Reno, NV (8/25/2010) - The 2010 Vegas
to Reno race was more important than ever for
the Big Bang Desert racing team. We were 2nd
in the Best in the Desert Quad Expert points
championship because we had a DNF at the Silver
State 300. We HAD to finish this race to have
a chance at the season championship. If we had
another DNF then the our chance at season championship
was over. So we altered our strategy and focused
on simply finishing the race, not winning.
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#411 Big
Bang/Kendall Racing's Yamaha Raptor
700R Desert racing ATV
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During pre race testing we ran into a few weird
electrical problems. On one ride the quad would
flash the “R” reverse light on the
dash and there would be a 4000 rpm rev limit.
On one occasion the quad completely shut down
with no warning, no dash lights, no power, nothing
but the battery was fully charged. The engine
made great power and the suspension was dialed
but these problems were troublesome. Team rider
Joe Ramos ended up cleaning up the reverse circuit
wiring and his pre race ride went great so we
thought we had it all sorted out. Rudy at Dirt
Fiend Racing did a pre-race prep on the quad
and packed all electrical connection with di-electric
grease.
The day before we had to leave for our trip
we discovered that the throttle cable was completely
frayed even though it had only 10 hours of time
on it. Tracking down a Motion Pro Cr Pro twist
throttle cable for an EFI raptor is really hard.
Mike at United Distribution overnighted some
for us but just in case the overnight delivery
didn’t make it in time we had one overnighted
from Motion Pro to a dealer in Vegas.
We arrived in Vegas and passed the more stringent
tech inspection. Then on the short ride to the
truck the stupid “R” light started
flashing again. So we bypassed the reverse switch
in the parking lot before the riders meeting
and hoped for the best. After the riders meeting
we left for our hotel in Beatty Nevada where
the starting line was. Halfway to Beatty we
got a call from Joe stating that the reservations
we made a month in advance at the Atomic Inn
were no longer valid. His wife called to check
on our rooms and they had no record of our reservation.
Our confirmation numbers meant nothing, apparently
the whole hotel was in disarray.
So we spent the next hour on the phone in spotty
cell reception trying to find another room in
or near this tiny town of Beatty. We found a
few rooms at the price gouging amount of $130
each in Beatty. It was getting close to 11pm
and we had to be at the starting line at 5:15AM
the next day so this was obviously pretty frustrating.
Joe and his team ended up staying in Beatty
while my crew stayed in a one horse town on
the border of California; they had all kinds
of alien stuff there since it is close to Area
51.
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#411 Big
Bang/Kendall Racing's Yamaha Raptor
700R Desert racing ATV
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Friday, raceday: We woke up
at 3:45AM so we could make the 45 mile drive
to the starting line in Beatty. The pre race
morning prep went fine and I was ready to ride.
All of the competitors were lined up near the
Red Bull Arch when they told us to fire em up
and parade up to the start line. The Raptor
700 fired and died after 2 seconds. No dash
lights, no nothing. Push starting had no effect.
So we started looking at the ignition switch
and found some bad factory connectors. Meanwhile
the race was starting and we were scrambling
to fix the problem. We ended up zip tying the
connectors together extremely tight and that
cleared up the issue. That was a load off but
I was still worried about it happening again.
I started the race and it was EXTREMELY dusty.
I imagine that section of course would have
been fun if I was able to see more than 10 feet.
There is no wind at all that early and the dust
just hangs eerily over the trail. There were
sections that headed in the direction of the
rising sun which allowed me to see about 5 feet
in front of me, it was blinding! Eventually
the breeze picked up slightly and I was able
to pick up the pace. I passed a few bikes but
I didn’t catch any quads. The stop at
Pit 1 went fine and everything appeared to be
in order. The section from Pit 1 to 2 was fun,
we went through a dry lake bed and the raptor
pulled strong. At pit 2 we discovered that the
Fuel Customs Intake had come off the throttle
body. So we sucked who knows how much crap through
the fresh engine. It took a while to get the
intake back on and our lead over 4th place was
completely gone.
Joe hopped on and rode to pit 3. At pit 3 I
think Joe came in 2nd place. He had passed Jason
Fritz’s 440 team which was pulled over
on the course. We checked the quad and the intake
was off the engine AGAIN! This time we stuffed
a bunch of stuff in the air box to limit the
filter’s movement. The next section was
the longest section at 60 miles pit to pit.
I jumped on and took off. This section had a
lot of changes and some fun roller coaster like
areas. I also had a lot of wide open 5th gear
sections and I noticed the engine was not pulling
5th gear like it was earlier, I was pretty worried
we had damaged the engine with dirt.
Towards the end of this section the engine
started sputtering and died on me so I limped
it to a good spot and pulled over. I couldn’t
believe it, we were out of fuel. During our
testing we were able to go 62 miles at race
speed before the fuel light came on and then
another 5 miles before empty. Well, not in Nevada!
So I took my reserve fuel off of my pack and
poured it in hoping it would get me to the pit,
I thought I was close to the pit. Then after
2 miles the engine was sputtering again. I was
still 6 miles from the pits so I pulled over
and took our emergency fuel off of the bumper.
Every motorcycle I had passed in this section
passed me back while I was messing with the
fuel.
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#411 Big
Bang/Kendall Racing's Yamaha Raptor
700R Desert racing ATV
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I rode slower to conserve fuel but a mile from
the pit the quad was sputtering again so I road
VERY slowly into the pit to conserve fuel. In
the pits the intake was off the engine again.
We tried some zip ties and more rags in the
airbox this time. This was our longest pit stop
yet and the 449 team (the current points leader)
barely passed us in the pits, also one of the
ironman entries passed us. I believe it was
this pit where the leading team #445 was pulled
over with a broken bearing carrier. So we went
from 2nd to 1st to 2nd during this pit stop.
Joe hopped on the quad and was literally 1 second
behind 449.
We rushed to the next pit and the 449 team
came in about a minute ahead of us. Thankfully
the intake was still on the engine this time
so we fueled up and I hopped on and took off.
This section had some very technical and very
rocky sections. It was also about 100 degrees
out and this was the first time I tested my
fitness. I just kept on it avoiding the day
ending boulders and the terrain flattened out.
I saw some dust up ahead so I got excited and
pushed to catch up and it turned out to just
be another bike. I caught up to more dust and
it turned out to be the ironman quad who had
passed us two pits earlier. I made it around
him and I knew the 449 team had to be close
and sure enough I saw them going up a hill about
half a mile ahead. I road like a lunatic and
caught them. They were extremely courteous and
they let me know they saw me and they pulled
over and let me by. We were finally in first
place! Of course I had my other goggles on this
section and I didn’t have the helmet cam.
I rode hard to pit 7 and I think the intake
was still on the engine so we got out of the
pits staying ahead of 449 for once.
Joe rode strong from pit 6 to 7 and to 8 and
he kept our lead. In the pits we talked to Jason
Fritz #440 and he said they had broken a tie
rod earlier but they were all fixed up and charging
hard. I jumped on at pit 8. The quad was running
even more inconsistent at this point. Sometimes
it would pull 5th gear in the straight flats
and other times it would barely rev out in 4th.
This section went up into the pine trees and
it had some nice flowing switch back roads.
It was fun and it got more fun when I felt the
right rear tire going flat. Luckily the section
was mostly higher speed and the quad handled
ok at higher speed but it wouldn’t get
traction in the slower 1st gear stuff. I was
giggling inside my helmet drifting the quad
on the flat tire; it doesn’t take much
to keep me entertained. The seat also kept popping
loose in front, I stopped twice to fix it and
finally just let it be.
We slapped on a new Hiper wheel and Maxxis
RZR II at pit 9 and we checked the oil. We were
down on oil and we are lucky we caught it when
we did. We also added a bungee cord to hold
the seat down. We maintained our position during
this extended pit stop and I took off. At pit
10 it was getting hot again, not sure what the
elevation was but I was sweating. Between pit
10 and 11 I looked back and saw a quad catching
up. I was bummed out thinking that 449 was catching
me. Heading into pit 11 there is a long uphill
5th gear section and the Raptor would not pull
5th gear at all, I was stuck in 4th. The quad
behind me turned out to be Jason’s #440
team; I waived them by and then noticed my pit
team was nowhere to be found. I had beaten them
to the pit. Joe was supposed to get on at this
point since I had been on for 65 miles. I asked
how far it was to the next pit and it was only
20 miles so I told Jason and some other random
pit guys to let my team know that I was going
on. I also stopped at the next road crossing
and asked the officials to get on the BITD radio
channel and tell my team I was headed to pit
12.
Pit 11 was also the pit where the 3 chase trucks
were going to split up and head to different
pits to cover the remote areas where it is not
possible for the chase truck to beat the racer
from pit to pit. So when we were unable to make
the rider change here it complicated things
for the chase team. Thankfully they thought
quickly and changed the plan and got the trucks
heading in the right direction right away. I
became privy to this change when I pulled into
pit 12 and I only saw one truck. Chris smiled
and said you are riding to pit 14 now; Joe will
get on there and ride to the finish line. I
said it sounds like fun, where am I again?
They told me I was at pit 12 and I had to go
to pit 13 where my dad would be waiting then
to pit 14 where Joe and Robert would be. Also
when I pulled into pit 12 I was right behind
Jason’s #440 team. They were in first
place at this point and we were in second and
they were putting on a fresh rider, Austin Newbill.
I imagined we could have a fun battle if my
stupid quad had 5 useable gears instead of 4.
The intake was still holding strong onto the
engine thanks to our plethora of zip ties so
I took off from pit 12. The next section was
very whooped out and sandy. I came upon 2 motorcycles,
one guy was down, he had just wrecked and the
2nd guy was checking on him. The guy who wrecked
waved me over so I stopped and went to talk
to him. The other motorcycle couldn’t
get off his bike to talk since it was so sandy
and race bikes don’t have kickstands.
The downed rider was pretty loopy and said he
flew over the bars and possibly separated his
shoulder and when he stood up he had to sit
down immediately. I told him I would inform
the next course worker about his situation and
location. His race number was 998 and he was
down before mile 379. Luckily I saw a course
worker within about 6 miles and he turned out
to be a search and rescue guy. I stopped and
gave him all the info I had, double checked
he had it and then I took off.
After the sand whoops the course went onto
a river retention basin road, I could have hit
terminal velocity if I had the power. Unfortunately
I was still stuck in 4th gear, 5th was useless.
I hit pit 13 and noticed that my chase truck
wasn’t around again. By coincidence I
saw the same group of guys that I saw at the
other pit where my team didn’t make it.
So we joked around and I was about to ask for
some fuel when I saw my dad flying up the road
with Adam hanging out the window waving like
a crazy person. We fueled up and added more
oil here.
The next section was pretty fun but also hit
hard by some flash floods after the course was
marked. So there were a lot more dangers that
weren’t marked. I ping ponged off a few
wash walls and boulders but kept it rubber side
down. At this point I was still feeling great
physically, my hands didn’t even hurt.
But my mind was slowing down; my brain wasn’t
able to keep up with the rate that the terrain
was flying by. It was annoying. I made it to
pit 14 where Joe was itching to jump on. We
were still in 2nd place and probably 10 minutes
ahead of the 3rd place 449 team. The quad was
still running inconsistently, the bungee was
still in place on the seat and the quad seemed
to wander around a bit at high speed on smooth
stuff.
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#411 Big
Bang/Kendall Racing's Yamaha Raptor
700R Desert racing ATV
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I rode 140 miles straight and Joe had 111 miles
to take it to the finish. Time wise were doing
great and barring anything bad we wouldn’t
need the lights. The drive from Pit 14 to the
finish line was about 90 minutes and it is remote
so for a while Robert and I couldn’t reach
anyone to get any updates on Joe. Finally we
received word that he had left pit 15 still
in the same position. Then we got word that
he had left pit 16 in first place but the quad
was not running well and he was only 4 minutes
ahead of the 449 team. He had made the pass
for 1st place because the 440 team was broken
down on the course. It turns out their engine
had blown.
Everyone was very nervous; we knew we had to
beat the 449 team by 1 minute and 1 second.
The drive into the finish line was nerve racking.
We were getting spot tracker updates from people
in Phoenix and we knew Joe was close to the
finish. We made it to the finish line before
Joe and we ran up the hill to watch him come
in and to start our watches to see if we had
won. We saw a quad in the distance and it was
Joe! He rode through the flying finish and down
to the rodeo grounds to be interviewed by BITD
announcer George for the live webcast. We started
our watches and after 61 seconds we ran down
the hill for the celebration. 2 minutes later
the 449 team crossed the finish line. During
our interview George asked the official timekeeper
to give us the time margin and he announced
something like 3 minutes 11 seconds and we all
went nuts. I couldn’t believe we had just
won our class in the biggest off road race in
the United States. The 449 team put up an awesome
battle and they are still kicking our butts
in the points thanks to their awesome finish.
Closing Thoughts: The course was smoother and
faster than any race I have ever done. Some
sections were even boring / nerve racking because
we couldn’t hit our top speed and I was
worried about the engine blowing up. I wish
we had 100 horsepower because we would have
been able to use every bit of it.
We need a custom fuel cell with a dry break.
The stock raptor tank is too small and we always
knew that but the fact that the hole is under
the handlebars and the tank is so shallow it
really keeps you from being able to fill the
tank quickly. It is very, very annoying and
the chase team wanted to kill the tank.
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#411 Big
Bang/Kendall Racing's Yamaha Raptor
700R Desert racing ATV with a cracked
frame after some intense racing action
in the desert
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I think the fuel custom intake needs some more bracketry for stability to be serious
race ready on the Raptor. I called them and they
were very apologetic, they have never had this
happen, even in Baja. They are standing behind
their product and helping us in anyway that they
can. Thanks Guys!
We also completely broke the frame in the front
on both sides above where the shocks mount.
That might explain the strange wandering around
and the extremely bouncy light rack. Wow.
Thanks to our Chase Teams and their families:
my dad, Adam, Jeremy, Chris, Jamie, and Robert.
Thanks to Ken George at Big Bang Entertainment,
XX Army, United Distribution, Dirt Fiend Racing,
Lone Star Racing, Contour HD Helmet Cams, EVS
Sports and FASSTco.
For more information please visit www.kendallrace.com
www.kendallrace.com
