Seems like every race Jason goes to, he manages to qualify first. He’s fast, real fast in fact, with his new IFS Ultra4 Spider 9 powered racer. Luck has not been on his side so far this year though, with new vehicle gremlins popping up each race he hits. As for Glen Helen last Saturday, where we took this shot above as Jason was staged in the pole position, he was the one to beat. Lap after lap, he furthered his first place lead and appeared unstoppable. Then, as often happens with vehicles at Glen Helen, Jason’s transmission went. We have no doubt, once Jason get’s his new machine dialed in, it will be unstoppable.

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.

Modified Results

There’s a full day of Ultra4 action here at Glen Helen Raceway. The shot above, of Kevin Sacalas, was from this morning where a few Ultra4 drivers took to the Lucas short course for a little pre-qualifying action. Not only is there the official Ultra4 race this evening at 6:30pm PST, also known as the Glen Helen Grand Prix, but Ultra4 racers were also invited to race in the Lucas short course competition at 12:30 pm as well.

Only a small handful of Ultra4 drivers are taking on the short course race in addition to the Glen Helen Grand Prix, so as to not over extend their vehicles for the big evening race. Still, there will be Ultra4 drivers out at 12:30pm on the short course to show the Glen Helen crowd what Ultra4 racing is all about.

Live coverage will be available at http://ultra4racing.com/live/ , with the main event kicking off at 6:30 pm PST. We’ll be there, helping teams and providing photos for the live coverage, so be sure to check that out later tonight. Best of luck to all drivers and teams, we’re looking forward to a great race tonight!

It’s always a risk testing out a new track, but in the end the all new 4Wheel Parts Glen Helen Grand Prix proved to be a top stop in the Ultra4 tour. With a blended mix of short course jumps, motocross tracks, & wicked mountain climbs, Ultra4 cars had their work cut out for them in this ultimate endurance style race. We partnered up with the Ultra4 crew to provide live text/photo coverage during the event (http://ultra4racing.com/live/) so we’ll take a break from writing a long “post event” recap. Instead, we just wanted to share the photos from the live coverage and congratulate Loren Healy (1st), Jason Picket (2nd), and JT Taylor (3rd) who captured the top 3 spots with rigs powered by Spider 9 Axles. Every event is a blast for us, but we can’t deny watching our axles power teams to the top makes it even better.

The 4Wheel Parts Ultra4 Grand Prix marks the end of the 2011 Ultra4 series. Next stop is the grand daddy of all Ultra4 events, The King of the Hammers. We can’t wait!

EDIT: Looks like the photos are NOT hyperlinked to the originals on Flickr (sorry about that). Check here for the entire Flickr set.

Time sure does fly when you’re having fun and this years Ultra4 season is certainly no exception. This weekend, October 22nd, marks the end of the 2011 Ultra4 Series. This certainly lends the question, have they saved the best for last? Time will tell but having personally been to this debut race course at Glen Helen I can say with certainty that everyone, from driver to spectator, is in for a blast!

Similar in style to the Ultra4 Stampede, I’ll be on course again with Harry Wagner providing the official live text coverage, via Cover-It-Live, for Ultra4Racing. So as to get the most out of this weekends live coverage, I wanted to share 3 quick tips that should make following the race that much easier.

1) All Live Feeds in One Place (Best for Desktop Users) – http://ultra4racing.com/live/
This is the best of the best in terms of live coverage. On this page you’ll find all of the live feeds available, namely a running video feed via Ustream and a text feed via Cover-It-Live. Keep an eye out for a third feed on this page, namely the score board which if all goes as planned will display the lap times and race leaders live.

2) Text Feed Only (Often Best for Mobile Users) – http://ultra4racing.com/livechat/
Sometimes mobile devices have a hard time displaying video and text updates together. If you fall into that category, you can always grab just the text feed following this link. The text feed is powered by Cover-It-Live and allows for text updates, in-line photos, and user comments on just about any mobile device. So if all else fails, you should still be able to follow the race on your mobile device.

3) Times to Watch – http://ultra4racing.com/the-inside-line/4wheel-parts-glen-helen-grand-prix-spectator-information/
The race is on Saturday, October 22nd, and starts at 11am PST. With the gates opening at 9am, it’s highly likely live content will find it’s way to the interwebs early.

That’s it for now. Best of luck to all the teams & drivers this weekend and we’ll see you at Glen Helen (or online)!