Desert Dingo Racing

Category: Technology

  • A shoutout to our two technology sponsors!

    We’d like to take a moment to share some exciting news and introduce you to two of our sponsors.

    Desert Dingo Racing is competing this year using an SMS-based satellite communication and tracking system from EMS SkyConnect. “One of the greatest challenges that any Baja team is faces maintaining communication between the race car, chase teams and support vehicles, said team co-founder Jim Graham. “We’re the first team to use EMS SkyConnect’s TNT (Text and Tracking) system that will allow us to stay in constant communication and know where everyone is at any point during the race.” More info about our partnership with EMS SkyConnect here.

    Desert Dingo will also be one of only two teams running electroluminescent number panels developed by TrailGlow Lighting . The panels look like typical number panels during the day, but light up as bright as neon at night, operating off of the race car’s 12-volt electrical system.

    “TrailGlow’s INERGY number panels make it easier for other vehicles to see us and for people staffing checkpoints to record our number,” Graham said. The team will also be using an INERGY pit sign and safesty vests during the race which will make it easy for the race car to find the pits at night and keep team workers highly visible at night. More info about our partnership with Trailglow here.

  • Our new TrailGlow HID driving lights

    Our new TrailGlow HID driving lights. These things are so big that you can’t see the telephone used to prop the light up. You just might be able to see the Desert Dingo Racing logo engraved in the lens glass.

    One of the problems we’ve had at previous night races is that our lights drew so much electricity we believe it was causing electrical problems that may have fried our electrical system. Paul Lukey with TrailGlow, who is sponsoring us, shipped us a set of three new driving lights that will put out twice the light using half the electricity.

    Waiting for an update from Momentum Transport on where 1107 is now (I’m hoping at least Ohio). Once it returns we’ll wire up the lights and TrailGlow lighted number panels and also install our secret weapon from EMS Sky Connect. We’ll also be rebadging the car as 1104 for the Baja 1000.

    More to come.

  • Photos from the World Diabetes Congress

    Richard gives an interview to Diabetes al Dia.

    And we’re back from the World Diabetes Congress. Highlights from the show: Richard is a schmooze machine. We watched “Dust to Glory” 19 times over the course of five days staffing the Desert Dingo booth. People love 1107. A subset of those people really love being strapped into the five point harnesses “(Oh yeah, but imagine being strapped in for four hours in a non-stop car crash.”)

    1107 will be back back on a truck today (hopefully by now) and back in Felton in 10 days. Now we shift to Baja 1000 planning. TrailGlow is shipping new night driving lights and safety vests. EMS Sky Connect is shipping our secret weapon. Bilstein is re-tuning our shocks.

    Team meeting sometime next week.

    Random photos for the World Diabetes Congress.

  • The shocks are in the mail

    I want one.

    I’ve got A.J. looking for one of these on Craigslist. It has nothing to do with us, except I want one.

    Richard pulled the front shocks off on Saturday. Bob pulled the rear shocks off on Sunday and today they were shipped to Bilstein in Southern California for upgrades in advance of next month’s KC Hilites Midnight Special out at Ridgecrest, Calif. Richard has also asked Joel and his team to prep a spare front and rear shock for us as well.

    It’s four months til World Diabetes Day and we’re in full planning mode for our outreach efforts. Designing a new hero card that will have the new WDD messaging in English, Spanish and French printed on the back. We’re locking in plans for the World Diabetes Congress in Montreal in October, where the car will be on display.

    After the KC Hilites race, we get a one month break before the 40th Annual South Point SNORE 250 on Oct. 2-4 outside Las Vegas. Then we have roughly three days to paint and re-decal the car before shipping it to the Montreal Convention Center .

    And we’ve got two big announcements coming up….

  • Bilstein rocks

    We run Bilstein shocks and they’ve been working great for us.

    We’re going through the car from stem to stern. Looking at the front shocks, we noted the hoses between the shocks and reservoirs were a bit frayed from rubbing against the inside of the fenders. I got in touch with Joel, the Off Road MotorSports Technical Supervisor for Bilstein. I asked whether his team could fab a couple of shorter hoses. He came back with an offer to upgrade us to their newest reservoir design.

    “Let me think about this yes.”

    The team got new bushings in the front beam and got the whole front end buttoned up. Our first logistics meeting is tomorrow. Seth is bbqing tri-tip.