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After the rollover in Cascade in February, I spent the following three months putting Little Devil back together in preparation for the M4x4A "season opener" of Memorial Day Weekend.
It took a little doing.. including replacing just about every piece of sheetmetal on the rig, then painting it, but I got it done.
On Friday, John and Pansy Comer lent a hand putting decals on the rig - the last finishing touches before the race.
Saturday morning, we had breakfast just down the street before heading up to Cascade.
Race Picture GalleryAfter arriving, Michelle strapped in for some drag racing.. here she is waiting to hot-lap.
John (Banshee) and Pansy (Gryphin) Comer squared off during hot-laps..
Michelle and Pansy had to race against each other in the drags..
Michelle ended the day in 3rd, Pansy in 2nd. Michelle also put Devil through the lights at a vehicle-best 6.8 seconds. I can only manage 7.0x on a good day.
I didn't do much of anything in the drags, but made my donation to the kitty.
Saturday night we cruised into Great Falls to the Super 8.
Sunday, we returned for the Obstacle and Baja - the two events I showed up specifically to run.
Here's the start of my obstacle run.
They had us turn around and run the course backwards.. here's after turning around.
On my way back to the finish line..
and finishing up.
I was the second vehicle to run, but somehow managed to get 3rd fastest time in the Sportsman V8 class. Woo-hoo.
Here's John Comer making his run.
After everyone had made a run through the Obstacle course, we lined up for the side-by-side Baja race. We had a few too many competitors, so we broke it up into two heats and a main.
Here's the line up for the first heat.
And me sitting behind off the starting line, letting everyone else go first..
However, I didn't eat ANY DUST all weekend... thanks to my new SHOEI helmet and RaceAir system from PCI, I was breathing clean air - and my eyes didn't blink with the heavy dust.
The quarter got a little tweaked from the tire hitting the front of the rocker area and breaking the spot welds at the bottom.
I also lost the right-rear shock and lower mount, though the upper mount and upper eye (sans shaft) are still in the rig.
Mike Nunn borrowed Marc Shepherd's rig..
Making a pass around Dougie Misko.. nice n' clean, no rubbing..
Hey, look.. air! Showboating for the camera..
I ultimately finished 2nd in the first heat.
Here's the second heat, with John Comer about to overtake Kevin Wise.
Comer also placed in the top three (2nd, IIRC) of his heat. Gryphin suffered a wounded radiator, though. We poured some borrowed (thanks, Tyler) Bars Leak in and he entered the main hoping someone would break and he could just stay out, stay running, and finish.
Start of the main.
Just off the start, Chris Brown and Comer fought for the same corner.. Gryphin came out the worse for it, with a broken hood and radiator.
Chris did indicate there was no malice intended, and it was a judgement error.
Meanwhile, I took what I consider a rather unsportsman like hit right off the start line on the flat straight away..
The hit was right above the driver's rear tire, dead center of the quarter panel. I was hit hard enough to spin the Scout sideways, and pushed hard enough it felt like for sure it was going to roll - I kept my foot in the throttle and the wheel turned hard right and managed to avoid rolling... but the quarter panel is toast.. the BRAND NEW panel I had just installed and painted lasted TWO DAYS.
Here it is on the next lap.
Here's Gryphin with a broken hood.
The hit also broke the radiator, and ultimately took Gryphin out of the race.
I finished in 3rd, down a lap or two from everyone else. I broke one front shock mount during the race, and things got very rough and uncomfortable.
Here are a few more action vid-caps from the race.
Here's the aftermath for Gryphin.
And for Little Devil.
Still, we ended the weekend with a Scout (Pansy) in 2nd place Women's drags, 3rd (Michelle) women's drags, 3rd in Obstacle (Tom), and 3rd in the Baja (Tom) along with 4th in Baja (John Comer).
The vehicular damage is a bit disappointing, though. I'd really hoped the Scout might look pretty fair for at least more than TWO DAYS. :-(
My thanks to Gryphin Racing, Super Scout Specialists, IH Only, Mike's Offroad, and everyone else!