Round One of the 2023 season started off with a BANG as more than 100 entries (59 quads plus 43 side-by-sides) showed up at Rusty’s Walnut Creek Ranch to compete on a thrilling track laid out by Terry Deck and company. This event was special to me for two reasons. First, many folks stuck around on Saturday night to enjoy the 2022 TX4 Awards Banquet held at a small café across the street from Rusty’s. Terry D. and Cory Williams gave tons of praise, commemorative plaques, and cool goody bags to the winners of the inaugural season and the entire crowd was in a festive mood. Second, my son and lucky co-pilot (Cash) competed in his first ATV race on Saturday (proud dad alert!). Below is my write-up. Enjoy!
WHERE:
Cedar Creek, TX… it’s a small town 30 miles southeast of Austin. Luckily, Cash and I have raced here many times in the former SxS series, so we were already familiar with the general layout and terrain. It’s always a fun time at Dusty Rusty’s!
TRACK CONDITIONS
For this weekend, mother nature blessed us with cool daytime temps in the 50s. Saturday’s racers saw lots of cloud cover, but Sunday’s racers enjoyed sunny skies. The little bit of rain that fell Saturday morning was just enough the keep the dust down for that day, but not enough to prevent dust on some parts of the course during Sunday’s events.
The ATV and SxS courses were similar except for a few different sections of tight woods here and there. The quad track was 4.7 miles long according to my speedo and the UTV track was 4.5 miles. Both tracks started in a small open area not far from the back of the large pasture/parking area. From there, the track ran a half-mile along wide, choppy, and sandy trails before reaching the first tight section of woods. After dodging trees for another mile or so, the course took racers to a big open area under a canopy of tall shade trees. Here, racers zig-zagged between the trees and then headed back into the tight woods for the final two miles. Overall, the track was fast and flowed well except for a few tight woods that forced racers to check their speed or else risk turning into a 3-wheeler!
ATV PRACTICE:
On Saturday morning, ATV racers met up with Zach R. (a TX4 staffer and fellow quad racer) for a quick tech inspection and then headed to the starting line for practice beginning at 10 a.m.
As mentioned above, Cash decided to race his 2008 Honda 250ex for the first time ever. So he was allowed to join me for the ATV parade lap and practice laps. A half-mile into the slow-paced site lap, I nearly had a heart attack as I realized my cell phone fell out of my pocket. It was G-O-N-E! Ugh. I immediately pulled over and asked Cash to help me search for it on the ground. I knew it couldn’t be too far away b/c I last felt it in my pocket only 50 yards up the trail. Scotty (TX4’s beloved medic and funnyman) plus one of the sweepers immediately stopped to help us search. For the next 5 minutes, I frantically paced up and down the course in search of my phone and felt absolutely horrible that Cash was missing out on the opportunity to practice for his first race. Suddenly, my son found the phone on the floorboard of my Renegade 1000r (right next to the brake pedal). What a relief! Better yet, we still had time to run a few practice laps.
A few miles up the trail, the course runs straight through the woods for 50 yards, makes a 180-degree right turn and then climbs up a small hill about 10 feet high. This short climb would have been easy except that it was off-camber (sloping down to the left side) and had a short stump on the top of the hill (on the right side of the trail). As I made the 180-degree turn, I saw a young lady standing next to her sport quad, which was now sideways at the top of the hill. Cash and I jumped off our ATVs to help her straighten out her quad and push it the rest of the way up the the hill. Luckily, she and her quad were uninjured and we proceeded again.
At the end of practice, we headed back to the truck to top off our fuel tanks, air up the tires, and gear up for the 11:30am race.
MORNING ATV START:
Joining me in the Utility Amateur Class were 3 returning racers from last season, including John G on his Renegade 1000r, Gene B. on his mighty Kymco 500, and Chris C. on his bright orange CFMoto 400.
The Utility Amateur Class lined up on one of the last few rows and my son and the rest of the Blaster Class were in the back row. Cash and I said a quick prayer for the safety of all racers and then we climbed onto our respective quads. I’m not gonna lie… I was both excited and nervous about Cash racing his quad for the first time. In fact, it was all I could think about til my class pulled up to the starting line. Then I put my game face on and focused my attention on the flagman.
As I recall, I lined up on the far right side of the starting line and John G. was lined up near the far left side. The last time we raced together, John pulled a big wheelie off the line while I was right next to him. I ended up dropping back b/c I didn’t know where John’s quad might come down. This time, I lined up far away from him to avoid that issue.
When the green flag went up, John and I shot off the line first with Gene and Chris leaving the line a half-second later. Doing his best Evil Kneivel impression, John pulled another monster wheelie and held on as his Renegade veered to the right side of the track (in my direction). When he finally came down on all 4 wheels, John won the holeshot with me just off his rear bumper and Gene and Chris in tow.
MORNING ATV LAPS 1-5:
After turn one, John flew down the wide, choppy trail and I tried my best to keep up. A half-mile later, the course runs fairly straight for a few hundred yards and makes a hard left turn at the end. I pushed the Couch Rocket as fast as it would go down this section and stayed just a few seconds behind John. Soon, we were zig-zagging through the tight woods and eventually weaving in and around the tall trees in the big open section. It was there that I could see John up ahead and noticed he was quickly pulling away. So I kept pushing myself with the hope of somehow catching him.
By the end of lap one, I was almost 30 seconds behind John and his lead continued to grow during the race til the final lap when John slowed way down and I finally started to gain back some of the ground I previously lost.
Near the second half of the race, I came around a sweeping right-hand corner near the big open area with tall trees and saw Matt H. standing next to his 3-wheeler… errr, wait. He doesn’t race in the trike class! LOL It turns out that he forgot to torque down the lug nuts and one rear wheel popped off during the race… and bad timing too b/c he was in the lead at that time! But it takes more than bad luck to stop Matt, and he found a way to get his wheel re-installed and finished the race.
When the checkered flag came out, John reached the finish line just 17 seconds ahead of me. Gene took 3rd place and Chris took 4th. Congrats to John for taking the win and to all four of us for finishing the race in one piece, which wasn’t easy given the challenge of racing in tight woods.
CASH’S RACE:
Somewhere behind my class, Cash lined up with 3 other newbie competitors in the Blaster Class. Much to his surprise, he had a good start and won the holeshot. Woo hoo! He carried the lead til his quad suddenly stalled and took a few minutes to re-start. In the meantime, two of his competitors passed him and he dropped back to 3rd position.
Further up the trail, he made a hard right turn into the woods with too much speed. He had a split second to decide whether to continue making the turn and possibly flip over or avoid flipping by hitting a tree. He chose to re-shape his front bumper (slightly) and luckily that was the only damage suffered other than his pride.
Lap 2 was trouble-free for Cash, and he made the fastest lap time of everyone in his class that day at 14 minutes and 42 seconds. Now he was back in first position and feeling good!
However, Lap 3 was frustrating as his quad stalled a second time within eyeshot of the scoring schute and his Honda didn’t want to re-start. Luckily, Cory W. came to his rescue and finally got it going again after messing with the choke and fuel petcock. After this mechanical delay, Cash ran a trouble-free Lap 4 and took 3rd place at the checkered flag (only 8 seconds behind second place!). He was smiling for the rest of the weekend and can’t wait til Round 2! As a dad, it was so much fun to see my son racing on the same track as me. I couldn’t be more proud that he won the holeshot and earned a podium finish despite a few setbacks. That’s my boy!
AFTERNOON ATV START:
Three Utility Expert Class racers lined up on the starting line, including Sean B. (who raced last year in the Utility Amateur class), Preston B. (an experienced desert racer, but a newbie to XC racing), and myself. Sean B. didn’t bring his quads to Round 1, so John G. generously lent his Renegade 1000r to Sean for this race. That meant I had to compete against the same fast quad twice in one day! LOL Preston showed up with his Polaris Outlander 1000 and it looked fully-prepped and ready to race!
I was a bit concerned about my chances in this ATV race b/c both Sean and Preston had fresh legs while I was competing in my second race of the day. On the other hand, I knew Sean was racing a quad that he doesn’t normally ride and Preston was new to woods racing. So I didn’t count myself out just yet.
On the starting line, I lined up on the far right side with the first left turn about 50 yards ahead. When the green flag popped up, I left the line hard and got to the turn just behind Sean. As we made the first turn, Sean took the holeshot and I fell in line just behind him. Preston was not far behind me.
AFTERNOON ATV LAPS 1-6:
Compared to the morning race, this one was way more exciting. I rode as close to Sean as I could for the first half mile and watched as he almost blew past the first few turns. He was riding like a wild man, and I wasn’t sure if he was going to kill himself or take the overall win… but either way he was going to get there fast! LOL
After the first long straight section, Sean slid past the left-hand turn at the end, and I grabbed the chance to take over the lead. From there, I checked out on Sean and ended up with a comfortable, 24-second lead at the end of Lap 1. By the end Lap 2, I had my second wind and was feeling confident with Sean no where in sight. Unbeknownst to me, Sean picked up the pace and completed that lap 13 seconds faster than me. In the middle of Lap 3, my dreams of taking the win came crashing down as I saw Sean catching up to me in the open area under the big trees. Dang it! I pushed the Couch Rocket harder, but Sean kept coming for me.
Not far up the trail, Sean reached my rear bumper and my energy was totally spent. I had nothing left in the tank. I pulled over and let him pass and then my lap times started dropping despite my best efforts to keep up the pace.
Somewhere behind me, Preston was still hanging in there til his last lap when disaster struck! He took a nasty spill from his Outlander on the long, bumpy straight section just before the scoring schute. He hit the ground hard enough to deform the side of his helmet (Preston said it’s wall art now!), and bloody his nose. Scotty checked his vital signs and recommended a trip to the ER to be on the safe side, which turned out to be good advice b/c his injuries were a bit more serious than they first appeared. Funny thing was that Preston showed up at the TX4 Award Banquet on his way to the hospital so he could accept his 3rd place plaque. What a trooper! I hope he heals up soon and will join us again someday.
SATURDAY NIGHT:
Around 4:30 pm, Terry and Cory hosted the 2022 TX4 Awards Banquet at a quaint café located directly across the street from the track’s entrance. Racers and their families were invited to grab a bite to eat from the tasty food vendor (named “Wat Tha Truck”) outside and find a spot to sit inside. Cory W. emceed the festive event while Terry handed out plaques and goodie bags to the winners. It was great fun to hear each winner talk about their 2022 season and give thanks to those who supported them – be it family, friends, sponsors, and/or the Big Guy upstairs – and also to the hard-working TX4 staff for making it all possible. When it was my turn to get on stage, I thanked all of the above (minus sponsors b/c I don’t have any) for their help in winning the 2022 championships in the Utility Amateur ATV class, Utility Expert ATV class, and the Turbo SxS class. Fun was had by all and the 2-hour event flew by.
Afterwards, Cash and I hopped in Big Blue (our 2018 Polaris RZR Turbo XP) returned to our quiet camp site in the parking area where we enjoyed another night of primitive camping under the stars. We set up our sleeping bags and bed cushions on top of our open trailer directly under a 10’ by 10’ canopy and then hunkered down for the 40 degree over-night temps. Thankfully, we survived the long, frigid night and the morning greeted us with a beautiful sunrise and the occasional crowing of roosters in the far distance. I didn’t sleep all that well, but at least my old bones were well rested.
SXS PARADE LAP:
On Sunday morning at 10 am, the UTVs had a parade lap led by Terry. The track looked similar to the ATV course with the exception that the Side-by-Sides ran a different section of tight woods in certain places. We saw a couple of UTVs having trouble getting around tight turns (without backing up) and heard about others bumping into the trees in the tight woods. Immediately afterwards, TX4 made a few adjustments to the track and then everything was ready for action.
After completing the site lap, Cash and I went back to the truck to top off fuel and check tire pressure on Big Blue. After suiting up for the race, my friend from California (Randy Lewis) showed up and we chatted a bit. I haven’t seen him since he came to the TX4 Round 5 race a few months ago. Randy came to watch Cash and me race, take vids, and get points towards his favorite hobby called trackchasing. For those unfamiliar, it involves travelling to certain live-action races throughout the U.S. and all over the world. Randy is currently #1 in the world in this rare and exciting hobby. He even brought me a free T-shirt with his name and logo. Thanks buddy!
SXS START:
When it was time to start the UTV races, Cory W. lined up a half-dozen UTV Expert racers on the front row, followed by 7 UTV Turbo racers, and 8 competitors in the naturally aspirated UTV class. It was exciting to see a strong turnout of side-by-sides!
After the UTV Expert class took off, I pulled Big Blue to the middle of the starting line. This class was made up mostly of Polaris RZR Turbos and Canam X3s plus one Wildcat with an aftermarket turbo driven by Patrick C. Now there’s a UTV you don’t see everyday! Cash and I said a quick prayer for the safety of all racers, and then it was finally time to focus on turn one.
The flag went up and off we went. Just like yesterday’s Utility Amateur ATV race, John G. and I led the pack towards the first turn. John quickly grabbed the lead and took the holeshot (again) with Cash and me nipping on his heals around the turn. The dust hung heavy in the air as 5 angry turbo cars followed closely behind Cash and me. I felt good about our start and immediately let out a hearty, “yeeeeehaw!” With turn one in our rear mirror, we now had our work cut out for us as we faced 70 minutes of adrenaline-fueled racing.
SXS LAPS 1-8:
Like yesterday, I followed John as quickly as I could for as long as I could. But it wasn’t long into the woods before he checked out. About half-way through lap 1, we spotted John in the open section of tall trees and counted at least a 10-second gap. As the race progressed, we saw more and more side-by-sides parked along the edge of the course (many were victims of the trees). Somehow, Big Blue kept going and we held second position for the rest of the race. Mucho congrats to John for taking the win in the Turbo SxS class and to Brandon B. for finishing in third.
Sure, it would have been nice to take home at least one win in Round 1. But the way I see it, I dodged trees for 102 miles on this fun track (including my 3 races plus practice laps) while surrounded by Cash and my TX4 racing family. I watched Cash get on the podium after his first ever ATV race, and I took home a one-of-a-kind “triple champ” steel plaque for winning 3 classes last year. Win or lose, it doesn’t get much better than that!
SHAMELESS PLUG:
In case you haven’t heard, my award-winning book about off-road racing is entitled TEXAS OFF-ROAD RACING: A Father-Son Journey to a Side-by-Side Championship. It’s also available for purchase on Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions.
I have to say a BIG THANK YOU to Terry, Cory, and the entire TX4 staff for hosting another FUN event! I hope to see everyone at Round 2.
