4th Annual MORE Powder Puff Race for a Cure

Although billed as a race, the word “event” would be much more appropriate.

Saturday, October 10, 2009 marked the Mojave Off-Road Racing Enthusiast’s (MORE) 4^th Annual Powder Puff Race for a Cure. This, without question, is the largest, if not the only all womens off-road race in the World.   Teams with interesting names such as Save the Boobs, Dust Bunnies, Team Motorboat, Strap-On Tools, Save Second Base and Dirty Little Princess gathered Saturday morning on a modified Barstow “B” Course, under clear skies, moderate temperature and light winds.

Here are the numbers according to MORE Officials:

Entries: 183

Participants: 500+

Course Length: 27 Mile Loop, Grand Prix Format

Most Laps Completed: 6

Fast Lap: 32:25 (Lori Robinson, Top Finisher, TT#26)

Spectators: ±10,000

Hot Dogs served: ±1400

Furthest Distance to Race: Amanda Fonner, Linda Kelley-Dodd #549; Bristol, CT

Winners: Everyone

Proceeds from the event once again will be donated directly to Cedars-Sinai Women’s Cancer Research Institute, a program started in 2002 specifically to reduce the risk of cancer in women through research, education, early detection and prevention.  Nearly 200,000 women and 2,000 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and about 40,000 women and 400 men will die from this silent killer.  Last year, over $115,000 were donated as a result of this function.  The final tally for this year is yet to be released.

Literally hundreds of pits were set up around the Course, not only for their own racers but for anyone in need.  “Just pull into any pit-they’ll help you” was frequently heard on race radios throughout the day.

The Women of Lucas, a consortium from the LOORRS Short Course Series was out in full force with five entries, an ambulance, their safety rig with firefighting and medical equipment on board and four additional “rollover rigs” stationed throughout the course. According to Sherry Vanillo, Administrative Director of LOORS, their team of nearly 75 volunteers raised a total of $18,000 in donations and entry fees for this event.

Team Motorboaters, with three entries, (Rhiannon Freiley asked that I thank Cameron Steele for letting them “borrow” the seats out of his TT #16), estimated nearly 300 people in their pit.  They raised $5000 in total, which included donations from Kris Kritter Hernandez’ BBQ at the PCI Pit Friday.  Although I didn’t witness it, word is that Rhiannon brought down the house Friday night with her karaoke rendition of I Will Survive. Also, when Amanda McCallum, co-dog in #83 was asked how her borrowed race suit fit and felt, she replied, “It was so comfy I peed in it on lap 2.”

Oldest and Youngest Racer, Clare Ross and Keala Chicas (photo: Dirtmob.com)

The Dirt Mob, racing two 30 year old buggies, claimed to have had the oldest and youngest drivers in the race; Clare Ross and Keala Chicas in car #1309.  Sharing the driving with them was Mrs. Joe Hauler, Kath Derosiers.  Tracy Cohee drove solo in #1307, the old Uff Dah car, stopping only once for a passenger change.

Team PCI looked like they had a tough race.  TT #7 fared well but the prerunner, “Jet Blue”, rolled and lost a lot of fiberglass.  Weatherman’s four seater was on the trailer with a front corner torn off.  Hopefully they’ll get everything back together before the Baja 1000.

CHECKERS OFF-ROAD had three pits set up, one every nine miles. “Checkers’ field of eight entries finished well with one win, two 2^nd and two 3^rd place finishes”, according to Chris Wilson, Captain of Checker Pit 2.  He went on to mention that all pit fees from this race will be donated to the Cure, an estimated $1500.

The big sponsor again this year was Royal Purple Synthetic Oil, a name well known to racers for their premium performance synthetic lubricants, filters and additives.  Royal Purple generously donated $40,000 and plans to field a team next year.

Saturday night, after the Awards Presentation, MORE hosted a pit party with food and great live music by The Pendejos (look it up), an exceptional classic rock band.

MORE, as usual, did a first-class job of organizing and running this event; certainly no small feat.  At the last minute, it was determined that, with the large turnout, a longer course would prove safer for the racers.  Believe it or not, on Thursday, two days before Race Day, MORE President Jim Clements and his staff were able to obtain approval from the BLM, lay out the additional miles and change the course markers, extending the Course from its original 22 miles to the actual 27.   Revised maps and a new GPS file were promptly uploaded to their Website on Friday morning.  Great job guys!

Here is a quick rundown on the results.  Complete information is available at moreracing.com (PDF)

Class 1

26   Lori Robinson

132 Jennifer Clemison

5     Shirley Jergensen

Class 1400

1433 Adina Byma

1435 Nina Shaw

1421 Lauren Shepperd

Class 5

501   Michelle Bruckmann

5011 Ann Anderson

549   Emme Hall

Class 7

700 Laura Chamlee

704 Stacey Robburts

Class 8

838   Marie Westwood

868   Shelby Thompson

8115 Rebel Roglin

Class 3

314 Christine Daughtery

Class 10

1021 Kathy Kirkmeyer

1011 Cheri Davenport

1098 Garfield Davies

Class 12

1255 Tracy Fuller

1275 Lisa Callaway

1207 Gaby Godde

Class 1350 V8

1357 Pamela Hall

1395 Kari Richey

1301 Denay George

Class ½ 1600

1627 Day Gang

1699 Julie Meehan

1691 Britany Westhoff

Class 300

300  Marie Miller

302  Linda Allen

4112 Kathy Keyes

Class 1300 4 Cyl

1310 Kelly Suitor

1366 Kim Powell

1344 Tara Dakides

Trophy Lite

6061 Wesley Bostwick

6025 Patrice Murry

6024 Fawn Finchum

Class 5/16

599 Christie Harper

570 Akiko Hayata

511 Candi Gilliam

Class 7S

729  Tabitha Rose

7120 Erin Wahl

740   Donna Passanta

Class 9

988 Kathleen Lang

930 Tori Poole

977 Kandace Kirkmeyer

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SHORT COURSE PIONEER JACK FLANNERY INDUCTED INTO OFF-ROAD MOTORSPORTS HALL OF FAME

The Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame Annual Awards Ceremony was held on August 22^nd at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, NV.  Although Jack Flannery was unable to attend, nearly 40 Flannery family members were there to represent him.

Jack Flannery

“Those up on the Inductee Wall are the greats of our sport… People like Malcolm Smith, Parnelli Jones, Rod Hall, and Mickey Thompson. The Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame is truly enriched by those 2009 inductees who will join them.” said Bob Bower, Executive Director of ORMHOF.  He continued, “We had people from all over; just under 100 of them. There were about 40 in the Flannery contingent, most from Wisconsin, but also other states. From Montana was the J.N. Roberts clan. And from California, Arizona, and Baja came the supporters of Harold Soen. It was the most emotion filled ceremony we have experienced. At the start of the program there were three groups in the room, one for each inductee. At the close of the evening there was but a single group. Each group reached out to the others. Each celebrated, each became transformed, and each embraced the joy and sorrows shared by all.”

The decision was made that Mr. Flannery was to be honored in person, so Bower and ORMHOF Trustee KJ Howe, made the trip to Crandon for the 40th Anniversary Borg Warner World Championship Off-Road Race®, a nationally televised event featuring the best of the best racers in the premiere Pro 4X4 class.  This event also was to be Rounds 9 and 10 in the TRAXXAS TORC Series.

Jack Flannery

On Sunday, September 6^th, with over 40,000 in attendance, Jack Flannery stepped up to the Podium along with 45 family members for a brief presentation.  The Jumbotron lit up with a video documentary* describing Jack as, “The first powerhouse privateer in short-course racing; an expert in all aspects of the sport from track and truck design to serving as an ambassador to sponsors and fans, Jack was a fierce competitor, but the hospitality shown to his West Coast rivals and rising off-road stars helped bridge the gap and unify the sport across the Country.”

More from the video:

“We’re all from the same community, we’re all good friends and we’re just out here trying to hammer first place…I guess it was my turn.” said Flannery in a post race interview.

“Jack Flannery was the King of Crandon.  He owned it…he owned the records, he owned the trophies.  And for a guy like that, a champion who’d invite someone like me out, who was going to try to take that away from him; that says a lot about the character of Jack Flannery.”   Curt LeDuc

“Jack set some pretty high standards and even though I had been doing it for quite a while, Jack was probably some of my most fierce competition that I ever dreamed of at Crandon.” Walker Evans

Flannery’s race resume is long and impressive.  In 1991, Jack secured a factory sponsorship from Chevrolet, quite effectively launching the Chevy Thunder Truck Team. Jack gave Chevrolet their money’s worth with 9 wins in 10 races that year, capturing the championship in the SODA Heavy Metal Class.  Add to that, 6 SODA/ESPN Championships, 2 wins and one second place finish at Pike’s Peak, a win at SCORE’s 1991 Inaugural short-course race in Phoenix, The Borg Warner Cup 1996, Governor’s Cup in 1997 and 1999, and CORR Pro 4 Championship in 1998.    He also traveled west to race the Mickey Thompson Series at Riverside and twice raced the MINT 400.

The House That Jack Built

Crandon "The Big House"

Crandon International Raceway is all about the Flannery Family.  More than 600 volunteers come out each year to help, many named Flannery.   General Manager, Cliff Flannery, (Jack’s brother), is the undisputed busiest man in off-road racing.  During events, Cliff will be seen driving a grader, front-end loader, water truck, track support vehicle (up righting the rollovers and towing the breakdowns), restocking the food and beverage booths and offering directions, help, advice and hospitality to the patrons, media and volunteers.

Jack Flannery

Race Director of 35 years Jake Flannery, (Jack’s Cousin), took us on a slow lap around the course in our rental car, “This thing ain’t made for off-road but this won’t hurt it”. Jake knows the track well, describing every turn, bank, whoop, the good lines, the bad lines and even the composition of the dirt / clay mixture (water retention is important).  We also toured the famous campground area that they call Jurassic Park.  “It gets a little crazy at night here, you’ll see things that you’ve never seen before for sure.” he said.

There was little talk of politics, money, sponsorships and the different promoters in the business.   Feeling as if I were forcing the issue, I finally asked about the sponsorship wars.  Jake brushed it off as “BS” and said, “What’s next year?  If you don’t have a yellow car you can’t race against red ones or what?”

They just want to race here at Crandon… it’s not about the money.   This was evident in an unsolicited comment made by Cliff Flannery regarding a recent offer they received from a group to buy the track.  “It’s not ours to sell; it belongs to the people of Crandon.  They started it; they volunteer every year to run it, it’s theirs, not ours.  It really has no value without them.”

Jack Flannery is in a race against cancer right now.  In a testimonial to his strength and courage, family members donned T-shirts bearing Jack’s name and car number on the back and the words “WHAT A RIDE” on the front in bold caps.  The emotion and support for Jack was evident everywhere at this event.  We wish Jack, his family and the wonderful people of Crandon, Wisconsin the very best and can’t thank them enough for making us a part this incredible, once in a lifetime experience.

From the documentary video, another post-race comment by Jack:

“Even when you can’t go anymore, you got to pick yourself up and keep going, even if you only make a lap.  This time I made it all the way, I got the checkered flag and I’m tellin’ ya’, I feel great.”

*Video produced by Crandon Raceway and Steve Weiss Clubhouse Productions

Mike Bilek Takes the Overall at MDR California 200

August 15, 2009, Lucerne Valley, California

By the numbers:

Entries 96
Starters 80
Finishers 55
Fast Lap 0:44:34 (Mike Bilek on Lap 1)
Course Length 50 miles
High Temp 96
Low Temp 64
Female Podium Finishers 3

The course was the Lucerne Valley “A” Course, running counter-clockwise from the Start/Finish at Bessemer Mine Rd.  About 4 miles in was the “Rockpile”, the Ojos Negros of the US.   This area has traditionally been a total cluster bomb, with the hard partying crowd pushing the limits of the protective orange snow fence, which lined both sides of the course.

Class 100 (7 starters, 6 finishers)

1st 156 Mike Bilek:  ”Good race for us.  We did the first lap in just under 45 minutes, the rest were a little slower because the winds died down at night and we started getting into the dust.   This was our shakedown for the upcoming Vegas to Reno race and I’m very happy with the outcome.  Don’t forget to mention that my daughter, Alexa took second place in Class 12!”

2nd 181 Robert Pickering: This entry was an extreme last minute decision that they made at 2:30 PM on race day. Pickering & co-dog Mikey Childress were showing the truck at 15th Annual Wrightwood Mountain Classic Car Show when someone asked them if they were going to the MDR race in Lucerne.  A couple of quick phone calls were made; one to the crew for spares and another to Mikey’s dad, Reverend Roy Moore, who rounded up a half dozen Checkers for pit support.  They were able to sponge 25 gallons from Art “the Tech Dude” Savedra and a drum from a 1450 team.  Robert Pickering said, (from RDC Forum), “I took one for the team and stayed in the co-driver’s seat for the entire race.  The plan was that Mikey and I would drive two laps each but since we were in the hunt, I stayed put.” Brenthal Industries is building them a new Class 6 truck which, according to Mikey, is “basically a Trophy truck with a V6 in it.”

3rd place went to 158 Danny Wingerning in his Jimco / Chevy

The rest of the finishers in order were:

199 Bryan Yonan
124 Craig Dillar
197 Rory Ward

Worthy of note is #197, Rory Ward of Racers Only.  Wardy planned to enter as a Sportsman, (to dial in the lights and get a little night experience for the upcoming Baja 1000), until he posted a question on RDC about the course.
The thread lit up with hecklers challenging him to run with the pros in Class 100.  Team Locos Mocos, Total Chaos, Checkers and a group from Tony Tellier’s “Cheeze” list banded together to support his formidable finish.
Rory Ward: “No bitches, moans or complaints from me, although I was hoping for a little more attrition in Class 1.  I guess you could let everyone know we went on a tight budget, only brought 3 guys with me, all my buds showed
up and pitted for me.  No problems except loose bolts on the front end through-rod, which slowed us down a bit.”

As an added note, two of the four racers pitted by the Locos Mocos / Total Chaos team enjoyed podium finishes; Dan Vance and Mike Koenig.

Class 1400 (19 starters, 6 finishers)

1418 Kevin McMurray, Peoria, AZ:  “We had a clean race with no real problems except an electrical issue with our radiator cooling fan.  We jumped out in front early and finished with nearly a fourteen minute lead over second place.” When asked about the high attrition rate, McMurray replied, “Some of the guys are just pushing it too hard in the rough sections.  I backed down and took it easy through the slow stuff and went fast in the fast
sections.”

Finishing order for Class 1400:
1418 Kevin McMurray
1419 Tyler Fain
1429 Dan Vance
1446 Ryan Lewis
1420 Russell Hampton
1435 Nathan Strong

Class 1450 (39 starters, 28 finishers)

MDR’s Class 1450 has the same technical requirements and rules as Class 1400, (blowers and turbochargers are LEGAL in both classes!), with the exception that 1450’s are a sportsman class and in this race, only ran three
laps.  (Classes 100, 1400 and 1600 ran four laps.)

Top five in the 1450 Class were:

1451 Steven Herrera
1499 Geoff Falzone
1486 Mike Koenig
1478 Scott Bicknell
1457 Nick Isenhouer

Class 1600 (4 starters, 4 finishers)

1600 Joe Jeffrey
1624 John Manring
1621 Christy Sizelove
1625 Ed Bonanni

Class 1000 (4 starters, 3 finishers)

1025 Kelly Boyle
1056 David Greenhill
1021 Mark Fusting

Class 1200 (6 starters, 5 finishers)

1203 Terry Ingold
1267 Alexa Bilek
1278 Aaron Farkas
1213 Taylor Mofford
1250 Ben Swift

Congratulations to the three women who took home trophies:  Christy Sizelove, 3rd in Class 1600; Kelly Boyle, 1st in Class 1000; and Alexa Bilek, 2nd in Class 1200.

Based on the radio chatter, there were no apparent injuries, accusations, course violations, or other hooliganism to report. Kudos to MDR, for running a successful and fun event.  Kras

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