Marshall gets ready to take me for a pre-run hot lap of the course. When we arrived in Barstow, I had to immediately jump right into a driver's suit and get in the truck to complete some pre-run laps (oh poor me!) before the sun went down. I took one with Marshall first so he could show me the course. I then took one with Petra so she could see how I might drive the course during the race and get used to race speeds. Then Tim got in...and this changed everything. It's amazing how just a little coaching from my husband can double my racing speed!!!!! He is so smart and knows how to coach me just right, especially when it comes to driving a 4 wheel vehicle, which is truly his expertise. When we were done with my last pre-run lap, I felt I had conquered the driving techniques needed to be competitive in the race. I felt sorry for Petra because she didn't ride on my last lap and now that I knew I would be even faster than what she witnessed before, I wondered if I would scare her in the race. But she handled it very well and at the end of the race she even admitted that she now wanted to learn how to drive the truck competitively for next year's race. Go Petra!!!



This is my heroine, "Crazy Clare." I had heard about her before the race and I had always wanted to meet her. I want to be just like her when I grow up! I was so delighted to find out that we accidentally ended up camping right next to her and her entire "Ross Racing" crew. I knew right away who she was when she drove up and I immediately introduced myself. This bad ass grandmother (Clare, dare I say your age?) has been racing with her husband since the good ol' days. Her husband of 50+ years describes her as a stubborn woman who has a passion for offroad racing and does what she wants no matter what anyone says and that is why she earned the nick name "Crazy Clare." Tim immediately sympathized with her husband, and of course, Clare and I hit it off real well!


This is my "mini-me," Jovana, who is trying on my riding boots for size. She was hinting that she wanted riding boots for her birthday next month. But we all know that this is really foreshadowing for "La Chiquita Loquita" in the making.


This race was our first trip with our new race buggy. Thanks to Tom, one of our regular chasers, we had McCreary Racing stickers to put on the buggy too! Tim was so excited that he was going to be able to meet his dad and uncle with their buggies at this race that when he pulled the buggy up on the trailer, he busted the fuel pump. He had to run out and replace it real quick before we could leave town, and we were already late for a scheduled pre-run for the race.


My family cheers me on as we wizz by in a sand wash in the race.


The light rains made for perfect racing weather as it kept the dust down.

Jovana was definitely ready to race and was wondering when it was her turn toget in the truck!


We cross the finish line...in 3rd place, as my "mini-me" looks on. We completed 100 miles in exactly 3 hours and I sweat so hard in the driver's suit that I was completely dizzy with dehydration after the race and could barely stand. I thought racing in a truck would be easier than racing on a quad! But I was also surprised at how easily I was able to transfer my quad racing skills to negotiating 4 wheels on the terrain in a race truck. I am grateful for the experience and all that I learned from it. I can see the fun of racing in a roll cage, and I would like to do more. BUT....I still don't want to give up racing on a bike (whether it is a quad or a motorcycle); there is just a different feeling of freedom I get while riding or racing in the desert on my own.


Tim happily tinkers on his new race buggy just before he gives me the ride of my life. After I raced all morning, he told me to get in the buggy for my first ride. He pulled out on the race track just after three class 1 buggies race by in the next race and demonstrated how our buggy can actually catch them right over the rocky whooped-out section for which I had to slow down in the truck I was just racing.





After the race, we watched the sun go down and enjoyed a sponsored meal by Damzl, and laughed at ourselves as we sat in the rain to eat it.


With a women-only race, the guys felt a little left out of the offroading fun, so they tried to dress up like girls...

But they didn't fool us, so in the pits they stayed... Don't feel sorry for them, I think they enjoyed having an excuse to have fun dressing pretty. Dennis (Tim's father) gets ready for a family buggy ride the day after the race. But it wasn't long into the ride before SOMEONE broke down and we ended up having to change a tire on a buggy and throw away a windshield that caved in because he was going too fast!