I am excited to announce that I was able to put Team GenRight / Falken Tires #4585
on the podium again this past weekend at the 2017 Ultra4 Nationals in our 4500 Modified
class Jeep!
The weekend was smooth with no major mechanical failures. The course was brutal and got
worse with every lap! As the track dried out on race day the dust got thick and drivers were
taking bigger risks than before. New rocks were getting dug up and kicked onto the track,
ready to end anyone’s day at any moment. I also got the chance to visit the Renown
Children’s Hospital in Reno on Friday with a few other top Ultra4 drivers. It was a great
weekend of racing!
We left Simi Valley, CA Wednesday afternoon with a crew of about 10 guys and
gals and headed on the road to Nevada, stayed the night in Bishop, CA and woke up
early to finish the drive. We arrived in Sparks, NV Thursday morning. When we
arrived, we immediately unloaded and got the pit setup for practice.
Thursday-
Shortly after we arrived and got set up
I left the track to go to the local
Renown Children’s Hospital to
surprise over 35 kids and we brought
them goodie bags full of stickers,
posters, hats, T-shirts, beanies etc. The
kids were so excited to see us as were
the parents. They all had so many cool
stories or jokes to tell. While visiting
them made me realize even more how
fortunate I am to be alive, well, and
healthy.
A few hours later, we left the hospital and arrived back to the track to get some practice
laps in and fine tune the car for the track. The crew made minor tire pressure changes
then spent some time to shock tune with Wayne at Fox, lastly double checked the entire
car for qualifying.
Friday-
We took advantage of the early morning practice session to make sure we were dialed in
for qualifying. After looking over the car again, we lined up to qualify. My goal was no
flat tires, smooth but quick to save the car for the race that really mattered, the main
event. I did just that, qualified 7th out of 18 racers, putting me in a good spot and only a
couple seconds behind the time that qualified first, best of all the car was still perfect. We
looked over the car and prepared for the preliminary race the next morning.
Saturday-
Saturday morning, we had a driver’s meeting at 7am and our green flag dropped at 8am.
The car was in great condition we just wanted to run smooth, same strategy as qualifying
for the most part just to make up a couple spots and start first or second row in the main.
The course was getting worse and worse, more torn up all around which caused us to
kick up a rock at high speed that tore a brake line, luckily, we have planned ahead and
put in brake “shut off” valves in cause of this. We figured out which one broke and shut
the rear brakes off so I could still at least have front brakes and not lose any more fluid.
But luckily, we had no flat tires, no issues and finished 4th which put us 2nd row to start
the main without beating on the car at all. We closely looked over the car again,
everything was 100% and we were as ready as we were going to be so we put brand new
tires on and was ready for the main. Many other teams had hours of wrenching and
repair to do because they overdrive the car in qualifying and the prelim, that’s why
strategy is so important. Main event rolled around and pressure was high, track was torn up and there was a starting line full of eager drivers. Starting the race I wanted to get
ahead of the pack and make my way up front, the dust was so thick on the worst part of
the track it was dangerous to push through the dust and not worth it so I did what I
could but was picking my battles wisely. That costed me time but doing so was my
golden ticket to the podium and all I could do was keep my distance on them and hope
one of the drivers ahead would make a mistake. We ran our race and 7 laps later we
would cross the finish line 3rd out of 18 competitors. Best of all after all that racing and
abuse, the car is still damage free and ready to keep racing. Unlike any other team out
there, we didn’t flat a single Falken Tire or break a single KMC wheel all weekend, some
guys were losing 1 to 2 tires every time they pulled on the track…very impressive to say
the least.
This is not the finish I wanted, I am always going out there to be the best and bring home
a win, but i’m happy to take home a podium spot this weekend as its a great way to end
the season and show our consistency.
Overall, we could not have had a better race and cannot thank all of my sponsors
enough for making top quality parts that are capable of withstanding a brutal race like
Nationals. Once again, we have managed to take home another podium, making 5
podiums this season and 3 wins with the help of our partners!
Our next event will be the SEMA show Oct. 31st – Nov. 3rd in the Torco Oil booth
Our next race will be Ultra4 King of the Hammers 2018 February 2nd – 10th