Spidertrax | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0

Spidertrax | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0

Spidertrax | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0

There is no background story today, just Gary Ferravanti Sr. looking badass as usual. One of the few guys who looks fast standing still. That is all.

Spidertrax | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0

The track of Glen Helen is tight, and as such very difficult to pass. This makes one thing for certain, Games of Chase are as common as they come for Ultra4, with drivers hunting down drivers lap after lap, looking for the slightest chance for an opportunity to pass. Captured here in front is Alex Hardaway, who is no stranger to short course terrain. Alex grabbed himself a 7th place finish at Glen Helen, and currently sits in 9th place for series points. He will be one to watch at the next western Ultra4 race, The American Rock Sports Challenge. That track combines short course with man-made rocks, a perfectly crafted terrain for the very fast solid axle machines.

Spidertrax | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0

There were a few changes in this year’s Glen Helen race track, but the one that drew the “Huh?” from drivers was the added Speed Bump at the end of pit row. A little inside baseball: the Glen Helen track requires a lot of watering, so as to control the insane level of dust from the Ultra4 racers, and it just so happened California is in a bit of a drought. Water restrictions in place in a very serious way, couple that with 100+ Ultra4s taking the field, and you end up with a bit of a racing logistics nightmare. Enter the Speed Bump.

The straightaway that passes pit row and feeds into the start of the short course track is one of the longest stretches at Glen Helen, and the one where drivers can really clock a seriously fast speed. So, at the end of pit row before drivers head into the short course a Speed Bump, or rather a very large two wide dirt mountain, was formed. And let the games begin!

Leave it up to the Ultra4 drivers to figure out how to turn this speed trap of sorts into an opportunity to one up their fellow competitor. I headed over to the Speed Bump toward the end of race day, and it was quite the show in that small virtually unseen area. Captured here is Jason Scherer (left) and Jon Cagliero (right), both just full throttle battling straight through this mountain of speed control.

Good times for sure.