ROUND 3 - JUNE 12-13, 2009

Round 3 of the Glen Helen Short Course Series had a much bigger turnout than the prior two rounds. We arrived to cloudy sky's in San Bernardino Friday afternoon and had a couple hours to set up and relax before practice was to start. And once again, our gate fees for the entire weekend was just $10/adult.

It was great to see Gary Williams in the ^#348 Gibson Performance buggy there again (running a new number this time, he was ^#309). Joe Whiteley in the ^#363 recently had surgery, but still showed up to watch. Jim Sizelove in the ^#321 was out there again along with Oddie Munoz in the ^#356, Justin Davis in the ^#385, Navarro in the ^#333, Robert Lansing in the ^#330, and Big Joe in the ^#368 buggy. BRM Offroad Driver, Jeff Barrett in the ^#334 buggy, and all the competitors got a lot of practice time in on Friday aftenoon and Saturday morning, and we were ready for the races Saturday afternoon.

With a field of 8 on the line, it was the largest we have seen yet this year. The flag waved and they were off! Jeff Barrett in the BRM OFFROAD Buggy got a slow start and found his way in the back but making a charge early in lap 1. Justin Davis ran into some motor problems early and was out before completing a lap. Barrett made quick use of his time and quickly caught up to the guys in front of him battling for 6th place before the end of lap 1. As Barrett in the 334 was coming thru turn 3 on the inside of Big Joe in the 368. Barrett moved in front of Joe and was holding his line as they were entering turn 4. Joe's buggy decided it was time for some throttle sticking and he was having a hard time getting it to cooperate. Well, as they went into the lefthand turn, Joe's throttle decided to just stay down and BAM! He t-boned Barrett who was in mid turn. Barrett was re-directed to his right while Joe was able to make the turn. This dropped Barrett back into 7th, but at least it didn't cause any damage.

As the field went down the front stretch for lap 2, the BRM OFFROAD Buggy was clearly in the back. But we did manage to gain a spot as Big Joe fell the victim of attrition. After hitting Barrett in turn 4, he caused some serious damage to his front suspension and broke off his shock tower. Jeff Barrett was now in 6th and gaining on the close battle for 3rd, 4th, & 5th.

The next several laps were very exciting as Barrett was in a solid battle with Lansing, Munoz, & Sizelove. The four of them put on an excellent show for all watching. We had a camera mounted on our buggy that got some great footage and we have several pictures below of the battle. Barrett finally got by Sizelove, and was knocking on Munoz's door. After battling with Oddie Munoz for a few tight laps, Barrett got his pass to stick and had Robert Lansing in his sites. But, with just two laps to go, Barrett didn't have time to see what he could do. Gary Williams walked away with a solid 1st place finish, Navarro took 2nd, Lansing finished 3rd, Barrett finished 4th, Munoz finished 5th, Sizelove finished 6th, and Big Joe and Justin Davis DNF'd.

Heat 2 was even more exciting than Heat 1. This time we got a solid start and as Gary Williams and Justin Davis battled for 1st the entire race, Jeff Barrett found himself once again in a 4-way battle for 3rd place with Lansing, Munoz, and Sizelove. Unfortunately Big Joe wasn't able to make the necessary repairs for the start of Heat 2 and Navarro ran into some problems on lap one and took a DNF.

This race was amazing. Williams and Davis had an incredibly clean and heated battle the entire time. Williams just needed to hang on for 1st overall with Navarro being out, but that's not Gary's style (or ours). Williams and Davis had a few lead changes and radio communication was made to Barrett that he would be looking good if he could hold onto 3rd and Williams and Davis took themselves out. But that wasn't the case. As the race was announced with all the excitement in the Williams/Davis battle, Barrett and Lansing were putting on one awesome race of their own. They separated themselves from Munoz and Sizelove and fought hard in every corner for any advantage they could get on the other one.

Barrett managed to hold Lansing off and then Lansing fell off the pace a little as he hit a corner hard and had to recollect himself. The entire race was edge-of-your-seat exciting as Gary Williams once again took 1st place, just barely ahead of Justin Davis and Jeff Barrett finished a few lengths behind them in 3rd. Robert Lansing took 4th, Oddie Munoz in 5th, and Jim Sizelove in 6th. We were stoked with our 4-3 finishes and we ended up with 2nd overall on the day, and still holds the series points lead. It was another great weekend of racing and we're looking forward to round 4 in July!

Race photo's are below and videos from Round 3 will be added shortly. 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!