blacksheep10
XBJRA champ/ 555 and team Nasty codriver
Seems very few care about UTV racing on here outside of a little SRRS or something of the like, so this will be a good forum to debug my KOH story on.
A little preface. When we heard about KOH in 2008, we wanted to go. All of us. My buddy Wyatt (indashop / bigwoodywag) was racing XRRA at the time and had a buggy, I was codriving with him. He made the call and commitment ($) that it was going to happen, so we got ready. Racing out there is like nothing else, and our run was nothing in the realm of spectacular. The next year I sold some parts to Matt Enochs of TX, a friend of a friend and somehow became his codriver. At the time I found it odd that a guy named JabNasty would ask a stranger he knew only from the phone buying parts and asking advice to be a codriver from 8 hours away. I would later find out he had no other real friends
Jab and I raced his buggy in 2010 and 2011, and finished in 14 hours and 37 minutes in 2011 after driving on a flat for 27 miles. Rough day, we made it, 27 degrees at the finish, one walmart knock off KC daylighter and no brakes. 2011 also brought the first RZR XP into our group. Matt also bought one. These things are legit. He is easy on equipment in a race and hard on equipment when wheeling drunk with his buddies just like me. Every upgraded part on his RZR except the Radflo shocks are from midnight shennanigans that tore something off and needed to be replaced with better stock. The RZR had been ran hard but was solid, so the decision was made to race KOH 12 in the golf cart
With no experience racing rzr's we were just going to go wing it. No need for the Kings, long travel, 14's and all the other cool **** we saw around, just drive. They taped our name to the bottom of the bucket again (a recurring theme) and we started in the last row. We had 12" Hipers on and cut 3 in half with rocks that got in between the caliper and tire. We took a tire at every check point as our spare was always already on and near flat laughing1. Started 39, finished 8. Nothing great but it was a sprint
'13 is when we excelled. There was actualy rock crawling. We put on 14" racelines and 28" mongrels (more on that later). We were "drawn" last in unlimited (19th or so off the line) and as we rolled up to the start line glued on our buddy Rob Usnick's bumper where we were properly staged, the last check person at the start line told us we were out of order, let him check, yep, we were out of order, wait, nope, you have to take a rear start. I came unglued as 2 more rows of racers were directed around us and let go. I was screaming loud as Matt tried to turn his intercom down as I was blowing his ear drums out. Dave heard me, saw us pulled off with a pro colored number plate, saw who it was and told us to get the hell on to racing. We were off a little over a minute after we were supposed to be. Ran clean, and by the end of aftershock had passed all but Crowley and Guthrie. We passed a 3 wheel drive limping Crowley in HWY 19 or 20 and a broken Guthrie in Wrecking ball. We trucked on and enjoyed our lead and rolled comfortably toward the finish until a flat on a graded gravel road stopped us, no jack, galled lug studs, no brakes (a bent rotor it turns out) and a finish 2 minutes back. Lots of what ifs from that year, we didn't know about the sand hill that the leaders took in 1 minute while we winched for 45 in the chute, I called for him to keep making dust and looking for a rock to beach the trailing arm on to make a tire change easier, I didn't know that a bent rotor would make it feel like no brakes by pushing the pads apart (we actually lost because with no brakes and 2 to go of 110 miles we smoked a rock and drove in on a flat front. Time corrected we only had to keep them in sight at best to take a win) 3rd it was. On to this year.
KOH 2014
We knew that his tired old RZR didn't stand much of a chance against the 1k's, it had another broken diff in it, no rear axles, 3 year old DHT front axles that were bought on the lakebed before the '12 race, wadded up frame tabs, and was just all around rough. Matt was out of money as Pipeline welding had slowed around his area, couldn't afford to prep it and couldnt afford to drive to the race or enter in the race. I was planning on this year at KOH being the one that I relaxed, drank, hung out with buddies and laid back. 19 days before we were to leave Matt calls with a sponsor. His buddy at the bar that owns an electric company gave him enough for fuel, entry and beer. The upgrades were primarily covered by my company and we would square later. I shipped him a 1k front diff, a Gilbert Designs front diff adapter plate, it had just had racertech arms put on it after he wiped out a corner post with his WOD arms on, so arms were solid. It got new Rhino rear axles, a Tusk skid plate, all new bolts and nylock nuts in the suspension (we stopped 20 minutes mid race last year retightening all suspension bolts and welding nuts to bolts mid race,) I came up with 5-30" Mongrel tires and Raceline Wheels sponsored a set of wheels to put them on, and Matt sprung for an Alba motor (old one blew after last year and it turned into a 8k ordeal that still isn't tuned or clutched). We weren't ready, but we were going to race. I am as fat and out of shape as I have been in years, so this bode poorly for me as I ran about 20 miles up and down canyons last year dragging him over every rock by hand. 19 days to make it happen. I was broke as well, so during that time period I had to get some work in and out of the shop and paid for.
Another friend of mine named Matt simultaneously decided to buy a Class 10 car and race the Parker 425 the weekend before KOH where I was to be crewing for Wyatt's new Class1 4wd car. Wyatt gave me the blessing that I could codrive with Matt and share pits, so I was on it, 2 brutal races in 4 days. We finished 4th in sportsman in Matt's new to him Class 10. Wyatt had motor gremlins all day. Felt a lot like racing, only rougher. On to KOH that Sunday after a good party with my West Texas buddies in Havasu at a couger bar.
We hit the lakebed and got a list together of what all needed done to make it qualifying ready, then tech ready, then race ready. Monday was our day to kick ass on it. Matt and I needed to go chase parts all day, a guy we rode out with named Jake was to tighten, loctite, install, modify etc everything to make it mechanically solid. His list was a claimed hour long, that I said allow 4 hours for, and when we returned 5 hours later, was 33% done and he was gone to get drunk for a day. With that hiccup, we were left to finish the rig with the help of Matt's friend, Austin and a couple other in and out helping hands like the original KOH BAD ASS Miles Hasselquist, when he wasn't announcing for the KOH live feed. Monday night we didn't have most of the safety stuff remounted, little of the prep was done, and we were still on 28's as the wheels hadn't showed up from Raceline yet. We did get out to tune with Radflo by bogarting in on an ultra4 car's tuning run, but were told to take the shocks off and bring them in the next day disassembled.
Tuesday morning brought qualifying. 14th off the line, plan was to take it easy, let the fast guys get out there on that rough ass course and tear a wheel off, get a front start and break in the rocks. We will qualify/race our own race. I also made the call with 3 guys to go to get my fat ass out of the RZR to give him a better chance. As I watched him take off and start up the wash, I saw he was only spinning the rears. Dammit, what now. He tried the rock pile where the redbull arch is and failed. Still no 4x4. After some scrambling, he found the switch was unplugged in the dash, jammed it in and qualified 8th. Not bad for a 20 or so second delay. We took it back and started tearing stuff back down for Radflo to make changes, and started getting it ready to tech. Jake was back, and getting the stink eye from me every 20 seconds or so. I was taking this year serious and sober. Few followed my lead laughing1 We passed tech and went to the drivers' meeting, normal stuff excpet for hearing that the UTV race is off next year unless Dave finds about 40k in sponsor money. Nate from Alba was supposed to be down to meet us and see why our auto tuner wasn't working. but didn't make it until I was in bed and Matt was at a party drinking whiskey race prepping his liver until 2. With the auto tuner on, it would fatten so much it would pour raw fuel on the tarp under the RZR and foul plugs. We went back to the simple little box Alba sent that worked, but it was fat.
Race morning. Late as usual. Matt staged his own rig, I was moving slow, went to the portapotties that are about a mile away, made it back, got my suit on, forgot catheter, took it back off, forgot breakfast, went and got it, forgot gloves, screw it, I'm late. I got in about 10 minutes before we pulled off (pretty standard prima donna stuff.) We took off and it bogged hard. A Can Am shot out in front of us. The engine finally came to life and off we went. We pulled back past the Maverick and up and over short bus. 1 pass at the bottom. Out across the desert loop we went, same path as last year and feeling good. The shock tune (slightly more compression in the rear and 1.3" more ride height in the rear, leave the front as is) helped immensly. No more bottoming and dragging the skid plate OFF like last year, just smooth sailing. We always have ran conservative in the desert, Matt's eyes don't let him see how deep the whoops are and I can only push his right leg down while he tells me to F'ing quit it so much. We probably passed 3 or 4 broken rigs and race passed 1 or 2 more. This year we knew about the sand hill and took it, no problem, and rolled into main on fumes. I said it was running fat, last year the first loop with an extra 45 min of messing around at the chute used 4.5 gallon. This year we used 7......of a 7.25 gallon tank. The last downhill coming into the finish crossgrain it was sputtering and dieing like crazy. We made it sweating with fingers crossed, but laughing on the intercom talking about kids on dirtbikes, loose women and partying later as I'm guessing all race teams do with in the heat of the moment.
I had no idea where we were, nor did I care as we were racing our race. The crew of Lucky Dog racing told us we were 3rd in and second out as Mitch was having problems. We took back off bebopping across the whoops with the first place 1k in front of us drove away in a cloud of dust that disappeared immediately. We were hitting a high of 61mph in anything rough and 66 or less on lakebeds, our clutching wasn't adjusted. We heard later that the guy in front of us was running in the 90 range laughing1 Go team JabNasty race prep laughing1
We got to Aftershock and to our surprise, there in front of us was that fast 1k winching already. We went for a pass and he held us off, they drove/ran ahead to the first real obstacle and bypass on the canyon wall. The driver knew the bypass and took it only to promptly roll downhill. We scooted on by and drove the whole trail without me as much as loosening my belts. Matt was never rough on the rzr and kept a fluid flow going over everything. We got to the top and I started posting facebook updates while he drove across the top of the mountian. It is 2 track, wide open and no real navigation is needed. We got into highway 19 and spanked it, then onto highway 20. Again no problem until on a noneventful little smooth section at full droop the 3 year old front axle quit pulling. The boot was intact, the bell was all there and the shaft was looking good, just not pulling. The cage finally gave up and let it fall apart. Ok, we have a spare in remote (that belongs to Miles, if it were Matt's it would be in there laughing1) Okay, we can do this, only now we can see Brandon and Mitch pulling up on us. There is nothing to winch to. We are stuck as ****. Now what. They both get by, I'm getting frustrated, and my now out of shape body is starting to tell me it is done. I move a huge rock from in front of the RZR and tell Matt he better sack up and drive the rest of the trail in 3wd. He makes it happen, hitting lines that forced the broken tire to carry and the pulling tire to stay planted when they weren't both carrying
I ran (yeah right) up to a flat spot and got back in. Now we are in third. ****. We get into camp and I jump out and start yelling directions. We get it in, get going and are on a bit of a mission. Casey Currie passed us while we were changing the axle. That sucks. He's in a Kawasaki Teryx. Sure, it has a bunch of **** done, but its a damn utility unit. We take him back on top of the mountain and get it back in gear. This is where I messed up a bit by getting caught up in the moment. I generally do this once a year. I should have been calming him down. Matt was on lock during the points up to chocolate thunder, but once we got into the trail, he was all pumped up. Media was everywhere, we had to have me pull/spot last year. The 30's were making EVERYTHING too easy, so we decided to give it 1 bump, then have me get out. No need. We shot up the gatekeeper and right up the middle to the second obstacle in no time. Then we messed up. I though it was left then right, he though it was right. We didn't prerun an inch of it (excpet for a year earlier when I ran up it) and he was still all riding high on adrenaline and hangover whiskey. He smoked a rock with his right front wheel. Only rock of the day he ever hit wrong. All it took. We went up the next section with me running in front and him spotting. That's when I saw the last thing I wanted to see. The right wheel falling off. The upper A arm bolt on a 900 is gayer than AIDS, it should be 2 short bolts for many reasons. The other part that is shitty is that you have to pull the front clip to get the bolt in and out. I did have a spare bolt, but we have to get it in. About 20 minutes into the replacement operation we CAN'T get the arm to go back in the hole. WTF. I then look down and remember that the DHT fronts have the worst inner CV bell snap ring in the world and that the CV would rather come apart than simply pop out of the diff. I ask if he thinks his front CV came apart. Sure enough, we pop the boot and balls fall in the sand. We have no more spare fronts in camp. We have to make this work. I start cleaning balls and he tries to keep the sand out of it. We had the long bolt half back in, now we have to not drop cv parts and get the bolt back out with the radiator support back in the way while there is a camera on a tripod 4 foot away and the crowd yelling at us. Casey Currie repassed us here. Dammit. We keep on going with the CV. Got it back together, no boot clamp, the other A arm bent up into the new Rhino inner cv over there, no boot there either. We put the rest of the parts on, get it back on the ground, roll out and start talking. We have no inner clamps, and no real grease in the cv on the right, just sand. And its a 3 year old unit who's brother just died. We stop again and I safety wire (who am I kidding tie wire from bridge construction) the cv boots on, the drivers is bound too hard on the bent arm to get a wire in. Run it, it was new and full when installed. We press on. There was not much to note after this. Clawhammer, Boulderdash, Lower and Upper Big Johnson. Matt just drove and I was along for the ride with no intercom in my helmet anymore. We did have to winch on the sand hill, only at the very top, but that was a 2 minute or less deal. We knew we would never catch Casey and that nobody was within miles of us, so we just kicked it in frustrated that a lack of money to buy parts might have cost us the race, and a moment of excitement cost us a podium without a doubt.
We always say next year and always do well no matter what we are in. At this point it comes down to the fact that Matt can't afford a new 1k, and if he did, he couldn't afford to throw the 20+k at it to make is a winning machine. I have a 1k, but am not willing to make it race only for 1 race a year. I don't have the means to make it a KOH worthy machine. I barely have the means to own one. He is a hell of a driver and we work very well together as a team, but any potential sponsor would have to be one that wanted to throw money at a guy that cusses a lot and drinks too much laughing1 Maybe Keystone is looking for someone to send to races with beer and money. If trends continue, we will remain another well finishing, never sponsored, never noticed team that scrapes money together just enough to get together and race a little. Until next year, we will go on about our lives and see where we end up as 2014 draws to a close and it is time to plan.
Kelly Kaiser
Codriver for Matt Jabnasty Enochs
RZR #1924
A little preface. When we heard about KOH in 2008, we wanted to go. All of us. My buddy Wyatt (indashop / bigwoodywag) was racing XRRA at the time and had a buggy, I was codriving with him. He made the call and commitment ($) that it was going to happen, so we got ready. Racing out there is like nothing else, and our run was nothing in the realm of spectacular. The next year I sold some parts to Matt Enochs of TX, a friend of a friend and somehow became his codriver. At the time I found it odd that a guy named JabNasty would ask a stranger he knew only from the phone buying parts and asking advice to be a codriver from 8 hours away. I would later find out he had no other real friends
Jab and I raced his buggy in 2010 and 2011, and finished in 14 hours and 37 minutes in 2011 after driving on a flat for 27 miles. Rough day, we made it, 27 degrees at the finish, one walmart knock off KC daylighter and no brakes. 2011 also brought the first RZR XP into our group. Matt also bought one. These things are legit. He is easy on equipment in a race and hard on equipment when wheeling drunk with his buddies just like me. Every upgraded part on his RZR except the Radflo shocks are from midnight shennanigans that tore something off and needed to be replaced with better stock. The RZR had been ran hard but was solid, so the decision was made to race KOH 12 in the golf cart
With no experience racing rzr's we were just going to go wing it. No need for the Kings, long travel, 14's and all the other cool **** we saw around, just drive. They taped our name to the bottom of the bucket again (a recurring theme) and we started in the last row. We had 12" Hipers on and cut 3 in half with rocks that got in between the caliper and tire. We took a tire at every check point as our spare was always already on and near flat laughing1. Started 39, finished 8. Nothing great but it was a sprint
'13 is when we excelled. There was actualy rock crawling. We put on 14" racelines and 28" mongrels (more on that later). We were "drawn" last in unlimited (19th or so off the line) and as we rolled up to the start line glued on our buddy Rob Usnick's bumper where we were properly staged, the last check person at the start line told us we were out of order, let him check, yep, we were out of order, wait, nope, you have to take a rear start. I came unglued as 2 more rows of racers were directed around us and let go. I was screaming loud as Matt tried to turn his intercom down as I was blowing his ear drums out. Dave heard me, saw us pulled off with a pro colored number plate, saw who it was and told us to get the hell on to racing. We were off a little over a minute after we were supposed to be. Ran clean, and by the end of aftershock had passed all but Crowley and Guthrie. We passed a 3 wheel drive limping Crowley in HWY 19 or 20 and a broken Guthrie in Wrecking ball. We trucked on and enjoyed our lead and rolled comfortably toward the finish until a flat on a graded gravel road stopped us, no jack, galled lug studs, no brakes (a bent rotor it turns out) and a finish 2 minutes back. Lots of what ifs from that year, we didn't know about the sand hill that the leaders took in 1 minute while we winched for 45 in the chute, I called for him to keep making dust and looking for a rock to beach the trailing arm on to make a tire change easier, I didn't know that a bent rotor would make it feel like no brakes by pushing the pads apart (we actually lost because with no brakes and 2 to go of 110 miles we smoked a rock and drove in on a flat front. Time corrected we only had to keep them in sight at best to take a win) 3rd it was. On to this year.
KOH 2014
We knew that his tired old RZR didn't stand much of a chance against the 1k's, it had another broken diff in it, no rear axles, 3 year old DHT front axles that were bought on the lakebed before the '12 race, wadded up frame tabs, and was just all around rough. Matt was out of money as Pipeline welding had slowed around his area, couldn't afford to prep it and couldnt afford to drive to the race or enter in the race. I was planning on this year at KOH being the one that I relaxed, drank, hung out with buddies and laid back. 19 days before we were to leave Matt calls with a sponsor. His buddy at the bar that owns an electric company gave him enough for fuel, entry and beer. The upgrades were primarily covered by my company and we would square later. I shipped him a 1k front diff, a Gilbert Designs front diff adapter plate, it had just had racertech arms put on it after he wiped out a corner post with his WOD arms on, so arms were solid. It got new Rhino rear axles, a Tusk skid plate, all new bolts and nylock nuts in the suspension (we stopped 20 minutes mid race last year retightening all suspension bolts and welding nuts to bolts mid race,) I came up with 5-30" Mongrel tires and Raceline Wheels sponsored a set of wheels to put them on, and Matt sprung for an Alba motor (old one blew after last year and it turned into a 8k ordeal that still isn't tuned or clutched). We weren't ready, but we were going to race. I am as fat and out of shape as I have been in years, so this bode poorly for me as I ran about 20 miles up and down canyons last year dragging him over every rock by hand. 19 days to make it happen. I was broke as well, so during that time period I had to get some work in and out of the shop and paid for.
Another friend of mine named Matt simultaneously decided to buy a Class 10 car and race the Parker 425 the weekend before KOH where I was to be crewing for Wyatt's new Class1 4wd car. Wyatt gave me the blessing that I could codrive with Matt and share pits, so I was on it, 2 brutal races in 4 days. We finished 4th in sportsman in Matt's new to him Class 10. Wyatt had motor gremlins all day. Felt a lot like racing, only rougher. On to KOH that Sunday after a good party with my West Texas buddies in Havasu at a couger bar.
We hit the lakebed and got a list together of what all needed done to make it qualifying ready, then tech ready, then race ready. Monday was our day to kick ass on it. Matt and I needed to go chase parts all day, a guy we rode out with named Jake was to tighten, loctite, install, modify etc everything to make it mechanically solid. His list was a claimed hour long, that I said allow 4 hours for, and when we returned 5 hours later, was 33% done and he was gone to get drunk for a day. With that hiccup, we were left to finish the rig with the help of Matt's friend, Austin and a couple other in and out helping hands like the original KOH BAD ASS Miles Hasselquist, when he wasn't announcing for the KOH live feed. Monday night we didn't have most of the safety stuff remounted, little of the prep was done, and we were still on 28's as the wheels hadn't showed up from Raceline yet. We did get out to tune with Radflo by bogarting in on an ultra4 car's tuning run, but were told to take the shocks off and bring them in the next day disassembled.
Tuesday morning brought qualifying. 14th off the line, plan was to take it easy, let the fast guys get out there on that rough ass course and tear a wheel off, get a front start and break in the rocks. We will qualify/race our own race. I also made the call with 3 guys to go to get my fat ass out of the RZR to give him a better chance. As I watched him take off and start up the wash, I saw he was only spinning the rears. Dammit, what now. He tried the rock pile where the redbull arch is and failed. Still no 4x4. After some scrambling, he found the switch was unplugged in the dash, jammed it in and qualified 8th. Not bad for a 20 or so second delay. We took it back and started tearing stuff back down for Radflo to make changes, and started getting it ready to tech. Jake was back, and getting the stink eye from me every 20 seconds or so. I was taking this year serious and sober. Few followed my lead laughing1 We passed tech and went to the drivers' meeting, normal stuff excpet for hearing that the UTV race is off next year unless Dave finds about 40k in sponsor money. Nate from Alba was supposed to be down to meet us and see why our auto tuner wasn't working. but didn't make it until I was in bed and Matt was at a party drinking whiskey race prepping his liver until 2. With the auto tuner on, it would fatten so much it would pour raw fuel on the tarp under the RZR and foul plugs. We went back to the simple little box Alba sent that worked, but it was fat.
Race morning. Late as usual. Matt staged his own rig, I was moving slow, went to the portapotties that are about a mile away, made it back, got my suit on, forgot catheter, took it back off, forgot breakfast, went and got it, forgot gloves, screw it, I'm late. I got in about 10 minutes before we pulled off (pretty standard prima donna stuff.) We took off and it bogged hard. A Can Am shot out in front of us. The engine finally came to life and off we went. We pulled back past the Maverick and up and over short bus. 1 pass at the bottom. Out across the desert loop we went, same path as last year and feeling good. The shock tune (slightly more compression in the rear and 1.3" more ride height in the rear, leave the front as is) helped immensly. No more bottoming and dragging the skid plate OFF like last year, just smooth sailing. We always have ran conservative in the desert, Matt's eyes don't let him see how deep the whoops are and I can only push his right leg down while he tells me to F'ing quit it so much. We probably passed 3 or 4 broken rigs and race passed 1 or 2 more. This year we knew about the sand hill and took it, no problem, and rolled into main on fumes. I said it was running fat, last year the first loop with an extra 45 min of messing around at the chute used 4.5 gallon. This year we used 7......of a 7.25 gallon tank. The last downhill coming into the finish crossgrain it was sputtering and dieing like crazy. We made it sweating with fingers crossed, but laughing on the intercom talking about kids on dirtbikes, loose women and partying later as I'm guessing all race teams do with in the heat of the moment.
I had no idea where we were, nor did I care as we were racing our race. The crew of Lucky Dog racing told us we were 3rd in and second out as Mitch was having problems. We took back off bebopping across the whoops with the first place 1k in front of us drove away in a cloud of dust that disappeared immediately. We were hitting a high of 61mph in anything rough and 66 or less on lakebeds, our clutching wasn't adjusted. We heard later that the guy in front of us was running in the 90 range laughing1 Go team JabNasty race prep laughing1
We got to Aftershock and to our surprise, there in front of us was that fast 1k winching already. We went for a pass and he held us off, they drove/ran ahead to the first real obstacle and bypass on the canyon wall. The driver knew the bypass and took it only to promptly roll downhill. We scooted on by and drove the whole trail without me as much as loosening my belts. Matt was never rough on the rzr and kept a fluid flow going over everything. We got to the top and I started posting facebook updates while he drove across the top of the mountian. It is 2 track, wide open and no real navigation is needed. We got into highway 19 and spanked it, then onto highway 20. Again no problem until on a noneventful little smooth section at full droop the 3 year old front axle quit pulling. The boot was intact, the bell was all there and the shaft was looking good, just not pulling. The cage finally gave up and let it fall apart. Ok, we have a spare in remote (that belongs to Miles, if it were Matt's it would be in there laughing1) Okay, we can do this, only now we can see Brandon and Mitch pulling up on us. There is nothing to winch to. We are stuck as ****. Now what. They both get by, I'm getting frustrated, and my now out of shape body is starting to tell me it is done. I move a huge rock from in front of the RZR and tell Matt he better sack up and drive the rest of the trail in 3wd. He makes it happen, hitting lines that forced the broken tire to carry and the pulling tire to stay planted when they weren't both carrying
I ran (yeah right) up to a flat spot and got back in. Now we are in third. ****. We get into camp and I jump out and start yelling directions. We get it in, get going and are on a bit of a mission. Casey Currie passed us while we were changing the axle. That sucks. He's in a Kawasaki Teryx. Sure, it has a bunch of **** done, but its a damn utility unit. We take him back on top of the mountain and get it back in gear. This is where I messed up a bit by getting caught up in the moment. I generally do this once a year. I should have been calming him down. Matt was on lock during the points up to chocolate thunder, but once we got into the trail, he was all pumped up. Media was everywhere, we had to have me pull/spot last year. The 30's were making EVERYTHING too easy, so we decided to give it 1 bump, then have me get out. No need. We shot up the gatekeeper and right up the middle to the second obstacle in no time. Then we messed up. I though it was left then right, he though it was right. We didn't prerun an inch of it (excpet for a year earlier when I ran up it) and he was still all riding high on adrenaline and hangover whiskey. He smoked a rock with his right front wheel. Only rock of the day he ever hit wrong. All it took. We went up the next section with me running in front and him spotting. That's when I saw the last thing I wanted to see. The right wheel falling off. The upper A arm bolt on a 900 is gayer than AIDS, it should be 2 short bolts for many reasons. The other part that is shitty is that you have to pull the front clip to get the bolt in and out. I did have a spare bolt, but we have to get it in. About 20 minutes into the replacement operation we CAN'T get the arm to go back in the hole. WTF. I then look down and remember that the DHT fronts have the worst inner CV bell snap ring in the world and that the CV would rather come apart than simply pop out of the diff. I ask if he thinks his front CV came apart. Sure enough, we pop the boot and balls fall in the sand. We have no more spare fronts in camp. We have to make this work. I start cleaning balls and he tries to keep the sand out of it. We had the long bolt half back in, now we have to not drop cv parts and get the bolt back out with the radiator support back in the way while there is a camera on a tripod 4 foot away and the crowd yelling at us. Casey Currie repassed us here. Dammit. We keep on going with the CV. Got it back together, no boot clamp, the other A arm bent up into the new Rhino inner cv over there, no boot there either. We put the rest of the parts on, get it back on the ground, roll out and start talking. We have no inner clamps, and no real grease in the cv on the right, just sand. And its a 3 year old unit who's brother just died. We stop again and I safety wire (who am I kidding tie wire from bridge construction) the cv boots on, the drivers is bound too hard on the bent arm to get a wire in. Run it, it was new and full when installed. We press on. There was not much to note after this. Clawhammer, Boulderdash, Lower and Upper Big Johnson. Matt just drove and I was along for the ride with no intercom in my helmet anymore. We did have to winch on the sand hill, only at the very top, but that was a 2 minute or less deal. We knew we would never catch Casey and that nobody was within miles of us, so we just kicked it in frustrated that a lack of money to buy parts might have cost us the race, and a moment of excitement cost us a podium without a doubt. We always say next year and always do well no matter what we are in. At this point it comes down to the fact that Matt can't afford a new 1k, and if he did, he couldn't afford to throw the 20+k at it to make is a winning machine. I have a 1k, but am not willing to make it race only for 1 race a year. I don't have the means to make it a KOH worthy machine. I barely have the means to own one. He is a hell of a driver and we work very well together as a team, but any potential sponsor would have to be one that wanted to throw money at a guy that cusses a lot and drinks too much laughing1 Maybe Keystone is looking for someone to send to races with beer and money. If trends continue, we will remain another well finishing, never sponsored, never noticed team that scrapes money together just enough to get together and race a little. Until next year, we will go on about our lives and see where we end up as 2014 draws to a close and it is time to plan.
Kelly Kaiser
Codriver for Matt Jabnasty Enochs
RZR #1924
Keep on representing the little guy & maybe one day you'll be on top of the podium.
