The story of this race begins - where the MDR story finishes. There was less than 2 weeks separating the MDR race, and the Gila Monster race. To make things worse, my MBA studies were in full swing, and I had a midterm exam the Thursday before we left for MDR, and another one on the Tuesday after the race as well. I couldn't begin to think about racing until I had completed that test... So- I picked up the car on Wednesday. The race was now just 10 days away. The car looked worse now than it did after the race. Maybe that's just because my vision had cleared, and my head was no longer spinning from our wreck... It was a mess.

Todd and I dove in head first, and tried to assess the damage as quickly as possible. The car appeared to have some real damage in the rear end, since the wheels were wobbling down the road. The body damage was also obvious, but were the least of our worries.. We tore the car apart over the weekend before the race. We found that the only real damaged parts were the backing plates on the rear wheels were bent, and the brake drum on the passenger rear was bent. All in all - not too bad considering what the car had been through. (Later, after the Gila Monster, I also discovered that the ring and pinion were damaged, and my McKenzies billet diff was cracked, probably due to the crash at MDR...) We did all the usual race prep routine, and had the car almost ready by Sunday evening before the race. We replaced the stub axles, and hammered the backing plates back into shape, but didn't realize that the brake drum was bent until the Wednesday before the race. It was a real scramble to find a replacement type III brake drum with 5 studs in it, and find a machine shop to press in the oversize studs that we needed. We didn't get that final part until Friday, before the race.

Todd came over with all of his gear after work, and we got to work. We had some additional trouble, and were not ready to leave until nearly 9 p.m. the evening before the race... We reached Gila Bend around 11, and caught a few winks before race morning.

The morning came early, and once again, trouble came with it. The car, that started flawlessly for weeks, through thick and thin, refused to crank. We bump started it, got registered and teched, and returned to our pit to replace the starter. We worked on it right up until staging. Kasey Crook appeared with a magical fix, and got it going, with minutes to spare. Nicole attended the drivers meeting in our place. Thanks a million to 1/2 1600 racer Chris Hansen for sharing his course list of gotchas with Nicole. We really appreciated the gesture. You're a classy guy.

We rolled onto the start line with absolutely no test time, nor jet time. The car had been a disaster just 10 short days previous, the shocks all revalved , the suspension set by feel only, and the carb jet a complete guess. It was going to be an interesting day.

We took the green flag 30 seconds after Team Hyperactive racer Mike Leung. The Gila Bend course starts in a bowl, and I was really taking it easy to see how the car would perform. It held together for the first couple of yards, and my adrenaline was working. It was handling fine, and working pretty well over the bumps. By the time we exited the bowl, we had covered a couple of miles, and I figured it was time to push. We caught Mike Leung after about 10 miles, and began applying some pressure. Mike let us by, and we blasted down the course.

The Gila Monster race course can be described really easily. It's all deep sand wash, connected by short rough sections connecting them... Not a really fun course for a limited horsepower race car, unless you enjoy motoring through deep sand, motor screaming, in second gear, watching the temperature gage rise....

We made a brief pit stop after 3 laps, and found that we had lost our oil cap. There was dirt sticking to everything, and my crew made a quick fix with a rag, and some duct tape. We navigated the 4th lap without too much excitement, and without seeing the other 5/1600 car until the finish. It was our first win!! We ran a good race, turned some good times, and I was very happy with the win.

Some of my critics may say that it was a shallow victory, and that we only beat one other car... but I didn't see it that way. If you could have seen that car after MDR... Most were betting that we didn't finish the race, and truly, it was an amazing accomplishment just to get there.

Thanks to my pit crew - Nicole, Dana, Mom and Dad, Mom and Dad Myers, Barry, Cody, and Jay, and the guys of the Finishline Motorsports crew for all the help. It was a heck of a day.

ALSO thanks to Shannon and family of Signs Now in Gilbert, and Lee-Bob at RaceShock for making the car work so well. On to Holbrook!!!