Congrats to Sportin' Wood and Jeepin' Scott!

[My Man's Sportin' Wood]

1st place win in their class at the BITD Henderson's Terrible 400! I'm so proud of them. Wish I was there :(

[OCMerrill]

WOW congrats!
This is looking like a pattern! :D

[My Man's Sportin' Wood]

Here's a link to the official results:
official results (http://www.bitd.com/results/2007/2007HT400/2007HT4002LapCTRes.pdf)

[PARKER ED]

Congrats You guys going to be racing in Parker next year?

[Mandelon]

Awesome. Must be nice to be retired already eh? :D

[Ivan Dan]

Great job fellas! Hope you guys had fun out there.

[OutCole'd]

Congrats! I was out there with a friend with the Staats team. We broke 1 1/2 laps into it. Broke the tranny, sucks to break, he was leading his class running great.

[Sportin' Wood]

Thanks guys,
first win is the best. It was not without troubles, but all good in the end.
Co dog; " Jeff there's something coming a little ways back........2 seconds later.... Wham! Aahhhhh Jeff its a trophy truck!:D
A really good freind of mine wrote a program that keeps track of all the cars in class, and he can use that information with the crew chief to tell us what we need to do to win. Dave comes running up to me 30 seconds before I get the car and says, Jeff your getting the car in 6th place. You are gonna have to kick its a$$ if you wanna win. The lead car is driving 2 MPH average speed faster then the us in the first lap. I looked at him and said "rabbits run short races, let me know where I am at pit one.( 15 miles away)
I ran a little slower then the first lap, but the course was nothing but a mud bog. I passed the "rabbit" parked on the side of the road and made third before pit one. The two guys ahead of me are damn good drivers. 2 miles after pit one I lost my pumper, and radio in the helmet, so I had no info comming in the headset, and my visor would fog up when closed. I put my head down and went to work over the next 20 miles trying play catch up. By pit 3; 1,2,and 3 where bumper to bumper and doing battle. We raced three wide for over 10 miles, I had no radio or gps info so I just went back to my motorcross days and read the terrain and the guys in front of me pushing them as hard as I could.
In a wide spot on the course it was an all out drag race 3 wide. The damn cars are so even we could not pull them. I had to look for traction and use that to get around. It worked as the 2nd place driver and us in 3rd slingshot past the lead car. I then went back to work pressing the new leader and waiting for a mistake. 2 or 3 miles later I had my chance, and we traded paint as I passed him. I then tried to get as much time on them as I could. I was driving the car completly over my head at this point. We raced hard all the way to the finsh 25 miles or so away, and ended up rubbing each other in the infield finishing bumper to bumper.
The programmer I later found out was yelling in the radio for me to let him pass because we had 1:30 on him because he started ahead of us, but I had no radio. There was no way I was letting him pass me in front of all those people. The rev limiter was my friend. Dave the programmer later told me I was running 40 second miles coming into the finish. I was way over my head.:D
The true hero of the day was Jeepin Scott, He brought a perfect car in to me after his lap and kept us in the hunt. We had a plan and it worked.
Daddy Mac came out and helped in the pits as well, Thanks Steve!

[photo chick]

Wow Congrats!! I'd love to photograph one of those races one day!!

[jeepinscott]

Everyone that has been around our pit knows that race morning I am not around the car until the Nth hour. I hang out in the trailer stay warm, or cool, and let our crew get the car ready. They are the best crew out there, bar none. I have the utmost confidence that LJ will check everything and give me a car that is ready to go. While we were at Main, Bob and Machelle were at remote pit 3, on the other side of the mountains from us, out of radio contact and setting up everything we needed.
Danny and I had long underwear under our driver suits as we walked out the door of the trailer. We looked around and saw the sun shining and did a quick U-turn to shed the extra layer, in fear of being too hot in the car. We emerged again to see the car ready to go, blaring the new red, white and black Banks Power colors. That was the last of the red and white we would see all day, as it rained the entire 24 hours prior to race morning. We jumped in the new PRP seats and got comfortable as we drove through the puddles on the way to the start. At the start line Dan noticed that the GPS was not working. We drove the old fashioned way from there on out.
The start of the race was wet, very wet. We caught the first Jeepspeed within about 2 miles and honked and passed him. We then caught the entire class 3100 field and made our way through them in the mud without a horn. LaFortune caught us while we were passing cars as we got to the lakebed. That's where 4wd and the Interco TrXus mud terrains proved worthwhile. Jason was swapping side to side and we were tracking pretty straight. The first puddle I wiped my visor and smeared it bad, after that I just let the muddy water run off the side until we got out of the mud. Brian Hartman at pit 2 told us that Jason was about 2 minutes back.
In the rocks we were caught behind a 1450 truck forever. Just as we passed him, Jason and Eric Helgeson caught us, fully getting it. DJR's plan was to keep the car together and not break it or get flats in the rocks, make time where we can. It is the hardest thing to do to let cars go by when you have the speed and ability to catch them. The team had a plan and I am a team player. I let them go.
Dan and I kept plugging away, getting faster and faster as we went, passing more 1450's, then most of the 8100's. The back side of the course is first rally style flat hills with tight turns. We flat out made some time through there running the car on the edge. The flat out sections were fun and crazy yet exilerating. The Dream wheel speed calculator says 90MPH, but it could be off a little. All I know is we were flying!
The last section of rough Dan was reeling me in. I wanted to get there and Dan kept telling me that we need to give the car to Jeff and Scott like it was right now. It was smooth and perfect. The tires were good, sway bar still intact, no rattling or strange noises. Above 80mph there was a smell of fresh gear oil, but that turned out to be just a front pinion seal.
I saw Ray Griffith leaving the main pit area as we were pulling in. I knew that he was racing for the championship but didn't know where he was on course. After the pit stop and driver change, We were in 4th position and 6th place. I thought that I let us down, was too conservative. I knew that if it could be done, Jeff could do it. The car was perfect and Jeff is fast in a good car!
It was his turn to get it and he did! I want to thank our sponsors, my family and friends that help us in more ways than anyone can see. I cannot express the thanks that you all deserve for helping us realize our dreams.

[DILLIGAF]

Congrats!

[Sportin' Wood]

Full race report (long):D
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1st Dust Motorsports and the Dust Junkies leave the comfort zone and take the American racing wheels Jeepspeed challenge win at the Best in the desert Henderson 400.
The sky opened up and dropped buckets of much needed rain across Southern California and Nevada the day before the Henderson 400, turning the rock and silt filled course with nothing but race car grabbing mud. The huge gala planned for down town Henderson fizzled in the downpour, but not the spirits of the Dust Junkies as they accepted the uncomfortable circumstances, and focused on the ever-changing plan of attack. Crew Chief Jeff Ranney lead his Orange army to victory despite numerous set backs, and electronic trouble caused by the non stop rain leading up to the event. “ We lost the GPS unit only minutes before the race started, with all our pre run work wiped out, we knew we had to go old school” said Ranney
LJ Engineering and the Dust Junkies prepped the car better then ever, and decided to ring it out in Henderson. “ We did not know Keith Marion was in the run for Rookie of the year after racing Barstow and Henderson the prior season, and Jeff Jordan a no show at Henderson, we thought we had it in the bag. With that we decided to go for the make it or break it win at Henderson” Ranney continued. Jeepspeed rules allow a driver to compete at 2 events the previous year and still be eligible for Rookie status.
The Banks Power Jeepspeed left the line in 4th position with Scott Hartman once again taking the lead lap. “Our plan was to keep the car together while maintaining a pace that would be in striking range for the win” Hartman said. Sloshing through what seemed more a mud bog than a desert race, Hartman maintained a solid pace running less then 2 MPH off the leaders, and maintaining 4th position on the course. Hartman gave most of the credit for maintaining speed to the new Trxus MT tire they have been testing from Interco Tire Company. “ I was passing people stuck in the mud everywhere, Jason Lafortune had nothing for me, across the mud filled sections of course” Hartman continued. Scott caught and passed the entire class 3100 field in the mud without a horn as it quit after the first big mud bog. That's where 4wd and the Interco TrXus mud terrains proved worthwhile.
Dan Turner and Scott kept plugging away, getting faster and faster as they went, passing more 7100s, then most of the 8100's. Only Bob and Machelle Green at remote pit 3 heard the excitment in Dan's voice on the radio when he exclaimed, "We just passed Rod Hall in the Hummer like he was going backwards!!!" The back side of the course is fast rally style hills with tight turns and edgy corners. "We flat out made some time through there running the car on the edge of control," stated Hartman. The flat out sections were fun and crazy, yet exilerating. The Dream wheel speed calculator says around 90MPH, either way, we were hauling the mail! Hartman was flying low, getting every rpm he could from the Harland Sharp appointed valvetrain!
In the last section of rocks Dan was reeling Scott in. Hartman wanted to get to the driver change faster and Dan kept telling him that they needed to give the car to Jeff and Scott like it was right then without breaking it. It was smooth and perfect. The tires were good, sway bar still intact, no rattling or strange noises. As they pulled into the short course main pit area they saw Ray Griffith leaving. We knew that he was racing for the championship but didn't know where he was on course. After the pit stop and driver change, We were in 4th position on the course and somewhere between 5th and 6th place in corrected time. Scott thought that he let the team down, was too conservative but knew that if it could be done, Jeff could do it. The car was perfect and Jeff is fast in a good car!
Armed with the ability to track time splits and calculate the other drivers speeds, Dave Cole was able to let Knoll know just how fast he would need to run and where he would be able to gain on the leaders. The plan worked. By pit one only 15 miles after the driver change Knoll had moved the car into 3rd place, and was gaining on the leaders when Jeff lost his communication unit in the helmet, and his fresh air intake. “ It got real quiet all of a sudden and the face shield fogged over almost instantly.” Said Knoll, Scott Parker, Knoll’s navigator tried to fix the problem, but was unable. Knoll then shocked his team, and actually started running faster. “ I went into a zone and was 12 years old again on my RM 80, I just remember running hard and reading the terrain like I was on a bike, looking for traction and really trying to get the most out of the car” Knoll said.
At about Mile marker 32, Knoll saw a flash of a blue light in the tall brush in front of him. He knew it was a Jeepspeed. The race was on, and what a race it was. Class points leader Ray Griffith, race leader Eric Helgeson, and the Dust Junkies, came through pit 3 nearly bumper to bumper. The battle would rage for over 10 miles, as the drivers fought the muddy conditions, and massive whoops of the Nevada desert. Mixed in now with Trick Trucks and Class 1500 buggies the much slower Jeepspeeds would have to contend not only with each other, but the 800 Horsepower beast of the desert. For 10 miles and speeds over 70 MPH the cars calculated the next move. Helgeson and Knoll sling shot past Griffith and continued into battle. “ I knew I had to get the Championship said Ray Griffith, I had nothing for them and hoped they would take each other out”. Helgeson eventually was over taken by the Banks Power Jeepspeed as they swapped paint The Dust Junkies now lead the class for the first time. “ It was a little over whelming for a second" said Knoll. "Leading the class this well matched was huge for our Rookie team” Knoll, and Parker where able to get the head set working on Knolls helmet, and for the first time, Scott was able to inform Jeff that he needed to make time on Helgeson. At that point Knoll put the Hammer down. Back in the Main pit the Dust Junkies team looked at the stats in amazement. Knoll was clocking 40-second miles on average, meaning the car had to be running in the 90-MPH range for multiple miles.
Some how the champion Ray Griffith held on, and pushed The 1706 car. The race would continue to the finish line with Both Griffith, and Knoll, battling through the infield. Knoll would brake check Griffith into the turns, and speed out onto the straightaway. Obscured by Mud, Griffith could not see the brake lights of the 1706 car and nearly collided with 1706 multiple times. The finish was in sight and both 1706 and 1714 came to stop winners. The Dust Junkies rookie season ended with a class win, and Ray Griffith taking the 2007 Jeepspeed challenge championship.
From start to finish the 2007 Rookie season of the Dust Junkies racing team could not have happened with out the generous support of many volunteers and sponsors. 1st Dust Motorsports would like to thank;
The Dust Junkies race team, You guys are the best team in Jeepspeed period!
The Jeepspeed challenge series
Best in the Desert
Mojave desert racing
BLM
Banks Power
Nitro 2 Go
Interco Tire
Rubicon Express
Premier Racing Products
CTM racing
JE REEL
King racing shocks
RVMD
Harland Sharp
Painless wiring
RockBuggySupply
Loose nut Enterprises
LJ Engineering
Crawl Magazine
PSC steering
Armor-craft
MX Hauler

[Havasu1986]

Congrats guys. :)

[DaddyMack]

Jeff and DJ Racing Team won the Terrible's 400 in Henderson last weekend... here are some pics!
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j231/daddymacklv/Henderson400/CIMG1126.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j231/daddymacklv/Henderson400/CIMG1127.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j231/daddymacklv/Henderson400/CIMG1140.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j231/daddymacklv/Henderson400/CIMG1137.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j231/daddymacklv/Henderson400/CIMG1144.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j231/daddymacklv/Henderson400/CIMG1146.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j231/daddymacklv/Henderson400/CIMG1149.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j231/daddymacklv/Henderson400/CIMG1150.jpg
Awesome job guys!!!

[AZJD]

Wow, congrats guys...:D

[mbrown2]

Congrats sounds like a very successful team in very short time...your sponsors have to be very proud!