2011 SPEED Energy Desert Challenge Utah Race CANCELLED

Join in and discuss all the action for the 2011 SPEED Energy Desert Challenge in UTAH. Robby Gordon is running the SPEED Energy HUMMER. 

 

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 30th 

 

QUALIFYING 12:00pm - 3:30pm

LEAP  7:00pm - 8:00pm

 

SATURDAY OCTOBER 1st

 

TT RACE 1:00pm - 2:30pm

 

SUNDAY OCTOBER 2nd

 

TT RACE 1:00pm - 2:30pm

 

* All times Mountain Standard

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Permalink Reply by TOG on September 30, 2011 at 12:49am
From BJ Baldwin Twitter:

I have just 2 words... dust bowl! Lol. It's insanely dusty here. Course is Hummer friendly :-/
Permalink Reply by Paul Cang on September 30, 2011 at 1:23am
Bummer that it's not being televised. Would have been an almost free advertisement for SPEED
Permalink Reply by Michael Martinez on September 30, 2011 at 9:24am
Don't know anything about where this event is taking place as far as what conditions are par for the course, so in keeping that in mind is this dry "dust bowl" an over extension of sorts as far as what could and would be looked at as racing conditions else where. I know dust and air borne particulates are a part of this type of activity I just hope it's not overly bad an a detraction from the event seeing how it is the first one and all. On the other hand I'm basing all this on one guys twitter remark..........i've watched guys twit tweet twat away about great the fishing was after catching two quickies but then go the next three hours standing in a creek and nothing more. I don't care too much for all this global instantaneous jibber jabber shit to begin with but enough of that. Everything has to start somewhere and what ever level of involvement RGM has with this event and growing it, my support is in full force. The scenery is great out that part of the country is it not folks?
Permalink Reply by Sean O'Neill on September 30, 2011 at 10:10am
"twit tweet twat'?....."catching two quickies"?........Lol......Wtf?...........Ha! ha!....This guy is too much. Always entertaining and a complete f*cking mystery.
Permalink Reply by NIKAL on September 30, 2011 at 10:57am
Dusty? Hell Yes it's dusty. Utah dirt is very different then Baja or AZ dirt. Have already heard that with just a few guys like BJ and Whipple going around the course that they are seeing huge silt beds form and some are 2 feet deep. Supposedly they have had 12 water trucks wetting the course down this week and into last night. Also got word that so far a total of 11 vehicles are entered or shown up. This might turn out to be more of a exhibition vs race. Just got to make the best out of the situation and hope the dust does not become a factor for the spectators.

Also heard that they were looking at reducing the gap at the cross over jump as the course is going to get torn up and it is likely most would not be able to get enough sped to clear the gap.

Here are some pictures from yesterday. Check out the dust!





You can see how they have knocked down the back side of the gap already.Either way it still takes big balls to make that leap!
Permalink Reply by brian campbell on September 30, 2011 at 11:11am
that bad ass
Permalink Reply by NIKAL on September 30, 2011 at 11:13am
TOG you also said Robby is running the SPEED Energy Hummer. Does this mean the Jeep Grill and decals are not going to be on for this race? I thought by all counts that the Hummer name was gone from the truck.
Permalink Reply by NIKAL on September 30, 2011 at 1:11pm
This was posted on RDC.

Entry list as of this AM:

TTs:
Robby
Canidae
Bj
Nunley

Class 1:
Whipple
TJ
Motion tire
Mitchel

Class 10:
One buggy

Class 7100:
One Truck

Class 8:
Pit Bull

And they canceled the drivers dinner last night.
Permalink Reply by Bruce Smith on September 30, 2011 at 1:44pm
It's sad that Robby attached his star to this event. The promoters look to be clueless and maybe even dishonest. And WTF did anyone expect when holding an event like this in stinking Utah? There are 11 cars entered??? The head count of spectators probably is about the same, 11.
Permalink Reply by NIKAL on September 30, 2011 at 2:00pm
Bruce the concept is a good one. Going to Utah where you have a world class Motorsports complex with plenty of private land where you are not dealing with the BLM is a huge plus. The down side was partnering with Mi7 as they have just not lived up to expectation. Also I have heard from multiple people who have said the soil in Utah is known for being very dusty and almost talc like, with a lot of alkaline in it. So when watered heavily to help with the dust, the alkaline reacts and can be very hard on raw steel, which in turn can be damaging to race equipment.

Roger Norman and his new HDRA venture will hold a few 2012 races on mostly private land in NV. By doing so it limits the amount of control the BLM and Federal Government will have on our sport and it should lower future costs due to insurance and cost recovery the BLM has required.
Permalink Reply by mj on September 30, 2011 at 2:14pm
This is still good publicity for SPEED no matter what the car count . Although I'm surprised that more aren't using this race as a shakedown for the 1000 . And having the event on private property is great . Saddly I see desert racing becoming more and more like this as the BLM gets more and more strict . ( DAMN TREE HUGGERS ) . 
Permalink Reply by NIKAL on September 30, 2011 at 2:34pm
This race is not a good shake down for the Baja 1000. And the reasons are 99% or the cars racing the Baja 1000 have been running all year, so shaking any bugs out has been already done. It does not matter if the race is 100 miles or 500 miles. The prep cost to do a full prep is going to cost the same. So a guy prepping for the Baja 1000 is going to have a fresh engine, trans/gearbox, every hiem/bushing will be new, shocks will be completely rebuilt and so on. Dealing with the people I have in the past and present I can tell you to do a full prep on a TT is easily $30,000 plus. And that is if you are not replacing $40,000 engines. A race like this Utah race can assure a TT team will have to replace most of the body and a average TT body is around $5 grand without paint.

After you prep a car for a race you go down to your local desert like Plaster City or Barstow and you maybe put 40 miles on the vehicle. Most of the time it is less then that. But if you are working on shock valving you might put a few more miles on the vehicle. A typical shake down / test session for my car is maybe 20 miles tops. Then if this race has night time running we will spend a few hours at night doing light adjustments, and run a few miles to make sure we are happy. And during this whole time we might only run the car 100% for a total of 5 to 10 miles. Most of the time it is short runs and come back to check or tune something.

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