ROUND 1 - FEBRUARY 21, 2009

Round 1 of the Glen Helen Short Course Series kicked off on February 21, 2009 with a low turn-out, but a great race event. Practice was held Friday afternoon for the few that were able to make it out early, but by Saturday morning there were a lot more racers. The weather was great, a little breezy, but very comfortable temperatures with a little sun peeking thru.

We were amazed that our weekend gate fee was just $10 per adult. When was the last time you went to a race event and only paid $10 to get in? That's unheard of, but it's also the set price for the series. We also had the freedom to go back and forth between our race pits and the CMC/REM dirt bike races on the famous Glen Helen motocross track. Our $10 gate fee also included camping throughout the entire weekend. With the gate and camping fees being this affordable, how can more racers not come out? Well, we had several ex-CORR racers approach us, ask us what we thought of the track, and commented that they were bringing their buggy out for round 2 in March.

As part of keeping expenses down and not going bankrupt with unnecessary expenses, there were no bleachers for the spectators. Instead it was more like a desert race where everyone backed their truck or UTV up to the edge of the track well, about 30 feet from the track was as close as you could get. But once again, anyone who was on the property for either the Short Course races or the dirt bike races had free reign to come over and check out the short course races. It was a great family atmosphere with great sportsmanship in all the classes and some very tight racing.

The track itself was in great shape. Even after the Traxxas Team finished with their private practice Friday morning. Other pro teams were out there on Thursday as well. The track is 1mile long with a 1000 foot front straight and an 1100 foot back stretch. The track is laid out in the shape of a 'U' inside a 'U' and the 2 outside straights both have a couple of big jumps and tables to showcase what the buggy's and trucks can do. The inside 'U' is the technical aspect with 3 doubles down one side a high-banked right hand corner followed by a table and another double just before the flat left hand corner to go down the front stretch. This track has it all! High speeds, banked turns, flat turns, tables, singles, doubles, it's a track that keeps the drivers on their toes using all their skills, and not just dropping the hammer.

With a few late practice runs and a fresh look at the doubles coming out of turn 3, Jeff Barrett in the ^#334 BRM OFFROAD Pro Single Buggy was ready to go racing. The start of the race had Jeff Barrett on the inside with Gary Williams in the ^#309 to his right and Joe in the ^#363 on the outside. The Pro Single Buggy's ran off the same line as the Pro Super Buggy's, but even with the noticeable power between the Super Buggy's and the Single Buggys it was a very good start, all the way down to the 1000 foot straight and through turn one. Jeff Barrett had a great start in his 1600 single-port and was right on the heels of the 2nd place Pro Super Buggy. That was short lived as the Super Buggy's unleashed their power down the 1100 foot back stretch. But Jeff had opened up a gap between himself, Gary, & Joe. During the course of the race, Gary started reeling Jeff in. The 7 or 8 second lead was down to about 3-4 seconds when Gary blew a tire with 3 laps to go. This gave Jeff a solid victory in heat 1, Joe took 2nd place, and Gary settled for third.

After an exciting battle between the trucks we were once again ready to go for heat 2. Once again, Jeff had a great start leading the Pro Single Buggy's at the start of the race. Coming into turn 2, Gary was making his pass on Jeff for first. Gary maintained 1st until Jeff made a sweet pass in turn 4 that left Gary right in his roost. Gary was right on Jeff and the 2 of them had a great race going for several laps only to have that end in the doubles with Gary blowing his tranny. Jeff had a commanding lead on Joe with 3 laps to go, but that's where our day took a turn. Going off the last jump down the front stretch, a plume of white smoke billowed out. The BRM Offroad crew quickly radioed to Jeff that he may have lost his motor. Jeff responded thinking he blew a bead. As he limped down the back-stretch, the crew radioed that his left tires looked good. After making it thru turn 2, it was obvious that the right tires were also good, but the right rear shock mount was broken. With the shock resting in a safe position Jeff was able to continue around, hoping for the white flag. Thru turn 3 he went and as he came out of turn 4, the disappointment came as the white flag was not given. This gave Joe in the 363 plenty of time to make up the 1/2 lap lead Jeff had on him. Joe passed Jeff right at the end of the next lap, which is also when the white flag was given, and ran away with it for the checkers. With Joe taking 2nd in heat 1 and 1st in heat 2, he was awarded 1st overall. Jeff finished with a 1-2 for 2nd place and Gary a 3-3 for 3rd place.

We all had a great time out there and were very impressed with the crew Bob had running the show, hats off to them for putting on such a great event.

Race pix and results from Round 1 are below. If you have a buggy or truck and would like to learn more about The Glen Helen Short Course Series, visit their web site.

stay young, have fun, PLAY!