Race Write-up from Oak Hill Raceway 3 (2015 TORN Rd 9)
#1
01-20-2016, 11:09 PM
Race Write-up from Oak Hill Raceway 3 (2015 TORN Rd 9)
Last weekend, my son and I drove to Alvord, Tx to compete in Round 9 of the 2015 TORN cross-country series. This was the *final race* of the 2015 season and the last chance for racers to compete for UNTOLD FAME AND GLORY!!! Errr, I mean their last chance to earn season points and bragging rights. Below is my race write-up.
WHERE:
Alvord, TX… it’s just a speck on the map about 50 miles north of Ft. Worth. This race was located at a MX track called Oak Hill Raceway. The track was laid out in the large, open pasture areas surrounding the main MX track. The course had tons of dirt work and resembled a giant MX track for UTVs, minus the big scary jumps and whoops sections.
TRACK CONDITIONS:
On race day (Sunday), the UTV racers endured chilly temps in the mid-30s during morning practice. After practice, sunny skies filled the sky and led to warmer temps in the mid-50s by race time. It turned out to be a beautiful day for XC racing!
The UTV track length was 2.7 miles in length. The front half of the course (near the property entrance) was relatively smooth and included several small to medium sized, man-made jumps, berms and table top jumps set in the large pasture areas. The back half of the course was rougher and included more natural terrain along a fence line and in and out of a dry pond.
PRACTICE:
Due to the long drive to this property, Cash and I drove to Decatur the night before and stayed in a local hotel. On Sunday morning, we arrived at the track around 9:30am to do some practice laps. It was bitter cold, so we decided to put on our full race suits over our clothes to keep warm during practice. I stepped away from the truck to remove the tie-downs and unload the RZR while Cash got suited up in the truck. When my son finally emerged from the truck, I jumped in the truck to get my suit on. I grabbed the race suit from my back seat and immediately realized there was a problem. My sleepy son put on MY race suit instead of his. Doh! We swapped race suits and drove the RZR to the track.
During our practice laps, I noticed a few things about this course.
First, this course is very different than a typical woods course. In fact, there were no tight woods. Instead, it was set-up like a large MX track for UTVs with lots of man-made jumps, small rolling hills, berms and a few sections that allow racers to choose alternate routes as they make their way around corners. There were a few sections that had multiple, zig-zag turns around mounds of dirt. If you cut the corner too close, you could easily send your RZR up on 2 weeks and/or roll over on its side.
In fact, during our last practice lap I saw two RZRs turned onto their sides at 2 different spots on the track. The 2nd one I saw had rolled over after making right hand turn over DEEP RUTS. I was the first person to arrive on the scene, so I jumped out of my RZR and ran over to help the driver flip his machine back onto 4 wheels. Once we got it on all fours, I noticed a small flame coming out of the tail pipe, which was very odd given that the motor was shut off. It was just a slow burning flame coming out of the muffler. I suspect fuel must have dripped into the muffler while the vehicle was laid on its side. In any case, I told the driver and he decided to start up the motor and try to blow out the flame. Luckily, that extinguished the flame and a large smoke ring (similar to a smoke ring from a cigar smoker) came out followed by a large puff of dark smoke came out as the motor roared to life. I'm glad I noticed the flame and it didn't end up burning his UTV to the ground.
Second, I also noticed the course was relatively smooth, especially on the front half of the course.
Last, I noticed the course had plenty of wide sections to allow for passing opportunities, especially when riding over table tops or small man-made jumps/rolling hills.
UTV INTERMEDIATE CLASS:
Only 3 side by sides lined up on the starting line of the UTV Intermediate class, including JW on his blue RZR 1k, Eric on his white RZR 1k and myself on my red RZR 900xp. This was the smallest turn-out of the season as we typically enjoyed 7 or 8 UTVs in our class. A few of the regulars from our class showed up to race, but didn't actually race due to last minute mechanical problems or other reasons. Even tho my fellow UTV racers didn't compete on this day, it was great to visit with Serento, Zack, Rut and others before our race.
STRATEGY:
As the last race of the season, all racers were very much aware of their standings in season points. In my class, JW was currently the points leader, followed by Eric in 2nd overall and then myself in 3rd overall. JW was far enuf in the lead that all he had to do to clinch the championship was to finish the race without a DNF. Similarly, Eric only needed to finish the race without a DNF to claim a 2nd place overall for the season. As for me, I could not catch either JW or Eric unless they happened to break down early and get a DNF. Because no one else raced with us this day, that meant I had already clinched 3rd place in season points regardless of how I finished this race. That took some pressure off, but it would have been more interesting if I had a fighting chance of winning the championship.
All 3 of us were looking forward to an easy, mistake-free race without any DNFs. At least that was the plan until 30 seconds into the race when I finally realized that Cash and I had NOTHING TO LOSE even if we got a DNF. In fact, I realized that I didn't even have to race that day to secure 3rd place overall for the season. With nothing to lose, I decided to push hard in this race and try to accomplish something I have yet to accomplish this entire season... take the win! CHARGE!!!
THE START:
On the starting line, we were facing a short run (maybe 30') to the first left-hand turn. I was lined up in the middle with JW on my left and Eric to my right. The green flag went up and off we went.
JW jumped out to take a commanding lead and made the turn just in front of Eric and me. With JW about 1 car length ahead, Eric stayed right beside me as we made the first few left-hand turn together and hit a small rolling jump. As we made our way to the the first right-hand turn with two separate lanes to choose from, I fell in behind JW on the left and Eric took the right lane. We came out the other side with JW first, Eric 2nd and me in 3rd.
LAPS 1 through 4:
As lap 1 progressed, the course ran alongside a fence and then made a sharp right turn towards some rolling hills/jumps and then it made a 180 degree left hand turn and took riders toward the fence again. On the next corner, the course split into 2 separate lanes and made a sweeping right hand turn. JW took the outside lane and Eric and I took the inside lane. When the lanes came back together about 200' up the track, Eric took the lead from JW and I fell in behind JW. I stayed on JW's bumper for the next mile or so through the rough section near the back of the property and then we proceeded towards the smoother sections near the front of the property. On one of the left hand turns in the large pasture area, JW pulled to the side and let Cash and me pass. With JW in my rear view mirror, I mashed the pedal and set my sights on Eric who was only about 7 seconds ahead of me at that point.
For the next 4 laps, I maintained the same distance behind Eric despite pushing my RZR as hard as I could while also trying to avoid any costly mistakes like flipping it over onto its side.
LAPS 5 through 10:
About half way through the 5th lap, I saw a Pro class racer (Hunter Miller) catching up to Cash and me near the rough section at the back of the property. I held Hunter off as long as I could, but it wasn't long before he passed me and then I could see both Eric and Hunter in front of me. At this point, Eric was starting to gain distance on me and soon Eric and Hunter were both out of my line of sight. I continued to race hard and try to catch Eric.
As we hit the smooth jumps and berms near the front of the property, I suddenly saw Eric pulled off the side of the course. I waive and it appeared he was ok and it was just a mechanical problem of some sort. I later found out that Eric had taken a turn too fast and damaged an axle, wheel bearing and/or knuckle that caused one of his wheels to almost fall off. That meant Cash and I had finally taken over lead position and were on track to take the win! Cash and I high fived each other... Yee haw!
On one of the last laps, I caught up to JW again. He was taking it easy and playing it safe to finish the race and secure his season championship. (I would have done the same thing). I lapped him and kept the pedal to the floor.
Near the end of my 9th lap, I could see a yellow Yamaha YXZ not too far behind me and he was slowly catching up to me. Just for fun, I decided to try my best to stay ahead of him and avoid getting passed before we hit the finish line. Unfortunately for me, I soon discovered that was not the last lap and I had another lap to go to hold him off til the checkered flag.
RACE RESULTS:
After the dust settled, Cash and I took the win!! This was our very first win in a UTV race and also my very first TORN win after 3 years of ATV racing and 1 year of UTV racing. We were also able to avoiding getting passed by the Yamaha during the final few laps, which was not easy as he was getting very close to us when we finally reached the checkered flag. JW took 2nd place in the race and Eric took 3rd.
CONGRATS to JW for winning the season championship in the UTV Intermediate class and also to Eric for taking 2nd place overall. I finished 3rd overall (just 3 points behind Eric!). Not bad for my first year racing a UTV. I thoroughly enjoyed racing this year with JW, Eric, Cash, Serento, Zack, Rut and the rest of the guys from the UTV Intermediate and Novice classes. My lil red 900xp was definitely not the fastest UTV on the track, but it was very reliable and consistently kept me in the top 4 spots each race.
As always, I have to say a big THANK YOU to TORN for putting on another FUN event!
WHERE:
Alvord, TX… it’s just a speck on the map about 50 miles north of Ft. Worth. This race was located at a MX track called Oak Hill Raceway. The track was laid out in the large, open pasture areas surrounding the main MX track. The course had tons of dirt work and resembled a giant MX track for UTVs, minus the big scary jumps and whoops sections.
TRACK CONDITIONS:
On race day (Sunday), the UTV racers endured chilly temps in the mid-30s during morning practice. After practice, sunny skies filled the sky and led to warmer temps in the mid-50s by race time. It turned out to be a beautiful day for XC racing!
The UTV track length was 2.7 miles in length. The front half of the course (near the property entrance) was relatively smooth and included several small to medium sized, man-made jumps, berms and table top jumps set in the large pasture areas. The back half of the course was rougher and included more natural terrain along a fence line and in and out of a dry pond.
PRACTICE:
Due to the long drive to this property, Cash and I drove to Decatur the night before and stayed in a local hotel. On Sunday morning, we arrived at the track around 9:30am to do some practice laps. It was bitter cold, so we decided to put on our full race suits over our clothes to keep warm during practice. I stepped away from the truck to remove the tie-downs and unload the RZR while Cash got suited up in the truck. When my son finally emerged from the truck, I jumped in the truck to get my suit on. I grabbed the race suit from my back seat and immediately realized there was a problem. My sleepy son put on MY race suit instead of his. Doh! We swapped race suits and drove the RZR to the track.
During our practice laps, I noticed a few things about this course.
First, this course is very different than a typical woods course. In fact, there were no tight woods. Instead, it was set-up like a large MX track for UTVs with lots of man-made jumps, small rolling hills, berms and a few sections that allow racers to choose alternate routes as they make their way around corners. There were a few sections that had multiple, zig-zag turns around mounds of dirt. If you cut the corner too close, you could easily send your RZR up on 2 weeks and/or roll over on its side.
In fact, during our last practice lap I saw two RZRs turned onto their sides at 2 different spots on the track. The 2nd one I saw had rolled over after making right hand turn over DEEP RUTS. I was the first person to arrive on the scene, so I jumped out of my RZR and ran over to help the driver flip his machine back onto 4 wheels. Once we got it on all fours, I noticed a small flame coming out of the tail pipe, which was very odd given that the motor was shut off. It was just a slow burning flame coming out of the muffler. I suspect fuel must have dripped into the muffler while the vehicle was laid on its side. In any case, I told the driver and he decided to start up the motor and try to blow out the flame. Luckily, that extinguished the flame and a large smoke ring (similar to a smoke ring from a cigar smoker) came out followed by a large puff of dark smoke came out as the motor roared to life. I'm glad I noticed the flame and it didn't end up burning his UTV to the ground.
Second, I also noticed the course was relatively smooth, especially on the front half of the course.
Last, I noticed the course had plenty of wide sections to allow for passing opportunities, especially when riding over table tops or small man-made jumps/rolling hills.
UTV INTERMEDIATE CLASS:
Only 3 side by sides lined up on the starting line of the UTV Intermediate class, including JW on his blue RZR 1k, Eric on his white RZR 1k and myself on my red RZR 900xp. This was the smallest turn-out of the season as we typically enjoyed 7 or 8 UTVs in our class. A few of the regulars from our class showed up to race, but didn't actually race due to last minute mechanical problems or other reasons. Even tho my fellow UTV racers didn't compete on this day, it was great to visit with Serento, Zack, Rut and others before our race.
STRATEGY:
As the last race of the season, all racers were very much aware of their standings in season points. In my class, JW was currently the points leader, followed by Eric in 2nd overall and then myself in 3rd overall. JW was far enuf in the lead that all he had to do to clinch the championship was to finish the race without a DNF. Similarly, Eric only needed to finish the race without a DNF to claim a 2nd place overall for the season. As for me, I could not catch either JW or Eric unless they happened to break down early and get a DNF. Because no one else raced with us this day, that meant I had already clinched 3rd place in season points regardless of how I finished this race. That took some pressure off, but it would have been more interesting if I had a fighting chance of winning the championship.
All 3 of us were looking forward to an easy, mistake-free race without any DNFs. At least that was the plan until 30 seconds into the race when I finally realized that Cash and I had NOTHING TO LOSE even if we got a DNF. In fact, I realized that I didn't even have to race that day to secure 3rd place overall for the season. With nothing to lose, I decided to push hard in this race and try to accomplish something I have yet to accomplish this entire season... take the win! CHARGE!!!
THE START:
On the starting line, we were facing a short run (maybe 30') to the first left-hand turn. I was lined up in the middle with JW on my left and Eric to my right. The green flag went up and off we went.
JW jumped out to take a commanding lead and made the turn just in front of Eric and me. With JW about 1 car length ahead, Eric stayed right beside me as we made the first few left-hand turn together and hit a small rolling jump. As we made our way to the the first right-hand turn with two separate lanes to choose from, I fell in behind JW on the left and Eric took the right lane. We came out the other side with JW first, Eric 2nd and me in 3rd.
LAPS 1 through 4:
As lap 1 progressed, the course ran alongside a fence and then made a sharp right turn towards some rolling hills/jumps and then it made a 180 degree left hand turn and took riders toward the fence again. On the next corner, the course split into 2 separate lanes and made a sweeping right hand turn. JW took the outside lane and Eric and I took the inside lane. When the lanes came back together about 200' up the track, Eric took the lead from JW and I fell in behind JW. I stayed on JW's bumper for the next mile or so through the rough section near the back of the property and then we proceeded towards the smoother sections near the front of the property. On one of the left hand turns in the large pasture area, JW pulled to the side and let Cash and me pass. With JW in my rear view mirror, I mashed the pedal and set my sights on Eric who was only about 7 seconds ahead of me at that point.
For the next 4 laps, I maintained the same distance behind Eric despite pushing my RZR as hard as I could while also trying to avoid any costly mistakes like flipping it over onto its side.
LAPS 5 through 10:
About half way through the 5th lap, I saw a Pro class racer (Hunter Miller) catching up to Cash and me near the rough section at the back of the property. I held Hunter off as long as I could, but it wasn't long before he passed me and then I could see both Eric and Hunter in front of me. At this point, Eric was starting to gain distance on me and soon Eric and Hunter were both out of my line of sight. I continued to race hard and try to catch Eric.
As we hit the smooth jumps and berms near the front of the property, I suddenly saw Eric pulled off the side of the course. I waive and it appeared he was ok and it was just a mechanical problem of some sort. I later found out that Eric had taken a turn too fast and damaged an axle, wheel bearing and/or knuckle that caused one of his wheels to almost fall off. That meant Cash and I had finally taken over lead position and were on track to take the win! Cash and I high fived each other... Yee haw!
On one of the last laps, I caught up to JW again. He was taking it easy and playing it safe to finish the race and secure his season championship. (I would have done the same thing). I lapped him and kept the pedal to the floor.
Near the end of my 9th lap, I could see a yellow Yamaha YXZ not too far behind me and he was slowly catching up to me. Just for fun, I decided to try my best to stay ahead of him and avoid getting passed before we hit the finish line. Unfortunately for me, I soon discovered that was not the last lap and I had another lap to go to hold him off til the checkered flag.
RACE RESULTS:
After the dust settled, Cash and I took the win!! This was our very first win in a UTV race and also my very first TORN win after 3 years of ATV racing and 1 year of UTV racing. We were also able to avoiding getting passed by the Yamaha during the final few laps, which was not easy as he was getting very close to us when we finally reached the checkered flag. JW took 2nd place in the race and Eric took 3rd.
CONGRATS to JW for winning the season championship in the UTV Intermediate class and also to Eric for taking 2nd place overall. I finished 3rd overall (just 3 points behind Eric!). Not bad for my first year racing a UTV. I thoroughly enjoyed racing this year with JW, Eric, Cash, Serento, Zack, Rut and the rest of the guys from the UTV Intermediate and Novice classes. My lil red 900xp was definitely not the fastest UTV on the track, but it was very reliable and consistently kept me in the top 4 spots each race.
As always, I have to say a big THANK YOU to TORN for putting on another FUN event!