Desert Dingo Racing

Category: The Car

  • VORRA 2011 race series announced


    Stoked for the 2011 race season.

    VORRA’s released their schedule for the 2011 race season and it’s going to be great.

    But before I get into its awesomeness, let’s recap 2010. First place at the Xtreme Outlaws 250. First place at the Yerington 300. Three second place finishes. Two third places. One DNF I don’t want to talk about. Second in class for the 2010 season. Not shabby, considering we were third in class in 2009 racing the SNORE series and didn’t even get a trophy.

    So 2011. First off, VORRA’s the only off road series that has an almost even mix of short course and desert racing. Short course is great. We only rolled in two of the four races at Prairie City. Four short course races this year. Three at Prairie City outside Folsom, one at a new short course track under construction outside Reno.

    Then there are the desert races. The inaugural USA 500 in partnership with the Nugget. Depending on how long BITD’s Vegas to Reno race is, this one could be the longest desert race in the U.S. The USA 500 in mid-July will include a Friday night tech and contingency program sort of like what we did at the Mint 400 a couple years back in Vegas. Here’s Carrie Molho signing autographs for a couple of big fans.

    The real interesting race, IMHO, will be a 24 hour endurance race, which writer Judy Smith tells me hasn’t been done since the 1970s. The race will be down in Fallon and will run in two 12-hour legs over two days. We’re accustomed to running long races, so this should be interesting. Here’s the full series:

    March 12-13 — Short Course — Prairie City OHV Park, Folsom, CA

    April 16-17 — Short Course — Prairie City OHV Park, Folsom, CA

    May 27-30 — 300 Mile Desert Race — Yerington, NV

    July 15-17 — USA 500 Desert Race — Reno, NV

    September 2-5 — 24 Hour Endurance Race — Fallon, NV

    October 1-2 — Short Course — Reno, NV

    October 29-30 — Short Course — Prairie City OHV Park, Folsom, CA

    Is there anyone who hasn’t seen this VW commercial yet?

  • Workin’ at the car wash



    Sometimes, just because you can video something, doesn’t mean you need to make other people watch it.

    Anyone who thinks racing is exciting should really watch this video because it encompasses all that racing is about. For every high speed pass, for every desert vista, for every rollover, there’s this. An hour spent power washing the new body. Also this weekend, because a truck had a flat, then the engine wouldn’t start, then the forklift clutch was shot, we didn’t get the body off 1107, putting us further behind schedule.

    Here’s some photos from this weekend’s work.

  • Bob Beales & his 1958 rally Bug


    And people tell us we’re nuts for racing a VW off road.

    Hot on the heels of connecting with Carlos Dal Pont and his off road VW Beetle in Brasil, I’m contacted by Bob Beales in the UK, who rally races a VW. Not just any VW Beetle, but a 1958 1958 Oettinger GT, which British racer Bill Bengry drove to win the British Rally Championship in 1960 and 1961.

    Beales owned the car since 1965, used it for rallies (Paul Hartl I’m looking at you) and autocross, and won the Welsh Historic Championship in the early ’90s. The car’s never been rebuilt, runs a 1300cc Oettinger engine producing 75 BHP redlining at 8,000 RPM. It’s been sitting in a shed on his property for a couple of years, but I have a sneaking suspicion it’ll be hitting the road soon. He also turned me on to the awesome RallyBugs website. How on Earth did I not know about this?

    Here’s Crusty single-handedly rolling our new car at lunch today.

  • You meet the nicest people


    I honestly think the only thing we’ve never driven through is hay.

    Carlos Dal Pont from Brazil got in touch, having found our site because of my non-stop yammering about Dakar (until Robby Gordon dropped out and then I sort of lost focus). He’s got some photos of his Bug online. I’m going to have to ask him about the tires. I think it’s also cool he has tile and a sofa in his work shop. The blog, while apparently done by someone else, has some great imagery of VWs.

    Hooning in a hay field, then a Jeep catches on fire.

    Wayne Karnes and I keep in touch. He and his son have been working on a Manx over in Silicon Valley. It’s almost done and he sent along some photos. One of my favorites:

  • It’s like shaving a goat


    Everything here is mine.

    Crusty and I worked on the new body this weekend. I’ve come to understand that a passenger car, including a VW Beetle, was never designed to do what we put it through. That being the case. when you’re building a desert race car, you start by stripping it down to its essentials and building up from there.

    Crusty spend this weekend removing unnecessary stuff and welding seams. I tackled rust and all the stuff most people never see in a VW – rust, glue, rubber, aluminum trim, random crud and felt. There is a remarkable amount of felt in a 70s era VW. And if I ever track down the descendants of the VW engineer who got the bright idea to use tar sheets as sound deadener in the side panels, I’m going to slap them.

    Photos from this weekend’s work here.