GSPEED RACING TAKES THIRD PLACE IN SPORT 1450 TRUCK CLASS

GSPEED RACING


WHIPLASH VULTURE MINE 150


GSPEED RACING TAKES THIRD PLACE IN SPORT 1450 TRUCK CLASS



Gspeed racing decided rather that drive a thousand miles to Nevada on the weekend of December 6th, 2008, We would enter the local off road racing event put on by the Whiplash Off Road racing organization.



There is not a Jeepspeed class per say offered by this organization but there happened to be us and another jeepspeed team entered. We had to be lumped in to the Sport 1450 truck class which meant that we would be contending against vehicles that had much more wheel travel and much more horsepower. They’re where Toyotas and Chevy’s and Fords. We entered at the last minute so started at the back of the pack.



The course was a 30-mile loop that ran through some of the roughest terrain Arizona has to offer. This would mean that we would need to run four laps. Whiplash was running a little behind on the race start so instead of starting at the three thirty start time we didn’t get off the start line till four thirty. We had planned on having enough daylight to do at least two to three laps in the light and one in the dark, with the start time though our plan where changed.



The first lap we took the course a little slower that expected but still came in under an hour. During that lap we past several of the trucks entered in our class and the other Jeepspeed prepare truck that had entered. Feeling good about how the truck was handling and seeing that we would get another half a lap before we lost our daylight we hammered through the pit area with horns sounding and onto our second lap.



























The course was rough and had some very tight turns and narrow areas to navigate. One area was a soft tight left-hander we came into a little to hot and we very slowly dropped over onto our right side. My co driver and I exited the vehicle and found as we did that there where about 15 people standing nearby. They descended on up like a pack of wolves and toppled the jeep back on all fours. We quickly jumped back in and started the Jeep. All was fine except we where stuck in some very deep soft sand now. The spectators continued to work and stack stones under the tires until finally what seemed like an eternity we where free of the sand.



The truck was fine and it was now pitch black out in the middle of the desert. We turned on our Dominator HID lights from LazerStar and night turned into day. We operate with two floods and two spots mounted in our adjustable Morphic Light bar. Even After being rolled over bounced around and wacked by every kind of desert vegetation you could through at them the Lazerstar lights worked bright and did not miss beat. We would recommend these lights to anyone looking for extraordinary lighting. We continued to race thought the night and finished lap after lap. We pitted only for a splash of fuel and to tape my pumper hose to my helmet.

Then about five miles from the finish I realized that the vehicle had no brakes. They could be pumped up but then would go right to the floor. We decided this being the final lap that we would slow our pace a little and bring the vehicle in without brakes.



We entered the finish line not really knowing where we had placed or how we had performed but once back at the pits we where told that we should have finished in the top three spots. We walked over to the Whiplash trailer to confirm our standing and YES! We had finished in the top three. Amazing! Unfortunately our little roll over had cost us second and possibly a first place finish. We finished eighteen minutes out of first and twelve minutes out of second. All the same we where very happy with a top three, our highest finish yet since we started racing.





The truck now needs a little body shop love and an intensive prep for the new season on February. So we will be very busy these next couple months putting her back into the beautiful machine we call the HEEP.