Wickenburg - The mention of this word can strike fear into the hearts of some usually fearless Whiplash racers... It's an interesting tale.

There's tall tales, fish stories, and in Off-road racing - sometimes a little bit of embellishment. It's entitled here, just like in every other sport. In Off-Road racing - there's tales of men with multiple broken bones winning races, and bumps bigger than barns, and trees and cactus that jump onto the race course. Then... There's Wickenburg. I heard that it was just the nastiest, roughest, toughest course in all of off road racing... I heard that it was 100 miles of the Parker "goat trail" all tied together. And you know what??? Most all of those stories were pretty true this time. It was hard to image what all the talk was about, until you headed out onto that race track.

The 5/1600 class had its usual respectable showing with 6 cars in the field. The RER team drew the #3 starting spot following Stuart Baxter, with Allan Schaible starting first on the road. The car was running very well on the jet loop, and with a few turns on the ol' torsion adjusters, we were ready to race.

Whiplash organized a "pre-run" again at this event, but we decided to pass due to the fact that it would be so rough, and would take so long to complete. A good decision... maybe not, but no looking back now.

We took the green flag, and bounced onto the course. This was to be a 4 lap event, of 27 mile laps. The start line was loaded with people, and the first straight was loaded with some good whoops to get our attention. Then came a couple of "double down" washouts that were worth noting, and the course just kept getting rougher. Within the first couple of miles, we came upon the 571 car of Stuart Baxter on the side of the road, the victim of early motor gremlins... We went by Stuart, and kept chasing Allan. I sure home that the little "tap" I gave Stuart on the start line wasn't the cause of the gremlins... The course bounced continually through big bumps, rocks, and washouts until it came to the first wash. It was a sharp right hander into the deep sand. I downshifted into 1st, and hammered around the corner. There was a truck buried in the sand on the right side, and I clipped it on the right side of the car as I tried to squeeze by. Seemed like no damage done, and we accelerated down the wash. It was fairly tight, and soft, and was reminiscent of Gila Bend style racing. Plenty of low hanging trees, soft sand, and tight turns with rocks on both sides. No place for mistakes. the road then took a sharp left, out of the wash, and back onto the rough stuff.

It's going to tough to convey what rough means in the case of Wickenburg... It's so difficult to explain- off camber turns, rocks everywhere, tight course with ledges everywhere, and cactus and trees waiting to snatch up your car if you blow a turn... Maybe it's just beyond words to explain... I believe that off-road racing was once described as "an all day plane crash..." I will say that my neck is still sore.. and this is 2 days after the race.

The course continued diving through cross grain washes, over hills, around hills, and into check 2. Check 2 is memorable because of a 90 degree right hander, with a BIG ditch on the outside, and a huge ditch halfway through the turn. It was probably 6 feet high on the opposite side, with a tree on the right side of the bank. The first time through, I hit it a little too fast, and got out of shape near in the ditch. We clipped the tree as we launched out of the ditch, and seemed to go vertical out of that sucker. It was an obstacle we wouldn't forget.

The course again maintained it's bad attitude of cross grain ditches, and big bumps for a few miles. It then ducked through some sand, and hung another sharp left hander under some high tension power lines.

The power line road was the only 4th gear section of the track. It was fairly straight, with some sweeping corners. It had some "water bars" across the course that kept it interesting. Some of them were at the entrances and exits of those sweepers. No place to get out of shape. The car was working well however, so no problems there, and we flew down the road. Allan had started 1 minute ahead of us, and there was no sign of him.

At the end of the power line road was a 90 degree left hander again, and the course followed a fence line, making another left turn. This section was interesting, because it resembled the first few miles of the course, but without the big washouts. The first time through was pretty slow, since you never know what will jump out and bite you when you're flying low... The course hauled through here, and then began the usual cross grain ditches with "double downs". There was also an unmarked sharp right turn in here to catch unwary cars... The cross grain ditches here were extremely nasty, and just after mile 19, we stuffed the car into one of them, jarring both Todd and I into higher level of consciousness... It hurt, and we would remember that one too..

The course continued this pattern until it started climbing. The course here was single lane at best, with sheer cliffs above and below. The bumps were again huge, and I couldn't find the correct gear with enough revs to keep power up, without excess speed that was tough to control. There was no passing room anywhere, and I hoped that none of the faster classes would catch us in that section. It was just full of whoops, all the while climbing the mountain. It seemed that whenever I would push the car to go faster, it really wanted to wander out of the track... not a good thing here. With some caution, we made if over the hills, and down the other side.

From there, the course again dipped through several washes, each filled with whoops. It then entered the last section of sweeping corners through the cholla patches, and made its way back to the start/finish area. The Pits section was a low speed parade down pit road, and no matter how slow I was going, people were flagging me slower.

We completed lap 1, made the 180 off of pit road, and back onto the course. Somewhere within the first couple of miles, the radical ride of Mike Kellogg showed up in the rear view. In Gila Bend of this year, I had the view of the rear of that car for some 25 miles. I figured it was Mike's turn to chase for a while, and I was content to keep him right there. I picked up the pace, but there was no chance of losing him. We also came across the Doherty racing machine here, and I had hoped it would help to put some distance between us and Mike. No chance, and he stayed right there.

The car was working well, and we were going as fast as we could, and Mike disappeared for the last half of the second lap. I knew he was pushing us, and I was wondering if he had made a mistake in the dust, or got a flat, or something. The second lap finished without incident, and again he was on our tails starting the third lap.

I again pushed to stay in front of him, and each time Mike got close, he seemed to back off. I had every intention of letting him by if he could make a strong challenge, but it was too dusty. The start of the third lap was good, and I was still trying to chase Allan. Split times from the pit put us about a minute behind Allan, so again I picked up the pace. On the first double down washout of the course, I pushed a little too hard. It was a huge drop, and we slammed into the other side. I thought I had killed us both. The car nearly came to a dead stop as we stabbed the other side, and it hurt BAD. I felt a shot of electricity go up my spine, and heard my neck crack as the car bottomed out. Not a good thing. I asked Todd if he was OK, and he said yes. Maybe pushing the car was not a bad idea, but the real thought of another back breaker like that was a little scary. We pushed on again, and continued chasing Allan. Mike Kellogg was still back there, but still not really able to come up and challenge for the position.

In this lap, just before the single track mountain rough section, Mike was still pushing back there, and I decided to wait and let him by. I could hear him honking, and had a feeling that the dust was just too bad to make a serious challenge. My other thinking was that Mike had caught us, and was leading on corrected time, and thus beating us anyway. Todd was a little upset with my decision, but I think it was a good idea to let Mike by. I had also hoped that if he was really faster than we were, that he would chase Allan down, and push him a little.

I let Mike by, and away he went. After the dust cleared, we chased him, but he really was clearly faster than we were. We watched him negotiate the trail from hell over the mountain, and his car was really working well. He seemed to handle that section much better than we did.

We completed the third lap, and started the fourth. I again missed that darn double down washout at the start of the lap, and again, cursed as my back and neck took the brunt of the assault. This lap was otherwise pretty uneventful, and we occasionally saw the Kellogg car up the course.

We finished in third place, with Mike Kellogg taking the victory, and Allan Schaible finishing second. AWESOME racing Mike!! You deserved that win - big time.

Todd and I were disappointed with the third place finish, but were very happy to have finished. That course was really nasty.

The points chase is still on, but Allan Schaible has a clear advantage, and is in the driver's seat. A finish in Globe in November will almost certainly cement his class points victory. For RER, a finish will cement our second place finish, although that rascal Mike Kellogg is sneaking up on us. Globe will be an interesting race.

By the way - you 5/1600 guys and other classes too - Party in our room in Globe after the race. We'll be celebrating a season points victory - either for Allan Schaible, or for the RER team. Either way - I think we're both winners.

Also, HEY DOHERTY RACING AND AC RACING!!! You guys are hilarious. It was sure a pleasure to kick back with you in Wickenburg!!!

And last, but not least, HUGE thanks to Kasey and K.C. of FINISHLINE Motorsports for all of the awesome help. Also thanks to Mike of RaceShock for your assistance too. And CONGRATS to Rick and Randi Geiser on the birth of their little girl. You should see this guy's face light up when you call him "Daddy"!!!

AND... Thanks for all of the great pit support you guys!! Nicole, Krista, Dana, Patty, Matt, Gilbert, Roy, Jerry Brian, Cousin Jack, Kyle, and Sean, Don and Sharon, and Paul for the cool photos. You guys are awesome!!!

SEE YOU IN GLOBE!!!