Jack Rhodes and Dave Pullino Consistent at Waikerie
Congratulations to Jack Rhodes and the Rhodes Racing team on throwing down the most consistent 40-minute lap times to bring home the outright win, for the fourth consecutive time at Waikerie! In the 8th starting position, Rhodes and Pullino had some work to do in just 4 laps. With the track conditions and weather being amazing, added to the lethal combination of skilled driver Jack Rhodes and his dialed-in race car, it became obvious why that Jimco was running the number 1 plate. Rhodes had run down all but one race vehicle who started in front of him, but as the numbers on the clock were deciphered it was Jack Rhodes, by over 10-seconds, who stood on the podium in the top spot!
Other outright Jimco finishers of Waikerie include:
5th – Raana Horan
8th – Troy Duff
9th – Brent Martin
17th – Lindsay Foster
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The SCORE Baja 500, The AORC Finke Desert Race and the ARB Sea Lake Rally; Jimcos Top the Podium
Over 40-different Jimco race cars competed in the month of June, making it one of Jimco’s busiest months. From Trophy Trucks to Pro UTVs, and everything in between, some of the world’s top drivers climbed into their Jimcos in June. Seeing one take a class win is never rare, however, Jimco has topped the podium in three major off road race this month, proving their unyielding dominance in the sport.
Wilson, Malloy and Torres Give Jimco the Class-1 Podium Sweep at the Baja 500
The 49th running of the Baja 500 drew 236-teams south of the U.S. border to throw their chassis across the Mexican peninsula. They had hopes of beating a climate-changing desert, other hopeful racers, and seconds on the clock. The course was foggy: A cool marine layer along the coast, and clouds of hot, silty dust, along the interior of the course. The degree of temperature changed with every degree of longitude, making the Baja 500 physically demanding on the driver and the car.
Baja 500 drivers and their co-riders all had the same overall goal, to finish. Their secondary goal: To win. The chase teams and race support crews share the same goals, and one major thing they can do is stash precious seconds in their pocket with faster pit stops. And every canyon climb, every rock and every silt bed are looming to steal those precious seconds back in the race against the clock.
The Wilson Motorsports Team is one of the classiest teams in racing, and it’s no wonder how they stand on the top of the podium. The first place 2016 Baja 500 winners defended their title with a first place 2017 finish, and the first thanks from Brian Wilson were to his crew. He and his co-rider humbly praise their entire Wilson Motorsports team. For they know that in order to meet their goal of winning, it takes an army of support. This win also catapults the #138 Wilson Motorsports Jimco Class-1 into first place of the points standings!
2nd place Class-1 Baja 500 podium finisher, Mike Malloy, has also made a sudden jump into the Top-5 in point standings.
To complete the sweep, 3rd place Class-1 finisher Al Torres climbs into 3rd place in the point standings.
2nd in points as of the Baja 500 is Jimco driver Robert Archibald who finished his 2017 Baja 500 effort in 7th.
Other notable Baja 500 Finishers Include:
Pro UTV Class Winner = TJ Holmes
Trophy Truck:
13th – Steve Strobel
16th – Billy Wilson
17th – Gary Magness
22nd – Robbie Peirce
Trophy Truck Spec:
10th – Russ Buehler
Score Lite:
3rd – Miguel Bonilla
Shannon Rentsch Takes Finke Outright
Right smack in the middle of Australia lies desert regions, and in the middle of those desert regions is a town called Alice Springs. From there, red powdered silt with trees and bushes on the fringe of a race course cuts south like an artery, landing at the heart of Australian desert racing; Finke. For the 42nd time (and the 30th for cars and trucks), Australia’s most elite off-road racers come to test their vehicles, and their wits, against kilometer after kilometer of unforgiving whoops. In contrast to the Baja 500, the Finke Desert Challenge remains somewhat consistent with it’s track conditions: Very cold and with very limited visibility, on a track which many drivers dubbed “relentless,” all the way there and all the way back. Though similar to the Baja 500, goals for many of the 140 participating vehicles at the Finke, is to just finish on four wheels. Of the Finke race, Jimco driver Jack Rhodes said, “Whoever wins is always respected… [this is] never a gifted race, to finish is successful,” during a live feed interview. 4-time Champion of Finke, Jimco driver Shannon Rentsch stated that it’s “hard enough just to finish,” during the same interview.
Over 7,000 spectators and fans showed up to the Finke event to be part of something special, including watching an exciting prologue run at the 8-kilometer track: Jimco drivers Travis Robinson in the #13, Shannon Rentsch in the #33, and Jack Rhodes in the brand new #1 took the top-3 spots, with additional Jimco drivers, Chris Coulthard in the #88, and Mark Burrows in the #21, qualifying in the Top-10.
The teams raced blindly through the particles of dust that sat in weightlessness over the passage to Finke on Day-1. Ten Jimco vehicles made it to Finke through the dried out flood plains, including your Top-3 qualifiers. On Day-2 the coachmen in their race cars took route from Finke back to Alice Springs, collecting red dirt facials and tree branches on the way. First to cross the finish and claim the outright title at Finke for the 5th time now, was Shannon Rentsch in the #33. A quiet mannered Shannon Rentsch of his finish told he didn’t have “too many dramas,” and that he found a “good rhythm.”
Finishing 3rd on the outright podium was Jack Rhodes in the maiden voyage of his new Jimco buggy.
Steve Sanderson in the #3 Jaws Racing machine, was seen coming into the finish in a serpentine effort on only 3-tires. He was firm and committed to finishing in this strong Jimco-built trophy truck. His wild finish granted him a 4th place outright finishing spot and a second place finish in class.
Other Notable Finke Desert Challenge Finishers Include:
Pro Buggy:
6th – Peter Costello
7th – Darren Agrela
Prolite Buggy:
4th – Locky Weir
Battle of Two Jimcos for the Outright Finish at ARB’s Sea Lake Rally
In the state of Victoria, Australia, the weather was decent and it was a downright perfect weekend for an off road race. 104-vehicles came to the wheat belt of the Mallee district, to go wheel-to-wheel with each other for the outright title of finishing the 4-lap rally race. The format of the Sea Lake race varies significantly from the Finke. The course is a loop which is ran 4-times, with a compulsory hour service break between laps two and three. Strategy is a major factor, and qualifying high in the Top-10 shootout is important.
Jimco race cars finished 1 and 2 during the Top-10 Shootout: Raana Horan and Danny Brown. This would set them up for a friendly side-by-side start by two racers who were hungry to win their first race at Mallee. Brown in the #42, and Horan in the #89, battled a little on the first lap but it was the #42 who approached a full-minute lead heading into the 2nd lap. Suddenly, as it happens in racing, 2km from the half-way point, Brown had a speed-limiting issue that allowed the #89 to take back all those seconds and lead for the start of lap-3. Danny Brown and his crew feverishly fixed up their Jimco and returned with vengeance against Sea Lake. Raana Horan powered through the last laps as best he could until a debilitating indication alerted Horan and co-rider Klem Christiansen of over-heating. Would the lead he sustained at the end of Lap-2 be enough to bring home a win?
Danny Brown pulled closer and closer until he was knocking on Horan’s backdoor. Just three turns from the finish, Brown pulled under Horan for an gasp-worthy physical track pass and took the outright win. Brown said that he “felt bad when we passed Raana, but there was no way we weren’t going to give it everything.”
Other Notable Sea Lake Rally Finishers
Unlimited Buggy:
7th – Jamie Robinson
12th – Jeff Lloyd
Class-1:
7th – Brent Martin
8th – Lindsay Foster
9th – Troy Duff
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Sunraysia 400: Shannon and Ian Rentsch Win Outright
St. George 399: Travis Robinson & Trent Anthony Win Outright
Outright wins, class wins and podium appearances: It has been quite an exciting month under the equator in Australia.
News from the Sunraysia 400 is not complex: It was the Shannon and Ian Rentsch show, as they won everything in their #33 Jimco. From qualifying in the number one position in prologue, to taking first in the Top-10 Shootout, to a wire-to-wire lead, to a champagne shower at the top of the podium… there was no debate over who’s cliff-notes to look off of at the next Sunraysia race. The father/son “Hog’s Breath” team were truly victorious, bettering the second place outright team by over 7-minutes… and this was accomplished even with 9-minute, unexpected tire change.
Six Jimco racecars saturated the top ten spots of prologue, including: Mark Burrows, Raana Horan, Josh Howells, Chris Wilson and Travis Robinson. In Pro-Lite, Brent Martin qualified his Jimco buggy also in the Top-10. The Top-10 Shootout finishers would include 5 Jimcos in the Pro Buggy class with Wilson, and Horan both bettering their starting positions.
After 6-laps of racing and Shannon Rentsch the obvious champion, Chris Wilson and Blake Clare would finish 4th in class. Wilson was blazing the course with outright podium speeds but a motor misfire slowed there car just enough to be scooted out of contention.
Two Pro-Lite Jimco’s finished Top-5 in their class: Troy Duff in second, less than 7-minutes out of first in class, and Lindsay Foster rounding out that Top-5 in fifth.
Jimco Racecars Take P1 & P2 Outright Podium Spots at the St. George 399
The only thing that may rival the gloriousness of the Robinson/Anthony beards, is that gold medal Jimco racecar that brought Robinson/Anthony to the finish line fastest. The #13 had the fastest time in prologue and carried that momentum through the entire event. Robinson lead the race from start to finish.
Travis Robinson spoke highly of his Jimco, saying that he was “thrilled with the performance.” Robinson also gave praise to his co-rider and team, commenting that, “we couldn’t have asked for a better weekend.” The weather was mostly pleasant but very dusty behind the #13.
2nd place outright finisher Bryce Chapman with Mitch Warren felt grateful of their race. The #58 Jimco had to fight with late-mechanical issues and, “…it wasn’t easy,” especially the last lap, commented Chapman. No brakes and dropped cylinders challenged this Jimco. But Chapman also optimistically stated, “We’ll be ready for Finke.”
]]>Jason Voss is First to Cross the Finish Line of “The Great American Race”
67-Unlimited competitors participated in the qualifying time trails of The Mint 400 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and 66-Unlimited drivers would finish behind the blue Jimco trick truck of Jason Voss. He reminded all the race fans why his truck wears the #1 plate as he dominated the 5-mile qualifying course.
The qualifying course would serve as a foreshadowing of race day; rocks of all contrast, whoops that launch 1000s of pounds into the air, thick silt, and of course high-speed sections where off road race cars can really flex their horse power.
Voss had the luxury of starting first and starting alone, while the rest of the field had adrenaline-filled side-by-side starts. The #1 Jimco trick truck was smooth through the first lap, Voss was first physical and first on the clock by about 19-seconds. A flat tire around the mid-point of lap-2 would graciously hand over the lead to another competitor. The virtual leader boards would scatter trick truck placement, and it was difficult to determine who was actually leading the race on time, at any given check point. By lap-3 however, Voss had clearly retaken the physical lead, and was the first driver to maneuver his machine to the checkered flag.
As more trick trucks finished the race, and the finishing times became official, Jason Voss would finish second overall. He was just 44-seconds shy of Hall-of-Fame driver Rob MacCachren’s finishing time.
Jimco proudly presents their Mint 400 Finishers:
Trick Truck
Jason Voss
Anthony Terzo
Billy Wilson
1500 Class
Ross Mattox
Sam Berri
Al Torres
1000 Class
Shane Earn
Blade Hildebrand
5000 Class
Bill Gereghty
Travis Robinson Goes Wire-to-Wire at the Perenjori 360
The Western Australian Off Road Racing Association opened their series with a hot and dusty prologue with 38-competitiors. Travis Robinson, in his #13 Jimco PRO, was awarded the top starting position after an impressive prologue, 22-seconds quicker than the nearest racer. From there, Robinson took to the sections of the day with ease, enjoying some light showers over parts of the course. Day-2 brought another perfect day of racing for Robinson, giving him the highest outright position by almost a full 12-minutes from the second outright finisher, and over 20-minutes over the next finisher of the Pro class.
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Joe David is Gas On, for the 2017 Season
Additional 1500 finishers of the Jimco bunch include:
5th place – Jeff Larson
8th place – Bill Wingering
9th place – Al Torres
2nd place Class-10 finisher, Shane Earn and crew, started the 5am race first off the line and had a Jimco that was described as, “amazing as always.” Their #1055 was the first physical in class to touch the podium but they missed first place on time by just 1-minute.
Also finishing in Class-10, was 6th place driver Blade Hildebrand in his #1068 Jimco buggy.
277 vehicles registered to battle the incomparable topography of Baja California, Mexico. Drivers, co-drivers, riders, co-riders, navigators, team managers, chase crews, and race fans, were all dispersed through-out the 854.5 mile race course. Some had the goal of just finishing the race under the 36-hour allotted time, others were motivated to win… all would become part of SCORE’s season finale, the Baja 1000.
The Wilson Motorsport’s Team consists of many off-road veterans who are wise to the thoroughfares of desert territories. They have been within reach of winning the Baja 1000 in previous years, but due to unforeseen circumstances, they were never able to claim the winning title… until now.
A Quarter century ago, Ronny Wilson set a personal goal to finish 1st-in-class, that long-time ambition has finally been rewarded. When the 2000-series Class-1 Jimco took the podium, happiness and excitement was captured through snaps on Instagram; showing ear-to-ear grins and crew members embracing each other, almost is disbelief that this was indeed real life. A flood of congratulations broke through on social media, and the news trickled out that Ronny Wilson with Brian Wilson, and the Wilson Motorsports team, had won the Baja 1000. Ronny humbly thanked the families, crews, sponsors and fans for “always believing in us.”
Brad Wilson and co-driver Kyle Quinn, also in a Jimco Class-1, finished 4th in the class but were only filled with positive things to say. Thankful to finish this race, thankful for completing every mile of every SCORE race, and already expressing anxiousness for the start of the 2017 season.
Congratulations to the #138, the #153, and the entire Wilson Motorsports affiliated, on an incredible run during the 2016 race season!
Additionally, Jimco would like to proudly congratulate the brand new #277 Spec Trophy Truck of Rod Lewis and Spitfire Racing, on their Class win. The Texas team isn’t brand new to racing, but they were recently interested in becoming more competitive in the sport. Drawn to the integrity of Jimco Racing, Inc., the Spitfire team joined the Jimco 6100-truck fleet.
There is no doubt that Rod and the Spitfire team will leave their mark on future podiums, after jockeying a truck with only 30-test miles on it to a Baja 1000 victory. Of the new truck, the Spitfire team broadcasted on Facebook: “What an amazing machine from Jimco, we couldn’t be happier in our new Spec Trophy Truck.”
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Shane Earn and Jason Voss Govern the Blue Water Desert Challenge
The general consensus among drivers, co-riders, and race crews, is that the run needs to be smooth in order to prevail on a sprint loop course like the Blue Water Desert Challenge. The Arizona desert threw stale dust at the coarse track to make conditions less than ideal… but that’s racing. The flaws in the raw terrain are what make Blue Water a desert challenge, and not a a desert script.
Shane Earn, in his 1055 orange and black Jimco, lead the Class-10 field on time by the second lap on Day-1, and held that position all 3-laps on Day-2, all the way to the finish, against 30-other class-10 finishers. The 2nd place finisher, Blade Hildebrand, had his Jimco adapting to the race course lap-after-lap, and finished just 46-elapsed seconds behind Earn. Jimco driver Jason Coleman, despite having steering issues and “only went 80-percent at all times,” managed to finish ahead of 24-other cars who completed the Blue Water Desert Challenge, in 6th place.
Your overall Blue Water Desert Challenge winner was Jimco Trick Truck pilot Jason Voss. He said that he, “had some awesome battles this weekend, it felt good to come home with the overall win on both days!” Voss’s #35 was in complete harmony with the desert surroundings, and performed how it usually does… like a champion.
The #41 truck of Justin Lofton turned the best qualifying time, and ran tight pace on Day-1, with Voss fighting to chip seconds away around every turn. As results became official, it was revealed that Voss had caught Lofton on the clock, and won the overall by a faction of a minute. There was “no other person I’d rather start next to,” Lofton declared of Voss, and looked forward to the side-by-side start of Day-2. To Justin’s dismay, the #41 truck suffered unrecoverable issues early on the first lap, leaving Voss to race freely into the second day’s overall win.
Steve Strobel in the red #94 had a top-5 finish in class. He had to fight hard to come back from a 2-minute flat tire change on the very first lap. Troy Vest took the 9th-in-class finishing point and Scott Schovajsa from Texas placed 12th in his Jimco TT.
Jimco was well represented in the 1500-class, with two podium finishers. Cody Parkhouse hammered through all 6-laps, squabbling on the clock with the first-place car. He ended his race in the 2nd spot, less than 2-minutes off the top position. The 3rd place award went to Kevin Thompson. Both Parkhouse and Thompson sneaked their Jimco’s passed 13-other finishing trick trucks in their race group!
Sam Berri in his Jimco took a familiar place in the Top-5, while the #1520 Jimco of Corey Keysar placed 6th in class.
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Jimco’s Multi-Podium Finishes Add to Series Points Lead
“Wild Bill,” driver as nicknamed by fans of the #15 Jimco Trophy Truck, and Brad Wilson, driver of the #153 Jimco Class-10, had similar mentalities coming into the Rosarito Desert Challenge: Billy Wilson “just want[ed] to finish” and “not push too hard.” Brad Wilson described his desire to be “conservative.” The result? Both finished 2nd place in their respective classes… and both hold the points lead in their respective classes, heading into the final race of SCORE’s 2016 race series, the 50th running of the Baja 1000.
This no-chase, 4-lap, 32.1 mile loop race started at sea level and jolted to 2000 feet above, in a relatively short distance. The terrain was dusty, rocky, steep, fast, silty and technical… depending on where the racers were at any given moment on the race course. A flat tire on day-1 for Wild Bill did not shake his determination for points, as he still managed to come into the half-way finish 3rd in class. That #15 was a blue bullet piercing through the clots of dirt on Day-2, reported as “having that Jimco dialed,” and as the final lap came to an end, the Bevly-Wilson team celebrated a win on the day.
The #45 Jimco Trophy Truck of Gary Magness survived the course finishing 4th in class, and the Mango Racing team is looking to be the dark house of the points championship heading into the Baja 1000. The simple statement of “… We don’t give up,” on Mango Racing’s Facebook page was posted after their Rosarito adventure, and are sure to be words that reverberate through the remainder of their race season.
Brad Wilson finished his Class-1 4th overall and 2nd on the class podium. He credited his “all star team” for the combined 2-day effort, and recognized his Dad, Jimco Class-1 driver Ronny Wilson, as leading for a good portion of the first day. The #138 of Ronny Wilson encountered some mechanical misfortune, and after having two strong SCORE series finishes, was unable to bring his car to the end of the road in Rosarito. However, because Ronny had winning consistency, he established a decent points lead, and he sits in second place for series points. His son Brad now sits as the leader for series points. The Wilson’s will have a Father-Son 1000-mile showdown in November to determine who will get to brag about the points championship around the Thanksgiving dinner table.
Jimco race vehicles made many class appearances in Rosarito including:
Russ Buehler in the orange #201 Trophy Spec truck, who finished 4th after 4-loops.
Class-10 drivers Armando Boehme and Sergio Salgado, finishing 4th and 5th in class.
One of the most popular drivers in the SCORElite class is Gustavo Pinuelas in his unforgettable green #1204 Jimco. With almost 4000 Facebook fans, Gustavo’s page was flooded with congratulatory outbursts and 100s of “likes” over winning photos shared by the #1204 team.
Also, SCORElite finisher Miguel Bonita clocked into the 4th spot with his Jimco.
]]>Jimco Race Cars Sweep the Tantanoola Pines Enduro Podium
They smiled for pictures together, they raised their glasses together, congratulated each other, and together they stood united as Jimco teams, finishing 1, 2, 3 outright at ARB’s season closer; the Tantanoola Pines Enduro race in Millicent.
62-teams made the trek to southern Australia for a two-day enduro race, scheduled to have both a short-course section, and a 70km looped section. Unfortunately, a dark cloud dumped buckets of rain onto the clay through Teagle Quarry, turning the short-course area of the race into a black river of muck. The stage had to be cancelled. The good news was that no race cars would become victims of short course woes, meaning all 62-teams advanced to the sand trails through the Tantanoola Forest on day-2. The field was staged in reverse prologue order, meaning the faster qualifiers, like Matt Hanson, would begin at the back of the pack.
Matt Hanson and the SMU race team has literally had a rebuilding year since their last go at the Pine Enduro in 2015. In heavy dust, Hanson launched his car through the forest at a speed estimated over 200km per hour. Race car body pieces were flung into the branches above as the Jimco steel frame cartwheeled end-over-end, leaving skid marks on tree trunks, 25-feet up. Both Hanson and his co-driver were okay. “Jimco did it’s job,” Hanson said in relief, coming out of the wreckage with no life-threatening injuries.
The #7 Jimco Aussie Special courageously came back to Millicent, showing redemption qualities in prologue, missing the top spot by a mere 6-seconds. Anticipation for this race was already high, but adding to it was a backwards staring order; meaning Hanson had to wait for the 2nd to last starting position, to begin his trek through the 70km loop around Tantanoola Pines. Matt drove without fear and was 3rd on time after the first lap. Hanson kept steady, and after his tires met race completion, he found himself on the top of the podium with an outright victory… his Jimco did it’s job again.
Congratulations to our friends at Start Me Up Racing, on their brilliant comeback!
2nd spot on the outright podium was awarded to Jimco’s flying kiwis, the Big Black Motorsport racing team with driver Raana Horan. Horan stormed his #89 Jimco Pro-Buggy into the 5th position after prologue. “This thing is a weapon,” the team said of their Jimco, and eagerly looked toward the green flag of the enduro stage. Horan with co-rider Klem Christiansen enthusiastically flew through the course and maintained a 2nd place pace. As the kilometers-to-go wound down to zero, New Zealand off-road race fans erupted in pride on social media, seeing Horan finish 2nd outright.
Rounding out the outright podium was none other than long-time Jimco driver Mark Burrows. He and co-rider Sean Ratcliffe had a 2nd place prologue effort before mother nature had her way with the day. As an experienced driver, Burrows welcomed the rain, and looked forward slinging mud around the long loop. Video of the first few kilometers posted of the enduro stage posted around the internet show Mark Burrows looking like he was just having a blast driving his Jimco. The fun continued all the way to the end, as he slid in to that final podium spot.
Five Jimco race cars occupied the Top-10 outright finishing positions: In addition to the podium sweep, Jack Rhodes in his #91 Pro-buggy ended his day in 5th, and Lindsay Foster in the #178 Prolite Buggy rounded out the Top-10.
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Multiple Class Wins for Jimco Race Cars at Vegas-To-Reno!
Cast shadows of off-road race cars, rumbled through the fog of still dust, under the late-summer sun in the Nevada desert. For the 20th time, this desert became the setting of longest race in the United States; the Vegas-to-Reno off-road endurance race. 342-vehicles entered this year’s race; including a generous handful of competitive, in-house, Jimco fabricated steel on wheels.
The 1500-class was graced with the Jimco elite Parkhouse team: Cody Parkhouse, who soloed the entire 644-mile race, displayed veteran characteristics of both patience and persistence. He drove his lines and qualified 3rd, he continued to drive an unsullied race in his Champion-series Jimco, and finished 3rd after Day-1. He kept a level-head after some timing and tracking issues plagued the event on Day-1, and started Day-2 with a calming urgency. As the lengthy race proved too much for the few cars in front of Cody, he was able to swoop into the top-finishing spot in his class. His combined effort over 3-stages granted his Parkhouse team with another class win. As quoted from a Parkhouse fan on Facebook, “Epic job by 1501!”
Just behind the Parkhouse team, another Jimco solo-driver was awarded a 2nd-in-class trophy over the 2-day course. Sam Berri, in his 2015-built Champion series Jimco, didn’t quite get to experience the blue skies above the course; as he as busy trusting navigations through the sooty fragments of desert kicked up from fellow racers who were off the start line before him. He qualified 5th in class, drove aggressively enough on Day-1 to finish 4th in class and moved all the way up to 2nd in class on Day-2. His consistency allowed him to take a Top-10 overall spot, and a 2nd place class finish.
Johnny Buss, in his single-seat chariot treated the silted course as if it were a red carpet. He threaded his Lakers colored Class-10 Jimco through troublesome sections and was sited on social media outlets who were tracking the event as, “such a smooth run… that is one quick car!” He would finish first on Day-1, with Jason Coleman and Shane Earn in their Jimcos just behind him in the 2nd and 3rd places on the day. On Day-2, Johnny handed his trusty stallion to co-driver Matt Loiodice, who would help not just keep, but extend the #1056’s lead on the clock before Johnny got back in to take the black and white checkered on Day-2, ahead of 2nd place man in class on the day, Jimco driver Shane Earn. Those Day-2 finishing positions for both Buss and Earn, would transpose on the combined 644-mile totals, giving Jimco the 1 and 2 spots for the annual Vegas-to-Reno race in Class-10.
Jimco Trick Trucks were as present as they always are during races as challenging as Vegas-to-Reno. Jason Voss, in his blue and white #35 Jimco, was looking to win the overall for the 4th consecutive time… and everyone knew it, causing mental self demur among all competitors in the trick truck class. On Thursday, his truck contently maneuvered the 3.5-mile qualifying course and slid in the number 2 position, just two-seconds behind 1st position qualifier, hall-of-famer Rob MacCachren. He held his second place position on the clock through all of Day-1. Day-2 was looking comfortable until an unrecoverable mechanical issue shocked and surprised race fans, as Voss would be shown as 0mph on popular tracking sites, leaving the overall win open for inheritance.
Jimco Trick Truck finishers include: Troy Vest, who climbed up the ranks from a 25th qualifying spot, to a 12th place class-finish over 2-days, Steve Strobel in his red #94 finished 14th, 2 positions higher than where they had qualified, and Anthony Terzo, who was described on the Youtheory Racing Team page as having, “two clean days of racing.”
Jimco Racing, Inc. is very proud of all their Vegas-to-Reno finishers!
Trick Truck
12th- TROY VEST
14th- STEVE STROBEL
16th- ANTHONY TERZO
22nd- JASON VOSS
1500-Class
1st- CODY PARKHOUSE
2nd- SAM BERRI
6th- KEVIN THOMPSON
8th- MASON CULLEN
1000-Class
1st- JOHNNY BUSS
2nd- SHANE EARN
7th- DUSTIN MILLER
8th- JASON COLEMAN
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Jimco Proves Superior in the Southern Hemisphere with Outright Wins, in both the AORC and ARB Series
PROLITE BUGGY
2nd – #120 Justin Watt
4th – #155 Locky Weir
8th – #187 Craig Anderson
EXTREME 2WD
4th – #401 Steven Sanderson
6th – #492 David Fellows
PROLITE BUGGY:
6th – #178 Lindsay Foster
7th – #173 Jason Noonan
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Jimco’s Class-1s Take 4 of the Top-5 at the 2016 Baja 500
It is a trending sight; blue race suits of the Wilson Motorsports team, standing atop a Jimco car, holding a checkered flag, smiles and the vanquishing rain of a celebratory toast. Making more than an animated photo, the Wilson racing family continues to make memories together in their Jimco race cars… this time at the Baja 500.
Starting in the 15th position, the #138 darted off the start in Ensenada with Brian Wilson behind the wheel and Craig Darrow in the right seat. They had no issues; let that sink in, they had no issues… a testament to the teams preparation lead by Mike Stapleton. Considering the hardships and stories revolving around this year’s Baja 500, to have no issues is nothing short of amazing. When Brian and Craig passed the reigns to Ronny Wilson and Justin Monyun, the #138 was in 3rd physical, and first on time. Ronny kept the pace solid and then passed the torch to Randy Wilson, who held that lead all the way through the checkered flag. The team celebrated an undisputed win by over 14-minutes in class, and a 9th place overall finish. Second place finisher, Justin Davis, is quoted at the finish line expressing how he “tried to run down the Wilson’s, just couldn’t!”
The #153 Jimco of Brad Wilson enjoyed a spot on the podium with a 3rd place effort. Driven at the start by Kyle Quinn and co-rider Ricky Hardy, the #153 had a starter issue around rm60 that would be remedied, but created the need to push the car, and make-up some down time. Brad Wilson vaulted into the car at Borrego, knowing they were within podium reach. Brad kept making headway and found himself fitting nicely into that third position.
It was a race day hotter than most can ever remember of the Baja 500 but of the 18 starters in class-1, two other Jimco fabricated race cars brought their teams safely into the Top-5. The #128 of Brent Parkhouse completed a 4th place run. “I’m really proud to be here,” Parkhouse exclaimed through his exhaustion at the finish, “We had a flat and I missed a turn but other than that, the car ran great!” The #114 of Al Torres finished his 500-mile race in 5th and commented on the increasingly difficult visibility, added to the extreme heat but assured, “We gave it all we [had] and here we are.”
The Matlocks see their Jimco UTVs to the Podium
From sea level to 4,000 above, from beds of thick silt to hills of dense rocks, the diverse Baja 500 race has the challenges that appeal to all racers. 14 Pro UTV FI competitors lined up in the blazing heat on Saturday June 4th, to take on not just each other, but the unpredictable land of the Baja peninsula. More predictable however was the top finisher in his class, Wayne Matlock in his #2971 Jimco Pro UTV FI. He has now gone back-to-back as the Overall UTV winner in 2015 & 2016. Wayne found himself stuck in “the bottle neck,” and dropped from first to eighth in a few short minutes; but the veteran racer would not let on that he was frustrated with the situation by commenting non-nonchalantly, “it happens.” The Matlock name could be seen all over live tracking sites, to all who opened their browsers from the comfort of their air-conditioned home, as Kristen Matlock was also racing. She regulated her pink Jimco Pro UTV to the podium, claiming 3rd in the non turbo UTV class. Kristen raced Jimco’s first UTV for Terrabit Racing, which brought Wayne a win at last year’s Baja 500.
Billy Wilson Finishes with Points Towards the Championship
Coming off a stunning San Felipe 250 overall victory in his first Score Trophy Truck race, Billy Wilson of Bevly-Wilson Racing, out of Texas, was anxious to get back behind the wheel of his number 15 4-Wheel Specialties Jimco. Complications and time constraints would not allow the rookie Trophy Truck driver to be able to test for the Baja 500 and he would have to use qualifying as his pre-race test. After a navigational error in qualifying, 25th is were Billy Wilson would start out of Ensenada. Billy and Navigator Byron Seed had a humble goal to “just move forward.” Completing the course in 9-hours, 2-minutes and 14-seconds, he was awarded the 8th place finishing position. The top 10 finish is good enough to keep the team in the points lead headed into round 3 in Rosarito in September. Gary Magness in the #45 Jimco concluded the Top-10 in Trophy Truck class.
Jimco Present Among Class-10 Finishers
CLASS-10 FINISHERS:
4th = #1088 Sergio Salgado
12th = #1056 Johnny Buss
13th = #1060 Armando Boehme
16h = #1018 Miguel Tornel Jr.
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Jimco Racing’s Special Feature: The Baja Bug of Dreams
On March 21st, a snap shot of a fully assembled race-ready Baja Bug was published on the social media outlets of Jimco Racing, Inc. In a matter of hours, the image had rallied over 15,000 “likes” on Facebook, almost 5,000 shares and reached the eyes of over 500,000 people. Comments like, “That is the baddest bug I’ve ever seen! And I’ve seen lots!” and, “… this is a Jimco work of art!” swirled through many more comments of praise, comments of desert racing enthusiasts alerting other desert racing enthusiasts, and comments begging to know more about this “insane and inspiring” new build from Jimco.
Jimco gave it’s fans what they wanted less than 24-hours later with a follow up post containing more images of the cherry red race car. Comments like, “That is a BEASTMODE bug” flooded the Facebook and Instagram feeds once more, and the crowd again reached out to Jimco for more information about this Bug of Dreams.
Gay Smith, a long time Jimco loyal, had been tearing up race courses in a car he purchased 15-years ago but decided it was time for a new race vehicle. For Gay Smith, and for many off road racers, desert racing is much more than a glorified hobby; it is a lifestyle, rich with memories. Smith wanted his new race car to not just be competitively able to burn through the contour of the desert, but also embrace the culture of desert racing.
The finished product not only captures desert off road racing from an aesthetic point-of-view, but also with the whole making memories aspect… This new Jimco chassis with a vintage-inspired body competed in the NORRA Mexican 1000: A 4-day 9-stage rally race, holding historical influence over the off-road community since 1967. Gay Smith brought his new Jimco across the final checkered flag in Cabo 7th overall, and first in class!
Specifications of Gay Smith’s “Beastmode Bug”
CLICK HERE FOR PICTURE GALLERY
MOTOR: Roush Ford V8 427ci, 650 Hp, 640 Ft Torque
TRANSMISSION: Albins 5 Speed Sequential with Convertor
WHEELBASE: 120″
TRACK WIDTH: 92″
WHEEL TRAVEL: 22″
SUSPENSION: Jimco Champion Class 1 Suspension
STEERING: Howe 3.0 Steering Rack
TIRES: 37″ BFG KR2’s on 17″ Method Wheels
BRAKES: Jamar Trophy Truck Caliper
BODY: Custom 1966 VW Bug
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Cody Parkhouse Wins his Second Consecutive Race
The 1501 Jimco took home a first place trophy in it’s last race, the Mint-400, which ignited a new confidence for the Parkhouse race team. Cody Parkhouse was ready to carry that Mint momentum into Laughlin, for round-3 of the Best in the Desert series.
Starting side-by-side on row 2, after a 4th place qualifying effort, Parkhouse’s task to win was not going to be elementary. By the 3rd lap, and 48-minutes and 57-seconds of racing, the 1501 had the lead. Cody took the Day-1 win by 1 minute and 53 seconds. Day-2 started with Parkhouse on the front row. He got the jump off the line, ahead of Sam Berri’s #1549, and never looked back. Cody took Sunday’s race by a full minute plus 3-seconds.
Two days, two wins. Two races, two wins. Congratulations on the back-to-back golds Cody!
Sam Berri maintained his competitiveness with his 1549 Jimco during both days of racing. He finished his first lap of day-1 with the fastest time of the 1500-class but was unable to keep the lead and would take home 2nd on the day. Starting on the front row for day-2 would give him one chance to take back valuable time he lost to Parkhouse the previous day, but it was not to be… By the end of the infield, Berri would fall inline behind the 1501 and take 3rd on the day, giving him a 2nd place finish for the weekend and giving Jimco 1500-cars the 1-2 finish.
Kevin Thompson was on the move in his 1590 Jimco 2000 Series until the motor Gods had other ideas and ended his day early. The 1547 of Pat McCarthy would debut his new Jimco Champion and take home a solid 6th place. Brady Thompson in the 1568 Jimco 2000 would finish 7th.
Jason Voss Follows up his Mint-400 Podium with Another Podium!
The blue and white Jimco Trick Truck of Voss Motorsports is a common sight to see at the front of the pack, dazzling race spectators with top speeds and being, “the best truck to watch,” as stated by a fan on Day-2 at the Laughlin Desert Classic.
Jason Voss qualified 5th but by the end of the first lap, just 16-minutes into the race, he had established a comfortable 3rd place position on time, and would stay there. “[It was a] Clean run and the truck is good. [I] can’t wait to hang it all out tomorrow,” Jason stated in satisfaction of Saturday’s race in the #35 Jimco. Indeed, Jason, indeed. On day-2, Voss took the cleanest lines and became the never-yielding leader on lap-3, taking the win on day-2. His combined effort over both days granted him a valuable 2nd place finish, the second podium finish of the season for Voss in his Jimco Trick Truck.
The #41 of Justin Lofton would have a tough day-1 and clean day-2 to earn him an 8th place finishing spot on the weekend. The #55 of Anthony Terzo would round out the top-10 after fighting alternator belt issues all weekend.
Hildebrand Impresses with a Great Effort!
The 1068 Jimco of Blade Hildebrand fought the Laughlin desert hard, and made the leaders aware of his presence at the track. He started in the 12th position but like a ninja in the night, he “came out of no where,” according to a reaction at the finish on Day-1, by patiently sneaking to the top spots lap-after-lap. Hildebrand found himself in the 4th position on time after the first lap, 2nd after the second lap and was in the lead by the third lap, holding that position through the finishing point of day-1. On day-2, he maintained his presence in the top spots until an unfortunate fuel-leak-out-of-gas incident ended Blade’s chances at victory. He finished 7th.
The 1056 Buss Sports entry of Johnny Buss would endure a faulty oil sensor on Saturday and finish 6th. The drama continued Sunday with a flat tire and Buss Motorsports took 3rd for the day, giving their Jimco a weekend score of 4th place. The 1055 of Shane Earn encounter a few on-course incidents and take home a 6th place finish.
1500-CLASS
1st Cody Parkhouse
2nd Sam Berri
6th Pat McCarthy
7th Brady Turner
TRICK TRUCK
2nd Jason Voss
8th Justin Lofton
10th Anthony Terzo
Jimco Claims Global Wins in Australia & Baja Last Weekend
Matthew Kittle was awarded his first Pro/Outright win in his #23 Jimco, and says that he is, “looking forward to carrying this [podium] through to Finke.” Kittle was among 6 Jimco drivers; including Travis Robinson, Shannon Rentsch, Mark Burrows and Glen Owen, to qualify for the Sunraysia 600 in the Top-9. The race conditions were dry and blindingly dusty, and Kittle stated he “felt all 600km” of this 2-day endurance race. Finishing on the podium in 3rd place was Jack Rhodes, who qualified 3rd in his #91 Pro-Class Jimco.
The 2015 AORC points champion came to the Sunraysia 600 with confidence. Steven Sanderson, and his “Green Beast” #401 Jimco Extreme 2WD Trophy Truck declared a class win, after a rough qualifying session. Sanderson had to gambit his way from the 42nd starting position with ambitions high and sirens loud. A live feed of the race showed the #401 growling passed the field, leaving an echo of awe in the dust behind him.Sanderson’s win marks back to back wins in Sunraysia and puts him in a great position to defend his title heading into Finke.
The CODE Night Race brings an exciting challenge to racers every year, and a chance to prove their talent can shine without the sun. With light bars ready, 171 entries divided on separate tracks lit up the night in northern Baja.
With an outstretched finish of 6-minutes over 2nd place, Rene Cuevas takes his back-to-back overall win and 1st place class finish in his #7 Jimco.
Additional Jimco podium finishers from the CODE Night Race are Alberto Ritchie with the Class-10 win, and Renato Villalpando in 2nd place for the 1600-Class.
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Jimco’s Presence on the Podium Continues at SNORE’s Motion Tire 300
Ronny Wilson takes home his second 1st place trophy of the year in his #138, while his son, Brad, adds a 3rd place trophy to his podium collection. The Wilson Motorsports entry #138 was piloted by Ronny, Randy & Brian Wilson and the Wilson Motorsports #139 was piloted by Brad Wilson and Kyle Quin. Brad Wilson’s Jimco Class-1 threw down the second-fastest lap time of the class. The fastest lap time of the class was set by Ronny’s car, which averaged a stunning 51 mph average over the brutal dusty terrain in Ridgecrest, California.
Podium finishes in the 10-car class featured a 3rd place finish by #1053 of Fred Hatch, and a 2nd place finish by the #1056 of Johnny Buss.
Buss’s unmistakable purple and yellow single-seat Class-10 was described as “a rocket,” as it carved through the course, like a hot knife through butter, moving from the 20th position to the second position. More impressive still; this was only the second race in the new #1056… and this Jimco clocked the fastest class 10 time and the third fastest lap time of all classes. Johnny includes the Jimco prep and chase team to much of his success in the Motion Tire 300.
Jimco’s family presence was represented not only by the Wilson’s, but with the father daughter team of Will J and Emily Staats in the #42 Jimco Trophy Truck. This race marked Emily’s first Trophy Truck drive who finished a respectable 4th place. Emily is a previous Class-1300 Champion, and possesses some intimidation as a pilot in the TT class. She will be a driver to keep an eye on.
]]>5 out of 6 Overall Race Wins!
With Danny Brown’s 1st overall execution of the ARB Griffith 400, Jimco captures five 1st overalls in the 6 races of participation during the 2016 season.
Jack Rhodes and David Pullino situated their #91 Jimco Pro-class buggy at the top spot after prologue, even after a crowd-pleasing display of a full 360 in the whoop section. The Rhodes/Pullino duo drove clean during the first stage and had the lead by over 2-minutes. Danny Brown and George Apted, in their #42 Jimco Pro-class buggy, enjoyed a stealthy 2nd place spot to end the stage.
Unfortunately for Rhodes his race would come to an end early in the final stage on the first lap. Brown wasted no time to capitalize on the dust-free air and solidified his overall win by 3-minutes and 31-seconds.
Jimco proudly welcomes Danny Brown, to the ever-growing 2016 list of driver’s to bring their Jimco vehicles to an overall win. The elite list stands as follows:
Reve Cuervas – CODE Grand Prix – FEB 12
Ross Mattox – SNORE Battle at Primm – FEB 21
Billy Wilson – SCORE San Felipe 250 – FEB 28
Justin Lofton – BITD Mint 400 – MAR 13
Danny Brown – ARB Griffith 400 – MAR 20
To add to the 5 overall victories on the year Jimco vehicles have 11 classes victories in those 6 races. Jimco’s have claimed real estate on 22 podium positions. These driver’s are all dangerous contenders in the hunt for championship titles and bragging rights.
TROPHY/TRICK TRUCK:
1st – Will Staats (Battle at Primm)
1st – Billy Wilson (San Felipe 250)
1st – Justin Lofton (Mint 400)
3rd – Jason Voss (Mint 400)
TT/CLS-1:
1st – Reve Cuervas (Grand Prix)
2nd – Alfredo Torres (Grand Prix)
CLASS-1:
1st – Cory Keysar (Parker 425)
1st – Ross Mattox (Battle at Primm)
1st – Ronny Wilson (San Felipe 250)
1st – Cody/Brian Parkhouse (Mint 400)
3rd – Pat McCarthy (Parker 425)
PRO-Class:
1st – Danny Brown (Griffith 400)
3rd Terry Merriman (Griffith 400)
CLASS-10:
2nd – Jason Coleman (Parker 425)
3rd – Sergio Salgado (San Felipe 250)
3rd – Jason Coleman (Mint 400)
CLASS-12:
1st – Bob Elio (Parker 425)
1st – Brad Wilson (Mint 400)
3rd – Rafael Navarro (San Felipe 250)
PROLITE-Class:
3rd – Sam Egan (Griffith 400)
Pro UTV Turbo:
2nd – Wayne Matlock (Mint 400)
Pro UTV:
2nd – Kristen Matlock (Mint 400)
For continuously updated coverage, follow Jimco Racing, Inc. on social media!Visit www.JimcoParts.com and use code EASTER15 and receive 15% off all items listed in the “Jimco Exclusive Products” category. Now through Monday March 28th.
]]>Brown started the day out of second place, following prologue pace setters Jack Rhodes and David Pullino until the 8km mark on the first lap when Rhodes was stopped trackside with fan belt issues, handing the the lead and dust free run to Brown. Making the most of the open track, Brown pushed on hard, storming home with a 3m31s lead over second placed Dale Martin and Adrian Rowe. It looked like being a Martin second and third outright until the early demise of the #25 with Brent Martin behind the wheel; engine gremlins ending their dream run on lap two.
Greg Gartner and Jamie Jennings were also in the podium mix until front suspension failure on the Ford #410 on lap 2 saw them in the hands of recovery. As the higher powered machines faltered, the ProLite buggies stepped up to the challenge, securing four of the top five outright placings.
Andrew Mowles made his trip from Alice Springs worthwhile, slotting into third outright, 7m48s behind Martin, with standing navigator and local Dean Meginley in the #135.
The Sam Egan, Adam Gilkinson Jimco #188 combination had a consistent run to take fourth outright ahead of Troy Duff and Daniel Mansfield Jimco #128, just 25.69seconds off the pace of Egan.
The 2016 ARB Off Road Racing Series now heads to Sea Lake for the ARB Mallee Rally over the Queen’s Birthday June longweek.
The big guns fell early with third placed Andy Brown and Mark Sedran out of event when a ball joint nut on the front suspension parted ways causing the loss of the front wheel in the #42 ; Andy now relegated to pit crew chief for second placed son Danny.
Action gets underway at 8:30 with the remaining 41 off roaders taking to the Stackpoole track for three long gruelling laps.
Andy Brown and Mark Sedran #45 were just 1.529seconds shy of Ryan to round out the prologue podium, and 3.071 seconds ahead of son Danny Brown and George Apted in the Jimco #42 to secure family bragging rights for the ARB Griffith 400 prologue. Dale Martina and Adrian Rowe #103 completed the top five, 15.032 seconds off the pace of Brown junior.
Great Race Cars Succeed in the Great American Off-Road Race:
Jimco Wins MINT 400
Justin Lofton came into the weekend of the 2016 Mint 400 with his Jimco Trick Truck, as the previous overall winner and winner in his class. After qualifying first, it became clear to all that his intentions were more than just to participate in the legendary Great American Off-Road Race, but he wanted to win.
After approximately 35-minutes into the first lap, Lofton began to lose precious seconds to the #35 Jimco Trick Truck of Jason Voss. By the time the first lap was complete, Lofton was a full minute behind Voss on time. The desert began to put up a good fight against Voss during that second lap, and the lead on time was up for grabs between pristine drivers like Rob MacCachren, Bryce Menzies and Eduardo Laguna, with Andy McMillin looking to get a piece of the top spot as well. By the end of the 2nd lap, Lofton was sitting in fourth place on time, 2 full minutes out of first place while Jason Voss was back in the 8th spot.
Both Lofton and Voss knew their Jimco Trick Trucks could handle their determination on that final lap and through down their gas pedals. Photographer Eric Minks said this of Voss’s effort: ” I have to say, some of the most impressive driving I had seen all day was Jason Voss. He launched down a whole hill never lifted and was trying to give it all that truck had!” At the mid-point of the last lap, Voss had cataputled all the way to 5th place on time, less than 1-minute away from Bryce Menzies, who was holding on to third. Meanwhile, Justin Lofton had reclaimed the top spot… and that is where he would remain.
The champagne rained down for 2nd generation Jimco driver Justin Lofton, and his crew, as he became the first driver since 1972 to hold the title of Back-To-Back Mint 400 Overall Winner.
Jason Voss diligently crossed the finish line in 3rd place.
Other Trick Truck finishers include the Jimco builds of Troy Vest, Justin Summers, Robbie Pierce and Kevin Curtis.
The Father/Son Parkhouse team has had their fair share of more than enough 2nd place finishes in Best In The Desert races, but their #1501 Jimco is now a Mint 400 class winner, and also holds the fastest lap-time!
Cody Parkhouse was structured in a side-by-side start and dropped the lead position to Kevin Thompson. Parkhouse spent the first lap fighting to get his time to the number one post, and by the beginning of the 2nd lap, the fight was won. Through every timing check from there on out, including the third lap when Brian Parkhouse took the driver’s seat, the lead extended. Congratulations to Brian and Cody on their team effort!
Cory Keysar and Erick Jacobs enjoyed finishing spots in the Top-10 for their respective Jimcos, while Jimco drivers Pat McCarthy and Sam Berri can claim they too finished the 2016 Mint 400.
Jason Coleman stands among the Mint 400 podium, for his second consecutive Best In The Desert race, with his #1071 Jimco.
Like Parkhouse, Coleman also had to display patience with a side-by-side start. It was between Coleman and Roger Starkey as to who would set the pace for the first lap of over 30 other cars in their class. The two competitors flipped back and forth between the lead position, and also took turns getting flat tires over the rocky topography. Approaching the third lap brought new challenges; like lap traffic and a torn up track. Being the smart driver that he is, Jason chose not to risk more flat tires with hazardous passes and finished the race 2nd physical, 3rd on corrected time, 10-seconds away from the 2nd place mark.
Miguel Torrel and Shane Earn also celebrated top-10 finishes in their Jimcos, for the 1000-class.
Still hyped-up from his impressive San Felipe run, Brad Wilson was unstoppable at this years Mint 400 in the 1100-class.
Brad started in the 3rd position, but stole the lead early in the first lap and never looked back. Finishing first physical hinted to a win on the clock, and as the other drivers finished their races, it was confirmed that Brad held the best time by a huge margin of almost 25-minutes. Unsurprisingly, Wilson also holds the title for fastest lap-time.
The UTV Turbo and UTV 1900 classes were graced by the Matlock’s podium presence, as both Wayne and Kristen stood proudly in second place, in their corresponding classes.
Wayne Matlock chose to take a slow but even pace at first, understanding the contour of the land. Flat tires plagued his Jimco UTV Turbo , but Wayne was able to charge on the last lap and launch himself in second place.
Kristen Matlock secured the second place finishing spot, in her second ever Best In The Desert Race. The previous race she ran in her Jimco UTV 1900 was also a second place finish. Two consecutive races, Two consecutive second place finishes… this could be the start of a very successful UTV racing career for Kristen in her pink Terabit Racing Jimco. “I can’t believe this,” Kristen exclaimed on the finishing stage, “I’m so excited! [Wayne and Kristen] finished second, we finished the Mint-400 and I’m super happy!”
Races next up for the Jimco elite:
The ARB Griffith 400 – March 18/19/20 – NSW, Australia
The AORC Sunraysia 600 – April 8/9/10 – Mildura, Australia
The CODE Night Race – April 8/9/10 – Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico
Billy Wilson Stuns the San Felipe 250 with his First Entry as a SCORE Trophy Truck
The in-house designed, built, and prepped Jimco Trophy Truck #15, piloted by Billy Wilson of Corpus Christi, Texas, met dirt for the second time ever and took home the checkered flag this past weekend in San Felipe. Jimco race support completed a 4-tire change and fuel pit stop in under 60-seconds at race mile 150.
This is the second time a turn-key Jimco Trophy Truck has won the overall in the past year in their second race; the first being the #41 Trophy Truck at last year’s Mint 400, piloted by Justin Lofton.
Jimco Trophy Truck driver Gary Magnes survived the harsh terrain and brought the #45 to a respectable 5th place finish.
Long time Jimco racer Ronny Wilson, keeps off-road racing a family tradition, as his son Brad Wilson, was among the talented field of Jimco Class-1 drivers, including; Al Torres, Richardo Malo, Monica Greenhill and Paul Keller. The #153 of Brad Wilson was not far behind his father but in the end, Ronny showed his son how it’s done in Baja by taking the top spot on the podium in the #138. Jimco press will keep a close eye on this friendly father/son competition.
After the Baja 1000, the #1088 of Sergio Salgado went to Jimco Racing Inc, for rear end surgery. After getting new rear arm, rear hubs, brakes and rear bumper, the car was tested and tuned by Jimco staff the evening before the race in San Felipe, making this Jimco race car a force to be reckoned with.
Sergio Salgado tasted sweet victory as the first finisher of the Class-10s in the #1088, but an unfortunate Virtual Check Point penalty bumped Salgado back to third. Look for Salgado to be a continuing threat to the podium in future races.
Jimco Trophy Truck Spec finisher Russ Buehler traveled all the way from Kansas City with his brother Neil to compete in the SCORE series. The #201 finished 4th in class.
Despite electrical conflicts, the new Jimco Trophy Truck Spec #254 of Andres Ruffo finished the race in 6th place.
2016 San Felipe 250 Official Finishers
Trophy Truck:
1st 15 Billy Wilson
5th 45 Gary Magnes
Class 1:
1st 138 Ronny Wilson
5th 114 Al Torres
6th 153 Brad Wilson
8th 118 Ricardo Malo
TT Spec:
4th 201 Russ Buehler
6th 254 Andres Ruffo
Class 10:
3rd 1088 Sergio Salgado
7th 1060 Armando Boehme
Class 12:
3rd 1209 Rafael Navarro
NEXT UP: The BITD Mint 400
Look for Jimco Racing, Inc. at contingency to view Johnny Buss’ new single-seat 10-car, and the new Polaris Turbo RZR of Wayne Matlock.
Corey Keysar is victorious in his Jimco Champion Series class 1500 car
Corey Keysar hangs on to win his 3rd Parker event in 4 years, leading a talented group of Jimco drivers, that claimed four other spots of the top-10 finishers in class 1500.
Class 1500 Results
1st Corey Keysar
3rd Pat McCarthy
4th Brent Parkhouse
5th Charley McDowell
9th Kevin Thompson
Jason Coleman leads the field of Jimco class 10 cars with a solid 2nd place finish to start his campaign for the 2016 championship title.
Way back in 1975, a family from El Cajon, California, began a love affair with the desert and with off road racing. As a hobby to bring the family together, Jim Julson and his son Mike built their first off road race car. They began watching and studying other cars, and were able to identify ways to improve upon the previous generations of off road race cars.
Whether it was simple weight reduction, mass producing cars to use the A-Arm suspension system, making steering and other suspension upgrades, or following trends, taking what was working on one class of car and applying them to other classes, the Julsons were able to innovate and build cars that continually improved performance and more importantly, they won races and championships.
Last month SCORE awarded Jimco Racing its 21st consecutive Chassis Builder of the Year Award. An acknowledgement fueled by innovation. Jimco has been able to build cars that win races for 21 straight years.
As we enter into 2016, Jimco keeps working to improve and stay on top of its game.
This graphic shows the evolution of Jimco Racing cars over the years from 1975 to 2016. The fact that Jimco has continued building the highest performing cars is no surprise. What it introduces in its next generation of cars in the first quarter of 2016, however, may very well come as a surprise.
Until we’re ready to share this next generation of car, take a look at some of the projects Jimco currently has in the works.
Jimco Baja Bug – Customer: Gay Smith @ GSR Racing, Debut: Norra 1000
Jimco RZR #2 “Turbo Charged ” – Customer: Wayne Matlock Terrabit Racing; Set to debut at the UTV world championships in February, 2016
Jimco Single Seat Class 10 – Customer: Johnny Buss. Buss Sports; Debut: The Mint 400
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As 2015 comes to a close, the team at Jimco is once again proud of its success building cars that win races and championships:
All in all, 17 drivers crossed the finish line as winners or series champions in Jimco built cars:
All in all, Jimco drivers totaled 22 Class Wins, 11 Overall Wins, 3 Championships and 48 Podium finishes in the SCORE, BITD, AORC, ARB and Dakar Series.
2015 SCORE International
Class 1: 2nd Victor Barreda & 3rd Rob Archibald
Class 12: 2nd Rafael Navarro III
2015 Best in the Desert (BITD)
Trick Truck: 2nd Jason Voss
Class 1500: 1st Cody Parkhouse
Class 10: 3rd Jason Coleman
2015 Australian Off Road Championship (AORC)
Overall Points Champion: Shannon Rentsch
Pro-Buggy: 1st Shannon Rentsch & 3rd Jack Rhodes
Trophy Truck: 1st Steven Sanderson
2015 ARB Off Road Racing Series
Pro-Buggy: 2nd Brad Chasemore
When all was said and done, and with the success and championships coming from several talented teams, Jimco was recognized by SCORE as the Original Buggy Chassis Builder of the Year. SCORE will honor Jimco once again at the annual SCORE Awards Night on Saturday, December 12.
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Terry Hui and Wayne Matlock from Team Terabbit Racing drove the #1971 Jimco Polaris RZR to their third race win of the year in this new Jimco car. The car originally debuted at the SCORE Baja 500 where they shocked the class with a dominating win. After that, they backed it up with another win, that time at the SCORE Imperial Valley 250. Winning the SCORE Baja 1000 for their third win in 2015 is pretty impressive!
“We had a little bit of a visibility issue along the coast right before dark but everything went good and thank you to SCORE for organizing such a great race. I am a beginner and this is the second time I’ve entered a race and without the side-by-side industry I wouldn’t be in the race. It has been a game changer.”
Terry Hui, quote from Score International
The Wilson Motorsports team fielded 2 cars this year in the SCORE Baja 1000 with the #153 and #138 in the early stages of the race had both cars running 1-2 at race mile 250. Unfortunately the #138 of Randy Wilson, Ronny Wilson & John Herder would have an engine expire at race mile 385 leaving the trio of young guns as the sole hope for a team victory. The #153 was driven be Brian Wilson and first time class 1 racers Brad Wilson and Kyle Quinn. A flat tire and torn brake line later the #153 would cross the line and finish 3rd.
“Brian had a great run off the start moving around between first, second and third and he kept the car alive. We had some issues and lost the right rear brakes but other than that we were just trying to get it home. Running in Class 10 was awesome and we had a great time. This is our first time racing a Class 1 car and what better a place than the Bud Light SCORE Baja 1000 to race it. It was a great time and the car is fast. Everything clicked today when we were driving and we got to bring it home.”
Brad Wilson Quote from SCORE International
#127 Cody Parkhouse 5th Place Class 1
Cody Parkhouse Takes 5th in Class 1 at the SCORE Baja 1000
#160 Victor Barreda 6th Place Class 1
In his first Baja 1000, driver Luis Javier Salgado represented the MRacing88 Team in car #1088 and he would overcome early bottle necks and no rear brakes to earn a top 5 finish in the SCORE Baja 1000.
“We got tied up in the bottleneck at race mile 50 and then we lost brakes at mile 110 so we ran without rear brakes basically the whole race. We had the throttle linkage binding up as well.”
Matt Loiodice Quote from SCORE International
Gustavo Pinuelas, driving the Jimco #1210 car for Team Aerodynamix Race Prep defied the odds and made the race even harder than it usually is by completing the race as a solo driver. Gustavo set a challenge of soloing the SCORE Baja 1000 and he did it, completing the course in 23 Hours and 54 Minutes, just over 30 minutes out of first place.
Now that the SCORE Baja 1000 is over, the Jimco crew is back to work. First up, Jimco will participate in an honored Thanksgiving holiday tradition by having a Black Friday Sale. You can take advantage of two special offers:
These deals are good from 4pm Wednesday, November 25 until midnight Sunday, November 29! Go out and buy some parts for your cars!
]]>The two specials are:
Special Offers good from Wednesday, November 25 at 4pm Pacific through Sunday, November 29 at midnight at the Jimco Parts store.
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Jimco drivers are champions. They are men who overcome extreme adversity to achieve great results. It helps that they drive the best off road race cars. Mortal men would run from the idea of driving a car over 100 miles per hour for almost 24 hours straight across an unforgiving desert land. Unless those men have the luxury of being able to drive a Jimco race car.
The Baja 1000 is considered the Granddaddy of off road racing for a reason. The sport was practically invented in Baja in 1962 when two crazies on motorcycles timed how long it took them to ride from Tijuana to La Paz…952 miles. They did it in just under 40 hours. Five years later, a race was born. The 2015 race will be the 48th version.
For the 2015 Baja 1000, Jimco Racing is proud to be represented by some of the most fearless off road race car drivers – men who don’t like to slow down or back away from a challenge such as the Baja 1000:
153 Brian Wilson
147 Pat McCarthy
127 Cody Parkhouse
138 Randy Wilson
160 Victor Barreda
104 Rob Archibald
852 Russell Buehler
1088 Luis Salgado
1042 Lars Ferry
1018 Miguel Tornel, Sr.
1210 Cesar Pinuelos Rivero
1209 Rafael Navarro
1971 Terry Hui
1501 Dean Acton
If you aren’t able to make it down to Baja this weekend, you can follow some of the action via livestream
Get them now or wait until Black Friday for a deal!
Friday, November 25 is Black Friday. Instead of tagging along with your wife or girlfriend to shop for clothes, come on over to the Jimco Parts Store and take advantage of two hot deals:
If you’d like to receive insider news about the off road racing industry or special promotions and offers from Jimco Racing, join our email list below.