1904 Desert Toyz,
CST Tires, Tiger Lights, Mod Quad
Can-Am Maverick
SS300 race recap
CST Tires, Tiger Lights, Mod Quad
Can-Am Maverick
SS300 race recap
After a disappointing Mint 400, Desert Toyz racing team was determined to have a good run at the Silver State 300. At the Mint we were hit by a sportsman truck while passing him, the impact broke the steering wheel off in Cory’s hands and took us out of the race! The Desert Toyz team put lots of hours repairing the damage and prepping our Maverick Turbo for the Silver State 300 race. When we showed up at tech/contingency, were ready to race and were excited to have the Can-Am race reps, Sebastian, and Jeff there to help us out and cheer us on. We were blessed with a great start position, 6th in a field of 41 pro production UTV’s. Our plan was to have Scott and Jason start the race and Cory and Ryan get in at the 150 mile mark and finish the race. We took the green flag and the Maverick was very quick, we made our first pass by race mile 4 and passed 2 more UTV’s in next 16 miles. At race mile 22 we were catching another UTV, but the dust was really thick, several times we had to back off for safety and around race mile 26 we had caught the 1974 UTV. As we came around a hill, we saw a buggy that was completely engulfed in flames! We did not see any drivers. The 1974 had already stopped on the track but was not moving so we turned back to see if assistance was needed, as we flipped the U turn we were able to see the driver of the buggy, he gave us a thumbs up, what a relief. I don’t think our 2 little fire extinguishers were going to do much to help! We continued our race and took off down the course. As we approached pit 1 we were running 2nd on the course and the car was great, the suspension testing really was paying off. We rolled thru pit one and took off after the course leader as we came to a fast section we could see the lead UTV about 500 feet in front of us. Unfortunately for us the drive belt let go at race mile 32, and with the down time 25 UTV raced by. We later discovered that the drive belt was defective. Once repaired we rejoined the race attempting to make up ground, we were holding back a little, concerned about the drive belt issue. By pit 2 we had made up several spots and were charging hard, the Maverick continued to perform and the belt showed no signs of faltering. By Pit 3 we were back in the hunt. We had passed several UTV’s and a couple trucks. While I did not think we had a shot at winning, I did feel we had a great chance at a podium, as long as we had no more problems. About 10 miles out from pit 4 we caught 2 more UTV’s but the dust was so thick, we just could not get close enough to pass them. We pulled into pit 4, this was our scheduled driver change. Cory and Ryan got in quickly and left out of pit 4 in the 6th position on course. Cory and Ryan set a great pace and continued to make up more time on the 5 UTV’s ahead of them. By the time Cory and Ryan cleared pit 6 they had made their way up to 3rd on course. Somewhere between pit 6 and 7 a rock jumped out of the wash and bit the side of our tire (dam rubber eating rocks) Cory and Ryan made quick tire change but not before 2 of the UTVs that they had passed sped back by. As they approached pit 7, the crew was ready to swap out the flat spare for a new one. Cory and Ryan stopped in the pit and the crew went to work to switch out the spare tire. They had difficulty getting the straps off the flat spare to release but thanks to a quick crew member with a knife they were removed and the new spare put in its place. They took off, determined to catch the next 2 cars. By race mile 285 they had passed one and could see the dust of the other. Suddenly they heard the motor over rev and felt the belt slip. They made the decision to back off, and hold their position, not wanting to break a belt with only 18 miles left, They flew across the finish line just 3 minutes behind the course leader. The whole team felt we had a podium finish but that was not to be, as the 1900 class is so competitive. There was only 6 minutes between 1st and 6th. There are a lot of great racer, crews and UTV’s in the pro production class. Thanks to our crew for all they do, without them there would be no racing for us. Thank you to all our great sponsors that make the best products. Thank you to our fellow racers they are what make the pro production great.
