FUN DAY racing my Twin Peaks 800 at local 500' sand drag races (Hallettsville, TX)
#1
05-31-2010, 07:30 PM
FUN DAY racing my Twin Peaks 800 at local 500' sand drag races (Hallettsville, TX)
Last Saturday, I went to the 500' sand drag races at Mud Buddy's near Hallettsville, TX. It was a very low turn-out for the races, but I had fun anyway. The best part was meeting up with a few guys that I met via the atv forums, including Buck200x (Ryan) and Hellrzr (Chase). Anyway, we had a great time and below is a write-up of my day.
MEETING UP WITH OLD FRIENDS
After the 3 hour drive to Mudbuddy's atv park, I found Ryan and Chase parked in the shade. Shaded parking is worth its weight in gold on this day as it was sunny and 95 degrees.
It was good to see my old friends Ryan and Chase. Ryan's KFX700 just underwent an AMR 730 upgrade and his fresh motor sounded awesome thru the Muzzy pipe. Chase brought his new RZR S and that thing was a blast to ride in. Chase's wife (Rachel) and their friend (Daniel) drove a Rhino (the beer wagon) around with us.
CLASSES
At the sign-ups, I entered the "open/2 stroke class" and the "4x4 class 600-1000cc", but I was the only one to enter the 4x4 class so they moved me to the "sport quad class."
While at sign-ups, a guy named Lonnie introduced himself and told me he heard about my twin peaks. I found out that Lonnie has a very quick banshee and he recently raced a slightly faster banshee (owned by Tyler). Tyler and I recently raced together at a different sand drag strip. Tyler's banshee (which has a twister motor, extended swing arm, paddles, etc.) runs mid 4's in 300' and has beaten both Lonnie and me, so Lonnie and I figured that our quads would make for a close race today.
THE DRAG STRIP
This drag strip is not fancy, but it does have a tree and dozens of spectators lined both sides to watch our races. I'm guessing the sand drag strip is 500' from starting line to the finish line and very narrow (approx. the width of a typical 2 lane road). Before they dragged it with the tractor, it was very bumpy. After they groomed it, it was much smoother and had a good layer of very loose river sand. My blasters seem to LOVE this stuff!
THE COMPETITION
Unfortunately, there was a low turn-out for these drag races. I'm guessing about 10 entries TOTAL racing in 3 classes; I competed in 2 classes.
My fastest competitor in the open/2 stroke class was Lonnie's Banshee (not sure about the motor, but it was set-up well for drags including extended swingarm, paddle tires, etc.). There were also a few blasters in this class.
My fastest competitor in the sport quad class was a built Raptor 660 (lowered, paddle tires, and he supposedly spent $7K on the motor). There was also a few mild YFZ 450s with paddles. Like I said above, it was a very low turn-out for these races.
PRACTICE PASSES
After I signed up, I made a few practice passes with the stock tires and my tires spun badly (in 4wd) on the launch. This drag track was very bumpy and it got pretty scary on the last 200' or so. I went back to the truck and added the rear sand tires (26" blasters). I made a few practice passes and it hooked up much better and seemed much more stable with these (wide) sand tires. I didn't have my wheelie bar installed at this event b/c the track is not smooth enough for a bar.
My quad has been running very good lately except that it pushes some coolant into the overflow bottle whenever I spray. My game plan was to use the spray only when I needed to so as to prevent any problems with coolant loss.
THE MONEY RACES
They called out the first bracket for the open/2 stroke class and guess what? My first race was against Lonnie's banshee...so much for my plan to hold off on the nitrous until I really needed it! lol They put me in the right lane and Lonnie in the left lane. When the tree showed green, I left the line on the button (this was my first time to spray at this track, so I was nervous as to how it would launch). It lifted the front end off the ground and started pulling to the right. These are NARROW lanes, so there was not much room before you run out of bounds. I let out off the button and the throttle to straighten up. When I did, I glanced over and saw that Lonnie was slightly behind me. I nailed the throttle and pressed the button again. I held it all the way down the track and much to my relief, Lonnie never caught me. I glanced down at the temp gauge and the temps looked normal. Whew! One race down, more to go.
I spoke to Lonnie afterwards and he explained that he accidentally started off in 1st gear...that explained his lousy start.
The rest of the money races were much easier. I raced the raptor 660 (or whatever size motor it is now) and I beat him by 7 or 8 quad lengths. I had similar results or better when I raced the YFZ 450's. I think I half-tracked the poor kid on the blaster and I didn't even bother to spray on that pass. lol
I ended up winning both classes and won some prize money. To sum it up, I was a big fish in a small pond. But that's ok...was still alot of fun and I enjoyed meeting/racing with those that showed up.
"JUST FOR BRAGGING RIGHTS" RACES
For fun, I lined up with Lonnie's Banshee for our 2nd race. This time, he launched in 2nd and got out of the hole very fast. I pulled a big wheelie off the line and my quad pulled hard to the right. I barely missed the stakes/ropes that line the boundary and I had to let out and strighten up. By the time I got it straight, Lonnie was already 4 or 5 quads ahead of me. I tried to catch him, but I didn't gain or lose any ground on his banshee the rest of the way down the track.
I line up with Lonnie's Banshee once more. This time, we swapped lanes and we both lauched well. I stayed ahead of him the whole race and won. Yes, I was spraying the whole time I raced him.
The built raptor raced Lonnie's banshee, but something was obviously wrong with the Banshee as it sped down the track and the raptor pulled out a win. When the banshee returned to the starting area, it was barely running and Lonnie discovered it was almost out of fuel. He quickly refueled it, but the raptor guy refused to race him again (not even for fun)! lol I guess he knew what the outcome would have been! lol
AFTER THE RACES
I hung out with my friends at the river (under the shade trees) and we enjoyed a few cold ones. Chase took me for a fast-paced ride in his RZR S on the trails and I was impressed how well it soaked up the rough bumps and power slides around sharp corners. Was a VERY fun ride!
CONCLUSION
Overall, the racing was fun despite the lousy turn-out and I enjoyed hanging out with old friends. I also won $42 in prize money. Not a bad way to spend the day!
Here's a few pics of the racing action.
Happy trails...
MEETING UP WITH OLD FRIENDS
After the 3 hour drive to Mudbuddy's atv park, I found Ryan and Chase parked in the shade. Shaded parking is worth its weight in gold on this day as it was sunny and 95 degrees.
It was good to see my old friends Ryan and Chase. Ryan's KFX700 just underwent an AMR 730 upgrade and his fresh motor sounded awesome thru the Muzzy pipe. Chase brought his new RZR S and that thing was a blast to ride in. Chase's wife (Rachel) and their friend (Daniel) drove a Rhino (the beer wagon) around with us.
CLASSES
At the sign-ups, I entered the "open/2 stroke class" and the "4x4 class 600-1000cc", but I was the only one to enter the 4x4 class so they moved me to the "sport quad class."
While at sign-ups, a guy named Lonnie introduced himself and told me he heard about my twin peaks. I found out that Lonnie has a very quick banshee and he recently raced a slightly faster banshee (owned by Tyler). Tyler and I recently raced together at a different sand drag strip. Tyler's banshee (which has a twister motor, extended swing arm, paddles, etc.) runs mid 4's in 300' and has beaten both Lonnie and me, so Lonnie and I figured that our quads would make for a close race today.
THE DRAG STRIP
This drag strip is not fancy, but it does have a tree and dozens of spectators lined both sides to watch our races. I'm guessing the sand drag strip is 500' from starting line to the finish line and very narrow (approx. the width of a typical 2 lane road). Before they dragged it with the tractor, it was very bumpy. After they groomed it, it was much smoother and had a good layer of very loose river sand. My blasters seem to LOVE this stuff!
THE COMPETITION
Unfortunately, there was a low turn-out for these drag races. I'm guessing about 10 entries TOTAL racing in 3 classes; I competed in 2 classes.
My fastest competitor in the open/2 stroke class was Lonnie's Banshee (not sure about the motor, but it was set-up well for drags including extended swingarm, paddle tires, etc.). There were also a few blasters in this class.
My fastest competitor in the sport quad class was a built Raptor 660 (lowered, paddle tires, and he supposedly spent $7K on the motor). There was also a few mild YFZ 450s with paddles. Like I said above, it was a very low turn-out for these races.
PRACTICE PASSES
After I signed up, I made a few practice passes with the stock tires and my tires spun badly (in 4wd) on the launch. This drag track was very bumpy and it got pretty scary on the last 200' or so. I went back to the truck and added the rear sand tires (26" blasters). I made a few practice passes and it hooked up much better and seemed much more stable with these (wide) sand tires. I didn't have my wheelie bar installed at this event b/c the track is not smooth enough for a bar.
My quad has been running very good lately except that it pushes some coolant into the overflow bottle whenever I spray. My game plan was to use the spray only when I needed to so as to prevent any problems with coolant loss.
THE MONEY RACES
They called out the first bracket for the open/2 stroke class and guess what? My first race was against Lonnie's banshee...so much for my plan to hold off on the nitrous until I really needed it! lol They put me in the right lane and Lonnie in the left lane. When the tree showed green, I left the line on the button (this was my first time to spray at this track, so I was nervous as to how it would launch). It lifted the front end off the ground and started pulling to the right. These are NARROW lanes, so there was not much room before you run out of bounds. I let out off the button and the throttle to straighten up. When I did, I glanced over and saw that Lonnie was slightly behind me. I nailed the throttle and pressed the button again. I held it all the way down the track and much to my relief, Lonnie never caught me. I glanced down at the temp gauge and the temps looked normal. Whew! One race down, more to go.
I spoke to Lonnie afterwards and he explained that he accidentally started off in 1st gear...that explained his lousy start.
The rest of the money races were much easier. I raced the raptor 660 (or whatever size motor it is now) and I beat him by 7 or 8 quad lengths. I had similar results or better when I raced the YFZ 450's. I think I half-tracked the poor kid on the blaster and I didn't even bother to spray on that pass. lol
I ended up winning both classes and won some prize money. To sum it up, I was a big fish in a small pond. But that's ok...was still alot of fun and I enjoyed meeting/racing with those that showed up.
"JUST FOR BRAGGING RIGHTS" RACES
For fun, I lined up with Lonnie's Banshee for our 2nd race. This time, he launched in 2nd and got out of the hole very fast. I pulled a big wheelie off the line and my quad pulled hard to the right. I barely missed the stakes/ropes that line the boundary and I had to let out and strighten up. By the time I got it straight, Lonnie was already 4 or 5 quads ahead of me. I tried to catch him, but I didn't gain or lose any ground on his banshee the rest of the way down the track.
I line up with Lonnie's Banshee once more. This time, we swapped lanes and we both lauched well. I stayed ahead of him the whole race and won. Yes, I was spraying the whole time I raced him.
The built raptor raced Lonnie's banshee, but something was obviously wrong with the Banshee as it sped down the track and the raptor pulled out a win. When the banshee returned to the starting area, it was barely running and Lonnie discovered it was almost out of fuel. He quickly refueled it, but the raptor guy refused to race him again (not even for fun)! lol I guess he knew what the outcome would have been! lol
AFTER THE RACES
I hung out with my friends at the river (under the shade trees) and we enjoyed a few cold ones. Chase took me for a fast-paced ride in his RZR S on the trails and I was impressed how well it soaked up the rough bumps and power slides around sharp corners. Was a VERY fun ride!
CONCLUSION
Overall, the racing was fun despite the lousy turn-out and I enjoyed hanging out with old friends. I also won $42 in prize money. Not a bad way to spend the day!
Here's a few pics of the racing action.
Happy trails...
#3
06-01-2010, 01:08 PM
Thanks for the kind words. Yes, I think scheduling this race on a memorial day weekend was part of the problem with the low turn-out as most folks want to head out of town to the beach or spend time with family. They are supposed to have a few more races this summer, so hopefully the turn-out will be better.
Here's a few vids of me racing.
Me vs. Banshee
Sand Drag Races_2010 :: My Twin Peaks 800 vs Banshee video by Mikeyboy_esq - Photobucket
Me vs. Raptor
Sand Drag Races_2010 :: My Twin Peaks 800 vs Raptor 660 video by Mikeyboy_esq - Photobucket
Me vs YFZ450
Sand Drag Races_2010 :: My Twin Peaks vs YFZ 450 video by Mikeyboy_esq - Photobucket
Me (no nitrous) vs Blaster
Sand Drag Races_2010 :: My Twin Peaks all motor run vs Blaster video by Mikeyboy_esq - Photobucket
Let me know what you think.
Happy trails...
Here's a few vids of me racing.
Me vs. Banshee
Sand Drag Races_2010 :: My Twin Peaks 800 vs Banshee video by Mikeyboy_esq - Photobucket
Me vs. Raptor
Sand Drag Races_2010 :: My Twin Peaks 800 vs Raptor 660 video by Mikeyboy_esq - Photobucket
Me vs YFZ450
Sand Drag Races_2010 :: My Twin Peaks vs YFZ 450 video by Mikeyboy_esq - Photobucket
Me (no nitrous) vs Blaster
Sand Drag Races_2010 :: My Twin Peaks all motor run vs Blaster video by Mikeyboy_esq - Photobucket
Let me know what you think.
Happy trails...
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