RACE WRITE-UP FROM OTT RANCH
Last Sunday, I loaded up “Big Blue” (my 2018 RZR Turbo) and drove to OTT Ranch in Rosanky, TX for Round 4 of the 2019 TORCS cross-country series. For anyone following my race reports, you may be wondering what happened to Round 3. Unfortunately, Mother Nature (heavy rain) caused it to be cancelled at the last minute. I didn’t get word of this cancellation until I was half-way to the track, which meant I had to turn around on I-10 and drive back through the turbulent weather that I had just pass through (it was so bad, the traffic was only moving at 20mph!). Ugh. Luckily, the weather cooperated last weekend and Round 4 proceeded as planned. Below is my race write-up.
WHERE:
Rosanky, TX… it’s a tiny speck on the map located about 20 miles south of Bastrop. This picturesque property had a nice mix of thick trees and open pastures.
TRACK CONDITIONS:
When I arrived at OTT Ranch at 1pm, the weather was warm and sunny with a comfortable, cool breeze blowing. What a GREAT day for racing! This property has lots of sandy soil and the rain that fell there earlier in the week wasn’t enough to knock down all of the dust on race day. That meant trying to see the course through thick dust was challenge #1 on this track.
The track was 3 miles long, and most of it ran through very tight wooded trails. About mid-way through the course, the track takes racers onto a large pasture area with long, sweeping turns that zig-zag back and forth. During the race, I was hitting 48mph going into the first right-hand turn in the pasture… fun stuff!
PARADE LAP & HOT LAP:
When the parade lap started around 2:30pm, approximately 20 side-by-sides gathered near the starting line.
Once the parade lap got rolling, I jumped in line near the front in an effort to avoid some the thick dust. But then I quickly pulled over and stopped to change from Low to High gear. Doh! I hopped back in line and then proceeded slowly around the course.
The first thing I noticed is how much TIGHTER it is than most of our recent TORCS races. In fact, the “pucker” factor was so high that I probably didn’t need a seat belt during the first parade lap (in other words, my butt was clinched to the seat)! LOL
Racing through tight woods is not my favorite, but it normally doesn’t scare me. What DOES scare me is racing through tight woods with a new set of tires and wheels that have a WIDER OFFSET than stock. Looks like I picked the wrong race to try out my brand new shoes on Big Blue… doh!
The first mile of this course ran through the woods with a few spots that were extra snug… in fact, the bark was already rubbed off the insides of some of the trees. Because of my wider wheel stance (which I was not yet used to), I decided to stick my head out the left side of the RZR to make sure my front left tire cleared the trees. I ended up doing this at least few more times during the race until I got comfortable that I would clear the trees.
After the first mile, the course takes racers into a large open pasture on what appeared to be freshly graded dirt/sand across the entire field. There was no grass here, so dust would obviously be a factor to overcome.
After the large pasture area, the trail ran next to a house on the far side of the field and then ducked back between the trees for another quarter mile of zig-zag trails through the trees before hitting a long, wide straight section. During the race, I put my foot down and hit speeds of 63 mph before slamming on the brakes at the end and turning right into the woods again. Like the first part of the course, the trails were very tight here and I had to be on guard to avoid the trees.
At one point, the trail makes a left and goes downhill through a dry creek and then climbs back up the other side. This section was wide, fast, and a little bumpy, but lots of fun like a ROLLER COASTER. Spectators were lined up along the left side of the hill climb area to watch and take pics, which made it a bit scary b/c the bumps caused my RZR to bounce all over the trail as I zoomed by them. Luckily I never came close to the crowds, but the danger crossed my mind!
After the hill climb, the track made a 90 degree right turn into the woods. Not far up the trail, it made a hard left turn that was tight and a bit tricky. During the parade lap, I started the turn too close to the inside of this turn and had to stop and back up to get through it. During the race, I got stuck behind a bottleneck after another racer had the same trouble and he eventually had to be pushed off the track (I guess it broke down).
Near the last part of the course, the trail runs along a barbed wire fence that separates the woods from the parking area. This section was fast and straight. Afterwards, it made a hard left turn, ran through a dry creek bottom and then popped out near the scoring schute where the next lap began.
Because this property was covered in soft soil, the track quickly formed two deep ruts all the way around. That meant a challenge #2 would be avoiding getting hung up in the deep ruts… either high centered or flipping over in the tight turns.
Challenge #3 would be finding a safe place to pass. With so many tight woods and deep ruts, it would not be easy to get around racers unless they pulled off the trail.
CLASSES:
4 UTVs signed up for the Turbo class, but only 3 made it to the starting line after my buddy Collin busted a ball joint on the parade lap. Collin is a good competitor, so I was disappointed to see him drop out of the race. Hopefully, his bad luck will turn around at the next one, and he can give our class a run for the money. With Collin out, that left two Can-am X3’s and me on the front line. On the plus side, I was guaranteed a podium finish as long as I completed the race.
Behind the Turbo class were about a dozen side-by-sides in the Nonturbo class, followed up by 4 buggies in the 800 class.
STRATEGY:
With so many tight trails and lots of dust to battle through, winning the holeshot would be key to winning this race. I figured that all I had to do was beat to both X3s to the first turn and then I had a decent shot at taking home the gold. Sitting on the starting line, I was ready and determined to make that happen.
THE START:
The starting area was in a large pasture near the edge of the woods. From the starting line, we had approximately 50 feet to the first left turn around a pole. Then the trail snaked left and right before dumping into the woods on the left side. Before the flag man called our attention, I hit the starter one last time to make sure it was ready to fire up. But the motor hesitated and then started up. That was weird! Hadn’t noticed it hesitate like that before. Uh oh, now I’m nervous! Would I beat the X3’s to the first turn???
When the green flag finally when up, I hit the key and the starter spun over… but the motor didn’t fire up. What? NOOOOOO! As I hit the key again, I watched (seemingly in S-L-O-W MOTION) as both X3’s made their way towards turn #1 without me moving at all. When my competitors were half-way to the first turn, my RZR finally roared to life. Ugh. My heart sank as I quickly took my place in last position around the first turn behind Brian (now in 2nd position) and Dwayne (currently in the lead). I instantly knew it was going to be a LONG, grueling race.
***SIDE NOTE: When I got home, I checked the air filter and it was clogged with sand. In fact, sand was piled up on the bottom of the airbox. I must have forgotten to clean out my air filter after the last race, which explains why my motor didn’t want to start easily. I’ll be ready next time!
LAPS 1 and 2:
As our class zig-zagged our way through the tight woods, I stayed on Brian’s tail and he was right behind the Dwayne. The three of us made our way together through the course and completed the first lap in that same order.
Somewhere on the 2nd lap, I think Brian got passed Dwayne while I was still running in 3rd position.
On the 2nd lap where we approached the big open pasture area, Cory and another non-turbo racer caught up to me. I pulled over and let them both pass me as we entered the pasture area. Now I’m eating the dust of 4 UTVs, which made it very challenging to see the course and keep my speed up. I dropped back a little to get some clean air and with the hope that I could catch back up after the non-turbo cars finally got around the X3’s ahead of me.
Soon after we left the pasture area on the 2nd lap, Dwayne pulled off to the left side and let me pass him on the fast straight section. So now I took over 2nd position behind Brian. One down and one to go!
LAPS 3 through 9:
As the race progressed, the ruts got deeper and deeper. Then I started seeing
more and more UTVs broke down or flipped onto their sides. I would come around
a corner and see a UTV on it’s side with the driver standing next to it
signaling me to drive slow/be cautious.
Whenever I saw this, I would slow down and yell out the window to ask if
they were okay/uninjured. Once I heard they were safe, I would hit the gas and
continue onward.
I also started to get more comfortable driving at a faster clip through the tight woods and only slowed down a little for the super tight places where tree bark was missing. At one point, the trail makes an S turn as it squeezes through the narrow opening between two trees. I hit it a bit too fast on one lap and my RZR seems to slide out of the ruts towards one of the trees. Yikes! I only missed the tree by an inch or two. That near miss was a stark reminder that I needed to keep my speed in check in the tight woods.
As the race progressed, another racer from the nonturbo class caught me and I let him pass as soon as I could do so in a safe place. I continued pushing hard with the hope of catching Brian. The only UTVs that I recall passing were a few slower UTVs in the 800 class.
On one of the last few laps, I entered the woods following the fast straight section where I ran up on a nonturbo racer that was stuck on a left turn… he was high centered in the deep ruts. Luckily, I was able to squeeze around him and keep going. That was a good reminder to keep my pace up in the really deep ruts or risk getting hung up like that guy.
RACE RESULTS:
When I finally reached the checkered flag, I finished in 2nd place. Congrats to Brian for taking the win (he was a minute and 10 seconds ahead of me) and also to Dwayne and everyone else who finished this grueling race. Next time, I’ll try to improve my start and maybe I’ll get better results.
SHAMELESS PLUG:
In case you haven’t heard, my brand new book about off-road racing with Cash entitled TEXAS OFF-ROAD RACING: A Father-Son Journey to a Side-by-Side Championship is now available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and many other retailers.
As always, I have to say a BIG THANK YOU to TORCS for hosting a FUN event and for building such an awesome course! I hope you enjoyed my race write-up.