2020 AZOP Rowley White RV Series, Round 3, Vicksburg, AZ March 7-8, 2020
Written by: Miller Truby
All images © Miller Truby
It may only be March but things are already heating up in the 2020 AZOP Rowley White RV Series championship races! As spring weather rolled through the southwestern US, AZOP’s desert racers headed for the unassuming small town of Vicksburg, Arizona to stage a race at a truly unique venue; a private junkyard! Presented by The Hideaway Grill and Roadhouse as well as MRT, the Junkyard GP was run on a track approximately 5 miles in length which first snaked through the abandoned cars and other collected detritus of the titular junkyard before heading out to the silt beds and even an old abandoned runway.
Weeks of work went into the creation of the manmade portions of the track and water was dumped onto the infield sections near the pits in an attempt to keep the dust down, both for those in attendance as well as the drivers on Interstate 10, which borders the northern edge of the property. While all the watering and prep time certainly helped, after two days with hundreds of contestants pounding around and plenty of hot sun and wind, the dust clouds raised by the soft Vicksburg soil were still epic. The full-size UTV classes had an especially tough time as the dust from the large field of entrants eventually limited visibility along the entire track.
The real story of the weekend was the silt. The second half of the course saw racers heading away from the pits and out into an open section of desert that appeared to be normal sandy soil. However after the first few races on Saturday this section of the course had been churned up enough to reveal a layer of incredibly fine powdery soil more than a foot deep. Once the heavier quads and UTV’s began to run through these sections the true nature of the course was revealed and racers began to adjust strategies to try to mitigate the total lack of visibility and potentially catastrophic damage to air filters and the engines they protect. Some chose to attack the silt in hopes of floating over the top while others drifted out as wide as possible looking for any available hard-packed dirt. Despite copious course markers and practice sessions racers still found it difficult to stay on track and keep their bearings through this section of the course with several ending up off track wandering in circles waiting for the dust to clear before being able to rejoin.
With mechanical attrition becoming a factor after Saturday’s races the decision was made on Sunday morning to shorten the course and skip the silt section. This effectively turned Sunday’s bike and quad races into short-course style events with most of the racing taking place on man-made obstacles and corners, which made for great spectating for the fans in the pit areas. However as the big UTV’s lined up for Sunday’s final race the question was posed to the drivers whether they would prefer to run the longer course with the silt or whether they would prefer to run the shortened course and the pool of drivers overwhelmingly voted for the longer, tougher course. After a few minutes of extra prep to open the backside of the track the race was on and the silt was flying once again!
Hayden Thomas (#80) had an excellent weekend in the UTV races, picking up second place on Saturday and then taking the overall win on Sunday. John Nix (#900) got the overall win on Sunday and then placed 4th overall on Sunday.
As always AZOP would like to thank all of the sponsors, staff, volunteers, racers, and spectators for making this another successful and fun weekend of racing. For full race results, videos, and photos or to find out about upcoming events go to www.azopracing.com.
Saturday UTV Results
Big UTVs – Overall: 1.) #900 John Nix 2.) #80 Hayden Thomas 3.) #2020 Jeremiah Scott
Pro Turbo: 1.) #2020 Jeremiah Scott 2.) #11 Paul Obrien 3.) #903 Kody Winiecki Pro NA: 1.) #900 John Nix 2.) #80 Hayden Thomas 3.) #904 Chase De Sousa Dias 1000cc Turbo: 1.) #1212 Tobias Gavin 2.) #22 Glen Banta 3.) #316 Chris Lindstrom 1000cc NA: 1.) #504 Abe Martinez 2.) #314 Katin Ladin 3.) #15 Jayden Gerber
570cc UTVs – Overall: 1.) #14 Ryan Bedoya 2.) #1910 Grace Vinagro 3.) #809 Jaxen Gibson
570cc Advanced: 1.) #14 Ryan Bedoya 2.) #1910 Grace Vinagro 570cc Beginner: 1.) #809 Jaxen Gibson 2.) #907 Alysse De Sousa Dias 3.) #149 Jaxson Jauregui 570cc RS1: 1.) #721 Victoria Leaming
170cc/250cc UTVs – Overall: 1.) #55 Carson Greco 2.) #94 Taylor Bedoya 3.) #765 Presley Ladin
250cc: 1.) #55 Carson Greco 2.) #765 Presley Ladin 3.) #116 Erik Alvidrez 170cc Modified: 1.) #918 Izzy Ford 170cc Advanced: 1.) #94 Taylor Bedoya 2.) #979 Kenzey Graham 3.) #866 Jaxon Leaming 170cc Beginner: 1.) #86 Allison Furnell 2.) #1866 Cameron Leaming 3.) #153 Ryder Wilson
Sunday UTV Results
Big UTVs – Overall: 1.) #80 Hayden Thomas 2.) #11 Paul Obrien 3.) #904 Chase De Sousa Dias
Pro Turbo: 1.) #11 Paul Obrien 2.) #903 Kody Winiecki 3.) #2020 Jeremiah Scott Pro NA: 1.) #80 Hayden Thomas 2.) #904 Chase De Sousa Dias 3.) #900 John Nix 1000cc Turbo: 1.) #22 Glen Banta 2.) #990 Kirk Sutherland 3.) #316 Chris Lindstrom 1000cc NA: 1.) #1986 Travis Nelson 2.) #999 Bo Radavich 3.) #314 Katin Ladin
570cc UTVs – Overall: 1.) #721 Victoria Leaming 2.) #1910 Grace Vinagro 3.) #14 Ryan Bedoya
570cc RS1: 1.) #721 Victoria Leaming 570cc Advanced: 1.) #1910 Grace Vinagro 2.) #14 Ryan Bedoya 3.) #557 Lucas Johnson 570cc Beginner: 1.) #566 Alexia Leaming 2.) #149 Jaxson Jauregui 3.) #907 Alysse De Sousa Dias
170cc/250cc UTVs – Overall: 1.) #55 Carson Greco 2.) #866 Jaxon Leaming 3.) #94 Taylor Bedoya
250cc: 1.) #55 Carson Greco 2.) #116 Erik Alvidrez 3.) #147 Braden Krah 170cc Modified: 1.) #918 Izzy Ford 170cc Advanced: 1.) #866 Jaxon Leaming 2.) #94 Taylor Bedoya 3.) #979 Kenzey Graham 170cc Beginner: 1.) #86 Allison Furnell 2.) #210 Triton Lawrence 3.) #1866 Cameron Leaming
