Race Write-up from Goertz Ranch!
Last Sunday, I loaded up “Big Blue” (my trusty 2018 Polaris RZR Turbo) and made the 2.5 hour journey to Goertz Ranch in Rockne, TX for the Round 1 of the 2019 TORCS cross-country series. I was happy that it was finally race day b/c this was my first opportunity to get some seat time in the RZR since our last race of 2018. Also, I always look forward to racing at Goertz Ranch b/c this is my favorite TORCS track… wide and fast! Below is my race write-up.
WHERE:
Rockne, TX… it’s a tiny town about 8 miles south of Bastrop. This picturesque property has pecan groves, a few creek crossings, and a large pasture area.
TRACK CONDITIONS:
When I arrived at the track around 1pm, the weather was nice (sunny and mild temps), but the ground was soaking wet thanks to heavy rain the night before. As I pulled into a parking lot, I began to question whether I could find an open parking spot before my 2wd truck got stuck in the mud. Sure enough, I only made it 100 yards past the entrance gate before my rear tires lost all traction in the sloppy mud. With a little push from a friendly ATVer, I was quickly on my way to find a parking spot on high ground next to the track. Turns out, this little challenge getting through the mud was a sign of things to come!
Thanks to soggy conditions on the track, the TORCS race officials had to re-route the earlier races that day. This delayed our UTV races by an hour. No problem. That’s just more time to finally catch up with my racing buddies, most of whom I haven’t seen since our last race of 2018.
The track was 3 miles long and similar to the course we raced on last year at this property, with only a few modifications here and there.
Sometimes, my teenage son (Cash) will join me as my co-pilot and counter-weight to hold the right side down during sharp turns. Unfortunately, he had homework to finish this weekend, so I was racing solo this time.
PARADE LAP & HOT LAP:
When it finally came time to start the parade lap around 3:30pm, we had 17 Side-by-Sides gathered near the starting line. The ground was soft and mushy everywhere, so it was obvious that we were all about to take a HUGE mud bath.
When the parade lap started, I got in line near the front and followed the line of cars slowly around the muddy course. As always, I was trying to locate any dangerous spots to be aware of during the race and find the best lines wherever alternate routes were available. Of course, the entire track was covered in thick mud and uber slippery, so maintaining visibility and traction were the biggest challenges. In one spot in the woods, the slippery track ran alongside a deep creek and it would not take much to fall off into the water if you weren’t careful to stick to the track. In other challenging spots, we had to cross creeks that were already a sloppy mess and pass through a few open gates bordered by steel pipes that you didn’t want to tangle with.
CLASSES:
On this outing, there were only 3 UTVs lined up on the starting line of the Turbo class, including Collin’s RZR Turbo, my RZR turbo, and Dwayne’s X3. Noticeably absent from the Turbo line-up was Bubba (last year’s champ). Sadly this is a much smaller turnout than what I normally saw last season. But on the plus side, we were all guaranteed a podium finish! (assuming we actually finished the race)
Next were 11 Side-by-Sides in the Non-turbo Class, and they were lined up on 2 separate lines with staggard start times.
Behind them were 3 buggies in the 800cc class.
THE START:
The starting area was in a pasture adjacent to the parking area. From the starting line, we had approximately 40 feet to the first (left) turn around a flag pole.
When the green flag finally when up, I quickly turned the key, but NOTHING HAPPENED! Ugh. Then I remembered to put my foot on the brake and got it moving, but not before Collin had already left the starting line. I jumped in behind him and Wayne fell in behind me. Not a great start, but I knew we had a long race ahead of us and there would be plenty of opportunities to take the lead if I drove smart and stayed out of trouble.
LAPS 1-4:
As our class zig-zagged our way through the big trees in the pasture area, I found myself sliding all over the place. The most obvious challenge was to drive fast and still maintain full control. It would be easy to spin out or slide into a tree. Following on the heels of Collin’s RZR quickly led to the next biggest challenge for me… trying see the track while eating his roost! For that reason, I backed off a tad so I could see better and avoid getting my goggles (and radiator) packed with mud.
Near the end of this pasture area, the course makes a hard 180 degree left-hand turn and points racers back towards the parking area. That turn was slippery as owl “you know what.” Turns out that was my favorite corner on the track b/c I could go in hot, hit the breaks and quickly turn the steering wheel, then nail the gas pedal and sling-shot around the turn. Fun Stuff!
Next, the course takes you to a fast, wide straight through the pasture area along the edge of the parking lot. Near the end of this short run, I noticed 51mph on my speedo before I had to make a hard left turn and then duck through an open gate lined by steel posts.
After that, the course takes riders into the wooded trails that are filled with pecan and other types of trees, muddy creek crossings, and lots of sloppy mud at every turn. I tried to keep Collin within eye sight, but it was challenging to maintain fast speeds and also stay on the track. Just one over-shot turn could spell disaster (e.g., slide into a tree) and end your day of racing.
When the course exited the woods, it took racers near the pasture area again with more zig-zag turns around large trees. Then you had to cross through another open gate at a 45 degree angle and then make a hard right along the fence line. Next you dropped off into another muddy creek crossing, then snaked around a few more turns before you ended up near the scoring schute/starting line. At this point, I was 20 seconds behind Collin. But I didn’t want to push myself too hard to catch up and make a mistake that could end my race early. So I pressed on at my pace.
A few laps later, I ran up on my first lapper from the 800 class. He didn’t pull over, so I hugged his rear tires until I found a safe place to pass him on the inside of a left-hand turn and then proceeded onward. The next few lappers I came across, let me go around easily.
Unbeknownst to me, Collin got friendly with a fence post near the 2nd gate opening and later broke a rear axle around the 4th lap. So he pulled out of the race and I took the lead. However, I had no clue and was still on the hunt for Collin’s RZR the entire race!
2nd HALF OF THE RACE:
Later in the race, I ran through the scoring schute and heard someone behind me in the near distance. I didn’t know who it was, but I figured it must be someone from the non-turbo class that caught up to me. I pressed on and tried to keep an eye out for him with the intention of letting him pass whenever he got close. There’s no point in blocking his progress as we are not in the same class.
So now I’m flying through the slippery, zig zag field towards my favorite 180 degree turn. I planned to go in hot, do a quick 180 spin and sling-shot around like I normally do, but this time I will take a peek in my mirror just as I hit the start of that turn. I didn’t see anyone behind me, so I thought I had plenty of room to make the turn.
As I swing around my RZR and head out of the turn, I suddenly take a hard hit from my left side. It was Cory from the non-turbo class. Oh crap! I never even saw him. All I know is that my steering suddenly got super hard to turn and I immediately thought my race was done. I let off the gas for a second and then tried to get in line behind Cory. But it was tough to keep up with my steering being out of whack. I thought for sure he must have bent my tie rods and my front wheels were probably way out of alignment.
After continuing down the track another hundred yards or so, it occurred to me that perhaps my power steering was malfunctioning after the contact. So I slowed down to reset it and then the steering returned to normal. What a relief! Now I could get back to the business of racing.
As the race progressed, I started noticing more and more UTVs broke down along the side of the course. I nearly become a victim myself as I came around one of the slippery turns in the woods where it runs alongside a deep creek crossing. Just as I made a right hand turn around a big tree, my rear end spins out and I’m now facing backwards on the track! I was happy that I didn’t slide off into the creek, but also concerned about getting straightened out before another racer comes around the corner and hits me. So I hit reverse and quickly got back on course.
On my 8th lap, my front end finally collected so much mud that my radiator was totally clogged. That caused my engine to overheat and automatically shut-down power to crawling speed. Ugh! So I pulled off the trail for a 30 second cooling break before starting it up and running the course at a much slower pace. I continued to battle overheating/power loss troubles from time to time, so I just tried to baby it around the track and pull over to let other racers pass me whenever they got close.
RACE RESULTS:
After 9 laps, I finally saw the checkered flag and headed back to the trailer. A few seconds later, I saw Collin pull up in his RZR. That’s when I discovered he exited the race early, and I ended up finishing first in our class. Dwayne completed 8 laps and took 2nd and Collin finished in 3rd place.
But the adventure wasn’t quite over. After loading up the trailer and collecting my 1st place plaque and cash winnings, I still had to exit the parking area without getting my truck stuck. I opted to exit the other way around the parking area instead of the way I came in. But I didn’t make it too far before my truck started to sink into the mud and I lost traction. It was getting dark, so time was of the essence to get unstuck. I quickly unloaded my RZR from the trailer and found someone with a Polaris Ranger to pull my trailer backwards and free me from the mud. At one point, were were both laying on the ground in the mud using our cell phones for light to find a good place to tie his winch cable to my truck’s front end. It was getting cold and dark. We repeated this a few more times until he finally pulled me all the way through the gate and up the hill. I gave the rescuer most of my winnings and thanked him for his help. I’ve met the nicest people while racing in TORCS and this guy was no exception! The last part of this adventure was the 4 HOURS it took to clean the mud off my RZR, the truck, and the trailer! But it was well-worth it for all the FUN I had on the race course.
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.