07-10-2011, 01:47 PM
We pulled in and I was relieved to see tall fencing with barbed wire around the top⦠We were assured that a guard would be in place over the course of the night. Behind the fair grounds was a set of rail road tracks. I guess we were on the wrong side of those.
We got the Bronco unloaded and got set to pre-run the course and to get tech inspected. We passed tech with no issues. The course was crazy. We were supposed to use the whole place, but that didnât happen.. It ended up being about 0.3 miles in entirety!
The start/finish was where turn 4 used to be. We ran the course clockwise around turns 4 and then 3. We then had a series of switchbacks and went into the obstacle course, surrounded by concrete barriers. The A class ended up not going on any obstacles. We kind of dodged our way through them and made our way to some more hair pin turns and back out of the obstacle course and down the back stretch, toward old turn #2. Once we got to turn 2, we did a hairpin 180 and ran the other way down the back stretch. Basically, it was an out and back, with a guard rail on one side, concrete barriers on the other, separated in the middle by nothing more than some stakes and caution tape.
The run down the back stretch had a jump in it, but the jump was set up backwards. The way up it was gradual. The way down was steep and sharp. Basically it was a slam on the brakes up it, try to go easy down it, and continue on from there. After running the back stretch, we skirted around the obstacle course and back to the start/finish at turn 4, and beginning a new lap.
Pre-running was very dusty. It was obvious that there hadnât been rain down there. We ran slowly at first. There were a lot of rough, uneven ruts and bumps and I wanted to pick the best lines we could find. During one trip down the back stretch, we had another vehicle coming toward us. They were on their side of the track, but it was so dusty that we couldnât see them, except for their headlights, which they had on. Great idea! I flipped our lights on and we ran a few hard laps after that.
It was really dusty, dry, and flat. We ran 2wd in the whole thing and we really struggled trying to get through the 180 degree turn at the end of the back stretch. It was basically like trying to do a U turn on a 2 lane back road. Jam on the brakes, crank the wheel, nail the gas, and try to swing the back end around. The Bronco pushed really bad, especially when braking. It made it tough.
We got done running and put the Bronco in the trailer. We did see the #121 of Iron Man Fab go over the jump on the back stretch. They carried WAY too much speed. They still rolled over it, not catching any air, but when they came down, the front nose dived and rebounded. When it rebounded, it probably went 4 ft in the air! Ended in a set of broken front shocks, which they had to scramble to find locally and replaceâ¦
A HUGE thanks to Robert for letting us stay over at his place. He has got a very nice casa. Carl W drew it up. It sits on 17 or so acres, has a pond, a rock pit, and was beautiful! He was about a 20 minute drive from the track, so we unhitched the trailer and drove down there for some food and a place to sleep and wash the dust off.
We got the Bronco unloaded and got set to pre-run the course and to get tech inspected. We passed tech with no issues. The course was crazy. We were supposed to use the whole place, but that didnât happen.. It ended up being about 0.3 miles in entirety!
The start/finish was where turn 4 used to be. We ran the course clockwise around turns 4 and then 3. We then had a series of switchbacks and went into the obstacle course, surrounded by concrete barriers. The A class ended up not going on any obstacles. We kind of dodged our way through them and made our way to some more hair pin turns and back out of the obstacle course and down the back stretch, toward old turn #2. Once we got to turn 2, we did a hairpin 180 and ran the other way down the back stretch. Basically, it was an out and back, with a guard rail on one side, concrete barriers on the other, separated in the middle by nothing more than some stakes and caution tape.
The run down the back stretch had a jump in it, but the jump was set up backwards. The way up it was gradual. The way down was steep and sharp. Basically it was a slam on the brakes up it, try to go easy down it, and continue on from there. After running the back stretch, we skirted around the obstacle course and back to the start/finish at turn 4, and beginning a new lap.
Pre-running was very dusty. It was obvious that there hadnât been rain down there. We ran slowly at first. There were a lot of rough, uneven ruts and bumps and I wanted to pick the best lines we could find. During one trip down the back stretch, we had another vehicle coming toward us. They were on their side of the track, but it was so dusty that we couldnât see them, except for their headlights, which they had on. Great idea! I flipped our lights on and we ran a few hard laps after that.
It was really dusty, dry, and flat. We ran 2wd in the whole thing and we really struggled trying to get through the 180 degree turn at the end of the back stretch. It was basically like trying to do a U turn on a 2 lane back road. Jam on the brakes, crank the wheel, nail the gas, and try to swing the back end around. The Bronco pushed really bad, especially when braking. It made it tough.
We got done running and put the Bronco in the trailer. We did see the #121 of Iron Man Fab go over the jump on the back stretch. They carried WAY too much speed. They still rolled over it, not catching any air, but when they came down, the front nose dived and rebounded. When it rebounded, it probably went 4 ft in the air! Ended in a set of broken front shocks, which they had to scramble to find locally and replaceâ¦
A HUGE thanks to Robert for letting us stay over at his place. He has got a very nice casa. Carl W drew it up. It sits on 17 or so acres, has a pond, a rock pit, and was beautiful! He was about a 20 minute drive from the track, so we unhitched the trailer and drove down there for some food and a place to sleep and wash the dust off.