race started on Sunday morning. Rob MacCachren led the whole pack on round one with a 40.19 time ina 1-2-1600 car, and Jack Short was right with him at 40.35 in another 1600. Defend-ing SNORE po_ints champion Ron Ellenburg was a little off the pace with a 43.03 on the first lap. But, Ellenburg came on strong the second time around with a 36 .10 in his Class 10 car, running against the unlimiteds. Midway Rob MacCachren had a slim lead, only 15 seconds over Ron Ellenburg, and by now Short was back more than a minute. Ellenburg whipped off the fast lap of the day on the third lap, a 3 5 .11 to take a commanding lead, as the restricted 1600s just couldn't match the Class 10-on time, once everybody knew the course. Ron Ellenburg stormed on through the last 25 . miles, Dusty Times turning a 35 .36 to win the un-limited class in a 1650 cc Hi Jumper, and also win the Yoko Loco overall. Ellenburg's margin in victory was ten minutes and 17 seconds. Hanging in there with a strong four laps was the limited 1600 of Jack Short, with R. Huffman riding·along. Short won the class by almost three minutes and placed a fine second overall. The early leader in class and overall, Rob MacCachren lost a fan belt on the final round, just ten miles from the finish; it cost him almost ten minutes and dropped him to second in the 1600 class and third overall. The 1600s did much better on average than the unlimited cars in the race. Third in 1600 class and fourth overall went to Kenny Freeman, Jr., three minutes behind MacCachren, and just a couple minutes behind him was Finishing just three minutes behind MacCachren, Ken Freeman, Jr. drove his two seater to a good third in 1600 class and a great fourth overall. Jerry Heaton plows a little dust on a typical right turn, and he went the distance to earn fourth in limited 1600 class and sixth overall. June 1985 . Jack Short, with R. Huffman riding, not only won the limited 1600 class honors by three minutes, he finished the race a fine second overall. Jerry Heaton, fourth in class and sixth overall. Tom Bradley, Jr. slipped home a few seconds earlier to take fifth overall and second in the unlimited class. None of the others in 1, 2 and 10 finished more than two laps. Eight of the eleven 1600s covered the course in good time. The SNORE club has earned both praise and damnation for the no pre-run edict on their points events. Race Steward Don Dayton feels that one advantage is that it virtually eliminates any course cutting, since the drivers have no opportunity to scout short cuts. More important to the future of desert racing is that lack of pre-running a race course results in much less damage and environmental impact to the terrain. Some areas that might not be open to off road racing at all, can be open to events that do not allow pre-running. The idea is keen, and as long as the route is well marked, it should work on courses that are short enough to handle the morning parade lap. The early overall leader, Rob MacCachren lost a fan belt and the race on the last lap, and the time loss dropped him to second in 1600 class. Tom Bradley, Jr. had three strong laps, trouble on the fourth round and he ended up second in the unlimited group and fifth overall. Jack Kruger and T. Pyle had some trouble on the first lap, but they kept moving· in the two seater t°o finish sixth among the 1600s. Page 23

Page 24

The Eighth Annual Score Off Road Equipment Show The eighth edition of the unique off road showcase known in the trade as the Score Show was again a big success. Although the dates during the second week in May were quite late on the calendar this year, the exhibitors turned out in force, and the crowds filled the aisles most of the time, with very heavy traffic on Saturday especially. Coming ri ht on the heels of the Mint 400 race, less than a week later, and faced with a Sunday date that was also Mother's Day, the Score Show held up very well in numbers, although no official tally is available at press time. While the 1984 edition of the Score Show had a definite aura of a flea market in many areas, the 1985 exhibit returned to bona fide equipment, and items of real interest to off road going folks "OFF ROAD FEVER" $29.95 14 n1inutes of racing action from Riverside, Parker, Laughlin, and Lucerne Valley Send check or money order to: Ron Metz & Assoc. P.O. Box 824 Simi Valley, CA., 93062 Name ________________ _ Address City State ________ Zip were on display in nearly all the booths. The majority of the regulars were on hand with new as well as well known merchan-dise in their booths. Missing was the radio control off road racing, the track taking too much room in the space available for the show. But, many purveyors of parts and pieces for the tiny cars were on hand, and their aisle seemed the most busy of all Out doing the flock of monster trucks on display, Suzuki's balloon literally reached the ceiling, and produced double takes· from every person who passed by. The Mint 400 board game display welcomed a lot of customers, and Kjell Eriksson was busy explaining the new, dust free off road racing game all weekend. during the entire three days of the show. Several manufacturers in-cluded Mint 400 vehicles in their areas. Yokohama Tires claimed the big prize with Jim Temple's dusty but Mint 400 overall winning Raceco on display along with Brent Bell's 2-1600 winning Bunderson. Score International set up a checkpoint-pit area that included a team of officials and their tent trailer and C.O.R.E. were next door with three vehicles in the pit for repairs. This was a great display about off road racing for the casual spectators who thronged the aisles, but too large to get in the camera frame. Shown here are just a few of the variety of attractions featured at the 1985 Score Show: Specify 3/4", Beta, or VHS Ivan Stewart went home with writer's cramp after signing posters and pictures for three days in the handsome Downey Off Road Equipment display. Willie Valdez signed autographs in the General Tire booth, and posed proudly in front of his Mint 400 winning truck with the congratulatory wreath sent by the Mark C. Bloome people. D_USTY TIMES Publisher Jeari. Calviri -greeted lots of pals atthe Score Show, including super tranny builder Jeff Field. The show is also a real convention gathering. Page 24 June 1985 Dusty Times

Page 25

Page 26

THE MARLBORO SAFARI RALLY Toyota Celicas Win First and Second Overall Text & Photos: Martin Holmes Juha Kankkunen and Fred Gallagher slide under storm clouds in the Toyota Celica Twin Cam turbo, en route to the overall and group B v_ictory. Kankkunen is not only the youngest Safari winner, but the first ever first time winner. J uha Kankkunen and Fred Gallagher became the first competitors to win the Marlboro Safari Rally at their first attempt. They headed a Toyota one-two punch, leading home last year's winners Bjorn W aldegard and Hans Thorszelius. The youngest ever Safari winner, Kankkunen inherited the lead when Opel's second driver Erwin Weber, another Safari first timer, suffered engine trouble on the final morning of the four day African marathon. Both of Opel's drivers had led the event, as did two of the Lancia team in the early sections, though none of the Audi or Lancia team cars reached the finish. By finishing seventh, Timo Salonen kept the lead in the World Drivers Series, and his team Peugeot the Makes Series. The Safari was the first world event since Corsica 1984 to be won by a two wheel drive vehicle, and no four wheel drive car held the lead at any time. Fourteen of the twenty cars to finish were Japanese , and Kankkunen ' s victory means that Finnish drivers have won seven, and British co-drivers six, out of the last eight world championship rallies. It promised to be one of the most open Safaris for years. Like the year before there were no fewer than eight manufacturers teams competing, with six having a realistic chance at winning. Rally organizer M ike Doughty said there had never been so much pre-rally testing; Peugeot was in Kenya on three occasions. The weeks before the event had been hectic. Mikkola had an enormous accident in the Audi, hitting a wash out for which he had not been given warning in advance . Hannu an d S tig Blomqvist were the QuaJ:tro entries. Peugeot suffered a loss of a training car when a mechanic hit a lamp post on· a circle in Page 26 Nairobi, and the car burst into flames. The driver had his private papers stolen, and two days later he was taken to the hospital, suffering from malaria. Lancia team engineer Giorgio Pian ta had his personal papers stolen from a service car at Nakumu, and so it went. The Audi team had a secret confidence. "Our cars are 10 percent faster over the sections than the old two valve cars, and the engines and suspensions have never been so good", Blomqvist said. They put their trust in a new, stronger gearbox with six instead of five forward speeds, to transmit the greater power of the latest Audi engine. They also believed in the rule of threes. They had won both the I vary Coast and New Zealand rallies on their third attempt, and this was to be their third Safari. Despite approaching the end of their career, the 03 7 Rally Lancias were prepared metic-ulously for Markku Alen, Arrilio Bettega, and Kenyan Vic Preston, Jr. Subaru had the only new model on the event, the super silent four door group A RX Turbo, with five team cars on the line. No four wheel drive car had ever won the Safari, so the conventional Nissans and Opels were encouraged. Nissan entered three 240 RS evolution models for five time winner Shekhar Mehta, Mike Kirkland and Alain Ambrosino. Opel had a pair of Manta 400s for Rauno Aaltonen and Erwin Weber. Peugoet brought three of the 4 x 4 turbo-charged cars for Ari Vatanen, Timo Salonen, and Bruno Saby. The Toyota team had cars similar to last year's winning Celica Twincam Turbos for J uha Kankkunen, Bjorn W aldegard and 1984 African Continental Champion David Horsey. In the days before the start many last minute deals were struck. Peugeot were short of mud crews - local enthusiasts waiting in muddy or wet areas to pull their team cars through. Opel .came to the rescue on condition their men would depart when the second team Opel car passed by. Nissan were in a panic when about 45 of their mud tires were stolen from their warehouse in Nairobi overnight. The annihilation of the Audi team so quickly after the start was the big surprise of the first of three sections. While all the leading competitors easily attained their target times over the first few legs, both Blomqvist and Mikkola had gearbox \ The Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 of Timo Salorien/Seppo Harjanne was seventh, and the only "new generation" rally car to finish the tough Safari run. June 1985 problems. Blomqvist retired, but Mikkola continued. The new six speed gearboxes were overheat-ing, and when the Finn's engine then broke, the German team's hopes suddenly switched to the group A 80 Quattro of Basil Criticos, who was fighting the Subaru RX Turbo of Frank Tundo. Another surprise was the speed of the Lancias. Over the difficult Taita Hills section, halfway to Mombasa, the three compressor cars pulled out a marginal lead though Ari V atanen had split their ranks by the time they reached the coast. Other casualties included David Horsey, who pulled over to let Kirkland's Nissan 240RS pass and rolled the Toyota off the road. Another frightening experience was that of the German Wolfgang Siller, who rolled his ex-works Nissan 240RS; his co-driver was thrown out of the car, but luckily without serious injury. The journey back to Nairobi was in the dark, and more casualties were reported. Alen hit a hole so hard that the front suspension of his Lancia was badly damaged, and when contin-uing at slow speed to the service point, the engine connecting rod broke. Bettega was still leading, mindful that his efforts were being monitored by the Italians who were considering his future with Lancia. Then both Bettega and Preston were stopped with distributor trouble near each other, and Vatanen had front suspension trouble. Peugeot teammates, Saby and Solonen, had been delayed earlier with turbocharger pipe problems, then the Frenchman crashed while the Finn had a cambelt come off, luckily without damaging the engine. Suddenly the leader was Waldegard in the Toyota. Second and third places were held by Safari "rookies" Erwin Weber, Opel, and Juha Kank-kunen, Toyota. Vatanen in seventh was only eleven minutes behind Waldegard, and both remaining Lancias had fought back to the top ten. Despite a surprisingly dry opening section, wet conditions were confidently expected, as storm clouds were gathering. Bjorn W aldegard held his lead during the still dry second section all the way from Nairobi to Kericho. But, on leaving for the night run through to Kakamega, the alternator failed, and this put the Toyota back to ninth place. Weber became the leader for a couple of sections, but Aaltonen was catching him fast, after early fanbelt trouble, and went past him at Kisumu. Opels were lying one-two, Kirkland, Nissan, and Kank-kunen, Toyota, were equal third. Daybreak on the Saturday saw Salonen suffering more and more miseries. The oil pump belt failed, and then he had more turbo trouble, dropping well back. Kirkland fell behind with el~ctrical problems, and then a broken driveshaft. W aldegard began a long struggle with failing shock absorbers. The only team carrying on as normal seemed to be Opel. Lancia lost Bettaga through engine troubles which got steadily worse; their final heartbreak was when Preston lost a wheel after the wheel studs broke, an apparent repetition of what Biasion had suffered in Portugal. Mehta crashed the Nissan head on into a bank, luckily with no injury. Vatanen's Peugeot had an overheating engine, that led to cylinder head failure, his second consecutive retirement. In group A Subaru led with Vittuli in the last remaining Turbo in front of Alam's normally aspirated car. Erwin Weber/Gunter Wanger led outright in the Opel Manta 400 until seven controls from the finish on Weber's first world championship rally. Flying into the dusk, the Nissan 240 RS of Yashuiro lwase and Sudhir Vinayak finished eighth, the best placed of the Bridgestone contingent. Dusty Times

Page 27

fil Crowd control, Kenya style. A Toyota team helper disperses the curious crowds at a service stop by expending a fire extinguisher. Tony Fowkes retired when his Subaru Turbo's front suspension collapsed, while Audi's last hope for world points, the local 80 Quattro of· Criticos, went out with engine trouble. Rauno Aaltonen looked serene, leading the event he has always wanted to win, but he noticed when leaving Nairobi for the third and final section an ominous pool of oil under his car. As the sourc_e was _ beil).g traced, plans were in-ade to change. the clutch as soon as possible. Rear wheel drive cars held the top six places now, and, although the rains had begun to fall, the event was still essentially dry. The wettest part on the third section was on the opening leg out of Nairobi. Here the rally headed towards the desert region north of Nairobi before coming back again around Mount Kenya. Despite still running one-two, Opel claimed they had no team orders. Third placed Kankkunen, in the first Toyota, knew this was the time to kill his "crasher" image. Salonen's Peugeot was now the only new generation supercar left running, and he realized they needed him to finish. This year eight rallies count towards the Makes Series, and even seventh place might eventually be important. Little happened to the crews as they looped round Nakuru and Karbanet before leaving Ny-ahururu for the loneliest section of the event over the Lerochi Plateau. Aaltonen changed his clutch at the cost of fourteen minutes, which let Weber retake the lead, but afterwards he felt something loose. The Finn then lost another hour because of a gearbox seal failure, damaged during the earlier clutch change. Aaltonen's 22nd attempt at a Safari win now looked lost. But, Waldegard's patient fight back had brought him up to equal third place at the Mem night halt. Weber woke up to face a bright fresh morning, looking amazingly confident and relaxed. Leading one's first ever world champion-ship event looked to him almost like second nature. Ahead lay the notoriously muddy stretch round Embu and finally the long twisting roads in the hills behind Muranga, tricky, relentless, but manageable all the same. These sections contained several muddy patches, and in one of them Kirkland completely rolled his Nissan, but landed back on his wheels, but was unable to continue for about five minutes. No sooner had the Toyota of Dusty Times Kankk_unen arrived sideways at the Embu service point with the rear suspension tied up with wire, than Weber stopped with Displaying the casual dress code of Safari rally drivers, Kenyan Mike Kirkland had a goo·d run, and finist"]ed third overall in a Nissan 240 RS. engine trouble. A nut from the carburetor had entered the engine, and he lost two hours waiting for the service crew to change the cylinder head. He fell back to fifth and Kankkunen took over the lead. W aldegard was now lying first on the road ace. SwedenRally, Febn.iafy, 1984 Pqrtug'1.1 Ra_lly, March, 1984 Nor'We§ter Internaiiorihl Rally,Aptil, First Pl'1.ce: Michig~n International Rally, May, 1984 AcropqJis.Rally, tytay~ 1984 sJsque ·~nock Tr~i1'R~lly, _First Place. New Zealand Rally,June, 1984 Molso9,;~ _atidnal ½S?ct§ter Rally,:J~ly, 1984 Argentih~Rally, J~}y, 1984 FirstP}fice. Byc:Iwei§er tQfe_st·gaIJy,. August,.J984 Defi ~t~7Agathe RaUy, Octo9er1J984 Ivory eoast Rally, October, 1984 First Plac.e. Oregon Trails Rally, Novembef,1984 ~ - , . . . and second on the rally. Weber's mechanics were able to get him to the finish of the rally, but there was no anticipated celebration that evening for the weary Opel crews. J uha Kankkunen/Fred G al-lagher won overall by 34 minutes from Toyota teammates Bjorn Waldegard and Hans Thorszelius. Mike Kirkland/ Anton Levitan were third, another nine minutes back in the Nissan, followed by the Opels · of Rauno Aaltonen/ Lofty Drews, another 11 minutes down, and Erwin Weber/ Gunter Wagner, back another 52 minutes. The group A winner and tenth overall was the Subaru 4WD 1.8 Turbo of Carlo Vittuli/ Robin Nixon. The last official finisher, a Lada VFTS was 20th overall about 19 hours and 39 minutes behind the winner. ac.e; Carson City lnte_rnational Ral . . ------/// = ='='='• .,.. ?:?\<)(\_, .,,,;:;:::::: . :.,•:,'?I--:, -.,.,, 1984 W()rld Rally-Manufacturers hampi · June 1985 Page 27

Page 28

VANCOUVER STADIUM RACE Off Road Cars Race in the Place Roger Caddell, from Puyallup, WA, won his heat race, and won the main ev·ent and $2300 in the Funco SS IL It was a very good night for Roger Caddell. B.C. Place, the huge domed stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, was the s.cene of the season opener of the Canadian BFGoodrich Challenge Cup Series. The next stop is the Montreal Olympic Stadium, and then it is on to Toronto to crown the "King of the Canadian Stadium Racers". Walking into the B.C. Place stadium through the airlock doors and onto the floor, one is struck by the immense size of the facility. The building covers ten acres, is 200 feet high and seats 60,000 people. It is the biggest air supported dome in North America. The day before the race four hundred truck loads of dirt were brought onto the floor, and the dirt was molded into a race track. The racing surface was bordered with seven hundred and fifty bales of hay. Since· the car race is held in conjunction with a Supercross, an indoor motorcycle motocross, some small compromises are required on tr_ack design to accommodate both the buggies and the motorcycles. These adjustments were minor, a little more taper here, move a bump there, open up a corner a little. :I a.: 8 '° Pagcn The track builder, Bob Levy, was very patient and co-operated very well in making the requested changes. When the changes were in place, it was time to try out the course. Two buggies ran a couple of hot laps, and the drivers reported that it combined all of the elements to make an interesting race. The course held wide straights, tight corners, jumps, bumps and a couple of holes big enough to hide a semi. The first qualifying heat featured a slightly thinned field. Dick Mauhl had damaged the transmission of his beautifully painted Funco· two seater. The . frantic action-in his pit indicated they-were going to try to get the car ready for the last chance qualifier. Dennis Stacey, from Seattle, Washington, was out for the night, having blown his engine in practice. When the green flag dropped Bill Lefeuvre, of Limehouse, Ontario, won the drag race to the first corner, closely followed by Geoff Kenward, also from Ontario, and B.C. 's Dan Crowie. Ed ·van Gool dropped out immediately after hooking up with a stray and particularly tough hay bale that refused to dislodge itself from his steering. There was no catching Bill Lefeuvre's BFGoodrich spons-ored Berrien. His steering was precise, and the line he took was Text & Photos: GT Productions faultless. The heat finished with . Lefeuvre, first, Geoff Kenward, Pro-Tech, second, and Dan Crowie in third. Crowie is a story by himself. The owner of North West Custom Tube, Crowie was so busy helping many other racers, he had to contract out his engine work. At the last minute it was discovered that the Class 10 engine wouldn't be ready. Crowie was faced with a dilemma, he could run his r_estricted 1600 engine, he could borrow an engine, or he could withdraw. He opted to run the legal 1600 engine, complete with the restrictor plate and single port heads. The second heat started with Trev or West hooking wheels in the. back of the pack and becoming high centered. Joel Croft, Guelph, Ontario, led the first lap, followed by Gerry Charleton, Langley, B.C., and Paul Bridges, from Tacoma, Washington. The second to last lap saw Charleton right on Croft's tail when they entered the rollers at the beginning of the back straight, and Charleton's left front tire clipped Croft's tail. Croft recovered, but Ch4rleton bounced to the outside of the track, and exploded a hay bale. He. recovered quickly to come back into the trade trailing ;1-0 feet of banners, and he managed to hold off the rest of the pack who were doggedly trailing him. Joel Croft won the heat in his Berrien, followed by Gerry Charleton, North West Custom Tube, and Jim Rogers, also from B.C. in his Special, was third. In Canada there are three qualifying heats, with the first three in each heat automatically going into the main event. Then the top two in the Last Chance Dash also qualify, making an eleven car field for the main event. Heat three took off with Roger Caddell, from Puyallup, Wash-ington, blasting to the front of the pack followed by Tom Benvenuti, from Ontario and Craig Holt, from Lynnwood, Wash~ngton. At the half way point the front runners ran into traffic. Caddell and Benvenuti managed to fight their way June 1985 Ontario's Bill Lefeuvre won his heat race in the Berrien, lost most of the.gears in the main event, and still managed to place second in the main event. through the back markers, but young Holt got caught in the rough stuff, and managed to climb on the back of Tom Woods' single seater. · On the final lap Caddell ran into heavy traffic and the rollers at the same time. Blocked by Tom Woods and Roy Wall, running side by side, Caddell· slowed and Benvenuti took advantage of the situation to creep up on Caddell's Funco SS 2. However, Wall managed to" pass Woods, and Roger Caddell shot by to take the checkered flag and win the heat.Tom Benvenuti held second in his Woods Special, and Holt was third in another Funco SS 2. Next came the frantic dash of the four lap, Last Chance Qualifier. The ten entries were lined up side by side. At the drop of the green flag Mike Strong, in the Day & Nite Rebuild Special, shot into the corner followed by Warren Miller. Suddenly Miller · shot around Strong, who had blown two CV joints and was out of action. This caused a massive traffic jam with several cars hooking up and the track was impassable. The field was red flagged. · The restart resulted in Miller winning the drag race to the first turn. Right behind Miller came Craig Wood, of Maple Valley, Washington, and then Dick Mauhl, of Seattle, in his ailing Funco. In the second turn disaster struck Wood when, after catching a large hole, he took a terrible bounce that disabled the car, and he was out for the night. Miller continued to build a sizable lead despite fighting a balky carb. Ed Van Goo! fought past Mauhl to climb into second place, 'followed-closely by Mauhl, then Gord Felske, of Kelowna, B.C., and Doug Holt, of Woodinville, W ll.Shington, who was struggling with broken rear suspension on his Funco. Miller and Van Gaol are old rivals, and they finished in that order,_both making the main event line up. Eleven cars staged for the main event, wheel to wh-eel, and looking at a corner that only would permit two through at a time. Now the crowd was quiet, and ,the drivers had tension written on their faces . and con-centration in their eyes. As the green flag dropped the crowd let out a roar that drowned out the· scream of the engines. ( continued on page 3 1) Gerry Charlton made an impressive debut in stadium racing; driving a.hastily built car, Gerry finished third overall in the main event. Joel Croft led the second heat from wire to wire in his Berrien, but broke his w~ist in the main event, endjng up tenth for the night. Dusty Times

Page 29

C.C.A.R. Tulare Bug-Off Jerry Whelchel had a perfect night at the Bug-Off. He won both Class 10 heats and lapped most of the field en route to a resounding main event victory, The se"cond annual Bug-Off and Truck-In got off to a slow start April 12-14 in Tulare, CA at the fairgrounds. The race for the cars was the first of the Golden Bear Championship Off' Road Series. -The season opener could have been titled the Golden Cub Off Road Championship if attend-ance would be taken into account when naming the event. A total of 18 cars came to compete and there were plenty of empty seats in the grandstands. With no races scheduled for the same weekend elsewhere, many -wondered where the other competitors were. Later it was revealed that a new series was starting the same weekend at Ascot Raceway, in Los Angeles, which might have kept many of the drivers closer to home. Chalk up another one to race date conflicts. Even with the low attendance, everyone that did make the Tulare event was in for some good racing and plenty of enter-tainment. While the drivers were waiting for the action to get underway, a hot vollyball game developed in the pits. On the fair-grounds, a car show filled two buildings, and there was also a swap meet on the grounds. The spectators were treated to a taste of what w·as coming on Sunday, the Mud Drags, with an exhibition appearance of the Black Widow, making a few runs through the mud pits. Next on the entertainment .list was the Barbarian, which is a monstrous four wheel drive van. The van crawled over four junk cars provided by the Tulare Junk Yard. There was plenty to do and see, and when the racing started, everyone enjoyed the program, including the Powder Puff event that capped off the evening. Bo Stout took advantage of his front row starting position in the first round of the 1-2-1600 ra'cing;'a'hd'li~ jumped'out.into an early lead with Bob McElvain hot on his tail. J effEirod was in third ahead of Mike Goodbody. McElvain had some trouble on the second lap, and Elrod and Goodbody slipped by, dropping McElvain into fourth. On the third lap it looked as if McElvain would get his revenge, as Elrod spun out in the S turn just after the back straight. Goodbody was trailing so close he had nowhere to go, and had to throw his car sideway's also. But, both recovered just as McElvain was approaching, and held their positions. After the mishap, Bo Stout had no more competition, and he easily took the checkered, followed by Jeff Elrod, Mike Goodbody, and Bob McElvaih. In the second heat Mike Goodbody used the rolling start ·and slung his car into the first corner ahead of Jeff Elrod. Bo Stout went into the first turn in third, ahead of Bob McElvain. Goodbody couldn't hold onto the lead, and Elrod came around the leader going into lap two. The first three laps of the five lap moto looked as if Elrod was going to cruise home for the win, until Goodbody powered out of the sweeper going into the front straight, and whipped past Elrod just as the white flag came out. Bob McElvain used his last ditch effort to get around Bo Stout on the last lap as well. Goodbody went on to win, followed by Elrod, and McElvain finished third ahead of Stout: In the twelve lap main event it was Jeff Elrod all the way. Elrod Text & Photos: Homer Eubanks pulled ahead of the field early in the race and held a good margin most of the distance. Mike Goodbody. was Elrod's closest competition, but he couldn' t manage to find a way around. Goodbody would get within striking distance in the corners, but Elrod would out power him on the straights. Elrod held on for the victory over Goodbody, then came Bob McElvain and Bo Stout. Class 2 and 5 were combined, and they ran with the two Jeep entries as well. The Jeeps were flagged off first and Wes Banks pulled out in front of Doug Henderson. Jeff Elrod dusted himself off from,,the, r-2.,1600--event and' jumped into his Class 5, with brother Wes. Elrod put the Bug into the first turn ahead of another Class 5, driven by Mike Gaushorn. Don Kennedy and his wife, Mikela, were third, and fourth was Steve Cowdrey. The action remained in this order until lap three when Don Kennedy worked his way around the Bug of Gaushorn. Kennedy had a long way to go, however, to catch Elrod, as Jeff had the Class 5 Bug dialed in. Elrod took the first moto, with Don Kennedy second over Mike Gaushorn and Steve Cowdrey was fourth. In the second moto Mike Gaushorn drove his Bug into the first corner ahead of Jeff Elrod. As Elrod came around turn one·, he showed definite signs of shift-ing problems as the pack motored around with him sitting in the middle of the turn. With a bolt missing from the shifter, Elrod didn't get the Bug into'gear until he was a lap down. Don Kennedy was applying the pressure to the Class 5 of the Gaushorns, but couldn't manage to find a hole to get around, so he had to settle for second overall. Third went to Steve Cowdrey, ahead of the Jeep of Doug Henderson, and Jeff Elrod brought up the rear with his Bug running only in third gear. At the start of the main event, Wes Banks pulled his Jeep out in front of Doug Henderson, but this time Henderson was apply-ing the pressure. Close behind the Jeeps was the Bug of Jeff Elrod, and Mike Gaushorn was going for the money right behind Wes Banks dazzled the crowd with his high flying antics in the modified Jeep, and he won the .heavy metal honors and second overall,jn the main. Mike Goodbody displayed consistent style, winning the second 1-2-1600 heat and he put his one off special home sec.o_nd in the .. rpa_in el(ent toq. Ron Carter had his troubles in the first heat, ending up under the fence, but he came back to take a strong second in the next heat and the main event. him. Don Kennedy was third in finished fourth, after starting class, ahead of Steve Cowdrey. tenth. Chris Oberg was next On the fourth lap Doug ahead of Randy Rhinehart and Henderson dropped out with a Lou Peralta finished ahead of flat, and this left Banks out front Don Kennedy. by himself. Banks thought he In the second Class 10 heat would have an easy time with Ron Wachter pulled into the Henderson out, but Jeff Elrod first turn first, followed by got around and went on to finish Randy Rhinehart, then Jerry first overall. Wes Banks was first Whelchel. Fourth was Mike in class and second overall ahead Withers ahead of Ron Carter, of Don Kennedy and Steve then Lou Peralta. On the second Cowdrey, with Mike Gaushorn lap Jerry Whelchel began reeling_ coming a~r.9s~ fifth, ,-. . = C'lc'--:Z ,c=,::="'::.':k!l--~h~::-c--o.nrp·e_ti.ti-en;" ~wis-Class 10 was the biggest group applying pressure to Wachter. at the Bug Off, with a mere ten The two dueled for two more entries, but the action provided laps before Whelchel found an the crowd with plenty of enter-opening in the first switchback tainment. As the flag went up on after the start line. Ron Carter the rolling start for the first heat provided most of the action, it was Jerry Whelchel that jumped while he was picking his way out into the lead from his second through the field. Ron was row starting position. Behind · making progress with each lap, Whelchel was Ron Carter and and finally pulled ahead of Mike Withers. Fourth was Tom Wachter and into second place as Finvers, ahead of Don Kennedy. the white flag came out for Jerry Whelchel put the pedal Whelchel, and Carter had to down, and Carter stayed in settle for second. Third place strikingdistanceasthetwobegan went to the early leader, Ron pulling away from the pack. On Wachter, and Mike Withers the fourth lap Carter began to finished fourth iri front of Randy make his move on Whelchel, but Rhinehart. Ro!! got his Funco up on two The twelve lap main event wheels; it looked like he was looked to be a repeat of the going over on his top, but he previous two heats as Jerry saved it just in time to run under Whelchel used his pole position the Fairgrounds fence. When to come out of the first turn asked where his car was, since it leading, with Ron Wachter was out of sight, Ron said, "It is a second, Mike Withers third and kiddy ride over at the fair now!" Ron Carter fourth. On the With Carter out Whelchel had second lap, Wachter dropped smooth sailing all the way to the out when he lost oil pressure, and checkered flag. Second place Carter managed to slip into went to Mike Withers, and Ron second, and Gary Dillon held Wachter was third. Gary Dillon (continued on page 31) 4430 N. Dixie Hwy. Ft. Lauder~ale, Fla. 33334 Distributors of Off Road Parts & Accessories • A.T.L. Fuel Systems • A.M.S. Brakes • Berrien • Bug Pack • Centerline • Chenowth • Dellorto Carbs • Fox Shocks • Funco Race Cars ~ . ' . Kennedy Clutch • K & N .. tf fjl. . . ~-.. \ • Mastercraft • Mecca/Ac.cusump · • Neal • 0uterwears • Phoenix Fire Syst. • Saco Products • Simpson Safety • Summers Bros. • Super Boot • Total Seal Rings • V.D.O. Gauges • Weber Carbs • Weld Wheels • Wright Place (305-) 772-1171 • (305) 491-8085 Legal in California for racing vehicles which may never be used upon a highway

Page 30

Tucson Short Course Championship By Daryl D. Drake Photos: 3-D Photography Bill Pedersen was doing well in the first Pro moto, driving the #125 Berrien, until his seat broke and he couldn't stay on the pedals. · The third round of the American Off Road Racing Association's Wes tern Cham-pionship_ series took place in mid-April. Ninety-five-plus degree weather didn't stop the racers or the fans from coming to Tucson International Raceway for the event. Once again the bikes and ATVs were presented in the morning, and the four buggy m_Qt_os were slated to begin at 1:00 p.m. The Pro's.ran first, for twenty minutes, then the Sportsmen would have their twenty minute tussle. The second moto for each division was just ten minutes long. A short practice session on the rough, one mile· course soon put a · few racers, notably Scott Tutalo and Glen Greer, out with transmission troubles. At the drivers' meeting many com-plained that the jumps were just too vertical, and that they feared they would really tear up their cars. But, track steward Roger Jones basically replied, "That's racing. Gas it! Go for it!" There will be more on this later. There was also some discus-sion on running the Sportsmen with the Pro's. But, the Pro's said, "notrring doing," not wanting to endanger the Sports-men or themselves. Two 1600 cc two se;ters were entered in the Pro race, and, since all were going to run for the Class 1 unlimited title, it was agreed to give the little engined cars the pole positions. Huge dust devils raced across the infield as the crowd anxiously , waited for the st~rt of the first Pro moto. With seven jumps, seven turns and a section of whoopies, this course would really keep the drivers busy. While the last event on this track went to the racers with the heaviest feet, finesse would be needed this time. Nine Pro cars were able to start, and they lined up four abreast in this order: David Ludtke, Illinois' Bill Pedersen, Jim Blackmore, Dale Fowler. In the second row were Albert Bright, Doc Ingram, Donnie Beyers, and. Don Kolt, while Hugh Morrison was alone in the third row. They all left on the same flag, and Pedersen put his two seat . Berrien in a strong second place behind Blackmore's Chenowth as they entered the first turn. Kolt was moving up fast on the outside in his Chenowth Mag-num. Ludtke found himself and his two seat Chenowth in the middle of a pack of heavy hitters as they cleared the first jump. When Ludtke was squeezed out of the next turn, he decided to cut the course to put himself at the.back of the pack. Meanwhile, Despite brake woes in the first moto, Don Kolt finished second, and he won the second round and the Pro title in his Chenowth Magnum. Kolt had taken the lead and moved way out in front of Bright in second. Blackmore slowed with shifter troubles and went out, as did Beyers. Ludtke, in particular, was having troµble ,vith the four jumps on the front stretch, and at about seven minutes in, he 'snowplowed' when landing off the last jump, knocking the right front tire off the rim. This flipped Ludtke, and when he landed the left rear wheel was sheared off, ending his race. The Chenowth logo was clearly readable in the clay where his bumper nosed in. Two minutes later Bright got out in front as he and Kolt lapped Fowler. Pedersen was still holding onto third, wfrh Mor-rison trying to find a way around him. Ingram was running hard in his Chaparral, but the desert car was out of its element. One minute more and Kolt was back in front of Bright. These two were really battling, and Bright came out of the next comer leading. Kolt repassed him in the next turn, and they were over the jump side by side. They tangled upon landing and locked together. But, before they could be passed, Bright was loose and off and running. Kolt go_t going again, but he had lost the right front shock; though he was able to stay with Bright for a few laps, his right front brake caliper started coming loose and binding the rotor. Pedersen's seat broke on one of his landings, and he was sitting on the floor with nothing to brace his back. He held onto the wheel for a few laps, but couldn't stay on the pedals and finally gave it up, putting Ingram in third. Fowler got by Morrison as the latter broke a trailing arm mount. With five minutes left in the moto, Bright slowed with the win in hand. He later called the moto too long, saying that he thought they should have stopped when the finishing order was obviou~. At the finish, Bright was way ahead of Kolt, who was able to hold off Ingram. Fowler was next, with Morrison well back. Eight starters 'out of the ten Sportsman entr-ies lined up next. On the pole was Mike Williams in his Class 2-1600 Sandhawk. Next to him were Bo Jackson, Class 1, Tony Capan ear, 2-1600, and Chuck Croteau, 1-1600. Behind them were Les Black, Class 1, Brad Campbell, 1-1600, Don Peyton, Class 2, Roger Jones, 1-1600 driving Hugh Morrison's car so he could experience the jumps. Starting late was Russ "Roscoe" Perrone. The water trucks had been out The angle of the jumps really slammed the race cars nose down into the ground. Doc Ingram's desert style Chaparral attitude is typical. Hugh Morrison, in the Off Road Buggy Supply entry, was running strong, but midway in the first moto he broke a rear trailing arm mount. Driving Don Kolt's older race car, Jim Blackmore got the hole shot in the first Pro moto, but had shifter problems with the · Chenowth later. Mike Williams dominated the s·portsmen cont.est again, driving his 2-1600 Sand hawk to second in the first moto, first in the next round and the win. Page 30 Track Steward Roger Jones got out of shape on the double jump, and, by the last of the front stretch jumps he was going end over end. June 1985 bon Peyton loved driving in his first race in unlimited Sportsmen, and he finished with a fourth and a third to win the Class 2 category. Dusty Times

Page 31

Don Kennedy tried hard in the combined Class 1-5-4 Jodie Carter got a little off course en route to a talk with motos, finishing second in both heat races and third the officials, and she ended up stuck in the Mud Bog behind the Jeep in the main event. course during the Powder Puff.race. Albert Brightwon the seesaw battle for the first Pro moto victory, but he had to TULARE BUG•OFF (from page 29) Lori Peralta. Mikela Kennedy settle-for second place in the next moto and on poin_ts. ' came across ih fourth, and the · second annual· Tulare Bug-Off between motos, and put it on a Road Buggy Supply car, so not in onto Carter's coat tail to take later for her sisterJodie, making was over, having provided plenty little heavy. Some spots were the running for the 0/ A) and third. The front four provided it "one of those nights" for the of enter.tainment for those who s Ii ck, ·others were muddy. Kolt. · plenty of excitement for the next Carter Clan. showed up. Williams came out of the first Ingram took the lead, but his four laps, but no one passed until As the green flag went up it was-• .. :.:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_-:_-:_-:_-:_-:_-:_-:_-:_-:_-:_-:_-:_-:_-:.,--. corner in front, but slid way wide right rear tire jumped off the Mike Withers got around Dillon Gina Ban Noort out of turn one on the second turn, and Ca pa near bead, and Kolt got past him three at the start/ finish line. first, fo II owed by Mike I a took the lead. Nearthe end oflap quarters through the first lap. By the seventh lap Whelchel Kennedy, Karen Dillon, Jodie · one, Williams caught and passed They were followed by Bright, began lapping the field, but he Carter, and last row starter Lori Capanear and sailed over the Beyers, Morrison and Fowler, still had Carter on his tail and Peralta. As the girls were getting jumps. who seemed to be having couldnotslowhispace.Itwasto thefeeloftheirborrowedrides, Jackson soon got by Capanear. troubles. Bright was soon on be Jerry Whelchel's night, as he Lori Peralta maneuvered into the They were followed by Croteau, Kolt;and their war from the first took the checkered flag for the lead, followed by Jodie Carter, Black, Peyton, Jones and morn \Y,;i,.ged an~w,. Mo.rrison.,third time of the evening, and-andthetwogotaroundGinaBan Campbell. Jones stalled it in a moved into third, and Beyers got once again Ron Carter played the Noort as she got sideways. corner and needed help to by Ingram who was now running bridesmaid. Third place went to Jodie Carter developed a restart. Perrone had joined the with the tire half off the rim. Mike Withers, and Gary Dillon problem with her right rear fray, and on his first time over Kolt spun on the wet clay, and was close_ in fourth. Randy wheel, and she was flagged off.the the big jump he stuffed his car Bright cut inside to move out Rhinehart finished fifth for the track.' When she pulled over to into the ground so hard it bent front. But, Kolt soon regained second time during the event.. discuss the situation, she the steering box and put the front. the lead, and at the five minute What could have been termed accidentally drove off into the wheels in a severe tow-out mark started pulling away. "The Main Event" ended the mud bog pit and had to be situation. Ingram was now just motoring show as six contestants lined up winched out. Meanwhile, back At the six minute mark, Jones around the course so he could for the Powder Puff event.Jamie on the track Gina Ban N oort got out of shape on the front set finish. Two minutes later Bright Carter had to drop out when the powered .around the outside of -of four jumps, and was really got in front of Kolt when the car she had borrowed from Karen Dillon on the last tutn of flying high by the last one. latter got bo~ed behind Fowler. Randy Rhinehart wouldn't start, the last lap for second place, but .. Unfortunately, he was go_ing end Twenty seconds_ later Kolt was and more problems were to come she could_ not catch the winner, over end also. But, he landed back in the lead and stayed there . right side up, and after a . quick to the. finish. Beyers . went out ;,push from car owner Morrison again, and at the flag it was Kolt, . and your reporter, he was off and Bright, Morrison and Ingram. · . running again. Les Black, in Seven Sportsmen made it back ..,.Kolt's Magnum, was running on the track. Williams, Black, good now, and by the ten minute Capanear and Perrone made up mark he passed Williams. Then the first row. Jackson, Peyton Croteau went out with a broken and Jones were in the second line. tranny. . Williams and Capanear went Jones' roof had come loose into the first turn together, but it from the endo and was now was Capanear over the jump blocking most of his view as it first. He ·spun on the .next tight flapped wildly in front of the turn and Williams took the lead. cage. Capanear stopped with a Black went out with motor bad coil, but he was soon racing mount trouble, and Jackson again. moved into third. He was On the same corner that followed by Peyton, Perro~e and troubled him off the start, Jones. Williams spun, and in powering Jones soori. went out vyith out of the spin shot off the track ignition troubles, and Williams towards a large tractor. He built a big lead. Jackson had stopped with a fraction of an inch shifter troubles again and to spare. This let Jackson and slowed. Williams did spin-once Campbell by, but then Campbell more, but with such a lead it went out with ignition troubles. didn't hurt. Capanear lost a Perrone was all over the course wheel off one of the jumps and ,vith the wild front end geometry, did not finish. Peyton ran strong and this created some problems this time, and Perrone's crew had for those trying to pass. welded his steering box, so he As Jackson caught up to him, was able to keep it mgether. Perrone bounded out of shape Jackson hung on to the finish and Williams rear·endedJacksori. with just fourth gear. This stalled Williams, and The second moto was the tie Peyton got ahead. It also might breaker, a~d that made Don Kolt have caused the shifter troubles and his Oracle Wetmore Car-for Jackson, that soon slowed was·h Chenowth Magnum the him. Jones made one more 4;5 Pro 1 and money winner. Bright degree landing, but kept it right was second, Fowler third, with side up. At the finish it was Ingram fourth: In the Sportsman Black, Williams, Capanear, <Jivision, Mike"Williams and his Peyton, Jackson, Jones ana Off Road Buggy Supply Sanp-Berrone. · hawk took 2-1600, with Perrone Only six cars made it out for second, the only other class the second Pro moto: Three finisher. Don Peyton, also abreast it was Fowler, Ingram, sponsored by Off Road Buggy Beyers, followed by Bright, Supply won Class 2, and Bo Morrison (in a different Off Jackson took Class 1. ,, Dusty Times VANCOUVER STADIUM RACE (from page 28) _ Warren Miller fought hard to win the Last Chance Qualifier, and did well in the· main event, placing fifth in the hectic traffic of 11 cars. Bill Lefeuvre shot out in front with Roger Caddell right on his tail; and, as they hit the dips between turns one .and two, Lefeuvre and Caddell hooked up suddenly, and the third car bumped into the tangled pair. Caddell shot into turn two ahead of Lefeuvre. Meanwhile, just off the start line, Benvenuti, Rogers and Van Gool were hung up in a bunch, and they frantically fought to clear themselves, and go racing. At the end of the first lap it was Caddell, Lefeuvte, Charleton, Miller and Kenward. At the halfway· point Bill Lefeuvre slowed noticeably and dropped to fourth, behind Caddell, Charleton and Ken ward. Suddenly Charleton lost control in the rockers and bounced off the track; but, he recovered just in time to salvage his position. Craig Holt spun out ih the third turn to create an obstacle. Bill June 1985 Lefeuvre was using first gear only, and was gaining ground on the front runners, GeoffKenward and Jim Rogers tangled in the rockers, and they took quite some time to separate, and Rogers got away first. With two laps to go, Bill Lefeuvre shot past Charleton on the fifth corner, just. as they entered the front straight. But, there was no catching· the flying Roger Caddell, who had a comfortable lead in his Funco, · and_ a cushio_n of lapped. cars between himself and second place. So, Roger Caddell took the big cash and the victory home to the USA. Bill Lefeuvre· finished second and that was a score for the eastern Canadians. Holding up the hono~ of British Columbia, Gerry Charleton was third, followed by Tom Ben-venuti, Warren Miller and Ed ·van Gool. WEEKEl'ID WARRIOR Front End Beam J:! .. · · >> X DOM Steel I.D. 1 ¾". O.D. 2" \ • ••• . •·• • / ,\ Available in STANDARD or }/.-- : -. ':_,j >(:):};iii: 5" WIDER. Long shock tow- · • ' .·• ·· · ersfor8"travelorNEW10" -= - . ' _, --'"''*'" ,o. . .. 0% ~.: 546-361). Two (2) Adjusters on Std. width. Four (4) Adjusters on the S" Wider Beam--so you _ can use standard torsion bar and save that extra expense. $19495 Standard w/2 Adjusters nm IRS Rear Arm ,___,;;_ ___ __..;;__, Box Kits Long Shock Tower Kits 1/4" Steel. Complete Kit Easy to weld to your link pin Beam. 8" or 10" tra· vel models ... NEW·-also avail. for balljoint beam. $3995 Pair 8" travel. 11 Gauge Steel $2995 Set IJil IRS Triple Shock Kit (Use w/ Arm Box Kit) $1995 Pair • Oil Filter Mounting Bracket $59s -Each Link-Pin Gussets Spindle Gussets These weld-in Gussets beef-up your front end for "competition" or "play" cars. (Pair) $695 Link-Pin Gussets $595 Spindle Gussets Single/Dual Coil l'llounting Bracket $495 Each/Single $5 95 Each/Dual Beam Adjusters Link or Ball Joint. Raise for Off-Road or lower for that calif-Look. Specify Link-Pin or Ball-Joint. $19?5-Each· · • Light or Seat-belt Tab 191 98¢ Each _________ __ PLUS: Shock Towers. Pedal Mounts, Motor Mounts. Tabs. 90" Gussets. Front Beq.m Clamps. etc. •"Custom" Flame Cutting • Pealer Programs • Send For FREE CATALOG! TO ORDER: Send Check or Money Order. (Personal cheCks delay orders for bank clearance) All orders Freight Collect. (714r 630-2681 Write To: BLUE Fi.AME PRODUCTS p;o. Box 525, Atwood, CA 92601 1180-F Fountain Way, Anaheim, CA 92806

Page 32

ADRA Second Annual "Loma 150'' By Daryl D. Drake Photos: 3-D Photography Tim and Sharon Kennedy had some troubles, but a great lead in the Chaparral on the last legs, and they won overall and in Class 2 OA the point to point Loma 150. With all the recent publicity about troubles in Mexico, it's good to report that the Arizona Desert Racing Association's second annual "Lorna 150" came off without a hitch. Held in cooperation with the Sonoran Department of Tourism and L&L Tours of Y urna, the race was co-sponsored again this year by Lorna Manufacturing, makers of the "Scorpion," a mini buggy designed to compete with Odysseys. . This, the fourth event for cars and trucks in the 1985 A.D.R.A. Desert Championship Series, is one· of two point to point races A.D.R.A. holds in Mexico each season, and probably is the fastest course on the circuit. The pits, sign up, tech inspec-tion and contingencies were in San Luis' city park once more, only this year the racers had to share the space with a circus, which gave the whole scene a ''Mardi Gras'' flavor. Thousands of fans lined A venida Libertad to watch the start. Bikes left at 9:30 a.rn., ATVs at 11:30, with the cars getting the green flag at 2:00 p.rn. Once again the route included two' trips around a thirty mile loop out of San Luis, then it was super fast sandy desert road for fifty miles to the coastline on the Sea of Cortez. The trail alternated here between beach and cliff top, avoiding some of the worst quicksand from last year. When the racers reached El Golfo de Santa Clara the route headed back inland up a tricky canyon route and reached the only solid footing over the distance. This didn't last long though, when the course headed back to shore via a Jong winding valley that termin-ated in a four foot dropoff. Back on the beach a trip through some serious ditches led to a high speed two mile run into the finish line. The Pro division left first. Class 2 led off followed by 10, 1, 5, 8. Tim and Sharon Kennedy had started in the Kennedy & Noel Construction Chaparral on the third minute, but they got out front for the win when they passed Dan Foddrill and Frank Thomas in the Palmer's Custom Speed/Mickey Thompson Tires/ Fly-N-Hi/Pat Hughes Perform-ance Chaparral T andern. Foddrill had started with John Gardner, but the latter ·had troubles before Check 1, eight miles out, and Foddrill flew around the loop in twenty-four minutes. Also right up there at Check 3 ( 30 miles) were Richard Binder and Ray Madrid, as well as Vicki·Allison and Jerry Finney. Dr. Bill Cook and Jim Cunningham in the Brand X Carnaro were still in the running, a couple of minutes back. Dwight Lundell was the lone Pro 10 entry but pushed his car hard the whole way. Lorna made a good tune up for the Mint .in '84, and Dwight was doing the same this year, trying to find the Dirtrix's weak spots. Mark Giebelhaus held a thirty sec·ond lead on Tom Zentner, with Kirk Kontilis seven seconds behind Zentner at Check 3 . Sportsman Mark Lundell was next in the Class 2 Dirtrix Mazda, working his way ahead of the Pro Bajas and lone Pro truck. Then came Pro S's Perry McNeil and· Pete Dunshie, with Pro S's Ignacio Alcala Rivera's Ford back among the Sportsmen. By Check 5 (the ninety mile mark) a third of the field had dropped out. Kennedy led Danny Foddrill flew around the loop to lead the early legs in the Chaparral Tandem, but slowed later and was second, only 11 minutes back. Dwight Lundell won the Pro Class 10 going away in his Dirtrix, never slowed, even for this big d~tch and finished way up in third overall. Foddrill by a narrow margin, with Lundell and Kontilis eleven minutes back. Allison was next, with Giebelhaus four minutes behind her. Then came McNeil, Cook, Dunshire, and Sportsman leaders Todd McCormick and Rich Carnahan. Behind them, Keith Jaeger topped Sportsman 5. Danny Van Keuren was leading Sportsman 10 at 12th 0/ A on the road, with Dave Hunt and Jeff Sanders in hot pursuit. Then came Binder who was way off his usual place. Nancy Sanders led the Begin-ners eleven minutes back from husband Jeff. Then came Zentner, slowed by oil line problems. Ed Faulkner, the only one left in Sportsman.Ltd., was on the road an hour back from Kennedy. Rivera's Tecate sponsored truck was way back and causing problems for those trying to pass. Four miles out from Check 4, Mike and Shirley Gertsen were running strong in Sportsman 10 when they caught the pickup. The truck wouldn't let them pass and there was no way around on the narrow trail. When the dust from the truck got really thick, Gertsen backed off to about 65 mph in third gear. Suddenly he found himself bearing down on a Baja doing about 20 mph. I think this was one of the Mexican entry Bajas, and that they had cut the loop out of their route. Anyway, Gertsen did his best to avoid the inevitable collision, · but still knocked the Baja fifty feet off into the desert. The left half of the Baja's engine was gone, and Gertsen's front end was a shambles. No one was hurt and the apologetic occupants of the Baja offered to dismantle their· car to fix Gertsen's,. but Mike decided to call it quits. This made Enrique Merida Mtz the only Beginner Baja· still running at Check 5. Doug Tyree's Hi Jumper led · the Beginner Unltds. with Francisco Sesteaga's Sportsman 8 truck last on the road, more than ninety minutes behind Kennedy. At Check 7, the 120 mile mark, Kennedy led by thirteen minutes. Foddrill held off Lundell, and McNeil was fourth on the road, twenty minutes back. McCormick continued to lead the Sportsmen, but Jaeger was breathing down his neck. Van Keuren held onto his Sportsman 10 lea_d by seven seconds over Hunt. Jeff Sanders, · who had been Perry McNeil had a great race in his slick Class 5 Bug, had few woes, and not only won Pro 5 honors, but he arrived fourth overall as well. Pete Dunshie tried hard, but he couldn't stay in front of Perry McNeil, but he did finish the course and was second in Pro 5. Rod Leon kept his clean, homemade charger shiny and tidy. Check out the shock tower lightening holes, cut out to read Leon. Though he was slowed by the loss of his left front tire, Tim Kennedy found his faithful crew, finished on all four and won the race overall. Page 32 June 1985 Dusty Times

Page 33

l'.I Todd McCormick and Rich Carnahan had-a fine day in Mexico, Danny Van Keuren led Sportsman Class 10 most of the distance, taking the Sportsman 2 honors easilyr the only finisher, and_ . but late in the game he lost time and the class victory to Dave Hunt. second-O/A Sportsmen. Despite a stop to check on her husband Jeff, Nancy Sanders moved right along to win the Beginner category overall and in the Limited class. Second genera_tjor:i Jac~r Doug Tyree heads for the sky out of the big ditch en route to the finish and the Beginner Unlimited victory. ·Running second for a long distance didn't bother Dave Hunt, and he carried on to take the Sportsman Class 10 win at the checkered flag. Tom Zenter was fast on the last half of the route, .after 011 problems slowed him off the start, and he won Pro 1 and was seventh overall. · having shifter troubles, was out of his car. He'd neglected to fasten his submarine belt after a stop to free the shifter, and when he hit a ditch fast, he slid down and was thrown against the seat belts in such a way that it knocked the wind out of him. He 'stopped his racer near the highway, too sore to continue. Paramedic Kelly Harrold was on the scene and checked out Sanders while broken racer Steve -McA~thu'r' . (Sanders' 'regiitered co-driver) climbed in and took over the driving chores. Jeff was okay but aching. Z'entner was running strong at last and moving up. Bruce Mills moved into ''the Beginner lead after· Nancy Sanders stopped to see what Jeff's troubles were. Trading parts for the tow, Vicki Allison towed MarkGiebelh·aus to the highway, then got back in the race despite the obvious time loss. Giebelhaus was on the trailer after being towed to the highway by Allison. His car was reaching meltdown status when he came upon Allison with steering woes off in a ditch. He offered a trade, and got her going for a tow. Allison dropped him off, then hit the trail again. Cook and Cunningham were last running on the road, after a broken axle before Check 5 and a .bent tie rod after Check 6 slowed their effort. The Pros stayed in the same order at Check 8, even though Kennedy had lost his left front tire. Jaeger had moved out in front of McCormick by ten minutes for the OA Sportsman lead. Hunt took over the Sportsman 10 lead from Van Keuren, and Nancy Sanders was back in front of Mills. Cook had moved ahead of Allison, but was way back, two and a half hours behind Kennedy. Kennedy's cr:ew had a wheel and tire waiting for him five miles from the finish, and he took the checkered on all four, with a·total elapsed time of 2:24:36 for 56.95 mph average. Foddrill was next, eleven minutes back, followed by Pro 10 winner Lundell right behind Keith Jaeger ran hard and fast and took the Sportsman Overall honors and Class 5 title, plus he finished just behind McNeil in fifth overall. Dusty Times him. Then came Pro 5 's McNeil, Sportsman 0/ A and Class 5 . winner Jaeger, and lone Sports-man 2 finisher McCormick. Hunt was next in for the Sportsman 10 win, with Zentner the Prol winner at seventh 0/ A. Missing the Sportsman 10 win by five minutes, Van Keuren was eighth to finish. Pro l's Kontilis was ninth in, eleven minutes ahead of Sportsman 1600 Ltd. winner Ed Faulkner. Back a few notches but winning their classes were: Nancy Sanders, Beginner Ltd.; Doug Tyree, Beginner Unltd.; , Ignacio Alcala Rivera, Pro 8. Maybe Kennedy can handle Larry Noel and his Mojave win better after this strong win over hard charger Foddrill. Sportsman winner Jaeger said he rode on two wheels for quite a while when he passed Jeff Sanders, and credits his new Dirtrix rear suspension for his strong performance. His co-driver J9e Smid simply said, "We were flyin' high!" When it was all over, ~very one relaxed on El Golfo's fantastic white beaches and feasted on · fresh se:;ifood and came asada. Next µp is a new race on the schedule, the "Flagstaff High Country 150," July 13th, 1985. June 8th's <tCinder Lake 150" was cancelled due to conflicts June 1985 Kirk Kontilis had his ups.and downs during the Loma 150, but he kept the older Funco in motion to take second in Pro 1, ninth overall. with off road motorcycle recrea-tion is ts. Seems the _buggies stirred up the cinders too much, so ·the new race site is ten miles north. The camp/pits are in the cool Pines with the race route on existing roads and trails through cinders, down the mountain into scrub Pinon, and back into .the mountains and trees. (But they won't be the "killer" trees of the Cinder Lake course.) Put it on your calendar, and see how green Arizona's summers can be. SMALL SHOP PRESS How many times have you needed a hydraulic press to remove or install a bearing or a gear on a shaft? Until now there · has not been a small bench mounted press that Wi'lS capable· of a multitude of applications and operations at an affordable price. GENERAL MACHINE SERV-ICES has designed and pro-duced what they consider to be the Ultimate Shop Press. THE SSP I - $159.95 12,000 pound rating THE SSP II - $139.95 8,000 pound rating You can't afford to be without the Small Shop Press. MARVIN SHAW PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS 29300 3RD • LAKE ELSINORE; CA 92330 (714) 674-7365 SHIPPED BY UPS DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED Page 33

Page 34

THE PRO CANAM IOfflTAS 150 Desert Racing in the State of Washington By Jean Calvin Photos: Mark Grape/Leonard Day Scott Livernash and co-driver Larry Flowers blistered the 250 mile route in 6:03.19 in their newly acquired ex-Glenn Evans Class 1 Chaparral, and they scored first overall handily. In April the racing seson is in full swing in the great northwest, as the fire danger is low and the weather spring like for the most part. Of course the mountains between the Pacific Coast and the Washington desert are still covered with snow, and folks are still skiing. In the desert, the town of Kittitas looks like a movie set built for a 1930s rural community. It is not far from Yakima, if you are looking for it on the map. Kittitas is small, maybe a little sleepy in aspect, but everyone in and around the community turned out to welcome the Pro CanAm off road racers. Nearby the city of Ellensburg provided ample motel space for those who are not campers. The race course was just a few miles from Kittitas, straight up Page 34 the mountain. The 20 mile race route wound through a high plateau on private ranch land. The cattle, thankfully, had been moved to other grazing ground during the event. The washed out dirt road into the start/ finish area was every bit as rough as half of the race course, but somehow campers and motorhomes, race cars on trailers, all made it to the area without mishap. On the race course the decor was standard desert mesquite, a little grass here and there, some . hefty canyon switchbacks and stout ditches, a rock creek crossing, and some super fast running on twisting trails. The race activity started on_ Friday morning with registration in the Hungry Coyote Cafe back room in Kittitas. Pro CanAm President Leonard Day manned the desk among the arcade games, and it all went smoothly. The course was open only on Friday for pre-running, and many took a few laps on the well · marked route to become totally familiar with the one checkpoint plus rovers course. We went .around in the morning slowly, helping Harvey Otterstrom add some extra fresh ribbons across the "no-no''. roads, and we went round again in the afternoon, a bit quicker this time in a Baja Bug. Racing started early on Saturday morning. The organ-izers schedule the 3 Wheelers and Odysseys first, and they are required to cover five laps for an official finish with a 4½ hour time limit. There were a flock of both types with eleven 3 Wheelers in the open class and five in the under 200 cc group. Three showed up . in Modified Odysseys, and there were seven in suspended class, plus a single stock job riden by Terry Shimmon that covered three laps for the race points. The 3 Wheelers had some very close dicing on course. At the flag; Jeff Peacock muscled his way around the desert for three rounds, but he failed to finish his competitive drive when he broke a front spindle. June 1985 Todd Springer had some clutch trouble early in the race, but he went the distance alone to win a very tight first in 1600 and second overall. · Reliability paid off for Gordon Scott and Ken Rushing. Their Jeep CJ took the 4 x 4 lead midway, gave them no trouble and they won the class. Randy Branson won the open class by 19 minutes over John Wyatt. Gary Sullivan was just another 13 minutes behind, followed in eight minutes by Scott Davis. Mark Crews and Curtis Upton rounded out the finishers in the all Washington rider group. John Bothell, Jr. scored a close victory in the small bore 3 Wheelers, taking the win by three minutes over Jon Solomonson. Mike Thompson was just another three minutes back, with Scott Uribe less than two more minutes behind, and all five finished the five laps. Among the Odysseys-Scott Johnson won the Modified run, with two laps done. In suspended class Jim Swearingen, from Oregon, took the checkered flag about ten minutes ahead of Danny Nichols. Nearly half an hour later Ray Hegge was the final five lap finisher. The four wheel classes fol-lowed the Score rules in g~nerai: The two categories of Pro and Sportsman· held a total of 30 entries, well down from last year for no apparent reason. The cars started just after lunch at 12:30, when the course was cleared of all the bike engined stragglers. The Pros competed in three classes, Unlimited and 1600 cc Buggies and 4 x 4, which was the . largest bunch with a dozen on the entry. The Sportsmen compete in either Buggy or 4 x 4 class. The Pro 4 x 4s started first, thundering off the line, then came the Unlimited cars fol-lowed by the 1600s. We were driving Harvey Lange's 1600 Hi Jumper with the dubious honor of being the last Pro _car on the start line, followed by the four Sportsmen entries. Since the 4 x 4s started first, it is only right that their trials and triumphs come first. Down and out after just a few miles was the Overall Racing Team from Prineville, Oregon. All the rest covered the first 20 miles, but Rick Hochfeld vanished on the second round. Leading the herd after one lap was the Jeep CJ 5 of Steve Farrell and Larry Garman, close! y tagged by the Bronco from Kamloops, B.C. driven by Bob and Rick Nyeste and Don Price. The pair had nearly three minutes on both Ed Burnap and Dan Sali, but there were eleven laps to go. On the second lap the Nyeste Bronco began bagging flat tires. They said later they hit the same rock three separate times, flatting a tire on it on both the second and third laps and taking out The early leader in 4 x 4 action, the CJ 5 of Steve Farrell and Larry Garman had troubles midway in the race and dropped to third at the flag. Dusty Times

Page 35

Gayle Hodson and John Winkes nabbed second in 1600s and third overall just three minutes behind. They suffered a year's worth of flat tires. Don Stanton, driving his first race ever, and co-driver Jeff Steech, had a very close run for 100 miles, but they won overall Sportsman honors. Jim, the pig far-m~r. Murphy had new fenders that stayed on, but power steering trouble and water in the gas proved fatal to this 4 x 4 race truck. both· a front and a rear on the retired on the seventh lap and Ed fourth lap. After two rounds Burnap did the same on lap 8, Steve Farrell/Larry Garman had and two more failed to see the a good lead. A trio consisting of checkered flag. James Murphy, Rod Stevens, and The Scott Jeep had no prob-Gordon Scott were fighting it out lems, no flats, and the truck by just seconds for runner up turned 5,000 race miles on the spot. . clock on the efeventh lap. After After one more quick lap Rod. twelve rounds, Gordon Scott Stevens vanishe·d from the and Ken Rushing won the Pro course. Midway, six laps into the 4 x 4 honors and-cash with a total run, it was a battle royal up front. elapsed time for the 12 rounds of Murphy, with a stop to fix the 6:36.13. Hauling-into second in power steering, had the lead by a the waning laps was the Canadian slim five seconds over-Gordon team of Gary Holland and John Scott/Ken Rushing in a Class 4 Larsen in a Class 4 Jeep with a Jeep. Steve Farrell was just six 440 Chrysler under the hood. more minutes back. Murphv Their time was 7 :31.53. The Heading for the start/finish line Ed Burnap does a neat wheelie in his Bronco, and maybe this action shut him down on the eighth lap. Dusty Times In his second year of,racing, Roger Zacher led the first lap, then stayed in second in Class 1 for the next eleven laps, and was fourth overall. From Sparwood, B.C., Gary Holland and John Larsen ran strong in the Chrysler powered Jeep, and took over second in 4 x 4s late in the race. Farrell team survived in third spot with total time of 7:52.41. With no power steering and . frequent stops for fresh drivers because of it, the Nyestes finished a good fourth, about an hour out of third. No one else in 4 x 4 class covered more than nine laps. Next away were the eight unlimited cars, with some hand-some equipment on the line. Roger Zacher was quickest on the first go by over a minute. Vying for second, Scott Livernash, in the ex Glenn Evans Chaparral,. had merely five seconds on Jeff Peacock. Another favorite, Ken Sanislo led the first ten miles in his Berrien, then his troubles began with a rear flat and a June 1985 broken rear shock mount. His saga continued, lap by lap, with power steering failure and more broken shock mounts. Finally, on the ninth lap a stub axle broke, and his racing day was over. On lap 2 Peacock bagged a -rock and a front flat, then lost a rear tire, got fresh rubber and broke a spindle. He gave up the struggle on lap 4. Del Mathews had recurring brake trouble, and the LaPlante team lost bags of time on the third lap. Dan Clark had his problems on the first lap, but kept moving with a number of good lap times before parking on the ninth round. Up front it was a two car race midway, although Roger Zacher was 13 minutes behind the leader, Scott Livernash. Not much changed in the next six laps. At the flag Scott Livernash won the class and overall with quick time of 6:03.19. Barely a half hour back, Roger Zacher was strong in second place. The Del Mathews team ran without much brakes the whole distance and nailed down third with a time of 7:14.07. The LaPlantes arrived in 7:4 1.24 for the fourth place honors. Although there were just five 1600 buggies, three of them finished for the best such percentage of all the classes. From flag to flag this battle was tight and torrid between Todd Springer, the team of Gay le Hodson and John Winkes, Hi Jumper, both out of the Ad-vanced Off Road Enterprises shop, an~ Larry Manning and John Pleasants. The leading pair were just 43 seconds apart on the first round and Manning was · a·nother minute back, followed in another minute by Richard Akridge. Two more minutes in arrears-, your reporter was enjoying the luxury of power steering on the Hi Jumper, a luxury that we nearly didn't have. The system was broken on Friday, but Harvey Lange and his crew, after visiting nearby ·salvage yards to no avail, convinced a local farmer to sell them the power steering unit off his son's partly dismantled Chevelle that they had spotted from the highway. It is one of those keen race stories. After two rounds Hodson still led Springer by seconds. Larry Manning, driving his first race since an accident two years ago, was keeping them in sight too. Akridge was only a few minutes down, and our Hi Jumper developed a habit of spinning out, which got us a front flat tire. We were on the trailer after two iaps with a failed axle bearing, which tore up + + + + Page 35

Page 36

Zipping along in the Advanced Off Road Enterprises Hi Jumper, Jean Calvin broke down early, and enjoyed the rest.of the race in the pits. -+--+--+--+-the trailing arm, but it was fun while it lasted. We were impressed by both the 25 buck Chevy power steering, and the keen action of the shocks that Lange rebuild~ ano modifies at Advanced Off Road Enterprises. The older, short Hi Jumper rode like a modern race car. Springer had an oiling clutch and stopped after three laps for a quick fix. Then he took it easy on the clutch for a few laps. Hodson/Winkes had some flats, but were leading at mid-distance with seven minutes in hand over Springer. Meanwhile Manning/ Pleasants, who were leading the class after five laps in the •Ridgerunner that was just finished the night before, were only a minute out of the lead. It was some three way tussle in the five car class. hanger of a finish. Hodson/ Winkes made a late fuel stop, and Todd Springer, who soloed the run, gambled on another 20 miles. Springer won the bet and the race, also finishing second overall. At the flag Gayle Hodson and John Winkes were just three minutes back in second, taking third overall. Manning and Pleasants were about an hour back in third. Richard, Jeff and Chris Akridge struggled through eleven laps before running out of time, and did not finish. The only 4 x 4 Sportsman entry, Larry Rushmeir, did not make a lap, and, in the trio of buggies, Paul Chrismer also failed to come around once. But the Baja Bug of Bert Klinger and Don Lorenz and the 1600 buggy of Don Stanton and Jeff Steech had a close contest almost all the way. After one lap the Bug led by 56 seconds, and gained a few seconds on each of the next two rounds. After four turns: the Stanton racer had about half a minute lead, and they ran a visual race mile after mile. Still, after five laps the electric fuel pump died in the Bug, and a half hour was lost to repairs. Stanton/Steech moved into a commanding lead then.. They. reported only one flat the whole race, and they were the only Sportsman finisher, arriving sixth overall at that! Klinger and Lorenz ran out of gas, had a couple of flats, three broken tie rod ends, and more fuel pump trouble: After the tie rod broke again in the middle of the eleventh lap, they hung it up for the day. ' · Desert racing Pro CanAm style The order stayed pat for several laps, then the Manning car pitted with a broken frame on lap 9 and lost 38 minutes to the weld job. At the end of the tenth lap the Hodson and Springer cars came by the pits almost side by side ' with Hodson's leading on time by seconds. It was a real cliff Randy Branson's 2:27.27 five lap time was untouchable in the.open 3 wheeler class, and he finished an easy first overall for the 100 miles. Pony Express ••• I read with interest the "Soap supported by the facts. The Box" position by Steve Orth, VP contingency programs at the and Operations and Competition Parker 400, the Laughlin Desert Director of the Mickey Thomp-Challenge and the Great Mojave son Entertainment Group in 250 fly in the face of a position of your May 1985 issue. Before "declining contingency" partici-continuing, I should make it clear pa tion. If the contingency that Mickey Thompson and I, program at the Mint 400 is over the years, have had our go-accurate, listed in excess of 'rounds, and on numerous $300,000,thenonewondersjust occasions haven't seen eye to eye where the decline might be. on various subjects. But, Mint 400 Race Director K.J. differences tend to clear the air, Howe recently commented on and presently.Mickey, Steve and the "small" companies and their the rest of the folks at MTEG are involvements in contingency doingagreatjobwiththeshort programs, and what their course series. participation means to the sport. Now to continue, Steve Orth Let's face it ... not everyone can be is quite cor_rect in his procedural a Pennzoil, or a BFG or a Toyota portrayal as to _how contingency or a Bilstein or a whatever. It is programs come about and how the small companies that make the competitors come to realize up the bulk of contingency benefits from these programs. He program participants in our is also accurate on why sorrie of sport, and often their budgets are · the failures by the competitors limited. They can't support costs relate to the contingency -overandabovetlieircontingency programs. program postings for the racers. But, Steve's claim of "contin-At the present time the MTEG gency p0sting amc:mnts as well as short course series of events manufacturers interested in charges contingency program participating within contingency donors for their participation in . programs for off road racing the series, charges that are in seems to be declining" cannot be addition to the monies the Page36 companies have posted for the competitors. The cha"rges, whether they be right or wrong, have in the past, and are, driving possible contingency donors away from participation in the MTEG series. It is as simple as that. If the MTEG folks could see their way clear to drop participa-tion charges, it is felt that the series would see a marked improvement in the numbers of contingency donors at the events, and in the monfes that they.have up for grabs. · Sam Wilshire, Editor Off-Road Action News We appreciate your thoughts on contingency programs, Sam. However your facts are not quite straight. Score International at.one time did have a membership fee for contingency donors, but they no longer charge that fee, nor does anyone else including MTEG. Read on for the facts right from Steve Orth. Thank you so much for allowing me the privilege of stating my views on contingency programs within the Soap Box section of DUSTY TIMES. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to share my views on this subject with the off roading community through ·your publication. The letter that you received June 1985 is great fun and provides some keen competition. Even the 4 x 4s have a big class for racing up north. The people are friendly and they help each other in the. pits, even though they are competitors, just like the old days. The Kittitas course offered all the challenges of any desert run with the added convenience of doing a pres run in less than an hour. Carrying out the "down home" theme of the race, the awards were presented from the back of a pickup on the Main Street in Kittitas Sunday morn; ing. There is no public place in town large enough to house all the racers. Happily the weather stayed pleasant all weekend, dry but cold at night, but sunny and nice in the daytime. Around noon the racers packed up to go home to Washington, Oregon and B.ritish Columbia towns, anxious to get ready for the next meeting in the Pro CanAmSeries. John Bothell, Jr. finished the required 100 miles in 2:43.23 to take first in the 200 cc and under 3 wheeler class and a wild second overall. Ray Hegge survived a really bad endo early in the race and brought his new 350 cc suspended Odyssey home third with all five laps done. from Mr. Sam Wilshire regard-ing my article does bother me, however. MTEG does not now, nor has it ever over the period of time while I have been here, charged contingency donors a fee to make postings for the competitors. We do, however, charge a fee for other services which are available, and ar:e not part of a contingency program. · MTEG provides each con-tingency donor with the follow-ing items at no cost: Two Day Time Practice and Qualifying, Tickets; Two Night Time Racing Tickets; Two Pit Passes; One Parking Pass; One Souvenir Program Book; Company name and posting listed in a group form within the Souvenir Program, Racer Bulletins, and print media advertisements; Discount on Display Booth in Manufacturers Row ( Standard cost to non-contingency donors is $500 -Donors cost, $25 at Pomona); various discounts on field Banner placement Souvenir Program Advertisement, and other related services. If you review the MTEG con-tingency donor package and benefit sheet, I think you will realize that it costs MTEG money for each donor, not counting the postage, stationary, telephone, etc. costs. Contingency programs are vital to the competitors, and we at MTEG are determined to provide a good quality program · for both the racers and manu-facturers alike. Steve Orth VP/ Operations/ Competition Director, Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group Thanks once again Steve, for taking the time to get us all straightened out on the costs involved in posting contingency. It is obvious that the $25.00 fee for parking in Manufacturer's Row is the fee that concerns Sam Wilshire. As you explained at another time, the fee is charged so that the participants will be set up and ready when the doors open to the public, and without the fee the booth space is often · empty, letting the crowd divert to the grandstand before passing all: the way through Manu-facturer's Row. Also, many people think that the $25 is part of the package, but we all now know that it only concerns those companies that wish to greet and sell to the public as well as be in the pits during the races. DUSTY TIMES welcomes letters from all corners-of off road activity. The Pony Express column will feature all the mail we can fit into the space. Please keep your words fairly brief. Because of space limitations, your pearls of prose may be edited, but DUSTY TIMES will print your gripes as well as your praises. Letters for publication should be at the DUSTY TIMES office by the 15th of the month in order to appear in the next issue. Dusty Times T

Page 37

The Bridgestone SCCA Pro Rally Series Opening Rounds at Rallyweek Northwest By Tom Grimshaw Photos: Trackside Photo Enterprises Rod Millen, ""'.ith Mike Parris navigating the 4 x 4 Mazda RX ?,-started the new season off right by winning the opening rally, the Nor wester, and placing second at the Wild West to lead on points. . Everyone has their favorite has pulled all financial assistance duced in· 1984, ~as very good news/bad news joke. Pick away from event organizers, successful. one, tell it to yourself, laugh out although they still provide many This good news could sour if loud and pretend I started this costly items such as a national SCCA sticks to its current article with it. That way I get to steward and event insurance; "black is beautiful" policy when use hundreds of good jokes to Organizer's sanction fees have reviewing financial statements. begin a single story. Clever? tripled, competitive license fees The Divisional series only Sometimes I'm so clever it have doubled, event entry. fees appeals to the general member-frightens me. have doubled ( some have tripled) ship, rather than the megabuck The 1985 SCCA PRO Rally and average star.ting fields are sponsors, and it will result in Championship Series would downfrom55carsin '84to30in some pink ink in 1985. Rumors make an appropriate good '85. in the first two events. persist that despite its national news/bad news tale. Organizers are seriously recon-success, the lower level little guy Good news? The Sports Car sidering the viability of hocking series may be dropped by the Club of America has finally thefamilyouthousetqpersonally SCCA. acquired a national sponsor for support a "sponsored" SCCA In between news? SCCA has the series they've so haphazardly series. appointed a new Rally/Solo misdirected for the past twelve Good news? Both opening Manager, Bob Radford, who years. Bridgestone Tire C:omp:my events in Washington paid in admitedly has no knowledge of of America, Inc. has added their addition to the new Bridgestone PRO Rallying and has oft times prestigious name to the PRO programs,mostoftheheftycon-publiclystatedhiscontinuing Rally Series and that bodes well tingency funds have continued lack of interest. However, he for the sport. into 1985. The auto manufactur-does bring badly needed manage-Once Bridgestone figures out ersexcessof$5,000prizemoney. ment skills to the office and has what the hell we're doing out In seem to be supporting the expressed some good ideas there in the woods -and they sport, perhaps more than in pre-designed to increase public are trying very hard to play catch vious years. The cars that did visibility of the sport. up-theirprofessionalapproach start the two opening rounds Mr. Radford's methods of may even force some of the were well prepared and _repre-communicating with PRO Rally SCCAclubbiestoadmitthere'sa sented the cream of U.S. PRO organizers and competitors different game in town -one Rallying. Most of the absentees reminds me of the position taken that deserves serious attention. were those privateers who truly by Adolf Hitler when he was dis-Good and Bad news? John couldnotaffordtherisingcostof covered hiding out in Paraguay. · Buffum of Colchester, Vermont a sport striving for professional-After months of pleading by the and Rod Millen of Newport ism at the national level. remaining good ol' boys of The Beach, California, a re still Good news that may turn Bad? Third Reich, Adolffinally agreed winning. lt's good news if you are Under the guidance of Virginia to return to Germany to take riding in Buffum's Audi Quattro Reese, Chairperson of the SCCA over the government. "But", he or in Millen's prototype 4WD PRO Rally Board, a very good said, "there is one condition I Mazda RX-7. It's bad news if Divisional level series of 40 or will insist upon. This time, no you're trying to beat them. . more events has been established. more Mr. Nice Guy." Bad news? Despite Bridge-The year end runoff among So, what happened at the two stone's national support, SCCA Divisional champions, intro-opening rounds in Washington, you ask? I knew you'd get antsy if I gave you a bit of my NEW YORK TIMES style of reportage. It's really quite dull isn't it? ursing an old and slightly ill Audi Quattro, John Buffum and Tom kept it all together and won the Wild West by 69 seconds. Dusty Times The first two events in the 1985 PRO Rally championship can best be described in a single sentence -the more things change, the more they stay the same. ROUNDl NOR'WESTER PRO-RALLY In 1983 and '84 the Nor'wester and Olympus ran back to back as part of Rallyweek Northwest, headquartered at the same hotel in Tumwater. This year the Nor'-wester moved north to Everett June 1985 and the Wild West (replacing Olympus, which will run in early July as a prototype World Championship Rally) stayed down south in Tumwater. The Nor'wester folks also changed their traditional sched-ule, acknowledging that many of us dedicate our Sundays to church attendance and listening to Jerry Falwell tell us why The Moral Minority is actually a majority. They started the event on Friday and ended it on Saturday. John Buffum and I drew Car No. 1, as is befitting the defend-ing U.S. rally·champion and a co-driver who carries a Senior Citizen Discount Card. The new Audi Quattro was not ready for Washington so we used the very tired '84 car. Peugeot has been very active in both Open and Production classei; in the U.S. during past years, with little success. This year they finally have the hottest car in world rallying {the 4WD 205 GT16) and a gasoline turbo model that could take the Produc-tion class -and they are not fielding a single U.S. team. Jon Woodner suffered through several go-slow years with Peugeot but he appeared in Washington in one of Rod Millen's used 4WD Mazda RX-7s. He covered Millen's team colors with a lot of black paint so there could be no confusion. Rod Millen, who has been in California so long he has almost forgotten how to speak Kiwiese, came to Everett in a rebuilt 4WD Mazda RX-7 to continue the '84 wars, when he came within a tick of taking the championships from Buffum and Audi. Bridgestone introduced its new three car team designed to challenge BFGoodrich's lock on the top spots. Clive Smith (ex New Zealander, ex Canadian, cur-rent Californian) sported a new Toyota Corolla GTS in the newly introduced Group A Class. Guy Light of Michigan brqught an Olds Omega for the Standard Production Class. Light's driving style reminds one of a fullback who prefers running through people rather than around them. The team was rounded out by Steve Nowicki, past two-time Standard Production Class driving champion who has moved up to the·GT Production Class in a Nissan 300ZX. The most visible new team came from Baton Rouge, Louisi-ana, land of crawfish and frazzled fiddles. Dick Fitzgerald, who leads this murky band, gets my vote as the perfect team manager. He outdrinks everyone, talks slower and longer than everyone and throws money around like falling dandruff. His two cars are Saab 99s -one for Group A, · driven by Swedish champion Ola Stromberg and one for the Open Class, driven by Alan Carter of California. Chrysler is back in force in '85. Doug Shepherd, 1984 Standard P Class champion, brought a new Dodge GLH from Michigan and proceeded to prove the car does indeed "Go Like Hell". John Crawford has a new Shelby Charger Turbo for the GT Class. Crawford lives in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. He moved there from California and raised the I.Q of both states. The Nor'wester started at the sponsor's (Rodland Toyota) dealership, and a strange thing happened. It didn't rain. Washington in April? No rain? What will the Russians do to us next? The ca"ursewas located mainly in the mountain logging roads of The Capitol Forest. The organ-izers revised their stage road selection the prior week when they discovered snow at the 2,500 ft. level. Despite the dry weather, the high forest roads were quite slippy and early morning fog plagued the teams still running Saturday a.m. The opening stage was a one mile squiggle on a single paved lane behind a local airport. These sort of spectator stages are becoming common to PRO Rally-ing. They usually don't mean much. In this case Buffum and I lost one second to Rod Millen and co-driver Mike Parris. No big thing, except we noticed poor tired ol' Quattro had developed a slight engine cough. When we moved south to the Capitol Forest the cough got worse and Millen started sticking it to us at a rate of about two seconds a mile on stages. The City of Shelton clo_sed their main street so we could set up service areas. When we arrived we changed everything in the Quattro except my under-wear. The cough persisted. In a local restaurant, rally journalist, Tim Cline, stopped by to tell his 1985 joke. I can't repeat it but· it became the byword of both Rallyweek Northwest events. Ask someone who was ther~ about "the check is in your mouth''. During the next section Alan Carter blew the engine on the Fitzgerald Saab and the Baton Rouge team manager ran around trying to sell us shrimp and catfish futures. Several spectators got a classic rally show at a T intersection. Buffum stood the Quattro on its end and said "Ooohhhh" in my ear until it came to rest on its wheels. Stromberg launched his Saab five feer into the air, twirled around a few + +-+ +-+-Before You Buy! Make Sure It's The USED FOR ALL TYPE DIRT RACING•FIL TEAS THE AIR •ELIMINATES DUST•COOLS THE DRIVER•GIVES YOU THE ADVANTAGE. THE D.RIVERS SAY "/T'S ALMOST LIKE CHEATING". FIND OUT NOW BY CALLING .. 714/894-8332 OR MAILING IN FOR LITERATURE. 9371 Kramer, Unit #G - #H Westminster, CA 92683 PARKER PUMPER Page 37

Page 38

Proving just how fast production cars can go, Doug Shepherd and Linda Wilcox won Production in both rallies and were second overall on the Nor'wester in the Dodge. Steve Nowicki opened his campaign for a title by winning the GT class at the Nor'wester with David Stone ably navigating the Nissan 300 ZX. +-+-+-times and launched it again -and again. He kept trying until he got it right and drove off. Spectators gave us a 7 .6 and Stromberg a 9.0: We were later informed that Stromberg's difficulty factor was much higher than ours. W oodner stuffed his new Mazda into a ditch and sat there for some considerable time practicing his four wheel driving style, making go quick noises by blowing through his lips and wetting down the inside of the windscreen. He did return later to the Shelton service area but withdrew with gremlin electrical problems. Mark Qvale of Kent, Wash-ingti:m introduced his new bride, Casey, to the wonderful world of PRO Rallying by rolling his Dodge Shelby onto its roof. Hell of a way to start a marriage. The Watanabes, Richey and Howard, were doing their usual quiet thing taking their Group A Toyota Corolla upward through the field. These gentlemen always come with a beautifully prepared Not .doing well an the first round, Ola Stromberg and Ginny Reese came back strong the next weekend to put the Saab home third overall. C.O.R.E. PIT TEAM C.O.R.E. offers unique pit services at western desert races, a family oriented club with social activities and much more for its members. C.O.R.E. also has a program of one time guest pit service for out of the area competitors. Get all the information on C.O.R.E. Jim Branstetter, President, (818) 705-8183, 17 453 Runnymede St., Van Nuys, CA 91406. Page 38 Gary and Judi Gooch from Union City, California. For the past two years they've cam-paigned a pickup truck. Since pickups are banned from national events in 1985, they've switched to a Dodge Shelby Turbo. Gary was not yet com-fortable with the twitchy power of the Dodge and Judi stood in the woods, in the rain, and took pictures while he parcticed. Richey and Howard Watanabe had a good week in the open class Toyota Corolla, driving quietly and placing very well in both rallies. By Friday all new parts were installed in our Quattro -and it still sputtered. Changing spark-plugs was far to simple a solu-tion, but it worked. We changed them several times during the Wild West and the engine came back to life. vehicle, always go quietly about their business and always do well, then go quietly back to California. What do they do in real life? Are they Ninjas? Whatever, they're always tough competition. Steve Roberts of Bellevue, Washington, always drives 100%. At the Nor'wester he drove 110 % and caught and passed Bruce Davis on a. stage, then rolled on the next tum. When Davis and co-driver, Mike Neff, stopped to make certain Roberts was okay, Roberts asked Davis why he was going so slow. He said "l don't usually catch and pass you." Davis said, "Yes, but guess who's going to finish the rally -and who isn't." Davis and Neff finished 9th overall and 3rd in P Class. Roberts DNFed. With two stages to go and the sun beginning to color the morning sky, a rear brake caliper br.oke on the Quattro and removed lots of byproduct from the car. Tires, brakes, etc. went away. Buffum and I used sand to put out the resulting fire, then JB drove the wounded Audi through the stage and down to the highway. He removed a damaged wheel by driving down the pavement and wiggling the Quattro until the wheel snapped off, then he borrowed a torch from Fitzgerald's Saab crew and heated the lugs so we could beat them back to shape and hammer on a new wheel and two lug nuts. We finished fourth overall, with a single nut holding the wheel in place. Millen drove to a fairly eas,: win and took the Open Class. Co-driver, Mike Parris, who is far more comfortable behind a typewriter, did an excellent navi-gating job. Doug Shepherd and Linda Wilcox proved production cars can also go quickly through the night and grabbed a class win and second overall. Clive Smith and Harry Ward brought Bridge-stone's colors in with a Group A win and a third overall. The Watanabes finished second in. Group A-quietly. Steve Nowicki regained his winning form and· took GT Production and sixth overall. Thirty-one cars started. Twenty finished. Everyone packed up and headed south for the Wild West the following weekend. ROUND2 WILD WEST PRO RALLY When we checked into the -Tyee Inn in Tumwater on Sunday I almost left for home. June 1985 The traditional Wednesday night lingerie show in the bar had been cancelled. Could it be they remembered us from the previ-ous two years? Buffum went skiing, I went to the golf course. We spent the week playing and working on the Quattro. We cut 40 BFG tires to get ready for the.Wild West. Thursday we went into the mountains to do tire testing on roads directed by the organizers. It looked like rush hour in Manhattan. Rally cars were buzzing everywhere. We met Neither B'uffum nor I like losing. There's first _c then every-thing else. The Wild West was going to be one hell of a ride. John and Claudia Nagel are organizing the Olympus proto-type World Championship Rally in July this year. It was natural they patterned the Wild West along many of the international FISA rules. Routebook, control signs and timing system were all changed but everyone seemed to enjoy the new format and the usual rallybirds who bitch at sunup, sundown and all the time Clive Smith and Harry Ward held up the honor of series sponsor Bridgestone by putting the Toyota Celica in third overall on the Nor'wester. Resuming their battle of past seasons, John Buffum, left, and Rodney Millen are only five points apart in their quest for the year end championships. Plowing a little Washington dust, Bruce Davis and Mike Neff did well in both rallies, driving the Dodge to third in Production both times. Dusty Times

Page 39

between, were relatively quiet. The weather was much the • same as the previous weekend -dry and clear. Very strange for Washington. The course used another mountain range but the logging roads were very similar. We were to visit such quaint places as Rock Candy Mountain, Capitol Peak and Fuzzy Top. Lots of tall dropoffs. Lots of blue sky and air outside the co-driver's window. · Millen led us off this time. It was only just that he be first on the road since we'd enjoyed that position the prior weekend. The opening spectator stage ran ar~und an ORV park outside Olympia, WA .. Many spectators in the grandstands. Big waterhole near the finish. Our engine died but we skidded across the line to win it by one second -the reverse of the weekend before. Another innovation by the Nagels was allowing us the op-portunity to service our cars at the end of every stage. That little wrinkle helped us win the Wild West.· Bruno Kreibich and Clark Bond get the green flag in Tumwater, and their immaculate Audi Quattro returned fourth overall on the Wild West. Stage Ten out of a total of six-teen -the Quattro is running well. We'd won ,most of the stages and enjoyed· a 64 second lead over Rod Millen and Canadian John Bellefleur. Then disaster! Again! A rear brake caliper broke and removed tires, brakes, struts, and my belief in a just God. Millen had started the stage one minute behind us. He soon passed us and our lead was gone. BUT -he didn't go away as he should have. Buffum coaxed the Quattro up closer to the Mazda and we saw that Rodney was dragging two rear flat tires. Spectators on Stage Ten saw a rare sight. The two fastest drivers in the U.S., in the two fastest cars in the U.S., dicing it out at max speed of 35 MPH to the finish -neither able to drive in a straight line. Millen finished in front of us but we still held a 3 second lead overall. From that point on, Buffum and the service crew rebuilt the Quattro at every service stop and by the final stage it Was almost healthy again . . We held on for a 69 second win over Rod Millen's M~zda RX-7. _ At a stage start control towards the end of_the rally, Rod Millen displayed the type of sportsmanship that makes PRO Rallying so enjoyable. There was a misprint in the timing schedule in the routebook compared to the timing card and I was about to check us into the start five minutes late. Millen warned me about it and told me the control crew said to use the routebook time. We checked in for no penalty thanks to Millen's help. Ola Stromberg put in a very Problems on the first event were cured in the Saab 99 for the Wild West, and Alan Carter and Ty Holmquist took third in the new Group A. The unsung heres of the rally world are the checkpoint workers, who, like off readers, man their post for long, usually cold hours way out in the boondocks. Dusty Times smooth drive ih the Saab 99, finishing third overall and capturing the Group A win, followed by Bruno Kreibich and Clark Bond in a second Audi Quattro. At one point, Ola decided to drive the Saab straight into a pile of logs perched on the edge of a very long dropoff. Co-driver, Virginia Reese, having just read the routebook triple caution signifying death and destruction at that exact spot, screamed "Not here" into the intercom. I heard her and I was ten miles away. The Saab heard her and stopped·short of the drop, backed away and went on with a badly bent nose. The Chrysler team did very well, with Shepherd taking another easy Standard Produc-tion win and John Crawford fending off Steve Nowicki to take GT Production. Earlier on, Nowicki was a bit miffed to find his Nissan 300ZX two seconds behind Crawford's Shelby Turbo so he turned the wick up a notch and creamed the front of the-car. Better to lose trying. Dave Poston of Costa Mesa, CA practiced on the Nor'wester, then put it all together to grab second in the GT Class in his Mazda RX-7. The Watanabes? They quietly took 4th in Group A and 9th overall. Shhh! Don't tell anybody but their two finishes place them second in the national Group A standings for the series. So, the first two events of the· '85 campaign are history. Rod Millen and Mazda hold a 5 point lead over Buffum and Audi. Doug Shepherd has a 10 point lead over Guy Light in Standard .Production while teammate, John Crawford, leads Steve Nowicki by 15 points. On to Pennsylvania the first week in June. Off with the old and on with the new -our '85 Audi Quattro will be ready then. There will be a lot of pressure on Buffum and I in Pennsylvania. We are to play Dan and Betty Gillilan~ in the golf tournament and they beat us like a drum last year. Betty sinks sixty foot chip shots. Now that's real pressure. June 1985 Bounces from the Berm ••• By Jean Calvin THE MINT 400 sure seemed to have a different atmosphere from the past in 1985. No one could quite put a finger on what was different though. Of course the route was really grueling and filthy, but not that much nastier than last year. All the hoopla was in place, but somehow the crowds in the Mint Casino didn't seem as thick. They were all outside on the street, perhaps. At the contingency donors meeting Race Director K.J. Howe dropped a real bombshell concerning the skyrocketing costs of liability insurance. All desert race promoters have experienced jumps in such costs, and no one seems to know the reason why! Some smaller promoters have been simply cancelled by their carriers, and others are dipping deep into the treasury to pay the added costs. But, the Mint numbers are unreal! Howe stated that the liability coverage for the 1984 Mint 400 was 26,000 bucks, and, are you ready, the liability coverage in 1985 cost a cool 87,000 dollars. That is a price jump that would do credit to the national debt. Nobody in the know seems willing to discuss the reasons for the big new prices. It is obvious that some carriers that provide such coverag~ _are no longer interested, and, rather than cancel long time customers, like the Mint Hotel, perphaps the whole Del Webb Corporation, they are getting out of the desert racing insurance business by making the cost prohibitive. If memory serves, the 1984 Mint 400 was about average on spectator related accidents and incidents, so that can't be· the reason. While the drivers' medical insurance rates seem relatively stable, the liability coverage to protect the organizer from spectator claims has gone bananas in cost. If anyone has a clue why the price raise is happening, please let us know so we can inform the readers of DUSTY TIMES. While still replaying the Mint 400, did anyone else notice what a lack of course markers there were for pre-runners the early part of race week. In some places left over ribbons and arrows from 1984 pointed one way and fresher markings were pointing another. There were many stretches of a few miles between ribbons, which is odd when some parts of the course were just narrow corridors between verboten lands. We personally hope the Mint folks forget the pale green on white arrow motif in the future. A pale green arrow in .,a green bush is hard to see at pre-run speeds, and darn near invisible at race speeds. **** OBSERVATION OF RACE RULES in other sectons of the country do bring out the vast differences between various organizers regarding rules of the road and safety equipment, and penalties for infractions of the rules. By no means does this mean that southwestern races are run exactly right by a long shot, and any event always has room for improvement. But, it appears that the southwest is more ~trict on safety rules, generally. At the Florida 400 in Tallahassee we were amazed to see some drivers racing in short sleeved shirts and bh-1e jeans, while others, perhaps more prudent, were wearing full fire retardent driving suits. The explanation was that the D class drivers are not required to wear any safety gear but a helmet, and some of those looked suspect. While the open class and 1600 drivers have the full garb, and apparently are supposed to have it, the 1200 cc D class entries pay a lower entry 'fee and run for less money. We were told most of them could not afford a "fire suit" and still go racing. Personally we wonder how anyone can afford to race without all the personal protection available. A 1200 cc race car can catch fire as easily as any other race car. Conversely, at the same event FORDA was very strict about low speeds in the pit area. There was one pit en.trance and one pit 'exit, some distance apart, and anyone taking a short cut to resume racing from the pits was immediately penalized a lap. We applaud FORD A's concern for the pit folks, and their children and pets. Also, all 3 wheelers and bikes, and any other vehicle were absolutely banned from moving about during the six hour race. Photographers wishing to move about the 3½ mile course walked or stayed put. Crews going to the mechanical aid of downed racers also walked.' One crew ha):ld carried a fresh VW engine more than half a mile to get their car back in the race. These rules certainly eliminated all non-competing traffic in and around the race course and the pit area. The following month we went to Kittitas, Washington to participate in a Pro CanAm race, and discovered some different, but just as interesting, rules of the road around the 20 mile course. We liked the idea ofhavingjust Friday before the race for pre-running. It certainly saves the wear and tear on the terrain, and also eliminates the local drivers from getting to know the route better than anyone else. the Pro CanAm racers are a far flung lot, strung out all over the northwest, so the one day pre-run is a great equalizer for all contestants. Although there were three stop checks around the course, oddly enough there were no pit crews at any of them. When we pulled into Check 2 with a flat, the only folks there were members of the Green River Valley Jeep Club, who handle the flagging and course control for Pro CanAm. We thank them for their help and cold drinks. However, we wondered about the lack of even a mini tire pit at the checks, since flat tires were common on this course. It seems the racers·have radios on board, and when they get in trouble they call for the start/ finish pit crew. So far so good, except that the race course was on the only roads in the area, and some of the brush in between was not to be driven upon'. So, the pit crews were expected to drive on or alongside the race coL\rse in search of their race car. With only 30 c.i.rs in the event, the extra dust was not a big problem. But, it was the first time we ever heard a race organizer encourage the chase crews to use the race course itself to do the chasing. However, whatever works well in a given race area is not to be scorned, and it seemed to work out just fine in Washington. The Kittitas 250 was one ·of the best organized events we have attended in recent years. It came complete with lap by lap charts for all to read at the start/finish line, good course control, a well marked route, and almost instant results. **** DUSTY TIMES i~ a year and a half old with this issue, and we thank all of you for helping make the publication grow in a short 18 months to its present strength in the field. We look forward to bringing you more and varied event coverage as we head into the busy summer season of off roa? competition. Page 39

Page 40

Carter Nabs VORRA Prairie City Opener Text & Photos by Joe Stephan Ron Carter came from Culver City to the north, and drove his A-arm Fun co to the overall victories in both Class 10 and Class 1 in the season opener. "These guys up here are tough!" Those were the words of Southern California's Ron Carter who made his second trip to Sacramento County's Prairie City OHV Park even more successful than his first last October. The occassion was the short course opener of the Valley OfLRoad Racing Association (VORRA) in which Carter went home with both the Class 1 and 10 overall wins in his A-arm Funco. VORRA's opener attracted no less than 66 cars and was held over the usual two mile course at Prairie City, but with a new "twist." After flying over the big downhill jump 100 yards off the starting line (the only jump on the entire course), it was slam on the brakes and make a new left-right-left chicane around a ten -foot high mound of dirt at the bottom of the hill. It made for some spectacular action right in front of the main spectator area, particularly with the number of cars that \'bicycled" it around the first turn if not going all the way over. Carter brought his two car team up from Los Angeles and began his day with ·a sweep of both Class 10 ten lap heats, leading the first heat from his _front row starting spot and then fighting his teammate Glen Galbraith to take the lead on the seventh lap of the second for the overall win in the motocross style S!=Oring. He said, "It was a hard race with my partner, but these guys are hard lip here!" Page 40 · Galbraith, who finished eighth on the basis of eight completed laps in the first heat, finished second in the second by coasting through the finish line with a blown engine for a fourth overall which could be considered a payback for taking his car owner out at last fall's VORRA Championships Race. The Kevin Ohnstad/Rick Bower duo finished second with Ohnstad driving the Eagle in the first heat to a .third place and Bower also getting third in the second. Third went to VORRA's second place finisher in last year's overall championship (in only his first year of racing) Chris Oberg, who (saying "This is as fast as I've ever driven in my life!") drove his ex-Letner Raceco to 2-4 placings. Rich Prouty brought two cars up from So-Cal as well to finish eighth, and more will be coming north if southern California tracks keep getting closed. It was an extremely tight race. Another race with a lot of attention on it was the combined Class 2 and 5 race. Particularly spectacular was Class 1 champion Fritz Wiechers, who was debut-ing his new two seater with wife Julie riding shotgun. They took the lead from their front row starting spot (luck of the draw) and made it only half a lap to the east hairpin where the Hi-Jumper lost the right rear wheel after a tangle with Joe Falloon going through the chicane. In the second heat the Wiechers, from thetr front row inverted starting spot, ran away from the field for the win and a third overall. Meanwhile Wes Elrod won · the first heat in his ultra strong Baja Bug and then preserved the overall win by "cruising" to second in the inverted start second heat. Second went to the Hinz Brothers, who in scoring a 2-3 are fast becoming new Wes Elrod hooks up on a turn in t_he super strong Baja Bug, and Wes won the first heat and cruised easily in the second to overall victory. June 1985 Glen Galbraith, shown here chasing Rich Prouty in a Class 1 0 heat, did not have a good day, losing the engine in the second round of action. Bob Shermer, #103, charged to the ·win in the second Sportsman heat, but the Baja Bug, #511, of Lowell Carpenter won the class on points for the day. generation VORRA stars, last year running Sportsman but then also running Class 2 from half way through the season when they found they could be competitive. Joe Falloon was out with his old two seater of his own design while in the process of finishing off a new two seater backed by Blue Max Racing and featuring the first of a brand new rear suspension design by SµperBoot, who have supported VORRA for a long time. Blowing the ring and pinion in practice, the 25 mile to North Highlands run was made for another gearbox which was bolted in just in time to take the first heat start. They lost the clutch on the start and blew Mike Bishop's gearbox too, ru~ning four laps with only third gear before parking it . . The 13 car 1-2-1600 race provided the best racing of the day with Dennis Kordonowy taking his first win in two years, scoring first in both heats with some hara charging driving from back row starting spots in both heats in the ex-Chris Saxon '83 overall championship winning Funco. 1982 Overall Champ Bill Lott took second· in both heats after some torrid racing with Kardpnowy and in between showing off the new ·addition to the family said he hasn't made up his mind about returning to the full series as opposed to the selected events he's run the last two seasons. Scott Schaupp turned~ a pair of fourths into the third place with first heat third place getter Jeff Elrod and second heat third man Bo Stout both having bad Opposite heats for poor finishes. Elrod salvaged a fifth after getting spun around on a start and fighting car troubles with the Funco. Defending ove_rall champ Robert Eastman got his title defense off to a bad start by blowing his gearbox in practice. Six four wheel drives started the Heavy Metal first heat which once . again was dominated by Don German who said they_ believe to have the nation's·Bes( record of 125 first plac'e'trophies in running the v~ry same Chevy powered modified Jeep for nine seasons now. The crude looking single seater gets the job done, this time handily winning both heats over J .R. Donaldson, driving '82 Score Class 3 Champion and · '83 Baja 1000 Class 3 winner Doug Robinson's Bridgestone Jeep CJ-7 to a 2-3 finish. Bud Tickle's Chevy powered single seater Jeep. created some tense moments when he laid it on its side in the chicane on the first heat's second lap after a tangle with Rob Smith. Tickle was initially out for a couple of minutes but crawled cleai while the ori the spot safety crew dealt with the potentially dangerous flood of gas pouring from his Don Kennedy spent two days building the race track, then drove to fourth place in Classes 2-5, and sixth in the Class 10 contest. D~styTimes

Page 41

It was a heavy battle between Dennis Kordonowy and Bill Lott in Class 1-2-1600. Kordonowy won both heats and overall and Lott was second all the way. Ace Bradford and Larry Zimmerman slide past an upside down Glen Galbraith in the first Class 1 O heat on the desert style terrain at Prairie City. broken gas-tank. He was placed third overall after finishing second in the second heat with a flopping front drive line despite not finishing the first heat. Smith finished fourth with a pair of fourths following DUSTY TIMES decline of his offer to ride the race "and go see God!" VORRA's "hobby" Sports-man class again fronted the biggest field of the day with 15 buggies, Bajas, and one Jeep going at it. Lowell Carpenter turned a 4-3 finish into the overall win in his Baja w:hile Chris Vian's 6-2 gave him secoQd, and Larry Williams driving· only his second race of his first racing season turned a 5-4 into third despite laying his Baja on its side in the chicane on the first heat's first lap. Harry Jackman (no relation to the wheel maker by the same name) won the first heat flag-to-flag in his Class 1 Hi Jumper before Cecil Trasher broke the gearbox driving the same car in the Class 1 race. Defending class -champ Bob Shermer won the second heat in the same manner in his Class 1 Hi Jumper. Oddly, not one car did the total 20 laps, the top three doing only 19 laps. Carter and Galbraith also entered their Class 10 cars in the Class 1 race._Dennis Kordonowy drove a Hi Jumper to the first heat win, and followed by breaking on the first lap of the second heat. Carter, who started , , from the back in both heats, finished second in the first heat despite losing his rear brakes completely with a broken caliper and no steering brake on the left rear side, just right for a course with predominaritl y left hand turns. He was comfortably leading the second heat when he backed off and got a hole he'd been flying over all day, breaking the left front A-arm, which left · him limping home for another second, but getting the overall win after dragging the errant wheel for half a lap. Carter, who has won a heat and taken a main event third in Mickey Thompson races this year, said he moved the Funco's seat forward two inches and the rear wheels back two inches which he said has made a big difference in weight transfer, making for a big difference in really good car control. He quickly added, "A-arm cars are back!" He also endured an engine protest with VORRA's tech inspectors declaring him legal. Fritz Kroyer's second heat win to go with his first heat fourth gave him second for the day. Now living up north, the veteran of Canadian ice racing as well as an illustrious off road racing career that goes back to the very first Baja 1000 said he's been forced from desert racing by cost and is now running short courses for the fun of it "whenever the time is right and the car is ready, Jim Thrall's '56 Corvette added "heavy plastic" to the Heavy Metal 4 x 4 class, but he put a drive shaft through the oil pan on the first lap. Dusty Times · On the first lap of the Sportsman heat it was busy in the new chicane, as Bob Shermer broke a stub axle, and Mike Slocum gets a restart push. held off all day which avoided the dry first heat, wet second heat situation of last October' s championship race. The desert-sty le short course was well prepared by VORRA racer Don Kennedy who sperit two days on a road grader. His Dad and Uncle -both 60+ with a combined age of 127 -drove one of the three Kennedy Auto Parts buggies and had a ball. The racing was probably best summed up by first time racer Bob Morgan who, despite finishing next to last in the Class 10 race, excitedly said, "This is the most exciting and thrilling thing I've ever done! I can't wait to get back I'm so pumped for the next one!" not like we have to be at the next was paid out on the spot along race!"He surprisingly added, "I with contingencies from Super-was trying to stay up with Carter Boot, Jamar, HPS, Trick Racing andlearnhowhewasdoingitbut .Gas, and DUSTY TIMES. I couldn't stay up and couldn't Fortunately, threatening skies have beat him if he hadn't of ---,,----,------~----------------broke. I needed to throw out a tow s~rap with a hoqk on it, since he's a very hard man to beat!" Don Miguel, who insists on running VORRA's only Class 9 car ("I love to give the 1600 guys fits!") discovered an oil leak at ten o'clock the night before, so he put a Class 1 engine in the Raceco to go for it. He turned a 6-4 into the third overall, The Score sanctioned racing at , VORRA's 12th season opener produced the absolute best racing ever seen. A large crowd on hand made the 66 drivers know it too. The $3500 purse Bud Tickle crawled out and clear of his over turned Jeep after the first heat mishap as the course workers try to right the rig and stem the gas flow. FINALLY A PANLESS Constructed of .095 1-1/2" and .075 1" tubing, this chassis eliminates that scrap metal pan· and allows the VW body to bolt on to tubular frame rails. Chassis comes complete with torsion housing and mounts for transmission, shift box, pedal and steering. SK OFFROAD · FABRICATIONS June 1985 • Front and rear bumpers included • More ground clearance • Choice of wheel base • Maximum head room $1995 COMPLETELY WELDED Call or write for more information: 1105-B Third Avenue Chula Vis(a, California 92011 {619} 690-6494 Page 41

Page 42

Two Rounds and You're Out at Corona By Richard K. Schwalm Photos: Trackside Photo Enterprises Eric Arras has to fight every inch of the way in both motos, but, with a first and a second place, he won ,the Class 1 points for the day. Last month we saw the sparkling debut of Major Auto-motive Attractions' short course series in the small town of Corona, California. This month we saw the same exciting off road action, but with its future in question. The race site is being overtaken by a huge land devel-opment, and a new site has yet to be found. But none of this talk or the overcast weather would put a damper on the racers and their competitive spirits. The course was basically the same as last month's configuration with the "Deadly Double" jump on the challenging uphill section, a smoother infield combination of bumps, whoop-dee-doos, and a lower table top jump. Morning practice proved to be more hurtful than helpful to some because their cars were damaged beyond a quick repair job. Going up the hill section· Bob Wachter blew the side out of his engine and started a small oil fire. Trouble plagued Craig Durfee's Class 1 Fiero bodied UltraStock again with a mysteri-ous problem. "I don't know why the engine died. kjust stopped," quipped Durfee while waiting for the tow truck. Torn Copper's Class 5 Baja Bug blew its engine and never made it back for the race. One Bug attempted the uphill "Deadly Double" jump, Greg George had tough luck at Corona, his Class 1 Funco taking second and first in the motos to narrowly miss the victory on the points. landed just past the first mound and slid back into the ditch between the double mounds. And in another practice session, a Class 7 mini truck tried the same jump arid became stuck on top of the first mound see-sawing helplessly up and down. Most of the other cars escaped such troubles and were ready to begin their two rounds of rnotos. The first car rnoto of the day contained Classes 1, 5, and 7 with a total of six vehicles racing for eight laps. On the front row was pole sitter Craig Durfee, Eric Arras, and Greg George. All alone, due to Copper's engine problem, in the second row sat Mike Sullivan in his Bug and in the last row were the two mini trucks of Joey Moore and J arnes Thomas. After the green flag dropped, Greg George jumped into the lead followed by Eric Arras and Craig Durfee with the rest of the field in tow. On the second lap George saw his lead disappear as he slid too wide on an infield turn, letting Arras take the inside line into the front spot. A classic duel for the top honors devel-oped while Sullivan raced himself, and Thomas' mini truck was side lined with electrical problems. A few laps later, Durfee was suddenly out with a dead engine just like the morning practice session. As the race continued, Arras and George battled on wheel to wheel with Arras's engine sounding rougher and George dodging from one side to another looking for room to pass. He even tried some rear wheel walking going up the hill, but Arras held on. During the.last lap George gave it one last try and pulled up next to Arras, only to bump wheels causing George to run up and over Arras' rear wheel and lose the advantage as Mike Sullivan drove both motos in lonely splendor, mixing it up with the Class 1s in his Bug, and he was, of course, the Class 5 winner. Eric Arras drove on to win. Greg George finished a well earned second with Sullivan and Moore two laps down. Next up were six Class 1-1600 open wheeled buggies and four Class 5-1600 Baja Bugs all in the same rnoto. On the front row was Bob McElvain, Neil Phillips, and Jon Bonner. Behind them were Dan Morton, Mike Goodbody, and Barry Johnson. Kathy Fay and Greg Burger headed the Bug pack with Jim Fay and Max Razo in the back. Bonner came from the outside to get the holeshot on his fellow racers with Phillips and McElvain close behind. As the Bugs came through the second turn, Greg Burger rolled causing Max Razo to loose his nosecone for a red flag. The restart saw Bonner in front again followed by Phillips, McElvain, Goodbody, noseless Razo, Kathy Fay, Jim Fay, and a~, dented Greg Burger. Bonner flew away from the field as Phillips and Morton battled for second • spot while Goodbody waited for his turn. By the halfway signal, Morton and Goodbody hap. ':.' passed' Phillips and were dueling inch by inch for second. On the last lap Goodbody almost made the pass with some help of a lapped car, then just as they started down the other side of the hill, Morton slipped, and Goodbody went into second place behind the leader, Jon Bonner. In the meantime, Kathy Fay had the lead at the finish with Greg Burger and Max Razo following in that order. By tiow the fans were warmed up for more action and the Class lO's rolled up to the line ready to deliver. Five rows of two cars each with David Bonner on the pole and Jim Fishback, Sr. next door, stormed through the first turn with Fishback Sr. in front. As half of the pack was almost through the next turn, Jerry Whelchel rolled his car and out Dan Morton leads Mike Goodbody through a tight turn in the 1-1600 action, and after some tight racing, Morton ended up third in cl.ass. Max Razo has a habit of losing his hood, but it didn't slow him much at Corona, and he finished the day in good form over the tough jumps. Craig Durfee had mysterious engine troubles with the Pontiac Fiero bodied racer, but finis.hed 3rd in fine style in the 2nd moto. Page 42 June 1985 Dusty Times

Page 43

Jerry Whelchel had one of those days, barely taking secorid in the first Class 10 action, and out with a broken tranny on the last lap in the finale. In the thick of Class 10 action all day, Dave Bonner parlayed a third and a second place in the two motos into second overall. Joey Moore survived longer than James Thomas in the two truck Class 7 action, finishing both motos back in the pack of Class 1 s and 5s. · came the red flag for a restart. Again Fishback ~r. grabbed the lead until Kent Castle and Jerry Whelchel locked wheels. The red flag waved and Kent looked at his badly bent tie rod as Whelchel lined up for the next restart. Mike Withers had a flat tire and was granted a two minute mechanical hold for a change. For the third time the green waved and Fishback Sr. went into the lea:d again. They all made it through the first, the second, the table top jump, the whoop-. dee-doos, -and then, three cars tangled end to end for another red flag. It took all the course marshals and the kings men to pull Jerry Whelchel, Brad Castle, and Mike Withers apart. Ten minutes later they lined up again for their fourth restart. Race director and flagman, Ric Lee; put his hands together in a prayer position before waving the green flag. Everyone else had their fingers crossed as the field wound its way through every turn and finally completed one lap ... whew. Now we had a race. Fishback Sr. performed a well practiced lead position move followed by David B<;mner, Tommy Croft, Jim Fishback, Jr., Rick Jones, Mike Withers, ·and coming up from last place, Jerry Whelchel. After a few laps, Croft got by Fishback Sr. and Whelchel moved into the fifth slot behind Withers. Unexpectedly, the early leader Fishback Sr. pulled out of the race leaving Croft, Bonner, Withers, and Whelchel in the lead pack. In the closing laps, Whelchel pulled off a double pass up the hill and came down in second behind Croft. When the checkered flag flew the winning order was: Croft, Whelchel, Dave Bonner, With-ers, Jim Fishback, Jr., and everyone sat down for a relaxing intermission. A cooler wind picked up as Classes 1, 5, and 'J rolled up to their second moto grid in an inverted first moto starting order. This time Greg George had the pole with Arras and Durfee to the right. With the flash of the green, George was first off and was determined to hold that position to the finish. Arras maintained second in front of Durfee until a wide spin put him back to third. Class 5 's champion of the day, Mike Sullivan, raced on in fine style while the mini trucks made the best of it. Later, James Thomas _ was out with electrical problems again and Joey Moore motored on. Toward the last laps, third \')lace Arras was doing his best to Dusty Times Kathy Fay dominated the 5-1600 action at Corona, and she won both motos after close dicing, and was the champion on points for the day. repass Durfee. Finally Durfee cut his apex too early and Arras re-gained second spot as the check-ered flag fell. Greg George en-joyed his second moto win, but with the first moto finishing order taking precedence, the overall title went to Eric Arras. Durfee finished his first complete moto of the day in third while Sullivan and Moore called it a day. Classes 1-1600 and 5-1600 started their second moto with Mike Goodbody coming from the center starting position to take command with Dan Mor-ton, Jon Bonner, Mark Reeder, Bob McElvain, and the Bugs of Max Razo, Kathy Fay, and Greg Burger crawling behind. The lead trio of Goodbody, Morton, and Bonner (not the law firm) began an eight lap battle to the finish leaving the other cars in the dust. Bonner managed to pass Morton and tried to catch Goodbody without success as the laps ran out. Goodbody, Bonner, Mor-ton, McElvain, Phillips, and Kathy Fay, with her horn beeping, finished in that order. Remembering the first Class 10 moto and its record setting number of restarts helped the shivering race fans remain for the last moto of the day. The inverted starting ordes put Jammin' Jerry Whelchel on the pole and the second moto winner back in the second row. Off they thundered with all eyes open for. another restart that never happened ... they made a clean start and eveyone sighed with relief. Whelchel held his lead as Croft, Withers, Fishback Jr., David Bonner, Fishback Sr., and Jones ( who had stalled at the starting line) completed their laps. As Whelchel stormed on showing his checkerboard painted belly pan over the jumps, Withers attempted to pass Croft and ended up off course and out of the race. · Then, Fishback Jr. and Bonner had a go for the third slot as the halfway flags were displayed. Bonner somehow held off Fish-back Jr. on every lap despite Fishback's all out attack. Then, just as the wi~ner seemed to have the race in the bag, Whelchel began to slow and second place Croft began to close in for the kill. On the last lap, as if following a script, Whelchel stopped with a cracked transmis-sion nosecone and Croft took the lead to a back to back Class 10 win. Second went to Bonner with Fishback Jr., Fishback Sr., and Rick Jones crossing the finish line in single file. The overall Tommy Croft won the red flag plagued first Class 1 o moto, and took the lead in the second round on the very lastlap to win the championship. June 1985 Jon Bonner won the first 1-1600 moto, had a.tough fight in the second round and ended up second, but he won the class on total points. Mike Goodbody does very well in his odd looking but effective special. At Corona Goodbody put a second and a first together in Clas_s 1-1600. Class 10 honors went to Tommy packed _for home feeling pleased Croft, David_Bonner, Jim Fish-about the racing and hopeful back Jr., and Jerry Whelchel. about a bright future for this . Even as the overcast sky popular and unique short course darkened, the cool off roaders off road series. WHY AREN'T YOU??? A DUSTY TIMES DEALER!!! SELL TO YOUk CUSTOMERS PRESENT TO YOUR PREFERRED CUSTOMERS ·· U.P .S. EVERY MONTH TO YOUR DOOR YOU PAY NO SHIPPING CHARGES GET ALL THE RACE AND RALLY NEWS FROM THE TOP OFF ROAD JOURNALISTS Contact DUSTY TIMES 5331 Derry Avenue, Suite O Agoura, CA 91301 (818) 889-5600 Page 43

Page 44

ANDRES N. WITER f .Rf. ' 7.n TRANSMISSIONS PORSCHE & V.W. ~PECIALISTS 12623 SHERMAN WAY-UNIT B NORTH HOLI,YWOOD, CA 91605 PHONE (818) 765-3566 PRO SPORTSMAN & BEGINNER RACES CLASSES FOR BUGGY'S & 4x4't & TRUCKS & CARS C~JL□ l~L~J ARIZONA DDERT RACING AIIOCIATION · 1408 E. Granada Road Phoenix, Arizona 85006 \C .. - 8E WHERE T~E ACTION IS'"-. COME RACE WITH US WRITE OR CALL 252-1900 FAMILY ORIENTED RACING _ PHONE (206) 778-0531 A OFF 3 WHEELERS ODESSEYS DUNE BUGGYS OFF ROAD RACE CARS 2006 196TH S.W., UNIT I LYNNWOOD, WA 98036 D /SES HARVEY LANGE JOE REICH THE BAKER CHASSIS Fast and affordable, The first and only "kit-concept" sport truck chassis for off-road racing or street use. Baja-bred by John Baker, 1983 SCORE and HORA Class 7 champion, to go faster and last longer. For brochure and price sheet, send $2 to: · John Baker Performance Products, 4304 Alger Street, Los Angeles, CA 90039. Phone (818) 240: 7051. SUSPENSION SEATS IN FINE STYLE' BEARD'S 61SUPER SEATS'' ED & BARBARA --,,. --,PEARD 208 4th Avenue E. Buckeye, AZ 85326 (602) 386-2592 '_-t.,,;,:~· ; JB&VII MAX. -~•a· THE VW RACING CONNECTION • Race Car Prep • Fabrication (916) 635·822 2 (~16)635·82~3 11337 Trace Center Dr., Suite 300 Rancho Cordova, Calif.-95670 Page~ 'Ar#Co,rr Performance Transmission Products (714) 962-6655 10575 Bechler River Ave., Fountain Valley, CA 92708 COMPLETE TRANSMISSION SERVICE & REPAIR CENTER FOR AUTOS - 4x4s -MOTORHOMES Send $3.00 for our new 1984 Catalog. 1J,jdz-. . TIRES CEPEK WHEELS LIGHTS SUSPENSI . ETC. Send To 17000 KINGSVIEW CARSON, CA 90746 213-217-1805 eCUSTOM ROLL.CAGES e SUSPENSION MODIFICATION e l?r-t m Tim Lecluse -◄ ► ,-Doyne Podhorsky .,, ► ► ll ID C) 0 (714) 662-7223 JI m r-0 (/) r-► -◄ 2952 RANDOLPH, UNIT C 0 COST A MESA, CA 92626 z • • ALL TYPES OF VEHICLES e STREET e •STRIP • OFF ROAD IZE·~ASLE V.W. PAffl 11623· SHEL.DON ST. SUN VALLEY. CA 91352 Fuel Cells 10925 Kalama River Road Fountain .Valley, CA 9.2708 DENNIS WAYNE PORSCHE PARTS 768-4555 Quick Fills Std. Fills (714) 893-7953 (714) 895-4412 ROLL CAGE STRUCTURES SUSPENSldN SYSTEMS CUSTOM METAL FABRICATION •OFF-ROAD AND ASPHALT• ' DENNIS GARMAN (714) 6.20-1242 1436 EAST THIRD STREET POMONA, CA 91766 Junc1985 German Auto ~ PARTS MANAGEFC JOHN PROSSER Parts & Accessories vw • TOYOTA • DATSUN 11324 NORWALK BOULEVARD SANTA FE SPRINGS, CA 90670 (213) .B63-1123 • (213) 868-9393 RON METCALF - . ED LEKIVETZ •Alloy Axles & Spo.ols •Mag Dana 60's •VW Master Diffs. •VW Axles Send This Ad In For A Free Catalog. ORB46 P 0. Box 1065 • Solana Beach, CA 92075-0830 • (619) 753-3196 OHN . ACING PRODUCTS OHNSON . P.O. BOX 81 LEMON GROVE, DEPT. 1 CA 92045 [619] 583-2054 7 Time BIIJA 1000 Winner HIGH PQlf<>RMANCE SHOCKS DUAL & TRIPI.E SHOCK SYSTEMS 'ABERClASS 60° V-6 2.8 MOTOR PARTS ACCESSORIES 4 WD Repairs • Lift Kits • Wheels & Tires Used Trk. Ports • Tel. (413) 739-4111 LeDuc Off-Road ENTERPRISES . 186 Baldwin St. West Springfield, MA. 01089 Distributor For: Mostercrof1 • Bestop Husky • Rough Country • Porker Pumper Custom Race Truck Fabrication and Roll Bors McKENZIFS AUTOMOJIY.E INC! WAREHOUSE OISTR1e\JTOR!5_ FCIII ,s .CENTER-LINE WHEEI.S '.fECf1RA 4Y'.1N~ KC t.lGHTS .llU,.ER TRAP SPARK ARRESTORS . Cl■IE LIGHTS MCKENZIE AIRFII.TERS WRIGHT PLACE DURA ■LUE ULTRA ·BOOT WUTERN AUTO TIRES e 1 e.711,.s,ite .111 e.:td.liU7 SWAY•A•WAY ·s1LSTEIN SHOCKS K.Y.■. SHOCKS ■l<ARD SEATS NEWLAND GEARS GEM OIEARS CROWN MFG. NEAL PRODUCTS RAPID COOi. TRl•MIL 129411 SHERMAN Y(Av. No. " ~o.· H~LL.TWOOO, CA 91805 l)ustyJimcs

Page 45

Page 46

ANSWERS 1. There were 11 long laps, and the weather fell to below freezing during the night hours. Bob Ferro, in his Sand master sponsored Fun co SS was the winner. He earned $2937.50 in purse money. 2. It was ARVRA, ow11ed by Bob Chase and Lee Dressler. For this, their first annual, they had a special, guided pre-run, with Dressler leading all interested entrants around the course for one lap. They drew 86 entries for the race. 3. There were four classes: Class 1, 4x4 vehicles; Class 2, single seat vehicles (there were 47 of them); Class 3, two seat vehicles; and Class 4, sedans. Life was so simple then! 4. It was the 1972 race, won by Fritz Kroyer and Hutch Hudson. The cars had started four abreast, right in front of the Gun Club building, and the Mint had put up a guaranteed purse of $56,000. 5 .. Parnelli Jones withdrew from the race, claiming that parts of the course were "impassable". Drino Miller and Bud Ekins teamed to win it in Miller's single seater, with Sandy Cone and John Ulfeldt second in their Jeep. There were only 35 cars entered, and no bikes showed up. 6. Two sealers had to finish with the same two people in them that started in them. They could take turns driving and riding, changing seats whenever they wanted, but those two had to be in the car the whole time. Single sealers and bikes, on the other hand, had mandatory driver changes at Papa Fernandez. 7. That's right! It was Bill Stroppe, and the maps were 30 feet long, and mounted on two rollers in a special container. As the race vehicle progressed, the navigator could keep the portion of the road ahead on the map in view by slowly rotating one of the rollers. No information on how many were sold. 8. That was Bob Ferro again, in the Sandmaster Funco SS. He soloed, and took away a purse of $2200. The course consisted of two 125 mile loops, including all the worst and best of the desert in the Jean, Goodsprings, and Sandy ar,ea. Good race! 9. That race marked the introduction of the mini pickups into off-road racing. There were nine entrants, including LUVs, Couriers, Datsuns and Toyota Hiluxes. 10. The winners were Lindqvist and Ghini, driving a Saab sedan. They got all the way to La Paz in 19 hours and 14 minutes, to finish 12th overall, less than four hours behind the overall winner. ATTENTION DESERT RACERS DUSlY TIMES has contingency money posted at all Score and HORA desert races. Check it out on contingency row -Two different classes each event. COLLECTOR'S SPECIAL A Full Set .. 12' Issues .. of the First Volume of DUSTY TIMES· unmarked by mailing labels Early birds will receive the bonus of the Preview issue - Sept. 1983. GET YOUR FULL SET WHILE THE SUPPLY LASTS Send just $10.50, check or money order to DUSTY TIMES 5331 Derry Ave., Suite O • Agoura, CA 91301 SHIPPED PRE-PAID VIA U.P.S. Classified ••• FOR SALE: Chenowth 1000, 1-1600 100" WB, close ratio IRS Bus, KYB, Sway-A-Way, Wright spindles & rack, Neal pedals & steering brake, Tri-Mil, Rapid Cool, K & N, Centerlines w/Sand & Mud Blasters, Jackmans w/ BFG T As, gauges, Beard seat; raced in Score Canada points series. $5000. Call Rocky Knudsen, (203) 496-8847. FOR SALE: Two seat Hi Jumper. frame and body, newly painted. Perfect Class 100 or pre-run car. $400. Call Nels (213) 828-4672. FOR SALE: Funco SS 2, 1-1600. Strong engine, super built bus trans, 12 inches rear travel, turbo CVs, Bilsteins, Sandblasters, Desert Dogs, aluminum wheels, Sway-A-Way, Wright, Neal. Looks great and its ready to race. $5500 or offer. Trailer available with car. Call John Rickaby, days, (313) 972-7709. FOR SALE: Hewland gear sets, brand new. Ratios available, first, 3.10, second, 1.96, third, 1.41, fourth, 1.21 or 1.15 or 1.14. Your choice, $495. Call (818) 889-5601. Coming Next Month ... FOR SALE: Brand new 120" WB Brand wood Tandem. Best of everything, never driven. Less engine and trans, $6000. Brandwood single seat Class 10. 1982 & 1983 ADRA class champion. Less engine and trans, $2500. 1969 VW Baja, pre-run or street, kingpin, Centerlines, fresh IRS trans and Hi-perf 1835 engine. $ 2000. Call Gene Greenlee (602) 831-8166. FOR SALE: 1978 Datsun Pickup space frame w/body, fuel cell, caged, special springs, rear end only. 1974 Datsun Pickup street licensed, Score Class 7 /SCCA Pro-Rally legal, L20 race engine, dual shocked, cell, caged, etc. L20 short block w I arias pistons, balanced crank etc. No reasonable offer refused. Sell, trade for Class 2 or 10 or what have you. Will deliver. Call Roger at (415) 388-8420 anytime. FOR SALE 1-1600 Mirage, 1982 North Central Points Series class champion. Neal, Sway-A-Way, Sandblasters, Desert Dogs, Weld, Fuel cell, K & N, Type 4 CVs, Bus trans, Dial-A-Cam, Bilsteins. $4100. Call Scott, (313) 535-2723. SCORE BAJA INTERNACIONAL MEMORIAL DAY 100 AMSA MOJAVE 12 HOUR MONTREAL OLYMPIC STADIUM VORRA DAY/NIGHT 250 TUCSON SHORT COURSE CLASSIC SUSQUEHANNOCK TRAIL PRO RALLY FOR SALE: Funco Single Seat. All the best, Beard seat, Neal pedals, Centerlines, Parker fan, widened with rear torsion adj., long travel front end with alum. tie rods. Spindles and rack & pinion, all Wright equipment. 1648 cc, Cima forged hi lift rockers, cam, balanced and blued flywheel and rods, lightened and c/ w crank. Turn key car -$4500.00 or best offer. Call Tim's message phone (208) 466-2673 and leave name and phone number, or write Tim Hardy, 218 Holly, Caldwell, Idaho 83605. INDEX TO ADVERTISERS AUDI ................. 27 BILSTEIN CORP. OF AMERICA ............. 7 BLUE FLAME PRODUCTS .......... 31 C.O.R.E ................ 38 ERIKSSON INDUSTRIES ... 9 FILLER PRODUCTS, INC ................. 20 FIRESTONE TIRE & RUBBER CO. . ...... BACK COVER GENERAL TIRE MOTORSPORTS ...... 25 BFGOODRICH -TIRE DIVISION . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3 GOODYEAR TIRE & ••• plus all the regular f ea tu res RUBBER co. . . . . . . . . . 15 . JAMAR PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS .......... 14 r---------~----------------------------------, RON Mm I Sell or swap your extra parts and pieces in I PRODUCTIONS ....... 24 NEVADA OFF ROAD ; DUSTY TIMES. ; BUGGY ............. 10 , PARKER PUMPER ....... 37 · I Classified Advertising rate is only $10 for 45 words, not including name, address and phone number. Add $5.00 for use of black I SCORE INTERNATIONAL ... 4 I and white photo, or a very sharp color print. I MARVIN SHAW f>ERFORMANCE I NEW AND RENEWAL SUBSCRIBERS TO DUSTY TIMES - A 45 word Classified Ad is FREE if you acre now a~d --,.•---PRODUCTS . . . . . . . . . . 33 I subscribe. If you wish to use a photo in your free ad, enclose $5.00. · -ell- S I MITTYBILT, INC ........ 21 I SK OFF ROAD .. 1 -----------,-------------------------I FABRICATIONS ....... 41, I ------------~---------------------I SNORE, LTD ............ 47 I STREET & SAND TOYS . . . 29 I ---------------------------------I SUPER BOOT I ---------------------------------I PRODUCTS ......... . 18 I I SUPERSTITION 250 I ---~----------------------------- I II-............ 16, 28, 34 I SWAY-A-WAY CORP. . ... 17 II MICKEY THOMPSON I Enclosed is$ _____ (Send check or money order, no cash). Please run ad _______ times. ENTERTAINMENT I I GROUP ............. 19 I Name ____________________________ Mail to: I TRACKSIDE PHOTO I DUSTY TIMES I ENTERPRISES . . . . . . . . 35 I Address ---~---------------Phone______ I TRI-MIL INDUSTRIES .... 13 5331 Derry Ave., Suite O YOKOHAMA TIRES 11 I City __________________ State _____ Zip_______ Agoura, CA 91301 I · · · · · · I I Page 46 June 1985 Dusty Times

1985 Volume 2 Number 6 Dusty Times Magazine

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5