Silver State 300 Race Recap for Lucas Hand and Lone Kid Racing John Deere Gator

| May 12, 2011

The Best In The Desert Silver State 300 is the second race of the 2011 season for the UTV community, and would also be the maiden voyage for the Lone Kid Racing  John Deere Gator. The team showed up at the Aliante Station Casino for technical inspection on Friday and proudly displayed their John Deere Gator in the GBC Motorsports booth.  As expected, the team  was able to pass technical inspection with flying colors.  This was then followed by the mandatory drivers meeting and one last pit meeting  before turning in for a decent nights sleep before the race day ahead.

On Saturday morning the team was up before dawn getting the last minute details finished before the race. Lining up second off the line out of the seventeen other UTV’s in the class meant we were starting in a great position. We pull up to the start line with our Rigid Industries “E” series LED Light Bars leading our way and the green light flashes and our GBC Motorsports Dirt Commanders  hook up and we take off  down the road on our 300 mile adventure.  The Fox Racing Shoxs helped us through the corners and we were able to come up to speed.  Wouldn’t you know we have a problem right off of the start and the Gator wont come up to top speed, cutting out like it’s starving for fuel. A stop on the side of the road and Lucas double checks the fuel pump is working. Pressing on we realize it is something in the computer. It turns out the computer went into “limp mode” only letting us go about 25mph. We pull off the side of the road  and watch our great starting spot go to waste  as the whole field goes by as we try to figure out how to fix the Gator. We are able to reset the computer,  and take off again but are still having the same results trying to push on to the first pit. As we start down the course there are already other teams having problems as well. We get to the first pit and our crew attacks the Gator with their Ringers Gloves on and go right to work fueling the car and checking all the corners.

The crew sends us back out to battle with a full tank of fuel and we are able to pass two more UTV’s in the pits. We are back in the field and picking off the competition as we go.We get about three miles outside of pit #1 and Lucas manages to find a huge rock buried in the uphill wash.  This knocks the steering out of alignment and makes the Gator hard to steer in the technical sections of the course. Pushing on  and radioing the crew to let them know what has happened they are passed by one of the teams that were in the pits wile their hands are full with an ill steering  UTV. The next 30 miles are tough  with the car not able to get to race speed due to the computer and now the steering.  As the team approached a road crossing coming into pit #2 Lucas and Frankie have a small moment of relief wile the crew gets right to work fixing the steering. Lucas asks one of the crew to find out where the Lead Trick truck is.  Being that the 800hp Trick Trucks and Class 1 buggies are fast approaching and the next 30 miles of this course are very technical there would be no places to pull off  to get out of these racers way. It turns out the leaders are less than 15 minutes behind the Gator.   Lucas is forced to make one of the hardest calls he has ever had to do in racing!  Due to the safety of his team and the fast approaching Trick Trucks and class 1 cars the decision was made to pull out of the race due to safety of the team. Looking at the bigger picture, the Lone Kid Racing team did not want to be in the way or not have a chance to get out of the way and run the risk of ruining another teams race.

The good news is the John Deere Gator is still in one piece and is ready for the next race, the BITD Bluewater Gran Prix, May 13th to the 15th in Parker Arizona.  For more information on this race you can visit www.BITD.com

With out the support of our great sponsors we would not make it to these races.  Thank you to GBC Motorsports, FOX Racing Shoxs, Rigid Industries, Ringers Gloves, MSD Ignition, Dirtbagz, Over-Revv Industries, RADesigns, Simpson, FAST-Aid.org, Elite MFG, UTVUnderground.com, Bower Motorsports Media Group, Lone Kid Racing, and offroadpress.com.

Photo Credit: Bower Motorsports Media and UTVUnderground.com


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Category: Featured, John Deere, Race Recap

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