TSCO Vegas to Reno Race Report

We tested our cars just before the Pre-Fun Run a few weeks before the race. Our intention was to set up one car for Vegas to Reno and one car for Primm. We liked the car we set up for Primm and wanted to run it in lieu of the Vegas to Reno car, but it had not been prepped since the Baja 500. The Stewart’s Raceworks Crew, headed by Ryan Williams, tore the car down to a bare chassis and did a full rebuild in 8 days! That included a transmission rebuild by Fortin Racing and an engine rebuild by Redline Performance! What an incredible feat by all involved.

I started the race and was scheduled to drive to RM 290. We had brake issues during qualifying and tried to fix them, but right away I knew we still had the same problem. We had no front brakes and only partial rears all day.

I quickly caught Richardson, but with the dust across Amargosa Valley I could not make the pass. Richardson was running a decent pace and we passed several vehicles, but I was did not want to lose touch with the two lead trucks. So, I ran up on BJ just before the Beatty road crossing and attempted to pass. We went into the little rocky draw and with the lack of brakes I was not able to whoa the car up enough before the corners. I went a bit wide and hit a boulder, which caused us to get a flat.

My co-rider, Ryan Williams, got out to change the tire at the road crossing. The only problem was that a BITD official came running over to help and accidentally kicked the lug nuts, so Ryan could only find 4 of them. Nevertheless, he did a great job getting it done without allowing anyone to pass us.

We had a new tire put on the rack at Pit 3, but there was not enough time to replace the missing lug nut; that would have to wait until Pit 4…3 stops for one damned flat!

Gary got in, as planned, at RM 290 and began reeling in Baldwin. Unfortunately, we had been having brake woes all day (no fronts and very little rears), so we were driving the car over the edge all day. This caught up with Gary just after the Mina pit when he got a flat. The car fell off the air-jack with the wheel off, so Mike Bearanowski (Gary’s co-rider) had to dig the car out. They lost about 12 minutes and worse, Marking got by them.

Bear got the car going again and Gary started gaining on Marking. Then, Marking pulled over with what we heard was a power steering issue, so Gary got by him and set his sights on Baldwin.

Gary was flawless the rest of the race. That combined with Baldwin getting a couple of flats late in the event brought us home with the Overall!

We would like to thank our crew for performing flawlessly and BITD for putting on an event that makes us proud to sponsor. We would also like to thank our sponsors: Tube Specialties Company, BFGoodrich Tires, Jimco Race Cars, FOX Racing Shox, Redline Performance, and Signpros Custom Lettering.

Best,

Mark