Congratulations to Sportin' Wood . . .

[My Man's Sportin' Wood]

and Dust Junkies Racing (DJR). They came in 10th out of 32 starters in the Jeepspeed 1700 class at the MDR Barstow 250. Not bad for their second race and Jeff's first time racing in the vehicle. Maybe he can post some links to some pics later, I've gotta get to work. Congrats, hunny, you guys did great!

[Debbolas]

Congrats!!! :D :clover: :D

[BarryMac]

Congrats brother...

[shueman]

Way cool...congrats ;) didn't get over the hill to watch though... :(

[AZKC]

Nice work Jeff, you guys been bustin ass. its good to see the hard work payoff. Now go out and win one;)

[Ivan Dan]

Congrats Jeff! I bet you had a blast....I know you generally post your race reports on pirate4x4.com but lets hear the story.

[Lightning]

Congrats...glad to see they finished.

[Hustler]

Congrates on the great finish Jeff.

[Sportin' Wood]

http://rockbuggysupply.com/rbbs/index.php?board=13.0
This should get you started copy/paste from the RBS board.
There are some pics over there and I bet more will show up soon.
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I find it hard to describe what it is like to build a race car and pull a group of people together from all walks of your life to attempt a race. I am sure there are many stories that will be told from the Dust Junkies first finish, and I could write a small novel on just that subject but I will skip to the good stuff.
DJR spent 4 weeks pre running. I ran the course 4 times myself and felt confident in the lines that Parker and I chose.
Our Pit Crew at Pit C is where I would like to start my story.
Pit C was assembled Friday night before the race. Parker and I prepared to handle the entire stop with no help as we just where not sure who we could get. A few phone calls and a cry for help on the RBS and JA board netted us a fine crew indeed.
Gary Moss and Darryl Spradlin old friends from High School and wheeling came out with the families, as well as Mike and Jay from JA. We assisted the guys at the stating line and made sure that Angie, Noey and my Dad Larry had the timing figured out. We then blasted down to pit C where Gary blew up the engine in his flatty damn near pulling it off the trailer. We set up our pit just in time to see the leaders of Jeepspeed coming thru.
Every thing looked good so Hartman kept motoring. Dan was calling out mile markers and all the Jeepspeeds that they passed which kept the crew fired up. Then disaster, the clutch linkage let go followed by a horrible vibration a few miles past pit C.
Hartman and Turner figured out the front drive shaft broke but could not figure out the Clutch. As they came into main pit we waited for word.
Word soon came from LJ the crew chief that the clutch was fixed, the front drive shaft was out, but the car would be real loose as we had set it up to run 4 wheel drive .No more trouble and Hartman dropped of the car to Mark and Jack Graef . Mark made no stops ran hard and delivered the car to Pit C in a timely fashion in about 16th place as far as we could figure.
This is where it gets good. This group assembled in a spur of the moment with little experience amazed me. We did a driver change, dumped 5 gallons of fuel, and tightened all the lugs in what seemed like seconds. I’m guessing the whole stop took about 2-3 minutes. We had an extremely safe and quick pit stop.
It took me a few miles to get use to the 2 wheel drive car. There was no time to adjust as I was only maybe 30 seconds behind my friend Jeff Jordan in the 1744 Jeepspeed.
I made his dust in what seemed like seconds and we started a battle that would last for over 10 miles. Jordan and I swapped spots no less then 10 times in that stretch with more then a few near misses, and close calls. It seemed Jeff knew almost everyone of my lines but I had a few he did not. We both worked our butts off fighting for the lead. Jeff finally made a mistake at the top of the hill around race mile 5. If I had not gotten by him there I would have had to wait 4 more miles to get around him. I never saw Jordan after that pass until the finish line.
Between Check point 1 and Pit B I never saw a car in front of me or behind. The track was littered with broken cars from all classes. In this section I was able to relax and learn something about the car. As we blasted past pit B, I wanted to know only one thing How far till the next Jeepspeed. I had a taste for battle and I was hungry for more. We could not get Pit B on the radio as the volume some how was turned down but Scott could see dust a mile ahead and it looked like a jeepspeed. Our line up the hill was with out a doubt the perfect line. A 1450 was broken down on the course and our line was clear fast and smooth. We blasted past the wreckage seemingly on fire and crested the hill on a mission. I had reeled in the dust by the top of the hill and attempted to close the gap on the way down. We where in the dust by the bottom heavy on the throttle when we realized it was not just a Jeepspeed but a 1450 fighting with the Jeepspeed. At the bottom of the hill we had another perfect line and as luck had it the 1450 went right, the jeepsped went left and we blasted past the 1450.. I chuckled as we went by and told Scott.” He just got dealt by a Jeepspeed, how’s that feel BBIIITTTCCHHHH!”
Now I wanted the Jeepspeed car and I had him less then a minute later. We made dust and the jeepspeed fell far behind. I never saw him again.
As we pulled near Pit C the crew was telling us to put it to the floor. 3 Jeepspeeds where fighting coming into pit C and we might be able to catch the as the battle looked to be taking its toll. They where right. We passed two more Jeepspeeds broken down shortly after Pit C. I finally had a feel for he car as we blasted the last 6 miles of the course in 5th gear pouring the coals to it. Our line was still pretty good and with out Jordans dust fantastic. As we came into the sharp right turn I told Scott something is wrong. We have a flat or something, the car got real loose. I mean real loose. We made pretty good time the last mile but main pit was telling us to stay far right thru the pits. I had a hard time finding the entrance to the far right lane and with the car handling so poorly I just wanted to get to the finish. Lucky we made it. I lost the rear coils spring retainer and the drivers side coil spring was falling out. The drivers side front tire was nearly flat as well. But we finished! After getting the unofficial results from MDR We figured out that we had finished 10th place
Not bad for the first finish in a desert race. What a great time. At the finish a reporter for the dusty times asked me what the best part of the race was. I just smiled and said “ Being out here with my family and friends enjoying the desert.” Good times for sure.
Thanks to the entire DJR crew and sponsors. We are learning more about racing every day and hope to build one of the best teams in racing.
My personal goal was to beat my freinds that race Jepspeed, Fat City,Jeff jordan, and Mike Shaffer. Guess what? We beat them all!

[Sportin' Wood]

OK more just for Hot boat.
The whole weekend was a total blast.
I pulled my 10 year old son out of school on Friday and he and I went up Thursday night to find a good spot for main pit. The race trailer and about 1/2 the team showed up late Thursday night. We lucked out and got a great main pit spot. Friday morning my Son and I went for one last pre run. That was really the highlight of my weekend. In the past Cody was always a little scared of Rock crawling the rough stuff so I wanted to take it a little easy. Wrong! He finally likes to go for it. He was yelling in the headset faster Dad faster and pretending we where racing. He was calling out the lines and reading the GPS like an old pro. Too much Dust to Glory I think because he kept screaming " Go Pflueger Go! I will likely never forget that moment we shared. look out cause someday that kid will be driving.
Friday afternoon we went to tech and I blew an interview with paradigm films. Its been a while since I had a camera in my face and I just feel I blew the interview. Oh well! The day was really great regardless as my Dad came out Friday and he and I rarely get to spend time together. I guess all the money and time was worth that in itself. Now if I could just get my brother out there.:rolleyes:
Friday night we had a last ditch pit meeting and I was amazed how many people showed up. I'm guessing around 35 people just to cover pits.
Mark and Jen Underwood packed the entire team box breakfast and lunches for race day and we made last minute plans.
Race day report is above but the post race BBQ was a blast. I think we had 50 people all kicking back around the race trailer drinking beers eating BBQ and watching and chearing all the racers still trying to finish. What a good time that was. Shortly after dark the band fired up two pits down and played well into the night. My 14 year old daughter really enjoyed the band.
It was a great weekend and I can't wait till the next race which is a night race Aug.11th in Lucerne valley.
The writer for Dusty times hit me up right as I got out of the car and ask what the best part of the race was?
" Just spending time with family and friends, it does not matter where we finished as long as we are having fun together"
Thanks for the interest guys. Your all welcome to join the Dust Junkies any time you want. We are training for baja! This weekend beat all my trips with the Pflueger team hands down.

[2Driver]

Nice job, Congrats!!!!!!!!! Wish I could have been there.

[Big Kahunaa]

congrats my buddy was co driving with sigal

[Sportin' Wood]

congrats my buddy was co driving with sigal
She brought it home before the time expired, looks like lap 3 gave her trouble. That Jeepspeed cracks me up. Flower Power!

[Ivan Dan]

Hey Jeff....if you ever need any help like that again give me a buzz I'd be happy to help out.
Sounds like you had a great time! So when is the next race?

[shueman]

Great stuff....congrats again... :cool:

[Sportin' Wood]

Hey Jeff....if you ever need any help like that again give me a buzz I'd be happy to help out.
Sounds like you had a great time! So when is the next race?
August 11th, Night race MDR out at Lucurne.
I'm gonna start prerunning in May. One day trip and then a bunch of night trips.

[DILLIGAF]

Good job Jeff. Having the family with you and supporting you makes it even much more sweet.
:)

[Ivan Dan]

Here is a little video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSvoi4-cw_M) that was posted on Race-dezert.com from this race. I thought some of you might enjoy seeing Jeff in action. He is at the 3 minutes and 2 seconds mark.

[Ivan Dan]

August 11th, Night race MDR out at Lucurne.
I'm gonna start prerunning in May. One day trip and then a bunch of night trips.
Cool deal! Keep me in the loop as we get a little closer and I'd be happy to help ya out either pre-running, for the race or both.

[Ivan Dan]

Here he is again at the 1 minute and 41 second mark on this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ4YNHbpznk).

[DaddyMack]

Great job!! congrats!!

[hot_diggity_dog]

Great job it will only get better
HDD

[Sportin' Wood]

Thanks for posting those Dan.

[Ivan Dan]

Thanks for posting those Dan.
No prob!

[Baja Big Dog]

Loose the 4 wheel drive, you dont need it in Barstow or any of the Cali races, Mexico yes, Cali no.
Straight axle, less weight, and the car handles better after you get used to it.
Raced it for years (1700 Peltzer racing pumpkin). Just sold the car after rolling it and getting t boned.

[Sportin' Wood]

Loose the 4 wheel drive, you dont need it in Barstow or any of the Cali races, Mexico yes, Cali no.
Straight axle, less weight, and the car handles better after you get used to it.
Raced it for years (1700 Peltzer racing pumpkin). Just sold the car after rolling it and getting t boned.
I'm familiar with that car considered buying it.The "kid" got a great deal on it I hear. Are you Peltzer? Fat City Eric tried to talk me into that car rather then building the Wrangler
Jeepspeed mandates we keep the front axle. due to the wrangler have a couple advantages over the chickOree's.
In my humble experience. I can drive a 4 wheel drive car faster then a 2 wheel drive straight axle car. I know common knowledge is that 2 wheel drive is faster. But I'm faster with a 4 wheel drive then a 2 wheel drive. Alot Faster. I can run about 10-15 miles an hour faster throught the same stretch of dirt in 4 then 2. The rear end stays put in 4 wheel drive where it walks all over in 2 wheel. More fun Drifting all over the place in 2 but for a short wheel base limited travel car I'll stick with all wheel drive.
I do wish we could save some weight thats for sure.