Beat Up and Past the Cutoff, Come Get Ya Some Finishes King of the Hammers

Well, our race didn’t go as we had planned. We were given starting positions and ours was 28th. We were on the 14th row. The flag dropped and we were off. We smashed on the gas and took the hole shot from the 27th car. We came off the first jump great and up Short Bus we went…

We made it down the backside into the wash and then onto the desert smoothly. As soon as we entered the desert section we passed our first car, then another, then we continued to press. It was just over 14 miles to pit 1. As we entered Pit 1 we had moved along well, passing several cars. Our car felt great so we bypassed pit 1 and continued on. We were in a bit slower section with some climbs, rocky sections and some slower areas. We continued to press hard and pass cars.

Coming up on MM 32 we hit a few unexpected whoops and rolled the car at 60 MPH. Crashing down on the passenger side and sliding for a few hundred feet. Exiting the car and assessing the situation we were good, the car was good and we just needed someone to stop and roll us over. We hooked up our strap and began to flag drivers. We had about 10 cars pass us before Team Broadsword Racing stopped and jerked our strap, (Thank You Very Much) rolling us back onto our tires. We strapped into the car and radioed in that we were back in action.

When I started the car and tried to turn left I heard the steering box pop and knew it was broken. We immediately exited the car and began to replace the box. Realizing that we didn’t have proper tools to do the job, we tried and tried to make it happen. After about 45 minutes of fighting we decided to just load back up and see how far we could drive. The box wouldn’t allow us to drive more than about 25 mph and only turn left. After about 40 minutes we managed to get to Pit 1A and our awesome team and Clay Gilstrap quickly swapped out our steering box and sent us toward the main pit. The car ran great to main pits and we made good time.

Stopping for fuel and a quick check our team realized that they couldn’t get a CV boot to pop back on. They messed with it for several minutes and told us to go. We stomped on the throttle and away we went. It was only about 500 yards out of the pits we realized that we had somehow broken the front axle. Thrashing away on the car, it climbed Short Bus again and we had about 10 miles to go before another pit. We drove the car as fast as we could with a broken axle and managed to get to Pit 2 without another issue.

We both got out of the car and began repairing the axle. We didn’t have another spare CV, but we did have a CV rebuild kit. We had to borrow another pits grinder to remove the old CV, but everyone worked together and we managed to repair the car in about an hour and head out again. We were headed to the rock sections and were already behind a lot of stock cars that would need a lot of bumps to get over some rocks and out of our way. Smashing through several rocks sections we continued to move forward and pass cars when we could.

We made the big waterfall drop on Wrecking Ball without a hitch only to roll the car again a short time later. We both got out and winched the car back on all 4 and strapped in again. Making our way through the rock sections and to our last pit our car began to run like crap. Rolling into our pits for 2 tires and an inspection our crew noticed that our fuel pressure was the issue. We switched fuel pumps and the motor began to run good again. We were stoked!! We had an hour and thirty minutes to finish and we knew it was still possible.

Giving the car all it had leaving the pits and around the hill and out of site we went. We were out of our last pits on 4 good tires, motor running great and headed to the finish. Well, it wasn’t so great. The car had a nasty vibration and about 15 seconds later we lost the rear driveline. Jumping out and changing the driveline we still had enough time to finish. We had Aftershock, Fisher Mountain, Emerson Lake, some desert and the Sandhill rocks left. We pressed on and as we dropped off Fisher Mountain the car began to loose fuel pressure again and run like crap. We limped the car as best we could toward the finish and hoped to make it in time.

We were exhausted and pissed, but kept the hammer down as best we could. The car was moving forward, but not near fast enough to meet the cutoff. Arriving at our last checkpoint of the race, we had 10 minutes to go 6 miles. We knew we wouldn’t make it, but continued to press on. Working our way through most of the sand rocks and winching over several due to no power we only had a few more to go when we turned the car off and sat for about 20 minutes hoping to cool the fuel pump off and finish the race. It was already passed the cutoff, but we wanted to finish.

We started the car and it ran decent again. We blasted through the last few sections and down the big sand hill toward Hammertown. We moved slowly through the rollers and all the way to the back base of King Hill. We were already passed the cut off and time was now on our side, so we shut the car down and hoped that cooling the fuel pump off once again would give us just enough power to climb King Hill and finish the race. We sat in the car silent for about 10 more minutes anticipating the climb and finish. We started the car and it sounded better so I smashed the throttle and up we went. The car lost power, backfiring and making unconventional noises, but the little engine that could climbed the last obstacle on course and we managed to cross the finish line and complete our journey at 7:09 PM.

We were an hour and nine minutes late, but we battled and came through on top. It wasn’t the finish we had dreamed of or even wanted to think about, but our pit crew and our determination to finish prevailed and we completed the course we prepared for. I believe our overall finishing position will be 17th. We will receive a DNF for not completing the course on time, but we know what we did and how we got there.

Congrats to Wesley Gryner and Jeff Speer for finishing the UTV race 17th place , Whimpy and Emily Lawson for completing 75 miles of the hardest trails imaginable in a RZR and to Macy Higgins and Derek Moreland for finishing #9 in the main event!! These teams help support our race team, run our team stickers and I’m proud to call them all teammates.

I would like to thank each and every person that helped us get to the Hammers, fed us throughout the week, worked on our car, or with our team to make our trip an experience of a lifetime. Big thanks to my Co-Dawg Grounie Carter for everything he does. We had an amazing group of men and women ( Aaron Faucher, Wally Lovell, Kevin Bryant, Scott Angell, Adam Ross, Jeff Speer, Clint Sharp, Kevin Conger, Jeremy Tipton, Frank Vonderheide, Whimpy Lawson, Emily Lawson, Wesley Gryner, Chelsea Gryner, Owen Bishop, Macy Higgins, Wes Choate, Matt Archer and Derek Moreland) that got our car ready in every pit and made our week an incredible one. I can’t thank them enough for taking time off work and away from their families to help team CGYS Motorsports race.

I would also like to thank my awesome wife Bethany and my kids and family as well. They have sacrificed so much for me to race and spend time working on the car. Thanks to Larry Nickell and Brian Anderson for prerunning with us. I thank God for keeping us safe during our crash and allowing us to have the strength and courage to finish. I thank all of our marketing partners for all their continued support and belief in our team.

We start the Ultra 4 Eastern Series In a few months and we will be ready…

Duane Garretson
CGYS Motorsports