Wednesday, March 19, 2008

TEAM HUMMER TAKES TWO VICTORIES AT TECATE/SCORE ‘SAN FELIPE 250’

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For Information Contact:
George R. Thompson
Rod Hall Team HUMMER
grt@rodhallracing.com
661.823.0454
San Felipe, Mex - March 15, 2008: On a wind-swept Baja California day, Team HUMMER’s
three entries ran a virtually trouble-free race at the Tecate/SCORE ‘San Felipe 250’, finishing first and
third in the Stock-Full production class and also winning in the Stock-Mini production class. After taking an
early lead in the Stock-Full class, Josh Hall led the race all day in the #861 Team HUMMER H2 SUT
with chief mechanic Sam Cothrun in the navigator’s seat. Hall gradually extended his lead over the competition
throughout the afternoon and was out in front by eight miles when he passed through Checker Pit
#1 at race-mile 55. Other than a brief stop to take on fuel at RM 109, the only time he stopped came after
he had drifted into a spiny bush which had, as it’s defense mechanism, golf ball sized clusters of needles on
the tips of it’s branches, several of which became embedded in Josh and his driver’s suit. This called for an
immediate stop to carefully remove the offending pin cushions, left behind in the wake of the impact,
before getting on with his race.
About ten miles back, Chad Hall and Thad Stump, in the #863 Team HUMMER H3 Alpha, were
locked in a drag race with the #860 Ford F-350 driven by John Griffin and the #878 Dodge Ram 2500
driven by Kent Kroeker, both worthy adversaries. About ten miles into the race, the #863 H3 Alpha
developed an electrical problem, causing many of the truck’s electronic and fuel systems to behave erratically.
Thad Stump seemed to think it had to do with the onboard computer so they pulled over and briefly
disconnected the battery, allowing the systems to re-boot. After a short time, Chad re-started the truck,
which ran perfectly from that moment on and got back in the race. By Pit #1 (RM 55), the #863 H3 Alpha
had caught up with the pack and was running in fourth place. The battle here was for second place since
Josh, in the H2 SUT, had an eight-mile lead and was in apparent control of the Stock-Full race. The #860
Ford, the #878 Dodge and the #863 H3 Alpha were all within a mile of each other and seemed evenly
matched on this particular day. At the BFG pit (RM 109) the #860 Ford pulled in for fuel and a driver
change but had some problem taking on fuel and the extra time they spent in the pit allowed the Dodge and
the H3 Alpha to get by him. Chad had moved into third and was running in the dust of the big Hemi
powered Dodge but the Alpha had broken a leaf on his rear spring-pak early in the race and was having
trouble getting by him in the miles of sandy, rolling terrain that made up most of the course between RM 55
and RM 149. Chad stayed right on the Dodge’s bumper and both trucks were dueling it out until RM 136
when Spirkoff, now driving the #860 Ford, caught up and passed them both. Shortly after making his move
into second place, the driveline on the big Ford F-350 broke, relegating him back to fourth place while he
repaired the damage. The #861 H2 SUT remained in the lead and had extended his lead to 12 miles over
the second place truck while all this was taking place.
At this point, Rod Hall, with Damien Michelin in the second seat, was running about 20 miles behind
the #861 Team HUMMER H2 in his #760 H3 Mini-Stock truck. The 2006/07 SCORE Mini-Stock Class
Champion was running in the class lead and only had to finish for the win given that his competition had all
sustained damage in an effort to keep up with the veteran Hall. The H3 pitted at RM 149 for a driver
change and Mike Winkel got behind the wheel for a trouble-free race to the finish with Jake Povey in as
navigator. This is the second consecutive SCORE Mini-Stock victory for the H3 and team owner Rod Hall,
this year, and puts him firmly in the lead for his third consecutive SCORE Mini-Stock points championship.
TEAM HUMMER TAKES TWO VICTORIES AT TECATE/SCORE ‘SAN FELIPE 250’
- more -
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For Information Contact:
George R. Thompson
Rod Hall Team HUMMER
grt@rodhallracing.com
661.823.0454
In the Full-Stock class, the #861 Team HUMMER H2 SUT was holding a steady pace about 12-15
miles in front of the pack and Josh seemed content to push the truck only as hard as he needed to win the
race. Chad continued to run well and passed the #878 Dodge for the final time at race-mile 172. Spirkoff
had the #860 Ford back in the race, after his brief driveline repair, and by RM 200 passed the #878 Dodge
to move into third place. A few minutes later he moved by Chad in the #863 H3 Alpha but could not seem
to make up any time on the #861 H2 SUT as Josh Hall and Sam Cothrun crossed the finish line to win the
22nd Annual Tecate/SCORE ‘San Felipe 250’ at 5:34 PM, twelve miles and 21 minutes ahead of Jeremy
Spirkoff in the #860 Ford F-350.
Chad Hall in the #863 Team HUMMER H3 Alpha SUV was able to hold off Kent Kroeker in the
#878 Dodge Ram 2500 for third place, finishing seven minutes behind the #860 Ford and two minutes in
front of the #878 Dodge. The third place finish was enough to keep Chad on top of the race for the Full-
Stock class points championship by two points.
The next race for Team HUMMER is the Best in the Desert Racing Association’s ‘Terrible’s 250’
at Primm, Nevada, April 18-20.
- grt -
Josh Hall and the Team HUMMER H2 SUT take on the San Felipe silt
To learn more about Team HUMMER, visit us at www.rodhallracing.com. To learn more about HUMMER vehicles go to www.hummer.com.
Trackside

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