The Ultra4 series’ 4 Wheel Parts, Glen Helen Grand Prix is not a rock race; there are no rock trails to conquer. As a result, the cars show up looking somewhat strange with lowered ride heights, stripped of recovery gear, and fit with tiny tires. Spotters are not barking steering inputs to the driver; no winching is required. Instead, the spotters sit atop a ridgeline overlooking the course to report the gaps and lap times of the competition to the drivers.
That doesn’t mean it’s any less of a challenge, however. In fact, Glen Helen is known as a race of attrition. Jumps, sharp turns, loose dirt, and slick mud all take a heavy toll. Axles, suspension, brakes, and drivetrains are pounded into submission. Wheel-to-wheel racing on a tricky course layout such as this, with extreme elevation changes, caused many to crash or end up on their lids.
Racing Action
After only a few laps of practice on Friday, the pits were filled with broken cars. As the race weekend progressed, the course became rougher and the number of casualties increased. As dramatic as the action on the course was, behind-the-scene details made the race even more intriguing.
There was no lack of talent in the 4400 class at Glen Helen. With the exception of Randy Slawson and JR Reynolds, every former King of the Hammers driver was competing, including Shannon Campbell, Jason Scherer, Loren Healy, and Erik Miller.
All were running strong during the final, but only Miller finished on the podium, placing third. It looked as if Healy would have it in the bag after setting a blistering pace out front, but an expired engine took him out halfway through the race.

Former King of the Hammers Loren Healy set a blistering pace at the start but dropped out due to a blown engine.
Other standouts were Levi Shirley, Wayland Campbell, and Tom Wayes. Campbell and Wayes duked it out lap after lap, banging wheels and pushing each other to the brink. Wayes would eventually pull off after 15 laps and Campbell suffered a heartbreaking rollover on the Lucas Oil short-course with only minutes to go in the two-hour long race, but he got righted and took the checkers in sixth.
Words From The Podium
Victorious in the 4400 class would be Paul Horschel, who may not be a household name but his steady rise has caused others to take notice. The Glen Helen Grand Prix was the debut of his brand new race vehicle.
Horschel’s new car is the result of two years of design time and collaboration between several of his sponsors using the latest in technology from Tubeworks, GearWorks, Jimmy’s 4×4, Power Steering Solutions, King Shocks, TR Beadlock Wheels, and BF Goodrich tires.
The Tubeworks planetary gearing set-up at each wheel is beyond trick, and every component on the car was designed to work together to provide optimum performance. Horschel taught himself how to use a solid modeling program and did much of the design work himself. He showed up to Glen Helen with zero time on the car.

Paul Horschel sustained front end damage after being hit on the course. He would race the final heat in rear wheel drive only.
“We put in a ton of time just to get to the track,” Horschel said. “After one lap we were overheating and went into limp mode. We spent a $1,000 dollars on coolers and stayed up all night welding mounts and running lines on the car.
“During the heat race, the guy in front of me was all over the place; I was having a tough time getting around him on the tight track. He rolled right in front of me on a blind jump and I couldn’t avoid him. I only tapped him, but I got hit from behind at full speed,” Horschel continued. “The damage took out our front drive; I had to run the main event in two-wheel-drive. It wasn’t the end of the world. This race is hard on components, it seems every year here we end up racing in two-wheel-drive; I was hoping for better this time.”
Horschel got his wish with a well-earned win and was quick to give credit to his brother Luke, spotter Travis Hyatt, his wife, and the crew that helped out with the wrenching. Just think what they will achieve once the car is running with four-wheel-drive and they get the new car bugs ironed out.
Fans witnessed plenty of action on the course while crews wrenched and cars buckled to the fast pace and dropped out of the race.
Second Place
Second place in 4400 was Shane Chiddix who was also driving an unproven car. After crashing in its first race, the car was sent back to Jimmy’s to have some tubes replaced, and to make sure everything was 100 percent.
Chiddix is no rookie, but he just came back after taking a couple years off from racing due to the downturn in the economy. He competed in the UTV race earlier in the day to familiarize himself with the track and finished on top with the win.
“I admit it was a little stressful at first,” Chiddix said. “There we were running in the front pack with Campbell, Ferravanti, and the Gomez Brothers. I quickly got settled down; I like the rocks, but I really shine on this type of dirt course. One of my good friends owns a track and I’m an excavator so we can build anything at home to test on.”
Chiddix ran a solid pace and continued to pick up spots as others dropped out. His bright orange Jimmy’s car really stands out and the distinctive sound from his supercharged Blueprint Engines LS motor was a crowd favorite. He was very pleased with the podium finish and the fact that he qualified for King of the Hammers. “I can’t wait to finish getting the Radflo shocks further dialed in and doing some other mods to make us even faster,” Chiddix said.

Shane Chiddix was a standout at the Grand Prix due to his beautiful new Jimmy’s car and his second place podium finish.
Rounding Out The Top Three
On the podium in third place was two-time and current King of the Hammers, Miller. “We made a lot of changes to the car in anticipation of the Glen Helen race,” Miller said. “I have wanted to run wider housings. We are focusing on the West Coast series this year and the wider axles are an advantage in the desert and on the short-courses. We pulled weight out of the car, lowered it, and firmed up the suspension so we really didn’t know what to expect.”
“We have never run this race before,” Miller continued, “I watched it in 2012, but it was run mostly in the dark. It seemed really chaotic. We made a bonsai run out here from Maryland and I wasn’t feeling well when I got in the race car; I felt nauseous. In the second session, it felt like I was going to throw up so I pulled off the track.”

Erik Miller is nearly swallowed in a deep hole on the course. His straight axle front end shows the incredible steering angle it is capable of.
Miller overshot a jump in practice by what he said was “a ridiculous amount.” It was a hard hit to the nose of the car with his helmet taking the brunt of force when it hit the steering wheel.
“The landing bent the front housing,” says Miller, “Any other car might have ripped the front end off. The wheels were toed out one inch but we had no part failures; that’s why we run Spidertrax. We set the toe back where it belonged and that’s how we raced. We almost switched to our 40-inch Nitto tires because there were some huge holes out on the course, but we decided to stick to the 35s. We ran 15 laps at a comfortable pace and then pushed at the end. The car was running strong with no problems; we got faster and could run wide open.”
Miller loaded up and headed to Moab after the race to scout locations for his wedding. Despite two days of racing, the car was trouble-free running around on the rocks.
Miller’s 4400 car is unique in that it runs a Jeep grill and hood on the front. With the wider axles he now has room to add front fenders, too. He has street rod license plates in his home state of Maryland and actually drives the “Jeep” around town when he feels like it.
4800 Class Racing Action
In the 4800 class, the top three finishers were Rick Waterbury, Jason Bunch, and Dave Schneider. Waterbury is the driver of record, but friend Phil Blurton stepped in to take the wheel after an inner ear infection caused a bad case of vertigo for Waterbury. Maybe it was his lack of “whiskey throttle” that led to such a great result. Blurton ran out front pretty much unmolested while others in the pack had problems.

Phil Blurton stepped in for Rick Waterbury when Rick was sidelined with vertigo. He drove brilliantly, picking up a win in his first Ultra4 race.
“Phil is like a brother to me and the crew I have are the best,” said Waterbury, “I was trying, but when I stood up my knees would buckle. Dave Cole told me ‘you’re the points leader; you have to run your car.’ Phil stepped in and did a phenomenal job; it was his first time racing in Ultra4. It’s our third season racing Ultra4 and we love it. Our whole family loves coming to the races. There is a ton of parts and advice sharing that goes on at the races. We’ve had good runs at KOH, Stampede, and now Glen Helen. We are looking forward to Fallon; I really like the desert races. I’m so happy we can hold down the legends points lead for Nitto tires.”
Jason Bunch was on his lid after a rollover but managed to rally back to finish second. “I don’t like to run the helmet pumper because I can’t hear the radio,” Bunch said. “I was having a hard time seeing out of my visor so I kept reaching up to wipe it off. I went into the turn blind and all of a sudden I flipped the car. In the air, I was thinking what’s going to bend or break on the car but we came through it ok.
“I turned on the helmet pumper and my visor cleared up right away. The visor fogging is something I don’t normally have a problem with racing mostly in the desert. There were some good drivers out there on a narrow track but we made some aggressive passes and ended up finishing in second in the PSC car,” he continued.

A fogged up visor lead to this rollover for Jason Bunch. Both were fine. He recovered to finish second place.
Racing The 4500 Class
In the 4500 class, Jordan Townsend had an intense battle with Jordan Pellegrino for the win with Jimmy Jack waiting to pounce. Townsend held Pellegrino off for the win, and Pellegrino was able to stay ahead of Jack who finished third.
“We drove 15 hours from Colorado Springs to get here,” said Townsend. “From the minute we hit the track for practice we had issues. A fan relay failed so we were running real hot. We got that fixed but then lost a seal on our power steering box; we swapped in a spare box. During qualifying, we picked up a vibration in the front driveline. The truck was still driving but the vibration was getting worse. It turns out that the transfer case was cracked in half.”
“We got on the phone right away to find another one,” Townsend says. “I don’t run an atlas like a lot of others do; just a simple Chevy 241 case. We got to a wrecking yard 15 minutes before they closed; I was still wearing my driving suit. They guy told us they closed in 15 minutes, but we told him don’t worry, we won’t be long. Within 15 minutes we had found a half-ton Chevy and pulled the case; we got it installed in the truck that night.”
Townsend continued, “Pellegrino is pretty quick; he put some pressure on us. I went up on two wheels in a corner and had to go off course to save it. Then I came into the chicane a little too hot. They had just watered it and it was really slick. I barely missed one of those huge tractor tires. The course was real challenging if you went off on some of those hills you were headed to the stratosphere. We had a great time but are looking forward to racing in the 4400 class with the best of them once our new car is finished.”
Some love the Glen Helen course, some hate it. 4Wheel Parts has generously sponsored the event for the last six years, but the contract is now up. Future plans for the race are still up in the air. If the race returns next season, the action — and no doubt the carnage — will continue.
the action was non-stop at the 4Wheel Parts Glen Helen Grand Prix.