For the Round 4 Spider Williams Memorial Race, TX4 racers returned to Rusty’s Ranch to compete on a short, but thrilling track laid out by Terry Deck and company. With rain falling on the property earlier in the week, many folks were anticipating hero dirt. Instead, the course was dusty in some places and muddy in other areas. Racers also dealt with warmer-than-normal temps (upper 80s) and high humidity, which tested their physical stamina. As usual, the races were tons of fun. Below is my write-up. Enjoy!
WHERE:
Cedar Creek, TX… it’s a small town 30 miles southeast of Austin. TX4 has hosted several races on this property over the years, including the most recent event in December 2025. It’s always a fun time at Dusty Rusty’s!
TRACK CONDITIONS
As mentioned above, the track was a rare combo of dust and mud and the temps were warm and humid.
Unlike typical TX4 races, the ATV and SxS courses were very different this time. The quad track was 2 and ¾ miles long according to the Couch Rocket’s odometer. The UTV track was slightly shorter at 2.6 miles according to Big Blue’s dashboard. Both tracks are a bit shorter than normal due to the smaller size of this property. Regardless, this track was a blast and reminded me that good things come in small packages!
Both tracks started in a pasture near the parking area. From there, the course made a few tight turns and headed into the woods. After dodging trees for a half-mile, the course popped out in the same pasture where it started and then weaved its way behind a house. Here, Terry inserted a log obstacle plus an optional route for those who wanted to avoid it.
Next, the track headed back towards the front of the property while zig-zagging between trees and climbing in and out of dry creek crossings. Overall, the track was fast and flowed well despite having lots of tight woods and a few technical sections.
ATV PRACTICE:
On Saturday morning, I met up with Zach’s dad for a quick ATV tech inspection and then headed to the TX4 trailer to sign the waiver. From there, I headed back to the truck to suit up for practice beginning at 11 a.m.
My first impression of the track was that it ran in the opposite direction from the last race on this property a few months ago and felt a lot different. Also, Terry added some new sections, including the log obstacle mentioned above plus a few short, but steep hills climbs and descents.
A few sections stood out in my mind during ATV practice.
The first was a section of woods on top of a small hill. As I approached a right-hand turn, I suddenly noticed a line of ATVs about 10 feet directly below me that were following a dry creek bed. My mind instantly made a note of that spot b/c I didn’t want to miss my turn and accidently shift into “Evel Knievel” mode.
The second spot was a line of ATVs backed up in the dry creek bed that I just mentioned. When I finally got through creek bed (which wasn’t technical at all), the trail suddenly made a 90-degree right turn that climbs an embankment. Some quads had trouble navigating this tight, uphill turn during the first practice lap, which in turn caused the bottleneck.
On my 2nd lap of ATV practice, I attempted the log obstacle. As I approached it, I noticed the log was large and the top surface was uneven (knots sticking up) and mud before and after the log. I approached it in 4wd mode and bumped the throttle just before my front tires made contact with the dead tree. I was able to climb over without too much trouble, but the process left me and the Couch Rocket splattered in mud. Ugh. Because the alternative line wasn’t much longer, I decided that the log obstacle wasn’t worth the trouble and the potential for getting hung up or damaging my ride. So, I took the alternative route during my races.
At the end of practice, I headed back to the truck to top off the fuel tank and air up the tires for the 2pm race.
ATV START:
Because Matt H.’s utility quad was in the shop with engine problems, he competed in another ATV class at the 2pm race. That’s a bummer b/c racing with Matt is always a good time… he never gives up, so you can never predict when he might suddenly appear late in the race and pass you (it’s happened to me too many times!).
That left my “twin brother” Kevin G. (who unfortunately was sick as a dog on this day) and I were the only 2 competitors in the Utility Expert Class… or so I thought.
To my surprise, the man, the myth, the legend himself (Mr. Terry Deck) showed up on the starting line riding an old King Quad 500. My first thought was feeling grateful to have at least 3 competitors in our class. My second thought was “Don’t tell Terry that his engine is only half the size of the Couch Rocket.” LOL To be fair, a small engine didn’t stop Cory Williams from putting down an embarrassing butt whooping on Kevin and I when Cory raced with us last year on an old Polaris hooptie. That one still stings a little.
I lined up the Couch Rocket in the middle of the starting line. As I was waiting, the TX4 announcer (Dean Spillers) mentioned that holeshot money was available for our class. Normally, I would be excited to hear the possibility of winning some cash. However, I knew the “holeshot king” in our class is Kevin. Sick or not, Kevin won’t be easy to beat to Turn 1.
When the green flag popped up, I left the line hard and reached the first turn just behind Kevin. Doh! To Terry’s credit, he was hanging on my rear bumper as we made our way around the first turn.
ATV LAPS 1-8:
Immediately before the start, Kevin shared that he wasn’t feeling well and probably wouldn’t last long on the track. As predicted, he didn’t make it far into lap 1 before he slowed up a bit and let me pass. I usually enjoy passing my buddy, but this wasn’t the way I prefer it to happen.
Unbeknownst to me, Kevin called it a day after lap 2 due to his illness. I sure hope he feels back to normal before the next race b/c it ain’t the same racing without him… he’s fast and usually pushes me to my limit.
As the race wore on, I kept up my pace as much as possible. Racing with Terry was actually good incentive for me. If he beat me on that little thing, I knew I’d never hear the end of it. LOL
As I approached the scoring chute at the end of my 8th lap, I was feeling EXHAUSTED from the heat and humidity. To my chagrin, I didn’t see the checkered flag flying yet as there was still 1 minute remaining on the official timer. Doh!
So, I did the right thing and pulled off to the side and waited for the clock to wind down to 0 seconds before I crossed the finish line. Cory saw me waiting and waived me forward. He said I didn’t have to do another lap if I didn’t want to (and he was right b/c I already completed the 8th lap before the 2nd place finisher, Terry). I was so relieved to climb back into my truck and crank up the A/C for a while. Mucho congrats to Terry for finishing 8 laps on what appeared to be a bone stock utility quad that was never intended for the race track… I can’t imagine how jarring that race must’ve been.
SATURDAY NIGHT:
As usual, I set up my campsite in the parking lot as far away from the other RVs and generators as possible. By campsite, I mean “Hotel Kowis” – which consists of a 4-man Coleman tent placed on top of my ATV trailer. Normally, I look forward to a quiet nite at the track, but this time I was a bit worried about the warm weather. It was still in the 80s when the sun dropped behind the horizon at 8pm. Thankfully, a steady breeze kept things bearable. So, I left the Tent front flap open for circulation. I eventually I drifted off to sleep around midnight when the temps finally reached the mid-70s.
SXS PARADE LAP:
Early Sunday morning, I packed up the tent and headed to the food vendor for tasty breakfast tacos. Mmm, good! After chow time, I hung out by my truck and trailer so I could watch the kids UTV sight lap whenever it got underway around 8:30am. While I was waiting, I noticed a young boy driving his little SxS around the parking lot area next to me. He looked like he was having a blast as he spun it around the grass and zipped here and there. His dad was watching him nearby.
Suddenly, I heard a CRUNCH sound directly behind me. Yikes… that didn’t sound good! I immediately turned around and saw little man’s UTV resting on its left side only 20 feet away. Of course, I immediately ran towards him to make sure he was okay. Thankfully, he crawled out of the UTV cage completely unharmed about the same time that I reached him. I helped him push his UTV back on all fours and he was ready to roll again. Immediately after we got his UTV upright again, his dad and half of the TX4 staff came flying up to check on him. One of the staffers gave me a high five and said there’s nothing like being at the right place at the right time! LOL
At 10 am, the full-size UTVs had a mandatory riders meeting led by Terry. Next, racers left the starting area one-by-one for the sight lap.
As mentioned above, I was surprised to see that Terry made several changes to the track for the Side-by-Sides. That is both good and bad. On the plus side, it felt like a completely different track than Saturday’s race, which made it more interesting. On the other hand, I had to re-learn the track to avoid taking the wrong turns during my SxS race. (more on this later)
After completing the site lap, I went back to the truck to top off fuel in Big Blue and await my 12:30pm race.
SXS START:
When it was time to start the UTV races, Terry and Dean lined up all of the UTVs in rows of 2 for a rally style start. Each racer was still racing for time, but having 2 on the starting line meant a chance to win a holeshot and enjoy clean air for the first part of the race.
I was lined up next to Chris S. in the UTV Turbo Open class. Ryan E. started on the line behind us.
When the start flag went up, I pushed my right foot to the floor and beat Chris to the first turn. Yeehaw!!!
SXS LAPS 1-10:
As Chris and I zig-zagged around the first few turns in the pasture, my right tires suddenly got traction and turned Big Blue up on 2 wheels. Yikes! I quickly realized that Big Blue handled differently due to upgrades following the last race, including getting the shocks rebuilt by George White (had been 3 years since the last rebuild) as well as adding a rebuild kit for both clutches and new CVT belt. I ended up 2-wheeling a few more times on Lap 1, which made me nervous and caused me to slow up a bit until I got used to the new handling.
Chris followed my closely the entire lap 1 and bumped his horn near the start of lap 2. I immediately pulled over and let him pass me and then tried my best to keep up. It wasn’t long til he checked out on me.
For the first 3 laps, I kept making mental mistakes b/c I was still playing Saturday’s ATV course in my head instead of following the new UTV course (which was much different). I finally got it down pat on lap 4 and ran smooth for the rest of the race.
A few laps later, Ryan caught me near then end of the course, so I pulled over and let him pass. Once Ryan caught me, I knew he was already ahead in time… so, there was no point in trying to hold him off.
I kept going til I completed my 10th and final lap. Mucho Congrats to Chris for taking the win and Ryan for placing 2nd. I rounded out the podium in 3rd place thanks to lap times about 15 to 20 seconds slower than Ryan and Chris, respectively. That’s a sizeable gap, and I hope to compete better at the next one.
SHAMELESS PLUG:
In case you haven’t heard, I published a book about racing in the TX4 series entitled TEXAS OFF-ROAD RACING 2: The Battle for ATV and Side-by-Side Championships. This is a sequel to a similar book I launched in 2020 called TEXAS OFF-ROAD RACING: A Father-Son Journey to a Side-by-Side Championship. Both books are available on Amazon in paperback, Kindle eBook, and audiobook.
I have to say a BIG THANK YOU to Terry, Cory, Dean, Monica, and the entire TX4 staff for hosting another FUN event! I hope to see everyone at Round 5.
