Round 1 of the DP4 Racing Series was held in Red Mountain, CA on February 1, 2020. The Blais Racing Services crew had been building a new 2020 Can-Am Maverick X3 for the new season, but with the Holiday season in the midst of it all, things got pushed back a little bit. We would get the cage on Wednesday morning before the race from SF Raceworks and begin reassembling the race car. Jeremy Gray and Gilbert Davila were on hand to help get it done along with the entire SF Raceworks crew. It was a long, late night but we managed to get 95% of the car completed. The guys all did a great job. We were able to take photos of the car on Thursday and do a little testing. We loaded up and took off on Friday morning to Red Mountain to set up camp and do more testing. We put another 30 miles on the car and sorted out some small things. My dad and I worked on the car most of the day to tidy it all up and have her dialed in for Saturday’s race!
I have to say this new 2020 Can-Am powerplant rips. Combined with my KWI clutching/ GBoost Belt and PWR Tune Super Stock setup, this car was fast! My suspension was amazing out of the box from Tom Morris at TM1 Motorports/ UTV Shocks.com as it always is. SF Raceworks did an amazing job on my car wiring and cage setup and my car was lighter and stronger than my older version. Thanks so much, guys!
We started the race, 3rd off the line and got in a nice groove. I was still getting used to the car while half way through the first lap, we passed our friend Harpo and his co-driver from Barstow, with the right front corner ripped off their car in the rocky sand wash. This put us in 2nd place overall and we could see the leaders out in the distance. I didn’t feel like I was going slow but those guys were gradually pulling away. We put in another flawless 2nd lap where I was getting settled in and set my fastest lap of the race. We were able to pull in the pits right behind the leaders and make the pass when they were repairing their car. After that, we never looked back and kept pushing forward. We drove a very clean race with only a couple small mistakes. My Kenda Kongur tires on our new KMC wheels worked perfect without a single issue or flat tire. The car came back in perfect condition like it normally does. We will be making some fine tuning to the suspension for the next round after we get to weigh the car and see how much lighter we end up compared to the last car.
Our next event will be the BITD Laughlin Night Race on February 20th where we get to try out our new Baja Designs lights and freshen up our night race skills. Racing at night is the best. My wife and I have been racing night races on our bikes since 2005. I can’t wait!
Thank you to all our awesome sponsors for their continued support and our new sponsors for 2020! We can’t go racing with you. Photos by: @jasonr.photos on Instagram
- Can-Am Offroad (Best SXS Around)
- Kenda Powersports (Best tires out there)
- SF Raceworks (For all your cage/ wiring/ race car needs)
- Tom Morris/ UTV Shocks (Best shock tuner I have ever had a chance to work with)
- KWI Clutching (Kris Werth is the man! My car rips and not a single belt issue)
- Gboost Belts (Worlds Best Belt says it all)
- Baja Designs (Best lighting around, my sponsor for almost 20 years)
- Eibach (Best springs around that don’t sag!)
- Teixeira Tech (The best radius rods/ a-arms around that are strong and light)
- Blud Racing (Best oil and customer service you could ask for)
- Double E Racing (The only rear sway bar I use)
- Alpinestars (Nothing bust the best race suits and fire protection available)
- Dirt Specialties (Awesome looking doors)
- PWR Tune (Best and most reliable tuning you can get)
- KMC Wheels (Sweet looking and strong wheels)
- Mickster Race Jack (Superlight and most functional jack available)
- Triton Racing Coolers (Super strong plate style front Radiator)
- RokBlokz (Trailing arm protection)
- Zollinger Racing Products (Strongest Knuckles I could ask for)
- PCI Race Radios (Clear and precise radio communications)
- Impact (Most comfortable helmets and racing harnesses I could ever want)
- Mastercraft Safety (Suspension Seats)
- Necksgen (Most comfortable neck restraint out there)
- Sector Seven (Cool mirrors with some bright lights)
Story and photos courtesy of Chris Blais and Jeremy Gray
