Big turn out. Big action. Glen Helen delivers.
There were 47 drivers who took the course last night at the Ultra4 4WP Glen Helen Grand Prix, marking one of the largest turnouts we have seen since this years King of the Hammers. The event was timed to run right after an adjacent Lucas short course race, and with that race running a bit behind, Ultra4s took the course about 30 minutes late. This meant starting at 7pm, and running till 9:30pm.
And, just like at the Badlands, Ultra4s took the lights out to race far after the sun set. There’s something special about night races, not sure exactly what it is, but the sounds of engines, sirens, and fast moving Ultra4s in pitch black certainly has its appeal. While the cameras don’t like it, drivers and spectators seem to agree it is indeed epic.
As was the case last year at Glen Helen, the early race leaders were taken out by what we call the last 45 minutes of fatigue. It is in the last 45 minutes of the race where the Ultra4s really seem to be pushed to the limits, with overheated engines and blown transmissions lining the pits. We saw both Jason Scherer and Bill Baird in the lead for the entire 2/3’rds of the race, but a failed transmission took Jason clear out. Just like that, after having the lead the entire time. Right after, Bill suffered a fairly hard roll and although he walked away safe, the rig was done for the night.
As we got closer to the finish, it became clear that Nick Nelson and his Jimmy’s 4×4 Ultra4 racer, were in the clear for the win. He ran a solid, and consistent, race all night which tends to be the secret sauce for Glen Helen. Last year Loren Healy won, coming back from about 5th position to take the win in the last 30 minutes. A similar playout happened this year as well with Nick. Congrats to Nick for a very well deserved victory.
Also worth mentioning the Ultra4s had the opportunity to run the Lucas short course race as well. For fear of damaging their rigs prior to the Grand Prix, only 4-5 drivers decided to run the short course race. One of those drivers, Gary Ferravanti who’s rig is pictured above, ended up winning that race. In addition, Gary and his son, who drove the latter part of the Grand Prix, scored a 4th place position at the end of the night for the big race. Gary is one of our original testers for our Ultimate Unit Bearings (run on his front axle), and as it happens his first test with them was at last year’s Glen Helen race. He is still running on that same set of Ultimate Unit Bearings. Pretty cool.
So, that wraps up another Ultra4 competition. Night time racing doesn’t play well with pictures, so we’re not sure how many we came home with. We’ll be sure to post the few that we have throughout the week though. For now, here’s the final scores from Glen Helen.
Driver Name | Car # | Place` | Qualified |
Nick Nelson | 4404 | 1 | |
TJ Flores | 4471 | 2 | * |
Nick Campbell | 8 | 3 | * |
Gary Ferravanti, Sr. | 4446 | 4 | |
Shannon Campbell | 5 | 5 | |
David Ashman | 697 | 6 | * |
Tom Wayes | 321 | 7 | * |
Jon Cagliero | 27 | 8 | |
Hal Deschamp | 4445 | 9 | * |
Andy Brown | 4455 | 10 | * |
Loren Healy | 4428 | 11 | |
Alex Hardaway | 4481 | 12 | |
Chris Garrison | 4494 | 13 | |
Cottin Rodd | 4407 | 14 | |
Todd McCullen | 4422 | 15 | |
Levi Shirley | 81 | 16 | |
Kevin Yoder | 4434 | 17 | |
Clint Ellett | 4470 | 18 | |
Warren Thomas | 257 | 19 | |
Troy Stone | 4429 | 20 | |
Bill Baird | 5252 | 21 | |
Eric Anderson | 66 | 22 | |
Darren Henke | 4441 | 23 | |
Kevin Sacalas | 4435 | 24 | |
Randy Avery | 348 | 25 | |
Richie Carter | 4474 | 26 | |
Jim Brown | 104 | 27 | |
JP Gomez | 4482 | 28 | |
Rick Mooneyham | 554 | 29 | |
Kevin Gamble | 4476 | 30 | |
Jason Scherer | 76 | 31 | |
Paul Garner | 4409 | 32 | |
Matt Messer | 4417 | 33 | |
Chris Midkiff | 23 | 34 | |
Scott Ward | 4438 | 35 | |
Brian Shirley | 18 | 36 | |
Greg Lundeen | 701 | 37 | |
Daren Runion | 669 | 38 | |
Michael Amaral | 487 | 39 | |
Brent Goegebuer | 4473 | 40 | |
Matt Nieman | 4487 | 41 | |
JT Stephens | 4454 | 42 |
Modified Results
Driver Name | Car # | class | Position |
Brandon Heyes | 4558 | Mod | 1 |
Jeff Rector | 4505 | Mod | 2 |
Larry McRae | 4581 | Mod | 3 |
Shawn Rants | 4531 | Mod | 4 |
Mitch Funk | 4515 | Mod | 5 |