Overland Camping Roadtrip Blog
Travel Day 38:
Total km driven to date: 7269km
Total km walked to date: 301.90km
Glen Helen Raceway, CA
0km drive
12.32km on foot
Race day is upon us and there is action scheduled all day! The morning started off with prelims for the UTV main event this afternoon. Crazy action for the UTVs since those hills and holes and jumps are awfully huge when you’re in such a small vehicle. Next up was the prelims for the limited classes, they had 1/2hr to put down the fastest time which would dictate the starting order for the 1 1/2hr main event at 2pm. Then it was onto the prelim heats for the 4400 class. There was so many drivers they split the prelims into two separate heats. When the dust settled the starting order was set for the main event with Loren Healy holding the pole followed by Tom Wayes, Jason Scherer, Levi Shirley and Wayland Campbell. The top 5 cars were all IFS cars owned by some of the fastest men on the planet on 4 wheels. There was a quick break for lunch and track tuning and watering and then it was time for the UTV Main Event. The UTV Pro was won by John Duckworth and UTV Sportsman by Brendan Child.
Up next was the limited classes putting down an hour and a half on the brutal dirt track at Glen Helen with all of them on the track at the same time making for some wild action and lots of passing in the corners. The 4500 modified class was won by Jordan Townsend followed by my buddy Justin Hall in a close 2nd place. The 4600 stock class was won by Ben Varozza, 4700 spec class by Ricky Johnson, and the 4800 Legends class by Dave Schneider.
Then it was time for the gruelling 2hour 4400 Unlimited Main Event. The course was hard on cars and 3 of the top 5 starters (Wayes, Scherer, Shirley) had to bow out with engine trouble and Wayland finished the race with only a single front tire powering his rig. Up until he had drivetrain troubles he was nipping on Loren Healy’s heels for most of the race, but with only 1 wheel drive he couldnt make it up the big climbs forcing him to roll back down some extremely steep slopes into traffic and bypass a portion of the track giving him a time penalty. He was racing for the first time in his Dad Shannons old single seater car and since Shannon’s new car isn’t finished yet he was in a loaner solid axel rig that just couldn’t keep up with the pack. With all the dropping out and carnage and some stellar driving Jon Cagliaro finishing the last 2 laps with a shredded rear passenger tire and a fist sized hole in his front tire which held up thanks to his Tire Balls he rolled across the line to a 3rd place finish, first time on the podium for Jon in his IFS rig. The surprise of the day was Jason Blanton, who qualified as the fastest solid axle rig in 8th place and some crazy driving and pushing it to the limit and making his LSX scream moved up 6 spots for his first 2nd place finish. The man that was so dominant on the circuit last year and so fast that he even rolled his car and still held the lead for the entire race Loren Healy came away with another win to add to his resume. What an exciting track and another great Ultra4 event, if you want to make it to one Ultra4 race besides KOH this would be the one to see. Fantastic facility, great crowds and tons of exciting action make Glen Helen one to put on your racing bucket list!