Gremlins be gone! Mongo Racing primed, ready for Terrible's 250

This is no science fiction tale from the 1983 movie, "Twilight Zone."
No, unlike actor John Lithtgow, who played character John Valentine, haunted by what he thinks is a gremlin bent on causing the airliner he's flying in to crash, former Best In the Desert racing champion Randy Merritt is experiencing a real life battle with not one gremlin, but a few.
And unlike Lithgow, who shoots at and misses his gremlin, Merritt has grabbed his gremlins by the throat and shown them who's the boss.
And none too soon. The Mongo Racing Team, out of Parker, Ariz., which captured the 2006 season championship in Class 8100, gets back into action April 16, 17, 18 and 19 in Primm, Nev., at the Best in the Desert Terrible's 250.
"I feel good," said Merritt as he prepared his Mongo Racing Ford F-150 for the next race on the 2009 calendar.
"It hasn't been fun for about the last year and a half. But with the changes we've made, I believe we've solved our problems, got rid of our gremlins. And I feel good about that."
At the 2009 season-opening event, the Blue Water Casino Parker 425, right in Merritt's backyard, "we sucked," said the frustrated driver matter of factly.
A steering problem relegated Merritt to a DNF at Parker.
Prior to that, repeated transmission problems, specifically broken tailshaft housings, along with a twisted spline in the drive-line yoke have added up to more DNFs and headaches in 2007 and 2008 than Merritt cares to talk about.
"Now, we're ready to put all of that behind us," said Merritt. "I believe we have our problems fixed."
He's also excited about about having two new sponsors on board for the Terrible's 250 — Royal Purple Synthetic Oil Products, and Yukon Gear and Axle.
"It's great to have these two new sponsors," said Merritt.
And he's equally excited about using Goodyear's new MTR off-road tire.
"Goodyear has stuck by us," said Merritt. "They are the best. They've always supplied us with some great tires, and I'm really looking forward to using these new MTRs.
"We've been down for a while now, and nobody has heard much from Mongo Racing," said Merritt. "But I'm confident we are ready to start our climb back toward the top."
Other Mongo Racing sponsors include KC HiLiTES, Ford Trucks, Sway-A-Way, Ump, Camburg Engineering, Autometer, Bodyline and Mongomade Grafix.
Also, race fans can go to www.mongoracing.com on race day to see live satellite tracking and other Mongo Racing race information.

Randy Merritt Owner/Driver
Mongo Racing
www.mongoracing.com
1402 14th St
Parker, AZ 85344
Home: (928)669-2796
Mobile: (298)210-9972
racetalk@mongoracing.com