Off-Road Racing Returns to Wild West Motorsports Park

Nor Cal Rock Racing and VORRA (Valley Off Road Racing Association) combined for their second event of the season, and it was bigger and better than ever. The event, typically held at the Prairie City SVRA (State Vehicle Recreation Area), was held for the first time at the Wild West Motor Sports Park in Sparks, Nevada.

The Wild West Motor Sports Park is probably best known for being a stop on the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series coming next month on August 13-14. The park also hosts the SuperCrawl Rock Crawling World Championships on September 24-25, and the Ultra4 National Championships on October 21–22.

JP Gomez chases brother Raul down the rock section towards the bottom of the track.

Racing Action

This venue is big, with the capacity to hold up to 10,000 spectators, and has one of the fastest tracks on the LOORRS circuit. The track is generally flat and wide, with a big straightaway at the start in front of the grandstand, followed by two tight hairpin turns that create plenty of action for the cheering fans.

There is a steep climb on the backside of the course, followed by a steep descent where drivers hit top speeds before sailing off the biggest jump on the course, sailing through the air for almost the length of the entire grandstand. This is awesome to watch when the 4400 class buggies and trophy trucks are racing side by side, and makes the two-hour drive out of Sacramento worthwhile. Promoters continue to select this venue for new events and report bigger and bigger crowds each time.

Jimmy Jack slides sideways into the hairpin turn.

The drivers meeting started off at 9:00 am, and there were plenty of familiar faces in the crowd and some new vehicles warming up all over in the pits. The race schedule for the day had the typical NCRR events and VORRA events that took two days at Round 1 at Prairie City SVRA crammed into one action-packed Saturday.

Each group would run two heats to determine the starting order in the main. We were excited to see things get started and knew this short-course track favored the fast vehicles. There were the ones who would be able to accelerate and pass out of the hairpin turns and hit top speeds on almost every part of this track.

The first race of the day included the cars from the V4, V6 and V8 Sportsman classes and the 4500 and 4600 classes. These vehicles cover the entire dirt course in addition to the newly added climb on the backside of the track and the steep downhill section through the rocks. There was plenty of action throughout the early heats of the day, with everything coming to head in the afternoon as the course was watered down in preparation for the main events of the day.

The first main event of the day was the 4500 class. The 4500 class was dominated all day by car no. 63 and driver Jimmy Jack from Meadow Vista, California. Jimmy Jack led every single minute of every single heat with lap times averaging almost a minute faster per lap than all other competitors. This was a great day for Jimmy Jack.

Main

Driver

1st

#63

JIMMY JACK – CUS

2nd

#4522

JOSEPH MILLIGAN – CUS

DNF

#4518

MORGAN DERODEFF – CUS

4800 Class Racing

The 4800 class was full of lead changes with favorites like Rick Waterbury, Jay Sadler, and Vance Demars leading in the earlier heats. When the 4800 class went into the main, Kurtis Harryman had started in 4th position.

On Lap 2, Harryman put down the fastest lap of the main event and put himself in first place with six laps to go. Early race leader Jay Sadler had led the first two laps with a commanding lead until an equipment failure would keep his car from starting after a stall on the rock section. Harryman and Demars would battle over the next four laps, with Demars overtaking Harryman on lap 6. Harryman would regain the lead in the final two laps to finish with the win.

Cars would disappear into the dust to later emerge out of the cloud in the upper section of the course, where water trucks could not reach.

Main

Name

1st

#4829

KURTIS HARRYMAN – CUS

2nd

#702

VANCE DEMARS – CUS

3rd

#218

DAN WYRICK – CUS

4th

#4826

JAY SADLER – CUS

DNF

#444

RICK WATERBURY – CUS

DNF

#4846

JAMES HUBBARD – CUS

Class 9 and 10 Racing

The Class 10 and Class 9 vehicles were combined into the same heats throughout the day and were among the fan favorites at each event. The slower Class 9 vehicles were clearly little competition for the faster class.

You could see Max Baggett in no. 1042 pacing himself at the start, and then quickly picking off car after car on the first lap, winning every heat with Bill Minteer following closely behind. Minteer would only lead once on Lap 7 in the main event.

The only time Max Baggett was not at full throttle was when following the pilot car out to the start.

Class 10 cars were running lap times in the 1:08 for Baggett and 1:15 for Minteer. The surprise of this heat was Brendon Thompson racing in a Honda Pilot. We also believe being a little crazy is required in off-road racing to be successful and Brendon in this little pilot confirmed that Saturday. Brendon was able to lead all laps in the main event, finishing in first in his class.

Brendan Thompson racing his Honda Pilot to a victory in the VORRA Class 9 main.

Main

Name

1st

#1042

MAX BAGGETT – CUS

2nd

#1025

BILL MINTEER – CUS

Main

Name

1st

BRENDON THOMPSON – CUS

2nd

#942

KURT SCHNELL – CUS

3rd

#955

JOHN HEIMSTRA – CUS

Short Course Racing

This track is fast and built for the Pro 4 trucks of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series. The VORRA Class T trucks are fast, and the Round 1 racing in Prairie City was led by Ian Murray of Grass Valley, California.

Ian Murray was the favorite after his performance in Round 1 going into the event, but there was some new competition on the track for Round 2; it became immediately obvious that Broc Ross did not come all the way from Deer Island, Oregon to run in second. Broc led the main event with a spectacular display, leaping off the jump at the bottom of the hill and flying further through the air each lap, eventually landing just in front of the finish line. It was amazing to watch, and with lap times around the 1:03 mark, he had some of the fastest laps of the day in any class.

Broc Ross made his presence known, leading every heat at Round 2 of the NCRR and VORRA series.

Main

Name

1st

#7252

BROC ROSS – CUS

2nd

#37

IAN MURRAY – CUS

3rd

#8716

DARREN WILLIAMSON – CUS

4th

#07

DESTINY EPPS – CUS

–

#22

JUSTIN RADFORD – CUS

UTV Racing

UTVs are one of the fastest-growing classes, and this event was no exception, with close to 30 UTVs competing. The UTV 1000 class had 10, and the competition was going to be tough all day.

The early favorite in this class was Beau Judge. He was able to lead all heats and finish in first in the Main Event, with lap times around 1:05. Rob Parsons from Stateline, Nevada, chased Beau all day, finishing second behind Beau in every heat with an overall finish of second in the Main running laps.

Beau Judge was an early favorite and did not disappoint, winning every heat throughout the day.

Main

Name

1st

#956

BEAU JUDGE – POL

2nd

#111

ROB PARSONS – POL

3rd

#30

MARK LEVRETT – CUS

4th

#33

RYAN DAVIS – CUS

5th

#31

CAMERON BARBARICK – POL

6th

#1983

SEAN PROVOST – CUS

7th

#1932

E BROOKE PARKER – CUS

8th

#94

ALAN KHASIGIAN – POL

9th

#67

BEN BOOKER – CUS

10th

#1933

STEVE RYCKEBOSCH – POL

Paul Blurton leads the way for the UTV Turbo class, finishing each heat with a first-place finish.

The heats for the UTV Turbo classes are always very competitive, as the battle for second and third always seemed to change throughout the day. Phil Blurton was able to find his way to the front in all heats and continue on to win easily in the Main.

The road to the finish was not as easy for anyone else. As you can see by the table below, the battle for second and third were up for grabs. The highlight of this event was Rob Parsons, as he took his XP1000 into the Turbo class after finishing second in the UTV 1000 class and finishing third there.

Rob Parsons is always one to watch; he is a contender in everything he enters.

Main

Name

1st

#4501

PHIL BLURTON – CUS

2nd

#34

JEFF BARBARICK – POL

3rd

#111

ROB PARSONS – CUS

4th

#48

RANDY SLAWSON – CUS

5th

#127

JUSTIN BOR – CUS

6th

#899

BEN JANUARY – POL

7th

#43

DUSTIN EMICK – POL

8th

#90

DARIAN GOMEZ – POL

DNF

#1997

MARC MARTINEZ – CUS

DNF

#67

BEN BOOKER – CUS

DNF

#1911

PAULY HART – POL

DNF

#12

JOEL COUNTS – CUS

Unlimited Racing

Gomez Brothers Racing won first place in every heat in the 4400 class.

The biggest race of the NCRR classes are the monsters of the 4400 unlimited class. These cars are built with over 700 horsepower and fly over the roughest terrain found in any racing competition. This is guaranteed mayhem, and the announcement that the 4400 class is coming up brings everyone to the fence to watch this class run.

The early favorite was JP Gomez, who had won the NCRR Round 1 and been performing well all year. JP had rolled in Heat 1, finishing in the ninth position. Raul Gomez was leading in Round 2 with first place finishes in both heats leading up to the Main.

JP Gomez beat Raul Gomez for the first time of the day, winning the 4400 main.

This was proving to be a battle between the Gomez brothers at the close of Lap 1 with Marcos in first, Raul in second, and JP coming in shortly after in third. Many changes would occur in Lap 2, with JP finding his way to the front to lead for the rest of the race: Marcos holding on to second, and then a battle between Caprara and Thompson for third place. At the end of the race, it would be JP Gomez, Raul Gomez, and Brendon Thompson rounding out the podium.

Main

Driver

1st

#4482

JP GOMEZ – CUS

2nd

#4483

RAUL GOMEZ – CUS

3rd

#5150

BRENDON THOMPSON – CUS

4th