What a weekend! We hit our first WHIPLASH race this weekend and had a blast!! The Whiplash series is for quads, dirt bikes, buggies, trucks, trophy karts, & UTV's. They normally run desert races, but this weekend was a grandprix race, held out at Firebird Raceway in Phoenix, AZ. The track was laid out over 2 miles with elevation changes, single jumps, whoops, asphalt crossings and 2 asphalt straight aways. Our 19" mx tires hurt us on the straights, but was an advantage in the corners. The adult quad and bike motos were 45 minutes and very exciting. The Desert Buggy race (consisting of a mix of Pro Buggy's, Desert Buggy's, Pro-Lite Trucks, Class 1 Buggy's, and Class 9 & 10 Buggy's) was exciting but probably should have been split to separate the clearly faster, unlimited, classes from the other classes that have limited motor/suspension etc.

On Saturday there was a practice session for all the classes followed by qualifier races. Team Riders Missy Barrett was racing in the ATV 30+ Novice class (^#419) and Jeff Barrett was racing in the 1600 Single Buggy class (^#334). The quad racing was exciting and a ton of fun. This was Missy's first race in over 14 months and she had fun battling with the others in her class. The 6-lap Qualifier race was extremely exciting as the top 4 racers put on a great show swapping positions from start to finish. Missy and Les Hutchison (^#472) were battling for 4th most of the way and Missy finally made the pass stick on lap 4. She then had her sites set on 3rd and was once again having fun switching up her lines and making another late pass. When the checkers came out, Missy was relieved. She was getting pretty tired and didn't have much left in her tank. To her and her families surprise though, she ended up finishing in 2nd place. The funny part is, they didn't even realize it until Sunday morning. Although just a little sore, but a lot tired, she had a great time racing again!

The practice session for Jeff in the Pro 1600 Buggy class was also fun, but the rough desert course proved to play into the hands of the desert racers, over the short-course racers. Jeff had a great time in practice and during the Qualifier race he was quickly working his way thru the field. He passed a class 1 Buggy, a Pro Truck, and several 1600 Desert Buggy's early in the race. The some-what smooth track was very favorable to us until late in the race. Jeff came out of turn 6 and nailed a rock that bent and twisted the steering box bracket. We brought it in with hopes of making any necessary repairs for the main race on Sunday. The repairs were made, it wasn't pretty, but our buggy was ready to go for Sunday.

Sunday morning came and the 30+ Novice class was the first class to run the 30 minute race. It was nice having a freshly groomed track after the brutal conditions Saturday afternoon. The best part of the main race on Sunday was listening to a Whiplash official (as he was lining them up for the start) compliment racers Michael Mallory (^#432), Kevin Arco (^#441), Missy Barrett (^#419), Eric Bunton (^#443), & Les Hutchison (^#472) for their racing action on Saturday. He told them they put on the best race of the day, and gave the top 4 qualifiers the first row for the start. Missy was stoked, but it didn't really seem to matter because once the flag waved, her tires just spun on the wet asphalt. By the end of the asphalt straight, dropping onto the packed dirt and rock on the way to turn 2, she had dropped back to about 8th or 9th. Coming around to the end of lap 1 she had worked her way up to 6th. The first 5 laps were extremely exciting as the Les, Missy, and Kevin were all over each other (see 1st link below). Les and Missy started pulling a little on Kevin and had a few lead changes (for 4th & 5th). Missy's 450R was once again getting killed on the long straights (mx tires), but was making her suspension count in the whoops, corners, and jumps. On lap 5 Missy was reeling in Les exiting turn 6 and they were both coming up on a racer from another class, making it 3-wide as they went into the left-hander of turn 7. Missy made a move to go wide and it paid off as Les and the other racer got tangled up mid-turn. From the video, it looked like Les missed a shift and stalled it and the other guy got crossed up with him. That gave Missy the break she needed. Les was only tied up for a moment and was soon barreling down on Missy again. Missy made things easy for Les after she made a bad decision and attempted to pass for 4th right before the transponder station. As the 2 came off the table and across the wet asphalt, Missy locked up her fronts and high-centered on the berm. That was a short-lived view of 4th... and Les quickly went by as well. Once back on the track, Missy reminded herself that at the age of 39, she's just out there to have fun. But that's pretty tough for any racer to settle with. For the next lap or so Missy was making her way thru racers from the other classes out there and looking for the top racers in her class. As the track conditions started taking it's toll on the stamina levels, Missy was able to squeeze the grips a little harder (here and there) and on lap 11 she had moved back up to 2nd place. Les was no where in site, he had a commanding lead. The final 2 laps were pretty uneventful other than Missy almost pitching herself in the whoops. And as the checkers waved, Les took 1st with an average lap time of 2.56 minutes, Missy took 2nd place honors  with an average lap time of 2.65 minutes, and Ryan Sloan grabbed the final podium position with an average lap time of 2.68 minutes. It was a fun race, full of exciting passing, and another great finish. Missy had a great time out there and enjoyed the friendly competition and attitudes of the others in her class. She would also like to thank Ken George (^#427) for his compliments at the end of the race, it was a great group of racers all the way around.

The Buggy class didn't run until late in the day, and by then the track conditions were miserable. Dust, huge ruts, and  more rocks exposed, definitely played a factor in our class. There were 4 1600 Single Buggy's out there with the Pro's and it was obvious who we were. At the start of the 11 lap race, Eric Greener in the ^#357 buggy had the lead with Jeff Knupp in the ^#354 right behind him, followed by Greg Parker in the ^#391 and Jeff Barrett in the ^#334. Going into turn 5, right after the whoops Greener had the lead on Knupp but coming out of the corner Greener was slowly rolling down the next straight. Don't know if the 2 mixed it up in the turn, but Greener was out with a broken axle and Knupp was alone in 1st. The track was really starting to take its toll and hand out the punishment because within just a few laps, Parker was pitting with a flat tire. Jeff Barrett in the ^#334 was up to 2nd but was experiencing carb-related issues and choking in most of the corners. Barrett was doing great out there as he had to battle with the Pro trucks and buggy's while staying focused on his competition. On lap 5 Barrett closed the gap on a 1600 Desert Buggy and had a great battle. Barrett would stick his wheel in on the corners but would give up top-end speed on the straights. They were exciting to watch. Barrett soon found himself with a great line and passed on the outside going down the straight on the far end of the track. When the 2 racers came back into view, Barrett was coming out of the corner first. He soon started to pull away, but within a few jumps and corners, his carb stalled and the desert buggy was re-passing. Barrett got things going and was gaining once again only to get a flat tire on lap 7. He continued to make a charge on the desert buggy, but wasn't much he could do with out traction to the rear right and had to pull off the track near the end of lap 8. Some of the corners were so brutal that it was anyone's guess as to who the track would devour next. Later, after watching the video tape, Jeff had a flat for over a lap and a half and was doing a great job pushing the desert buggy. Jeff was disappointed with the flat, but more disappointed with the carb problem. Knupp finished 1st with an average lap time of 2.41 minutes, Parker took 2nd place honors with average lap times of 2.49 minutes, and Barrett rounded out the final podium position, averaging 2.46 minutes per lap. It's frustrating knowing that you have a great chance at the 'W', but your machine doesn't perform as well as you know it can. Maybe next time J.

Overall we had a great time out there and we're excited for our next race. Click here to view our results; http://www.whiplashracing.com/fbresults.pdf Jeff in the SPT Single Buggy class and Missy in the 30+ Novice class.

stay young, have fun, PLAY!