1772 - Parker 425 (“147″) Race Report
The race for Parker all started in December when I purchased the 1772 Cherokee. I brought it home January 3 from California and started a month long race to get it ready for Parker. Needless to say, it was not really ready for Parker when we loaded it in the trailer, but we were committed to race.
The plan was to leave Thursday morning at 5:00 AM for Parker. Because I had been up until 3:30 that morning before I went to bed, we didn’t leave until 10:30. However, once we got on the road, we nearly jackknifed the trailer and turned right around to fix the towing situation. We finally got on the road with a stable rig at 3:30 and rolled in to Parker Friday morning at 4:00 AM.
We arrived at the pits early Friday morning where Tom (1716) was nice enough to mark us off a spot. We unloaded the jeep and started to finish preparations. By 2:30 we were ready for tech inspection and passed without any issues. We went back to the pits and finished final preparation by midnight. Unfortunately, we were never able to get the light bar working.
Race morning arrived and we were ready to go. The pumper cover decided to fall off while we were in line to start, but the filter was in place. We took the green light and we were off in our first race and first real seat time in the jeep. It felt great! We had been following the buggy in front of us from the start, so about mile 2.5 we decided to pass. We hit a whoop, got the rear end real high and came down and broke the u-joint clamps on the drive shaft. Only 2.5 miles in to the race and I was already sidelined. Two and a half hours later, we had the drive shaft repaired and we were off. One of the tabs on the yolk had broken off so we wrapped the joint with electrical tape to try to keep the u-joint in place. Special thanks goes to Joe and his family who helped out with tools and manpower. He dove under the jeep and started taking things apart as soon as we exited the jeep. He went above and beyond to help us out. Also, special thanks goes to the Beaver Mountain Dude who had the 1 1/8” socket that we needed to get the yolk off the rear end to drill out a bolt.
As we got started again the pumper decided to act up and was making an awful sound. Several miles down the road the filter came off so we pulled over to investigate. Euge (co-driver) reached in to find a large bolt and washer bouncing around inside the pumper. It had cut the filter off as it rattled around. We didn’t have a spare so we went on without a filter. Thank goodness it wasn’t dusty.
Things were going well and Euge and I had worked out a good system of looking for cars and calling out hazards. Around mile 60 something, 1708 came around to lap us. After I moved over to let him by, I figured I would try to stay with him for a while. It didn’t last long, because the drive shaft let go once again. This time it came completely off. We rolled to the side to stop and I jumped out and ran about 300 yards up the track to retrieve the drive shaft. The electrical tape had slid down and the u-joint caps had come off. Luckily, the straps were good, so we could put it back in place. While Euge was fixing the drive shaft (he used duct tape this time), I heard the right rear tire hissing air. We got that changed, everything strapped tightly down, strapped ourselves in, fired it up and the engine stuttered, popped, backfired and would not run. We pulled over again within 20 yards to fix something. We tried to call our pit with the last bar on the cell phone, but the area was no good for reception. It turned out to be the crank position sensor. That is now my favorite sensor and I am glad that the engineers tucked it down behind the engine to protect it. In order to tighten it after replacing it, it was one click at a time with the Craftsman ratchet wrench. Once we got it fixed, we fired it up, strapped in and we were off with a now dead cell phone.
Now that the drive shaft had come off 2 times, I was really being cautious to make sure it did not come off again. We did stop at pit 4 for some power steering fluid and then got back on the trail. The back part of the course is truly unbelievable. We drove through quite a bit of water and the right front shock decided to quit doing its job as we got in to the rocks. As we motored on in to the night (no light bar) I kept asking Euge where were were as far as mile marker. The goal now was to just finish one lap; we counted every mile as it passed from about 125 on.
We made it to the Parker Python and were motoring around looking for our Pit. With it being dark and trailers everywhere around the Python we had no idea where our pit was, but our pit knew it was us because they could hear the whine of the power steering. We had just 2 more left hand turns to take and we would have made it back to the pit, but the drive shaft decided to come off one more time. We were done. It was not until we got out of the vehicle that we realized where we were, at the barns straight across from our Pit. Special thanks to the pit that we broke down by with the flashing green stick. They brought us hamburgers and drinks and let me use a cell phone to call for a tow back to the pit.
We didn’t finish the race, but we finished a lap (almost, we went 147 miles) and learned some valuable lessons along the way.
1. Electrical tape will hold a u-joint together for 60 miles.
2. Duct tape is better than electrical tape and will withstand water and mud for about 80 miles.
3. Don’t let adrenaline control the skinny pedal.
4. Lack of preparation (spare parts) will determine the outcome of the race.
5. The 16 ½ hour time limit is not a joke and I may need to use it in the future.
6. Tool bags will melt if directly above the exhaust.
7. A sham-wow would be nice to have to wipe the rain from my visor and also rain-x on the visor.
A special thanks goes to the following individuals:
1. My wife, Sara, for pushing me and being fully committed to racing. I wouldn’t have made it without her.
2. My kids, Megan, Tyler, Travis, Tony, and Troy, for still remembering who I am after not seeing me for a month.
3. My dad, Tim, he was at my house for countless late evenings working on the jeep and kept me on track.
4. My co-driver, Euge, for helping with race prep and doing a great job on race day.
5. Joe, from mile 2.5
A special thanks goes to the following sponsors:
1. JAZ Products, thanks for the products and hotel rooms at Parker.
2. Carquest of Logan, Utah, thanks for the parts.
3. Big-O Tires of Logan, Utah, for mounting the tires and fixing flats.
I started my to do list for the Mint 400 on the way home from Parker. I will pick up a new drive shaft and spare parts for it today. I can’t wait to see everyone there. I have a whole new respect for those that go fast and keep it together. Thanks to everyone for making this a great experience.
Tim Martin
1772