TOTAL CHAOS - Vegas to Reno - Race Report & Pics

MV: “Are you getting nervous yet?”
NP: “Oh yea. I want to puke!”
MV: “Well, if you weren’t nervous then we should not be doing this….” #causechaos



4 for 4 finishing statistics. Lil T has entered 4 of the longest off road races in America and finished all 4 Vegas to Reno races we entered. It is one well-built Tacoma! Each year the 7200 class just gets faster. We shaved 2 hours off of our 2017 overall time and still got smoked by the leaders with 100+ more HP than our stock 4.0 Toyota. Steel cab and working doors vs. fiberglass bodies, factory frame rails vs. tube chassis. Being the underdog makes it more challenging on the crew and it keeps us on our toes all day in the pits. But we bleed Toyota’s and we are there to battle despite the odds against us. Don’t ever count Team TC out on race day……

We left the start line and the truck kicked right into limp mode. Not how you want to start off a 530 mile day in the Nevada desert, but those were the cards we were dealt and we were there to gamble. At mile 15 we hit an unmarked hole and went from 37MPH to a dead stop. I think I saw Tweety bird. We were both seeing stars and pulled into pit 1 for a 4 corner inspection because it felt like we left half the race truck at the impact zone. Our tracking device did not work until Pit 3, so we apologize for the 2 rigs that were forced to punt us. Its racing and we sign up for this!! Nothing like trading paint at 65+ MPH.

By mile 100 and the first fuel stop we found our groove, and then we started to have more issues. We were losing voltage sending the truck into limp mode. At the 2nd fuel stop they toss an alternator into the cab, messed with the batteries, we grabbed some cold wet towels to cool down, ate, and we are back at it. The carnage that littered the course all day was spectacular! Racers were rubber side up all over the place. We lost a rear brake line a few miles from pit 10 Mina, and Mike and Eric had us fixed in minutes. Thanks Baja Pits for the brake fluid. We hit the sand section, before pit 11 slammed it into first, pegged the temp gauge at 280+ and popped that 4.0 off the rev limiter for 4 solid miles. We had no choice, we were putting that Tacoma motor to the test. We sent the truck back into limp mode and luckily we were back on hard pack, or we would have been digging for days. By mile 380 I started to hit the wall physically, I made a poor line choice and blew a driver side rear tire. Within 10 miles BAM, a passenger side rear. Now we are out of spares and it is survival mode to make it to the pit crew. Pat and Matt get us a red bull spritzer and a spare and we are out of their pit. We had 100 miles to go. Final fuel stop we hear we are in 5thplace with a truck 12 miles behind us. We fought hard all day for a 5th place this year. @bcglamont and I logged every mile of the race. Our pit crew kept us in the game all day. THANK YOU to the entire Team at TC for supporting our adventure and giving it 110%. You all rocked it on race day!! Photos: Paolo Baraldi

– Nicole

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