RACE WRITE-UP FROM RUSTY’S WALNUT CREEK #2 (2019 TORCS Rd 10)
Last Sunday, I loaded up “Big Blue” (my 2018 RZR Turbo) and drove to Rusty’s Walnut Creek for Round 10 of the 2019 TORCS cross-country series. This was our last race of the season, so I was hoping to finish strong and retain my season points lead in the Side-by-side Turbo class. Unfortunately, my teenage son couldn’t join me as co-pilot this time b/c he was studying for exams. Below is my race write-up.
WHERE:
Rockne, TX… it’s a small town 30 miles southeast of Austin. At the entrance of the property, there is a large open pasture that served as the parking area and gives access to the wooded trails spread out in the back part of the property. We raced on this property in late June for Round 6, so I was already familiar with the general layout and terrain.
TRACK CONDITIONS:
Our last race on this property had completely different conditions thanks to recent rains that turned parts of the course into a sloppy mess. In sharp contrast, this race was dry and dusty. While dust was a factor during this race, visibility only seemed to be a big challenge when following another racer closely. Otherwise, it wasn’t too bad.
Like last time, this track was laid out on 3.7 miles of twisty trails through a nice combo of tight woods and wide open areas.
PARADE
LAP & HOT LAP:
When the parade lap started around 2:30pm, 21 side-by-sides gathered near the
starting line in a small open area near the scoring schute.
As we made our way around the track for the first time, my initial impression was that it looked similar to the last race on this land except that it seemed to have a few more tight, twisty sections added.
About 1 mile into the course, the trail made a 90-degree left turn through an open gate. This turn was narrow and a bit tricky, but I made it through on my first attempt and kept going. Soon after that, we reached the low-lying areas with wide trails running around large trees. This section was fast and smooth, but some of the thick wooded sections contained rough trails in certain places. After the race got underway, many of these bumpy areas seemed to smooth out or else I found alternate lines around them.
Near the end of the lap, the trail takes racers through another open gate. The opening was just wide enough for 1 UTV to pass through easily, so it wasn’t a big deal during the slow parade lap. But the pace sped up during the race and everything, including this little gate crossing, got more intense. Each time I flew through this small opening at 40+ mph, I would grip the steering wheel extra tight, hold my breath, and pray that I would squeeze through without incident. This was definitely not the time to take your eyes off the course and check your phone for messages!
CLASSES:
The turn-out for this race was fairly typical for this season. There were 4 UTVs competing in (my) Turbo class, 15 side-by-sides in the non-turbo class, plus two buggies representing the 800cc class.
THE START:
A few minutes before the start, the TORCS track officials informed the racers that they re-routed a section of course so that we entered the first open gate “head on” instead of a sharp left turn. Apparently, some of the UTVs had trouble during the parade lap and couldn’t make this turn without stopping and backing up. This last minute change was welcome news, but also a bit unnerving as I didn’t recall exactly where the gate was located. As long as I paid attention to the track markers, I figured I’d be okay.
The racers lined up on the starting line between two flag poles located near the center of the open field. The first turn was approximately 60’ ahead of me and the rest of the Turbo guys on the front row. I took the far left side of the starting line, which left three Can Am X3s to my right driven by Nick, Jimmie, and Dwayne.
Finally, the flagman raised the green flag and I turned the key. Unlike the last time I raced here, Big Blue actually cranked up when I hit the starter… YIPPEE!!! As you may recall, I have fought starting problems all season long, but it finally seems to be fixed now.
SIDE NOTE: While I’m super relieved to finally have that minor issue behind me, I’m now battling a new issue that is a bit more troubling. In past races, my transmission would occasionally pop out of gear whenever I landed from a big jump. This was rare and more of an annoyance than anything. Each time, I could simply stop, run the gear shifter to park and back to high, and then off I’d go without any more problems. In the last two weeks leading up to this race, Big Blue started jumping out of gear at random times that didn’t involve a jump (usually after I let off the throttle). Ugh! Adjusting the gear linkage didn’t solve the problem, so it looks like a trip to a repair shop is needed in the offseason. In any case, there was nothing I could do to fix it before this race, so I just showed up, said a prayer at the starting line, and hoped for the best.
With my engine alive, I hammered the gas and pointed Big Blue towards the first left-hand turn. On my right, I could see Jimmie approaching the first turn fast. He was slightly ahead of me when we entered the turn, so I jumped in behind him and we made our way around turn number one. After we roared past that turn, I tried to stay to the left or right side of Jimmie’s X3 so as to avoid the thick roost filling the air directly behind him. Dust or no dust, I tried my best to keep the hammer down as long as possible b/c I knew that Dwayne and Nick were not far behind me.
LAP 1:
As our class zig-zagged our way through the first mile of mostly fast, wide trails, I tried to keep Jimmie within sight. Occasionally, I slowed down whenever the dust became too thick to see the course. Then, I’d immediately speed up again and try to catch him as soon as possible.
About a mile into lap 1, we snaked back and forth around a few trees and headed straight towards the first open gate. This was the re-routed section, and it now it was much faster with the tight turn cut out.
After a few more turns, the course finally reached the edge of the low-lying area with large trees. We zig-zagged around this section at a fast pace and soon the trail makes a hard left turn up a small, wooded hill. At the top, the trail soon drops back down and curves hard towards the right. Next, the trail runs through a section of small trees where the sunlight and shade from the nearby branches danced back and forth across my goggles. It was almost like a strobe light effect. This light show together with dust from Jimmie’s roost made seeing the course a real challenge. After a few sharp, twisty turns through the woods, the trail eventually takes racers around a blind left hand turn with spectators standing to the right. Then racers turn right around a large tree. As we approached the tree, I suddenly saw Jimmie pulled off to the left and stopped in front of ribbon closing off that section of trail. Apparently, he made a wrong turn around that tree! This was my chance to take the lead… Yee haw!
A few turns later, the trail comes to the low-lying area again. Here, I hit speeds of 55+ mph before slamming on the brakes and making a hard 180-degree left-turn that takes racers toward an old barbed-wire fence and then back towards the low-lying area again.
Funny thing about that fence… it wasn’t until the 3rd lap of the race before I looked past it and noticed car traffic driving over a 2-lane concrete bridge just on the other side. Somehow, I concentrated so much on the race course in front of me that I failed to see this public roadway just 20 yards or so past the fence. Doh!
Next, the trail takes racers back and forth through the fast section of large trees in the low-lying area. Afterwards, the trail dumps back into the woods and runs over two short concrete bridges that are shaped concave (sunk in) and just wide enough for one UTV at a time. If you hit them fast, the back end of the UTV will pop up into the air. I was cautious not to go too fast here for fear that my transmission might act up again.
Soon afterwards, the trail made several more turns through the woods and eventually comes to another concrete bridge over a creek. Here, the bridge suddenly drops off in the deep water on the right side, so it was best to stick to the left side and play it safe. Afterwards, the trail opens up again to a wide section through large trees and back into the woods again before finally reaching the open gate near the back portion of the course.
From there, the trail soon passes through the scoring schute and starts all over again. At then end of lap 1, I was still in 1st position and wasn’t sure exactly where the 2nd position UTV was in my class.
LAPS 2 through 9:
About mid-way through lap 2, I ran through a wooded section just past the “light show.” Immediately before a right turn, I saw a Yamaha sitting on it’s right side (driven by Cory W.). I slowed down and cautiously made my way around. Unfortunately, this was not the only UTV that did this during the race (more on this later).
A few laps into the race, I could hear Robert M. (non-turbo class) blazing down the trails not far behind me. I knew he was moving at a faster pace, so I planned to get out of his way whenever he finally reached my rear bumper. When he finally got close, I had just entered a section of tight woods and tried to keep up a fast pace until I could find an opening to move over. Suddenly, I hear my transmission pop out of gear and start making that familiar grinding noise from the transmission. I said to myself, “Oh crap, not now!” That meant I had to stop, shift through the gears, and get going again before Robert slammed into my bumper. Luckily, Robert stopped in time and waited for me to get moving again. A few more turns and I finally found an opening to let him pass.
Somewhere around lap 6, I ran across another UTV on its side. This time, it was turned on its left side on the outside of a sharp right-hand turn around a small tree. There were more trees/branches to the immediate right side of that small tree, so the only way I could see to get around it was to slowly roll between the UTV and the tree. As my front wheels cleared the opening between the tree and the UTV’s wheels, I sped up. Suddenly, I felt a thud as my right rear tire smacked the side of the tree. My heart sank b/c I didn’t know if I bent anything. All I could do was hold my breath and keep driving. After a few more miles on the course, it became apparently that this incident didn’t do any serious damage and I was able to keep racing. Whew!
Later in the race, I let Ken A. and Charles M. (more fast guys from the non-turbo class) pass me whenever they caught up to me. At the moment Charles approached my tail, I recall hearing the dreaded transmission grinding noise. Ugh! Not again. I slowed down and moved over on the trail. Just as I came to a slow roll, I heard the grinding noise stop and it operated normally again. At least I didn’t have to do a complete stop to get it going again. This happened once more before the race was over, but I was very relieved that Big Blue didn’t end up disabled on the side of the trail as a result of the transmission going completely out.
On the last few laps of the race, I started to see Dwayne not too far behind me whenever we reached the low-lying area. Just knowing he was there kept me on my toes!
Around this time, I also started passing slower racers from other classes. Howard (800cc class) was quick to pull out of the way when I caught up to him going around a right-hand turn that opened up to the fast trails through the low-lying area. Thanks buddy!
Soon afterwards, I caught an orange Yamaha (#200) that was much slower than me, but he didn’t seem interested in pulling over. All I could do was ride his rear bumper until I found a safe place to pass. As we exited the low-lying area, one of the large trees had a low hanging branch that blocked most of the path causing racers to go wide left or wide right to avoid it. The slow yammie went right, so I pushed my right foot to the floor and easily passed him on the left. I think Howard did the same thing.
Near the end of that same lap, I came across a group of slower racers from the non-turbo class and the lead car was apparently the cause of the bottleneck. Luckily, this happened during the last quarter-mile of the final lap, so I just settled in behind them and finished the lap. It didn’t slow me down much.
RACE RESULTS:
When the checkered flag came out, I took the win in the Turbo class and 4th overall. Congrats to Dwayne for finishing strong in 2nd place (only 20 seconds behind me) and Jimmie for taking 3rd place (after winning the holeshot). It was a fun race, and I was totally relieved to finish without a mechanical break-down.
After this victory, it appears that I have enough season points to win the 2019 championship for the Turbo class. Winning this championship is special to me for two reasons. First and most important, I was lucky enough to race together with my son and co-pilot (Cash) for half of the races. Having the opportunity to share this championship with him and all of the experiences of racing together is something I’ll never forget. Second, I believe this is the first time I’ve ever won the championship in my class after 13 seasons of racing cross-country on ATVs and UTVs in various series (ATVCCS, TORN, and TORCS).
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 another FUN event and another great season of UTV races! I hope you enjoyed my race write-up.
SHAMELESS PLUG:
For anyone interested, I’m planning to write my next book about my run at the 2019 UTV Turbo class championship. As expected, it will be a combination of all my race write-ups this season together with added commentary and backstories. I’m excited about this book b/c it will be a fun way to document the racing adventures that my son and I shared and should be a great tool to promote the sport to others. Stay tuned for more info on the book!