Primm, NV (3/16/2010)
- It was cold. It was dark. It was wet. Saturday
at Buffalo Bill's in Primm, Nevada had less than
ideal racing weather in the afternoon and into
the evening. As the sun went down the UTVs staged
at their respective lines. A total of 19 UTVs
made it out for WORCS round 2. As darkness loomed
overhead it began to rain -- not a gentle spring
sprinkle, but a cold downpour. The spectators
were less than thrilled and the track became a
mess, but Jeff Stambaugh rallied hard and took
1st overall!
Lines 1 & 2 left a minute apart. One minute
after Class 2, Stambaugh left the line with
the Class 3 UTVs. He caught the rest of Class
3 sleeping and grabbed a solid holeshot, went
off the first jump and onto the truck track.
This race was fast and rough. The truck track
was high speed and the off road was whooped
out, Stambaugh explains his advantage, "It
was really a benefit to me to have the Rhino.
Everyone wanted RZRs because they were lighter
and faster, but they just can't handle those
deep whoops like my Rhino. My Lonestar works
flawlessly in that stuff -- the rougher the
better!"
One lap in, he had managed to overtake most
of class 2 and came back into the truck track
looking strong and fast. By this time it was
completely dark and the rain was still coming
down, "Just like at home!" By lap
2, Stambaugh was a solid 3rd overall -- he had
taken the lead early and never looked back at
Class 3, then overtook most of Class 2 in a
matter of 2 laps and had his eyes set on the
leaders. The two RZRs in out front were battling
it out in the whooped off-road and Jeff managed
to put his head down and charge on to catch
up to them. He drove smart and tailed them both.
He managed to get around one RZR in Class 1
and then the leader made a mistake that left
the door wide open. Jeff passed the leader on
the last lap seconds before they would enter
the scoring chute. The former leader made a
last ditch effort as they came off the pavement
and headed toward the chute, but was unsuccessful.
Jeff crossed the finish line 1st in class, and
1st overall.
Times do not get adjusted for the Rhino race,
but he did leave 2 minutes after Class 1 and
still managed a phenomenal finish coming from
the last row to first battling machines with
bigger engines (up to 1000cc in Class 1). "I
couldn't be happier with that finish, "
he stated right after the race, "I thought
I finished 2nd overall, but then I was told
the guy I saw in front of me was broken and
that was his 1 and only lap
-- I was really excited! I couldn't believe
it but, MAN! That's awesome. I didn't even care
about being cold and wet after that!"
Jeff would like to thank the following- without
them he would not have had such a good weekend:
Lonestar Racing, Elka Suspension, Fullbore Innovations,
Blitz Vision, SixSixOne, Weller Racing, S&S
Motorsports, Patriot Racing, Kelley Blocks,
& his girlfriend.
