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Phoenix Racing Team News | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| January 22, 2003
Laughlin Desert Challenge  This was the first year
Phoenix Racing has participated in the Laughlin Desert Challenge and the format
is quite different from the long distance races we normally compete in.
The course takes the drivers through
11 miles of rough desert terrain and through the start/finish event area
approximately every 15 minutes. The inside track of the event area is built to
offer exciting action and a huge public address system gives up to the minute
information on the action. Cars start two
at a time side-by-side in a drag race start to the first turn and much bumping
and pushing is quite common. The truck we started next to was about half a car
length ahead of us at the first turn but, like the gentleman he is, Roger
backed off slightly (we think he just wanted to save the fiberglass fender) and
we followed them into the desert. The course was extremely
rough and just 4 miles into the race we hit a very deep hole at about 80 miles
per hour and flipped the truck end-over-end and landed back on our wheels.
Although the damage was not severe, we felt it prudent to go back to the pits
for repairs and try again on Sunday. Thanks to the excellent construction of
the truck, Roger and Bob were not injured. The Phoenix
Racing crew worked long hard hours Saturday and finished repairs in time for
the Sunday race. We started at the back of the pack but immediately started
moving up in position and by the end of the four laps we had moved ahead of
almost half the field to finish in seventh overall position. We were fortunate to have Tony Vierra, our team crew chief, filming
from a helicopter Sunday and these videos will be posted on our web site very
soon. Both the truck and driver proved once
again that we have a very competitive combination and with the unmatched
enthusiasm of the crew, we are going to be in the winners’ circle soon.
Return to list of news releases. |
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| Contact: Penny Nicolai, Concepts Unlimited,
818-881-6458,pennynicolai@aol.com |
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