We arrived Saturday morning to a mostly full pit area. We unloaded and made our way over to tech only to see that ASCC had a far better turnout than they were expecting. We patiently waited, and visited with others, for 2 hours in tech... and the line didn't stop with us. Due to time constraints, morning practice was cancelled and heat racing began as soon as the drivers meeting was finished.

We got team driver, Jeff Barrett all geared up and our BRM Offroad Chassis built 1600 buggy to the line. This would be Jeff's first time back behind the wheel since May 2010, and only the 2nd time on the Speedworld/Lucas Oil track. Our Heat race went well, shaking out the cobwebs and remembering how hard you need to push it out there. Jeff finished 5th and with a little carb adjustment, slipping in a smaller jet, we were ready for the Main.

The Limited 1600 Buggy's were lined up behind the Unlimited Buggy's and ready to go. Jeff got a great start battling for a couple of laps with the 383 & 389 buggy's before settling into 3rd place. The racing was close and intense as Jeff stayed close to 1st & 2nd place. With one lap to go before the full-course competition yellow came out, our tranny blew. We had such a great run going too. Jeff was heading down the front stretch and as he went into turn one he felt a shake. The adrenaline was flying, gauges all looked great, he went into turn two and that's when it happened. He felt a hard jolt and the motor shut down. The crew saw him coast into turn 3 and pull off the track. We had radio communication the entire time and there was no smoking or anything from the buggy. Jeff climbed out and went to check the motor for leaking, smoke, anything and that's when he saw the small fire. Waving over to the ASCC crew for some assistance, they raced over to put out the flames. Not much was damaged at initial inspection, but we'll be taking a closer look at things and getting it ready to go for Round 2 in March.

Below is a short video highlighting Round 1 action -

STAY YOUNG, HAVE FUN, PLAY!!