Not that long ago, we worked on a radical refresh for our Pro Series Housing. That update included the option of running 10” gears for strength and wear life, longer axle tubes for better project flexibility, and cleaner tig welds because they just look bitchin’. Since then, our Pro Series Housing has become one of our most popular housings ever made, but where’s the love for our original Ultimate Housing?
Love is in the air our fellow wheelers, today the Spider 9 Ultimate Housing gets a refresh just like its Pro brother. Our 3-1/2” OD x 1/4” wall Ultimate Housing now accepts 10” gears, measures 68” end to end, and is also tig finished because it’s nice to look pro. Best part? Price is still the same, $699 a housing. As of writing this post, housings are in-stock and are shipping same day. Learn even more (and order) at http://www.spidertrax.com/Ultimate-Housing .
Spidertrax | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0
Need to let this event go… can’t stop posting photos… so one more and we’ll be done. Badlands has always hosted a parade the night before the big race (at least for the last three years). Every year, I try to find a way to one of the roof tops, so as to capture the parade festivities below. A wishful dream really as every year I strike out… that is until this year’s UMC. Shot from on top of Attica’s local appliance store, this view gives you an idea just how big this event really was. Already can’t wait for next year!
To appreciate the photo in all of its detail, be sure to view it on our Flickr page, https://flic.kr/p/nYncwm . Full resolution is 13108 x 3566 :) .
Spidertrax | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0
A few of our favorite shots from the Badlands UMC are now available on Flickr, https://flic.kr/s/aHsjZkmTEW . All high res, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, and as always are watermark free so please download and share with your friends and family.
Spidertrax | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0
What needs to be said really… Erik Miller and Tom Wayes battling it out on The Wall. Does it get any better than this? Nope, this is pretty amazing right here.
Ok, a few quick words (can’t resist). Dave Cole sent out a letter to all Ultra4 drivers before the kickoff to the 2014 season. In summary, it talked about how the success of Ultra4 depended heavily on drivers committing to the series as a whole, instead of just one or two events for the year. There’s many reasons for this, but one of the biggest (for the fans anyway) is seeing the best of the best, from coast to coast, battle it out. It makes for great racing, pretty simple really. Watching Erik Miller, Tom Wayes, Loren Healy, Derek West, Shannon Campbell, and so on taking on east and west coast terrain is just damn good racing. We had that at Badlands, and all the races in 2014 prior.
As it turns out, drivers read those letters from Dave. That’s a good thing.
Spidertrax | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0
If you had your traffic monitor on, it would have been flashing red in the rock quarry. Home to The Wall, and many other wall like obstacles as show here, the rock quarry was also home to unbelievably dense traffic. Dave Cole lived in the quarry all of race day, ensuring some level of organization as dozens of Ultra4s battled their way thru the dense mix of rock racers of varying levels of capability.
One Ultra4 that found their way thru the madness, with calculated effort, was Jason O’Neal. Driving his freshly minted, Spider 9 powered, Bomber chassis for the very first competition, Jason made short work of just about every obstacle Badlands had to offer. He also planned well for this race, grabbing Brandon Davis as his co-driver who just so happened to have run this course last year. With the right parts, the right driving style, and the right co-driver, Jason managed to tackle a course for the very first time with a brand new vehicle and secure an 8th place finish… AND a qualifying spot for the 2015 King of the Hammers. As far as first time races go, this is about as good as it gets, congrats Jason!
