Loren Healy Wins the Ultra4 Class in BITD Silver State 300
by Jon Crowley on 26/04/10 at 8:30 pm
Ultra4 Racing’s Kevin Sacalas 4435 and Loren Healy 4428 both started round two of the Ultra4 Grand Slam of off-road with a point to make. Prove that their respective wins (Sacalas at the 2009 Vegas to Reno and Healy’s at the 2010 King of the Hammers) did not happen by chance. Both proved the point at the Best in the Desert Silver State 300 in Las Vegas, Nevada April 24th. Sacalas ran within reach of a win all day trailing front runners Brandon and Stephen Watson until the last pit stop of the day, while reigning King of the Hammers Healy charged hard from the back of the pack.
Sixteen Ultra4 cars started the BITD SS300 race in a last-second amended starting position. Casey Folks, impressed by the participation levels, moved the 4400 Ultra4 class to an earlier start time, behind only the fastest classes. The move prompted a readjustment of attitudes in the now Pro-class 4400 offering.
“Our Goal has been to show the world of off-road racing that Ultra4 cars are legit,” Ultra4 co- promoter and 4454 driver of record Dave Cole said of the adjustment. The move definitely proved popular with the teams who had hoped to avoid working through slower traffic. “I think, for this race, we could have started in front of the 1100 class as we passed most of the class before pit two, but in a rougher course things might have been different,” said Stephen Watson, who lead the race from pit two to pit six. There, the Watson Brothers “Blew a line on the talent tank,” according to Brandon Watson. Ultra4 class leaders still finished overall behind the 1100 class so Casey Folks hit the nail on the head with the start position.
Of sixteen starters, twelve Ultra4 cars finished the 300 miles of some of the most scenic racing in Nevada. Rick Mooneyham 4455 in the Lucas Oil Ultra4 ended his day far too early at only race mile 18 after hitting a large rock, which triggered a chain reaction of steering failures, sending the 4455 through a boulder field at over 70 MPH. Although out of the race early, Mooneyham responded with a positive twist, “Well at least I now know how to drive through two foot round boulders at 70 mph,” a talent that will lend itself to Mooneyham May 7th at the Rausch Creek Ultra4 race.
Jessie Haines 4499 suffered from motor issues, and by pit two was down a cylinder. “This is the same problem we experienced at King of the Hammers, we start losing injectors one after the other,” bemoaned Haines, commenting on the issues of his 3.8 liter motor.
Quit possibly the toughest race team in Ultra4, Dean Bullock did a carbon copy of the KOH yard sale after a unit bearing let go at nearly 80 MPH. “I pulled a Dean and refused to stop when I heard the noise,” Dean reported at the finish line awaiting a finish by teammate Barry Beadle.
Class co-promoter Dave Cole 4454 mirrored Bullock’s performance with a high speed wreck just before pit two. “We broke a caliper and had to run with only one front brake, when I hit the brakes hard to preload the frontend at a hazard, the car whipped sideways sending us into a series of rolls,” stated Dave Cole. The 4454 was able to recover, but lost a wheel shortly after.
The big news of the day was the battle of the front runners. Leaving pit four, Watson, Sacalas, and Healy raced within one minute on corrected time. Dave Schnieder 4401, Kevin Yoder 4434, and Ben Napier 4461 where following the leaders closely with the rest of the field spread out behind. By the last remaining pit stop of the day, pit six, the race leaders where running all out. Watson struggled with a tire before pit six pulling the 4488 out of the lead, and sending the 4435 of Sacalas into the physical lead. Healy was within reach of a back to back win running in Sacalas’s dust. “I wanted there to be no question,” reported Healy. “We wanted to be the first across the line.” Healy did just that, passing the 4435 on the last technical section of the course, a silt bed lined with power poles. “I had nothing for him,” said Sacalas of the pass,” He is just too fast.”
Healy had done it, finishing 31st overall, less than one hour behind the Silver State 300 overall winner. Sacalas, achieving a very close second place, has also changed the perception of the Viking Off-road team, proving that winning Vegas to Reno was not by chance. Ultra4 team 4461 Ben Napier from Australia was able to deliver a finish for his team, as well as the 4410 team of Curtis Warner from Canada. Napier had this to say of the finish, “I had no chance to practice coming off the plane from Australia, so we are happy just to finish the race.”
Casey Folkes of Best in the Desert commented post race on the Ultra4 class, “I think it’s great that they are this excited about racing; it is why we do this.” Top speeds of the Ultra4 class averaged between the high 90s and well into the 110mph range. Trick Truck class winner Jason Voss reported a top speed in the mid 120 MPH range giving you an idea of how fast the Ultra4 cars are becoming. The next stop in the Ultra4 racing schedule is Rausch Creek, Pennsylvania for the Quadratec RCQ May7th 2010. Live coverage of the event will be available on Pirate4×4.com starting May 6th 2010.
Ultra4 class finishers
31 4428 6:42:39.762 Loren Healy (29) Farmington, NM
37 4435 6:51:21.643 Kevin Sacalas (27) Riverside, CA,
47 4434 7:21:37.022 Kevin Yoder (39) Grass Valley, CA,
58 4401 7:50:00.598 Dave Schneider (35) Reno, NV,
63 4461 8:07:58.473 Ben Napier (26) Sydney, NS, Australia
68 4488 8:19:27.163 Brandon Watson (34) Glenwood Springs, CO,
76 4452 8:58:19.323 Barry Beadle (38) Granbury, TX,
77 4402 9:02:42.933 Kevin Stearns (31) Morgan Hill, CA,
83 4410 9:49:30.421 Curtis Warner (31) Armstrong, BC,
84 4405 9:59:04.729 Travis Carpenter (29) Orangevale, CA,
86 4432 10:17:29.810 Roger Lovell (36) Colorado Springs, CO,
88 4422 10:38:46.531 Todd McCullen (45) Apache Junction, AZ,
Hammerking Productions, Inc. created the “King of the Hammers” Ultra4 off-road race in 2007 (www.kingofthehammers.com) and released its first full-length feature film in 2008. Since its inception, the King of the Hammers franchise has grown to include a regional qualifier network across the United States and Canada. Hammerking Productions has produced event coverage for Spike TV, Speed TV and is in post-production of its third full feature film, “Anarchy”. The King of the Hammers event draws 50,000 spectators, and has grown to include over 100,000 fans worldwide. “King of the Hammers” is largely known for being the toughest one-day off-road race on the planet. It attracts teams from around the world and has been the focus of international media coverage. The event is held each February in the Johnson Valley OHV area in Southern California. In 2010 Hammerking Productions, Inc. expanded its services to include race program management, commercial film production, and marketing services for the off-road industry.
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