WHERE:
Glen Rose, TX…it’s a tiny town about 50 miles southwest of Ft. Worth. This track was located on a beautiful property that includes open pastures, trees, small ponds, creeks and a sand bar along the Brazos River. The property had diverse terrain to conquer, including dusty pasture areas, deep sandy ruts, twisty trails that zig zag around small trees/bushes and a half-dozen or so creek crossings that are lined in the bottom with rocks.
TRACK CONDITIONS:
The weather was sunny and hot (low 90’s) and the track was very dusty, including in the wooded areas.
Due to the limited size of the property, the UTV track length was only 1.5 miles long (about half the length of normal). However, this track made the most of this space and included an interesting and fun layout included plenty of zig zag trails through rolling pastures, wooded areas and rocky creek crossings.
UTV NOVICE CLASS:
There were 11 side by sides in the UTV Novice class (1 more than round 1). The line-up included a mix of Polaris RZRs and Can Ams. Unlike round 1, I don’t recall seeing any artic cats on the starting line for this race.
PRACTICE:
After making the 4 plus hour drive to Glen Rose, my son and I arrived at the track just before 9:30am and we made a half-dozen practice laps on the UTV track. On my first lap, I noticed 2 things. First, there were several sharp turns in the wooded areas with deep ruts through the loose soil and if you happen to fall outside of the ruts on these turns, it tends to slow you way down and/or push you towards the trees on the outside of the turn. Second, I noticed there were lots of zagged rocks in the (wet and dry) creek crossings and a few cactus plants just off the trails, meaning my tires were going to be at risk.
THE START:
When we lined up, the UTV Novice class was the third class to start and we had approximately 50 feet to the first left-hand turn. This turn was wide and led to several sweeping zig zag turns through a large open pasture. I was lined up on the far left side (closest to the inside of the first turn) of the crowed starting line of 11 UTVs. As I waited for the flag to go up, I was anxious to find out if I could repeat the solid start that I had in round 1 (just 3 weeks earlier) where I was 2nd around the first turn (right behind Rut).
Finally, the green flag went up and the 11 UTVs roared to life. My RZR 900xp left the line quickly, and I soon found myself in 3rd position around the first turn just behind Rut’s Can Am 1000 and the blue RZR 1k (the same blue RZR 1k that took home 1st place in round 1). NOTE TO SELF: For the next race, let all the air out of Rut’s tires at the starting line so I’ll finally have a shot at winning the holeshot.
LAPS 1 and 2:
I maintained 3rd position as our crowded class made its way around the dusty pasture area and headed into the equally dusty woods. Eventually, our pack caught up to some of the slower racers from the 800cc UTV classes and we proceeded to pass these racers one at a time (and sometimes two at a time). At one point, I recall making a sweeping left hand turn around a large tree. It was a flat, smooth turn and you could easily power slide around the tree if you hit it just right. Through the thick dust, I saw the blue RZR 1k pass a Rzr 800 to the right ride. After that pass, there was just enough room for me to pass the Rzr 800 on his left and squeeze in before we made the next left hand turn. It was a tricky maneuver given the heavy dust, but luckily I made the pass unscathed.
LAPS 3 through 6:
After the first couple of laps, I finally had a little breathing room between me and the next racer (saw no one directly behind me when we raced through the open pasture area). At this point, I assumed some of the lappers that I had already passed were holding up some of the other racers in my class. Unfortunately, that didn’t last long. In the wooded areas, one of the Can Ams from my class caught up to me around the 3rd or 4th lap and was hot on my heals. The race was still early, so I knew I couldn’t hold him off for the rest of the race. I found a safe place to pull off the trail and let him go by. Then I tried to follow him as close as possible. I managed to stay with him for a little while until he passed another lapper, but then I had a tough time getting around the slower rider and I never saw that Can Am again.
About half-way throught he race (approximately lap 6), I saw the infamous white Can Am in my rear view mirror as I passed through the scoring shute. It was hard not to notice this white Can Am because it had a front fender hanging off the side after an apparently fight with Mr. Tree. lol This Can Am was driven by fellow racer Cash (or "Crash" as Rut likes to jokingly call him following the unintentional mishap in round 1 where Cash accidentally reshaped the rear bumper of Rut’s Can Am).
As we entered the pasture area, I put the hammer down and tried to put a little distance between me and the white Can Am. But not long after we entered the woods, Crash…I mean Cash… was on nipping at my heels again. I kept the pace up to see if I could hold him off, but soon realized I was driving above my comfort level. I was driving a bit erratic at this pace and had a few near misses with the trees as I battled my way through the twisty trails and thick dust. Finally, I made the decision to move over and let Cash pass me before I made my front fender look like his. I stayed on Cash’s tail as long as I could with the hope that maybe he’d make a mistake and I could eventually pass him (but that never happened).
As a side note, I later saw what appeared to be part of Cash’s front fender laying in the trail. Just another reminder that you have to constantly stay on your toes during these XC races (the trees usually win if you pick a fight with them).
LAPS 6 through 12:
Near the beginning of my 12th and final last lap, I finally got around a Rzr 800 that I had followed closely for more than a few minutes. Apparently, the thick dust and roost that I ate from the previous 11 laps finally clogged my UTV’s radiator fins and caused the overheating light to come on. My temp gauge was peaked too, so I new I had trouble. Being that it was the last lap and the course was so short, I decided to press on at my pace with the hope that it could finish the race without a mechanical breakdown.
As I exited the wooded area and made my way into the short trail that led to the checkered flag, I saw Rut just ahead of me. I quickly caught up to him, but was unable to pass him before the finish line.
I spoke with Rut afterwards and found out he purposely slowed way down/took it easy when he got too exhausted & hot to press on at full pace. This hot and dusty race also took a toll on my RZR’s motor b/c it went into limp mode when I tried to restart it and drive it back to the truck immediately following the race. I limped slowly along for another 100 yards and the motor totally shut off. Cash was nice enough to check on me when he found me stranded on the trail that led back to the parking lot. After Cash and I talked about it, I decided to let the motor cool down and then try to re-start it/drive it back to the truck. Luckily, that plan worked out and I didn’t need an embarrassing tow back to the truck. I’d like to say THANKS to Cash for checking on me when he saw me stranded.
RACE RESULTS:
I finished 4th out of 11. I’m thrilled with that result and, even more importantly, I enjoyed racing and chatting with my fellow UTV racers. Now that the summer break is here, I have some time to figure out if I need to do anything about my overheating situation (I have been considering relocating my radiator behind the rear cab, but I’m not crazy about the idea of blocking my rear view).
As always, I have to say a big THANK YOU to TORN for putting on another FUN event!
I hope you enjoyed my race write-up! :ride:
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