Well, I am going to keep you in suspense for a little while.
On Thursday afternoon, I buttoned the ECORS rig up. Even had a chance to take it for a few âhot lapsâ around our 1.5 acre yard. The neighbors just love us here⦠It drove great. Had a ton of power, rode well, and the 4 turn steering box was much improved over the 6 turn box we used in the last race.
While driving it around, I could hear a hissing sound when the brakes were applied. So, I stopped and tried to listen a little closer. It became very distinct and was easily noticeable now that we finally have an exhaust system on it. (It was just installed on Wednesday). Figured it was the brake booster, so I put that on my âto doâ list. If I donât make a list, I WILL forget to do it⦠The remainder of Thursday night consisted of gathering tools/equipment/supplies and loading those into the bed of the F-250.
While all that sounds easy, I didnât get what to what I felt was an acceptable stopping point until 12:30am Friday morning. From there, it was off to brush the teeth, take a quick shower, and hop in bed (and set the alarm for 6 am)â¦
Of course, Friday morning came too soon. Back down to the garage. Clay, Jonathan, and another buddy showed up at 7 and we loaded the remainder up and tore the brake booster off the old race rig. It was about 9:30 when we were finally ready to roll out- except for hood pins. I had set the hood pins somewhere the night before and now they were gone. Luckily I had a pair that I bought for $1 several years back at the swap meet here in Charlotte. Opened the package up, slipped them on, and off we went!
We got to Gastonia without incident. It was now about a tick before 10:30am and none of us had eaten. So, we park the truck, get out, go in, and place our order. We all get breakfast stuff, except for Jon, who decides to get a spicy chicken sandwich (which they say will take a few minutes). After a few minutes we decide it is time to give him a good ribbing, so we start on that. A few minutes after that we decide to sit down and eat (it was all a to-go order) while we wait for his. A few minutes after we all finish our meals, we decide to give him another ribbing. A lot of minutes after that his order is finally ready⦠Whew. They must have had to chase that chicken around the kitchen for a while before they were able to get it in the fryer.
Ok, so now it is noon (or so it felt like) and we are off again. BUT, we needed to make a very important stop. In the big town of Bessemer City was an old and FREE power wheels vehicle that Clay had managed to locate. (More on this coming). It wasnât far out of the way at all. In fact, the dude who had it left it outside of his shop so that all we had to do was stop and pick it up, which was really cool of him to do. On top of it all, it was a FORD!
We strapped it to the trailer and took off again. Next stop was fuel at the cheapest spot I could find somewhere in SC. About $150 later, we were on the road again- destination Alabama. I had never been to Alabama and had conjured up in my mind what it would be like. (Kind of like the images we tend to have thinking of people from WV). No offense to anyone from there. Well, maybe some offense
Before we could get to AL, we had to go through GA, which of course means going through ATL. Got that? It was about 2:30 on a Friday afternoon mind you. Rush âhourâ was coming into full swing along the I-85 corridor. Both hands were on the wheel, both feet on both pedals, bumper to bumper, going from 0 to 60 to 0 over and over. After about a mile of that, we decided that the HOV lane looked a little better. It was on the left side of the highway. Getting the truck and trailer over there took some doing, but we got it done without any damage. ATL is kind of weird in many ways. One of those ways is that there are ramps that go onto the highway coming into the HOV (or fast lane). While we werenât going fast per se, it should still be the fast lane, right? Wrong.
After we get by one of those ramps, I see some blinking lights in the rear view. Great- a cop! We already discussed amongst ourselves that we had 4 in the truck, so we were HOV- even with the Bronco in tow, right? A few seconds later, I realize what is going on. He wasnât after me. It was a funeral procession! I respectfully (to them) stop. What else do you do? Everyone else around me seemed to think that was the wrong idea, but they learned to deal with it.
Did I mention that I hate ATL traffic? We finally got out of that hole and after an hour we had clear road ahead. AL, here we come! We were greeted by the Welcome to AL billboard with open road, rolling hills, unmowed grass in the median, uncleaned highways, warm blue sky, and even a dead armadillo on the side of the highway. I had never seen one of those before, alive or dead! Do they rot and decay, or do they just stay there in their shell? I have no idea how long it had been there, nor did I want to stop to find outâ¦
About 5 miles from our exit ramp off of I-85 I see a truck towing something with chrome windshield trim in the rear view. It certainly wasnât a Bronco, as the windshield trim was curved, but it was definitely older. Could it be another racer? The Dodge that was towing it was gaining ground on me, so I kept it steady to see who or what it was. It was the black #666 XJ of Tony Hirko. We nodded and waved and I followed him to our venue.
Now, where we were going was called the Great American Park. Not âAâ great American park, but âTHEâ great American park. OK? It used to be a golf course. When I think of a golf course, I think of nice houses, water, trees, fancy landscaping, and the upper echelon of society. What we were greeted with was an old Toyota on jack stands with a sign that said âTHE GREAT AMERICAN PARKâ on it with an arrow pointing down a dirt road. The first house on the road was a singlewide with 5 cars in the driveway. Across the dirt street were about 5 cars on blocks with no hoods, or anything. They had obviously been there for several thousands of years⦠More of the same greeted us with each passing corner. We got to the end and saw a sign that said âClubhouseâ. It was a small 1 story T-111 sided building replete with pealing red (I think) paint, a few windows, and a window A/C unit installed in the side of the front wall. In front of the building was something almost unsuspected. It was an early Bronco! It looked kind of project like- tree gunk on it, big old tires on it with the General Lee style wheels, exhaust falling off, etc. Still, it was an EB!!
After driving past the clubhouse was the starting area and the pits. There were a LOT of big rigs there! Long shiny enclosed goosenecks with the A/C units, slide outs, awnings, work areas, MAN. We drove past those and then there were some smaller enclosed trailers and some EZ ups, then some open trailers. We fit in there. So, we parked there, right next to Jody Treadway in his B class racer and Andy from Iron Man Fab, with is A class racer ZJ (Grand Cherokee). One good thing about AL is that the time is set 1 hour behind us, so we got there with time to spare!
It was about 4:30 their time and we set our pit area up. I thankfully brought an EZ up to protect us from that baking sun. We fired the Bronco up, heard the hissing brake booster, shut the Bronco off, opened the hood, uplugged and capped the vacuum line, closed the hood, suited back up, and started the Bronco again. Fixed for now.. We went out to pre-run the course and to shake the Bronco down. We had never driven this one more than a mile since building it!
The course was set up in a 4 mile loop. It had a long straightway from the starting gate. Then it had a section of dirt piles ranging from 5â to about 20â high that we had to go over. Then we went into a rock filled gulley and ran it for a bit before coming out to a clearing. The clearing sloped down hill and toward a small wooded area that was easy to maneuver. From there there were a few very nicely banked turns, a lot of rough stuff, a wet section, then a hard left heading up âAchilles Heelâ. It was a short but very steep hill that looked menacing. I shifted into 4 low and we walked up it. At the top was a super tight section with a 180 degree right hander that went back down the same basic hill that we just went up. Then we made a left hand 180 degree turn again and went up the same hill. The hill itself lost the quick elevation change as it went from left to right, so this section was a lot easier. After that the course mellowed out and had a lot of high speed woods running with some quick and surprising turns in it. After about a mile it opened up again to some table top style jumps, some banked turns, and then back into the woods. It opened up again for some more of the same, some banked turns, big jumps, and some ruts. Right after that was the start/finish line. This is a rather quick description of it, but the course was very much a mixture of low and high speed stuff with plenty of opportunity for troubleâ¦
Now, back to the powerwheels. We got done pre-running, and began taking it apart. We took the rear axle out of it, cut the driving gears off of the wheels, and drilled the rear axle so that cotter pins could hold the rear wheels on now (like on a wagon). It was now free rolling, with no gas or brake-steering only. At 7pm was the official 1st ever Barbie Jeep race! They found a good hill to use and put it to use! In all, about 30 various Barbie Jeeps showed up, from the pink âBarbie Jeepâ, to a Hummer, to a Lamborghini, to the 4 wheeler variety, to a pedal powered variety with real rubber (not plastic) wheels. That one was kinda cheatin, if you ask me. We set Clay up on the starting grid and showed the Jeep next to him who was boss.
The event was staged with 5 drivers at a time. Each driver was allowed 1 âpusherâ that could go until they either fell or couldnât keep up. The top 2 from each heat moved to the quarter-finals, and then the 4 winners from the quarter-finals went to the main event.
Clay got in his and Jon readied for the GO. The green flag dropped and it was on. Watching bunch of grown men try to fit in these things and race each other down a loose dirt hill was a HOOT! It was a blast! Clay unfortunately finished 3rd due to a faulty pusher⦠Jon had shoulder surgery a few months back and didnât want to tear it up again. During the run, the Hummer jeep flipped, treating the driver to a nice face plant.
The remaining runs went similarly. Lots of chaos, bumping, breaking, bruises, DUST, and carnage! A 15 year old took top honors, beating the rubber wheeled pedal car that had a stretched plastic Barbie jeep body on it. He was pumped! The team he was with had come all the way from TX just for this. Ok, not really for this, but you have to take a win wherever you canâ¦
Creativity was everywhere was well. Customized paint jobs, license plates, alarm systems, horns, replicated âtruck nutsâ using a few ¾â nuts and mechanics wire, and even the last minute weight advantage of people stuffing rocks in their vehicles. Everyone was there. I think that this might become more popular than the real racing
After that, it was time to sit around and swap war stories. We then went into the big college town of Auburn. Clay and Jon want to transfer there now. Something about the girl/guy ratio or something. There aren't enough guys for them in the engineering program at UNCC
We then headed back and slept for a few hours. I woke up at about 5 am to one solitary bird making a horrendous racket. It is a noise I have never heard before nor ever want to hear again! Thoughts of the upcoming race flooded into my mind, replacing any ideas of going back to sleep. At about 6am I got up and started prepping the pits for our day, getting the tools out and cleaning up.
Soon the rest joined in. We got the brake booster replaced with the other one, tires checked, fluids checked, and just about anything else we âmightâ have forgotten about. Then was the driverâs meeting at 8am and the starting line at 9!
05-01-2011, 07:02 PM (This post was last modified: 05-01-2011, 07:15 PM by broncosbybart.)
We were lined up in the first row against and Isuzu and an XJ (Cherokee). I was determined not to let either one beat a big 302 V-8 down the front stretch. Before the start, they watered it with a huge ballooned tire watering machine. It was like an earth mover with a tank on the back. When the flag dropped, the hammer dropped and off we went, skating down the slick front stretch. The Jeep was long gone, but the freaking Isuzu was close! I kept in it as long as I could. Problem came when the stopping didnât go as well as the starting. We started sliding sideways and skipping over irregularities in the ground. We hit a big rut, got it angled in the air, and got plenty of âoh crapâ comments from people spectating after the race. It landed on all 4âs, got it straightened out, and still remained in 1st. I beat on it pretty good going through the big dirt piles, then down through the rocky gulley, and then on to Achilles Heel. We were running pretty fast through the woods, but the Isuzu caught me there and stayed right there. I let him pass when we got opened up into the table top jump section. Our Bronco just has some polyurethane bump stops and some cheapie shocks on it. It rides well, but the pounding of the jumps make for a harsh ride for us, terrible abuse on the vehicle with all sorts of metallic banging sounds, and lots of bouncing like a bull riding contest.
I didnât think we could run that kind of pace and keep it in one piece. They werenât gaining much ground at their speed, as I was able to make a lot of it back in the crawling sections. By the third lap, the Bronco was doing great. I was getting used to driving it and all the gauges were good, except for one. The trans temp gauge was now reading 210. The fan is set to go on at 180. It was running, but it wasnât cooling! After that discovery, I looked in the rear view, and discovered that David G was on my bumper with his Toyota buggy. We watched his pre-run laps the day before and I knew I couldnât keep up with him. He was beating the living tar out of it!
I let him pass. A few seconds later I smelled anti freeze. We were only running water in our radiator and our engine temp was perfect. A big smile crossed my face in hopes for what might soon come. Sure enough, lap four was too long for the poor Toyota. It was done. 2 laps later I looked to my left after going through Achilles heel- there was the #22 Isuzu on the side. We were in first!!!
The next lap was mostly uneventful, with the exception being a pegged past 250 degree trans temp gauge, a UTV flipping in front of us (they had 15 of those things running a different category but on the track as the same time as us), and another funny moment. As Achilles Heel began to get ruts worn in it, the Bronco wanted to go straight rather than turn right at the top. During the race, I kept it in 4 hi instead of shifting to low range, to save time. This meant that my speed needed to stay up, as it couldnât pull the hill slowly in high range, it was too steep. On one particular occasion, I ran up a small tree. It came crashing down, coming near a spectator. It wasnât a big tree and I didnât go off course, but it gave them a good scare. From then on, whenever the Bronco went up the hill, the spectators scattered like ants!
Somewhere in there I was found running quickly in second gear, hit a wet spot in the woods, and smacked a tree almost dead center. The truck never shut off, I backed it up a few feet, and continued on. It was quite a shot! My right palm still hurts from it! That old Bronco took the beating. Afterwards we noticed that it bent the front bumper some, but that is why it is there, right?
05-01-2011, 07:03 PM (This post was last modified: 05-01-2011, 07:12 PM by broncosbybart.)
Lap 9 went well except for 2 things. Jon had radioâd to Clay a few laps earlier that we were in 2nd, and then at the end of lap 9, I got a flat. I had bought these tires used from a guy and they were in perfect shape- no rock rash, cuts, or anything! The right front had either leaked, or blew the bead off the outside. It happened while going around a hard left almost in sight of the start/finish line. I decided to roll with it and change it in the pits, as it would be much quicker. We pitted, opened the tool box in the back of the Bronco, took the spare off, and changed the tire. My crew yelled for us to get back in while they finished it up. The jack came down and we were off! We went through the big dirt piles, then into the rocky ravine. Oh CRAP!!! The tool box lid was still open! Tools were bouncing out everywhere! We were doing more of a rock race than a rock crawl, after all⦠Clay hopped out. I was going to wait for him but after a few seconds came to my senses and took off w/out him
The remainder of the lap was smooth and we ended up with about a 4.5 minute setback due to the tire change. Lap 10 went without complaint, other than the worries over the trans temp! We were done! Instead, I get flagged to go again! WHAT??? Maybe I lost count, I donât know. It felt like I had been driving forever! Another lap then! We got it done and then the checkered flag. I was worried about it.
Our guys in the pits had taken times manually and had confirmed that I did 11 laps! Hmm. We were puzzled. After the race had been over for a while, we requested to see our lap times. We were given a 20 minute and change lap on lap 6. WHAT? We were running about 10 minute laps. The only thing I could think of is that a UTV had come up and gotten scored and we were overlooked (there were a couple of laps where a few of us were there at the same time).
On top of that, the driver in a Jeep YJ was told that he had won. He started before me and said that he passed me while I was changing the tire in the pits. Every lap of ours was faster than his by about 30 seconds minimum to about 1.5 minutes max. We easily had 5 minutes on him by lap 9. Only problem was that I couldnât recall passing him at any time and that we were given a 20 minute lap.
The ECORS management were awesome in helping work through it. Ultimately the decision was made to award us both first place finishes, splitting points, and everything. While both Brad (the other driver) and I would have really liked to know who really won (as we both thought we had), nothing could be done, as no video was kept or other confirmation taken. I really wish someone had us at the middle of that 20 minute lap, showing us at the starting line.
So, a marginal victory, but a victory nonetheless! It was a great place, a great event, and great weather, minus the dust and a lack of showers. It smelled like a locker room on the way home. Old food, old shoes, new clothes covering 4 dirt covered guys. We canât wait for the next race, to show the Jeep whoâs boss!!!
Sorry for the lack of pics, but these are the only ones the crew got. There will be a ton posted over the next week or so. Will post links as they become available.
05-01-2011, 08:45 PM (This post was last modified: 05-01-2011, 08:56 PM by scbronco.)
Awesome Charles! i know i wasnt there, but based on my history racing atv hare scrambles, (very similar to your desription of these races), i would say you won... undeniably... if you were running rough 10 minute laps, then they definitely missed you at lap 6. 20 and change says you ran a better than avg pace laps 6 and seven. if anything, lap 9 should have been a bad time due to the tire change. if it were me, i would take the shared victory, but suggest a card punch sytem be added to the scoring process... basically, you would have a thin plastic card hanging from the drivers door that gets punched by a trail marshall at the start/finish line each lap... that way at the close they know how many laps you did. you would have never ran a lap 11, and they could have at minimum tabulated your total time and surmised a single victor... just a suggestion...
But great job!!! your the champ in my book, and your giving me the bug for some bronco racin'!!! you think clay will let me take turns as co-driver? LOL!
