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Today, Motocross legend Jeremy mcgrath trades in his bike for a race truck.
See
how these works are gearing up for a career racing
in short track doesn't liven up a Wisconsin winter night. Nothing will.
And
it's part truck, part buggy and man can it fly.
It's 30 minutes of nonstop fuel driven adrenaline as we crisscross the country in search of off road action.
Welcome to off road action. I'm your host me
twice. All set to bring you coast to coast to wheel and four wheel drive action.
Our first stop is to
this, the California and the core series where we saw a Motocross legend returned to rookie status this time behind the wheel
with 200 career wins, 12 titles, best selling video games as well as appearances on Jay Leno and MTV. Jeremy mcgrath single handedly brought motorcycle racing into the mainstream
as far as competing full time professional Motocross guy
that's gone.
Now, 34 years old and semi retired Baldwin racing hooked him up with a core ride for four races.
Probably the closest thing you can get to Motocross without being on a bike. So I think that's the appeal to it. I mean, you can get a lot of air.
You have a lot of horse power.
It's pretty hair
and the adrenaline gets going for sure. I'm loving it.
Making the jump from 2 to 4 wheels required a whole new
approach to tackling the track with the bike. You lean the bike, you hit the route, you turn, you accelerate. And
when I first started driving the trucks, I was spinning out a lot
because I was always, I would flick the truck in the corner and then just stomp on the gas.
And so I would spin out. Everything is a little bit of more of a delayed reaction and I'm figuring that out. He's not the first to drive down this path of discovery. There's a lot of guys that have had a lot of motorcycle experience
after winning 10 Baha won thousands on a motorcycle. Larry Rossler went on to win Baja in a truck. He believes Jeremy has the training needed to compete. There's definitely a learning curve, but I think, you know, the, the, the motorcycle pro rider, our learning curve is a lot quicker. It's a lot faster. It crosses over a lot of it. Reading the terrain, having a feel for the equipment, having a feel for the suspension. Those are things that a good motorcycle rider
can transfer over.
Jeremy's ride is a far cry from the 2 50 CC bikes he's used to.
This is the truck that Baldwin racing has built for Jerry mcgrath and this thing is bad.
So this machine here would roughly cost around 250,000.
It's a Ford F 150. This thing will haul the mail. It puts out 850 horsepower, 750 ft phone guitar
as lead mechanic of the number two machine. The glare of the spotlight doesn't rattle Ryan Waggoner.
There's a lot of pressure riding
for,
you know, all I on Jerry mcgrath, it's just you gotta keep your head and stay focused and do what you come out here to do and that's to get first place being this close to racing royalty made. This season's wrench. A little starstruck
having someone like Jerry mcgrath, you grew up watching them on TV. And as a little kid watch him race and wanna be, you know, just meet him and hang out with them and
having the chance.
This is just like a dream come true to me. Even the veterans were a little gaga over the rookie driver. He's going to be one of the youngest guys out here. He's born again,
so to speak. Well, I think it's extremely exciting to have guys like Jeremy. He's obviously an incredibly talented person and he's going to do very well at this after finishing in the top five in his first three races, some drivers were a little jealous of the newcomer.
There are probably a few guys that are a little upset that I come in and get the best truck out here and get this opportunity because
they've been doing it for such a long time and maybe some of them maybe never even finished where I finished so far. So I could see where they'd be a little bit upset. But for the most part, everyone, everyone's been awesome
heading into the final race. Anything less than victory would be unacceptable.
I've been a little bit conservative up to this point, but today is the final day and it's time to let it hang out,
running forth. A mechanical problem, forced an early retirement
mcgrath though, handled the setback like the champion. He is,
stuff's gonna break a lot more than it does on a motorcycle.
So,
you know,
the experience has been, uh, something I'll never forget. And if I never do it again, it's, it's, it's been an unbelievable ride, but
we'll try and see what we can work out for next year.
Been over 20 years since Jeremy was considered a rookie.
And an audition for the Baldwin has turned into a regular guest spot on their core race team.
They tuned to off road action because there's more coming up.
They're not trophy trucks pushing 800 horses, but for these kids, there's no bigger thrill than trophy cart racing.
My
favorite
part of the track
is
what
you get to jump very high and everything
they tuned off road action will be right. Back
now. We've shown you mot cross up ice before, but move the race to nine o'clock at night, put up a few floodlights and shorten the track by two thirds. And you've got a two wheel slug fest.
Hold on your two for February Fun in Wisconsin.
Thanks to the Sunset Tavern on Lake K
on Wisconsinites. Don't have to spend Saturday nights at home during the winter
really fast o
track race.
Yeah, the short track event we got tonight,
it's gonna be awesome. We got a huge turnout of riders in the area of 100 100 riders.
I
love short track. You know, it's kind of my,
that's kind of my bread and butter that style track right there and, and hustling that thing around there and that's what I do. You know, I like hustling around a little short track
under 8000 watts of light. They're going fast and running it tight. Oh, yeah. This track is a pretty small track racing will be tight tonight. Probably see a few riders go down. Hopefully everybody will stay safe. It's not unusual to be bumping and banging into each other. It's,
it's fun.
It's fun.
That's the fun. You know, everybody's going
real fast right on top of each other.
He was all the way over the one in the middle there. He was like, they
last and he was, like, right on, right on the foot
the whole way. He was just too hot. So,
this is awesome because at,
at night time it's a little weird when you're on the track, it's all lit up and you're like, in your own little phone, you can't see nothing outside of the track.
That perception is kind of a little bit different because the lights aren't perfect. But, uh,
it just gives a whole new thrill to it.
It doesn't scare me one bit. I love it.
It's a little bit different. You get a little bit of glare. You know, everybody gets a little amped up because a little bit short of race, you know, everything kind of clicks off a lot faster and stuff at night and that. So, you know, a little bit different, more of a little like circus atmosphere, I think.
Oh,
these guys are suicide jockeys, man. I mean, come on Sacramento Miles. One thing was this, I don't know about it. It's a bunch of crazy guys with studded tires having a good time.
It's those studs that allow the bikes to stay upright at over 50 miles an hour on the short track. You have
excellent traction. I mean, it's just unbelievable traction.
More traction you ever have in a dirt bike in the dirt? That's for sure.
I'm glad I, these things stick better than pavement. You can
jack it into the corner and you just
go
the angle of the screw and the placement of how you put them in the knob is actually what gives you the bite. Uh, you know, as the screws start to turn, you have to go back and tune them so that they stay sharp and they'll actually sharpen themselves as you ride on them,
you hook up real consistent. So I guess you can trust, it's easy to trust your bite, you know, to just lace it on in there and real close to somebody
the best
it's cold out
but fun
sliding into the corner, whipping it out, it sticks like pavement.
It's awesome, man. It's the
best. You got to try it
with a shot to move on to the winner. Take all dash for cash 100 racers in eight classes, throw it down on the ice,
not old enough for a driver's permit, but on the ice, he didn't crack under the pressure.
The 14 year old was ready to take on the big boys after winning the 250 amateur class,
Jeff free. That is a legend in off road and builds ice tires in the winter. However, his golden pedigree wasn't enough to help him in the 500 class.
I just took the 500 out yesterday. A little pond right behind my house and you can't even shift. It's so small, you know,
and it's like
fired up. It ran like, well, it must work. It worked good the last time I was out. So I gotta do some playing with the tire pressure or something in that thing because
it ain't working the way it's at.
No worries because his third place in the 250 Pro race earned him a spot in the cold cash. Round
one rider who wasn't advancing was Brad Highland. And his ancient husky.
Actually, I'm going really fast.
I make those guys look faster. That's all it's a fossil about like me.
Uh, I believe it's about the early, early seventies vintage Husqvarna
and I had to put a new gas tank on it.
Uh, took the rear fender off. Didn't need much, didn't need that much and took a few parts off and added a few. And that was about it.
Now, with the help of everyday items, he was able to make some more modifications. The seat was getting pretty ratty so I needed something new and you don't use the back part of the seat anyway. So I thought, wow, a bicycle seat will work. So I, I
found that in the garage and put that on there
and, uh, the beer can was an attempt to deflect the, the noise
and, uh, they got a noise ordinance and I'm gonna try to comply. It's too, it's too loud for me.
Brad wasn't going to take home any medals or money on this night, but to him that's not what it's all about. Yeah. Th
this is a hoot first time out on a pond on a friend of mine's pond. I just got hooked. That was it. I gotta do it. You know, it, it's fun. It's a lot of fun. I'm
really worried about the dash for cash race.
A lot of fast food is gonna be in that race.
21 racers advanced to the finals. The pros started in the back and had 10 laps to catch the amateurs.
It makes it kind of fair for everybody and we have had
amateurs
win
and they're just tickled to death that they can beat the pros. So
it's a fun race.
Greg Pickett rules, the Lakes of Michigan. So he was looking forward to taking on the Wisconsin competition.
It's always fun to get, um, come over to another state and,
and just, um, ride, ride against guys that I've never rode against before.
You know, that's,
that's a lot of the fun right there.
Pickett blew away the pros then picked off the amateurs one, sometimes two at a time.
It then became a race between the season pro and the new kid on the ice
experience paid off this time as Pickett passed Brock on the outside and held on to win the jackpot that will help with the gas money. But, you know what, I would have done it for free. You know, I just have fun riding. That's all. That was a lot of fun handicap race. Never done very many of them starting in the back row like that. That was fun, you know, coming through the traffic. That, that was fun. Lots of fun.
What could be more fun than racing under the lights? Well, the after party at the Toasty Sunset Tavern, a warm way to top off a cold night.
14 year old Brock Schwarzenbach has grown up a bit since he first shot this piece racing in the A Ma Midwest flat track series in the summer along with Ice Short Track in the winter.
He's still too young to get into the Sunset tavern though.
Stay tuned to off road action because when we come back, we're going to the score
Laughlin Desert Challenge to watch the unlimited Class One Fly
International is one of the world's premier off road series
and classes ranging from pro trucks to VWs nearly any truck enthusiast can get in on the action.
Let's head to the Laughlin Desert Challenge for more.
While the main event at the score,
Laughlin Desert Challenge is the million dollar trophy trucks. They're not the only ones kicking up some desert dust.
Anyone that wants to come out and build a vehicle, we have a class for it. You know, I don't know any other form of motor sports that you could do this and this is racing. I mean, this is all the fun a guy could have in a lifetime. This is an E ride
with no restrictions. The class one unlimited is our score. Racing's fantasy come true class where Wayne Lugo can rip it up.
It's the thrill of chasing down people. It's the thrill of the driving. It's the thrill, the speed
and it's just a thrill of survival.
We're talking about 100 and 30 miles an hour over dirt. It takes some real
coons to get out there and do what these guys do. Wayne's doing it from the cockpit of his bank's power trie,
we took a truck, all the technology of a truck but we skinned it like a buggy. You take a truck and a buggy, you slam the two words together
has
get a truckie. Everything here is a one off piece of equipment. Motors in the front says 447 cubic inch
Ford V8, 800 horsepower, 700 ft pounds of torque. Red lines at about 7400 RPM. It's pretty impressive when you can sit in this seat
and uh, and be able to put the hammer down for that for that kind of speed.
It always wants to get out of control. I mean, the horsepower is your friend because you can drive through problems, but horsepower is your worst enemy because it puts you right into every problem too.
And it is, that's the whole rush right there. Just slamming the gear just
and just, just, just standing on it
to win. He's got to stand on it for 244 mile races.
When the green flag drop,
you've got to focus on one thing. It's gas and breaking and shifting
and, you know, how, how fast can I get in that turn? Where, where's my breaking point? Where do I gas
and how fast can I accelerate?
With all that Power Wayne's truck needs the suspension to handle it. I tell
you,
if you go back the old school when they didn't have the shock technology, they didn't have the travel, you had to drive through the bumps
and when you're driving through the bump it's slower. The fastest way is over the top of the bump,
we'll travel. That's what the sport is all about
this right here. That gives you that 20 inches to travel all the way drooped down. So when we're going over the bumps, we're coming off the jumps, that suspension is falling and the whole, the whole point is how fast can it fall to touch the ground? Because the more time the wheel has contact with the ground, the faster we can drive it.
And so when it's down on the ground level, you notice the R
control arms are flat to slightly up and this is when it's fully drooped out. Same thing for the rear end, it runs about 32 inches of rear travel
for us. It was a very safe number. The U joints are never in a position where the pinch or bind
and it gives a truck lots of time when you're skipping over the whoops, the rear end just falls. Axles, big 44 spine axles, 10 inch ring and pin
gears. All the biggest stuff that they can make. It's all special built. You don't go in your normal parts shop and buy them.
I mean, even from brakes,
they're all CNC brakes, four piston brakes, 17 inch rotors. I mean, everything on here is big. If you're gonna build a vehicle like this, it's gonna be a quarter million bucks. I tell you the cheapest part was to build it, to maintain it. Well, that's a whole another story.
After all the preparation, it comes down to race day.
He'll,
and he'll have fun. That's the most important thing.
So whatever happens
in both races, mother nature proved tougher than Wayne Lugo's truckie
got
caught, a lot of guys passed a lot of guys, but as fast as I can pass them,
I was stuck with flat tires so that they turned around and pass me. Uh, finally at the end of the day, I got two flat simultaneously. We only carry one spare tire. So I had to drive in on a flat tire. But, uh,
we had a, we had a great weekend. We were really happy for trucks to perform more to our expectations today
and, um, we'll just regroup the guys and get ready to do it again.
Welcome back to off road action
in the car racer, Danica Patrick got her first taste of competition behind the wheel of a go cart
while the core series has a true rookie class for kids called trophy cars
blasting around the race track with over 850 horses. There's nothing more intense than driving a pro core truck
driving these trucks is incredible. I mean, we stream these motors at 8400 RPM
and I tell you what, we hit these jumps anywhere from 80 to 100 miles an hour and love sailing these trucks over 100 ft long.
It's truly an adrenaline rush to the kids. These men are more than racers.
Thank
you, kid. Looking up to you want your autograph thinking you're some sort of gladiator or hero that just makes you,
that puts you on top of the world. Thanks to the core series. The kids aren't just watching their role models. They're racing like them too.
Trophy carts, kids as young as eight race, these half size replicas just like their idols.
I go 20 miles an hour and it feels really cool going that fast. It's really fun, especially when you get to pass
people when you're up in the
front. Adding to the fun, the track looks and drives like the one the pros race on.
I like the straightaways. They're my favorite because you could go as fast as you want, you could go full throttle.
My favorite part of the track is a whoops. You get to jump very high and everything and sometimes you get a pass because people don't like to jump very high.
I
wish they were around when I was a kid. That's a lot of fun. Whoever invented it. I mean, they're my hats off. They're having a great time and that's what it's all about and they're learning how to drive, you know what it's keeping them busy off road racing in general. Even before the trophy cart has always been a family orientated sport. So it keeps the kids off the street, it keeps them involved in things. And so what's really neat is now they're not only involved with our racing, they're involved with their own racing. It was so long ago when only a handful of carts came out to compete.
Now there's no shortage of future superstars.
The trophy car class is a, is a phenomenal deal that's just taken the sport like a whirlwind over the last year and a half. I think there was 85 carts today.
You have modified and you have stocks and you have
all different classes. So
the trophy cart thing is, it's going to grow very, very large. Troy
Herbst is a multi time Baha winner and desert racing champ. He also lays it down in the core series.
Having a lot of fun.
His kids inherited that racing bug.
Daughter, Shelby just started her four wheel career.
Didn't take any convince him she was on the gas
and having a lot of fun.
And eight year old Riley
who just like dad
knows the thrill of victory
feels very good. Inside. When you
following the big dream,
when I'm older, I would like
to
score.
And
Riley's trophy cart is designed with his future plans in mind. It took in a Kawasaki 450 motor and what we've done with this horsepower to weight ratio,
it has more torque and more bite than the pro four that the big boys drive. So
when these guys get their handling and get their drifting and
hit the bumps
by the time they're 1617 years old, that'll make the
pro four guys want to get the heck out of the way. As you can see up there, there's a shift. He's got a shift and go through the gears. What we're trying to do is we're trying to bring
to him, being able to up
or down shift, read the terrain
and be able to accelerate a
lot going
on.
You have to push your radio button,
steer
and
shift that all at the same time. It's kind of hard.
It'll be maybe a higher
learning curve. But as soon as we get the shifting down and as soon as we understand what we can do,
it'll just make us that better, much better of a team
while they may be focused on the future watching his Children race. Troy
Herbst hasn't lost sight of the. Now,
now, I know my dad smiles so big when we come back in from a race ear to ear and I must have more fun watching them than I do in turn one and pro four. You know, I really have a good time with these, watching his kids. He's not the only one having fun.
Very cool. If you have
a
card, you have to come out here and watch the experience.
Riley's already got the media sound bites down pat.
Well, that's it for off road action this week. Remember Two wheels are for, if it's got a throttle, we're on it.
I'm MEREDITH
Weiss. Keeping it off the pavement.
Show Full Transcript
See
how these works are gearing up for a career racing
in short track doesn't liven up a Wisconsin winter night. Nothing will.
And
it's part truck, part buggy and man can it fly.
It's 30 minutes of nonstop fuel driven adrenaline as we crisscross the country in search of off road action.
Welcome to off road action. I'm your host me
twice. All set to bring you coast to coast to wheel and four wheel drive action.
Our first stop is to
this, the California and the core series where we saw a Motocross legend returned to rookie status this time behind the wheel
with 200 career wins, 12 titles, best selling video games as well as appearances on Jay Leno and MTV. Jeremy mcgrath single handedly brought motorcycle racing into the mainstream
as far as competing full time professional Motocross guy
that's gone.
Now, 34 years old and semi retired Baldwin racing hooked him up with a core ride for four races.
Probably the closest thing you can get to Motocross without being on a bike. So I think that's the appeal to it. I mean, you can get a lot of air.
You have a lot of horse power.
It's pretty hair
and the adrenaline gets going for sure. I'm loving it.
Making the jump from 2 to 4 wheels required a whole new
approach to tackling the track with the bike. You lean the bike, you hit the route, you turn, you accelerate. And
when I first started driving the trucks, I was spinning out a lot
because I was always, I would flick the truck in the corner and then just stomp on the gas.
And so I would spin out. Everything is a little bit of more of a delayed reaction and I'm figuring that out. He's not the first to drive down this path of discovery. There's a lot of guys that have had a lot of motorcycle experience
after winning 10 Baha won thousands on a motorcycle. Larry Rossler went on to win Baja in a truck. He believes Jeremy has the training needed to compete. There's definitely a learning curve, but I think, you know, the, the, the motorcycle pro rider, our learning curve is a lot quicker. It's a lot faster. It crosses over a lot of it. Reading the terrain, having a feel for the equipment, having a feel for the suspension. Those are things that a good motorcycle rider
can transfer over.
Jeremy's ride is a far cry from the 2 50 CC bikes he's used to.
This is the truck that Baldwin racing has built for Jerry mcgrath and this thing is bad.
So this machine here would roughly cost around 250,000.
It's a Ford F 150. This thing will haul the mail. It puts out 850 horsepower, 750 ft phone guitar
as lead mechanic of the number two machine. The glare of the spotlight doesn't rattle Ryan Waggoner.
There's a lot of pressure riding
for,
you know, all I on Jerry mcgrath, it's just you gotta keep your head and stay focused and do what you come out here to do and that's to get first place being this close to racing royalty made. This season's wrench. A little starstruck
having someone like Jerry mcgrath, you grew up watching them on TV. And as a little kid watch him race and wanna be, you know, just meet him and hang out with them and
having the chance.
This is just like a dream come true to me. Even the veterans were a little gaga over the rookie driver. He's going to be one of the youngest guys out here. He's born again,
so to speak. Well, I think it's extremely exciting to have guys like Jeremy. He's obviously an incredibly talented person and he's going to do very well at this after finishing in the top five in his first three races, some drivers were a little jealous of the newcomer.
There are probably a few guys that are a little upset that I come in and get the best truck out here and get this opportunity because
they've been doing it for such a long time and maybe some of them maybe never even finished where I finished so far. So I could see where they'd be a little bit upset. But for the most part, everyone, everyone's been awesome
heading into the final race. Anything less than victory would be unacceptable.
I've been a little bit conservative up to this point, but today is the final day and it's time to let it hang out,
running forth. A mechanical problem, forced an early retirement
mcgrath though, handled the setback like the champion. He is,
stuff's gonna break a lot more than it does on a motorcycle.
So,
you know,
the experience has been, uh, something I'll never forget. And if I never do it again, it's, it's, it's been an unbelievable ride, but
we'll try and see what we can work out for next year.
Been over 20 years since Jeremy was considered a rookie.
And an audition for the Baldwin has turned into a regular guest spot on their core race team.
They tuned to off road action because there's more coming up.
They're not trophy trucks pushing 800 horses, but for these kids, there's no bigger thrill than trophy cart racing.
My
favorite
part of the track
is
what
you get to jump very high and everything
they tuned off road action will be right. Back
now. We've shown you mot cross up ice before, but move the race to nine o'clock at night, put up a few floodlights and shorten the track by two thirds. And you've got a two wheel slug fest.
Hold on your two for February Fun in Wisconsin.
Thanks to the Sunset Tavern on Lake K
on Wisconsinites. Don't have to spend Saturday nights at home during the winter
really fast o
track race.
Yeah, the short track event we got tonight,
it's gonna be awesome. We got a huge turnout of riders in the area of 100 100 riders.
I
love short track. You know, it's kind of my,
that's kind of my bread and butter that style track right there and, and hustling that thing around there and that's what I do. You know, I like hustling around a little short track
under 8000 watts of light. They're going fast and running it tight. Oh, yeah. This track is a pretty small track racing will be tight tonight. Probably see a few riders go down. Hopefully everybody will stay safe. It's not unusual to be bumping and banging into each other. It's,
it's fun.
It's fun.
That's the fun. You know, everybody's going
real fast right on top of each other.
He was all the way over the one in the middle there. He was like, they
last and he was, like, right on, right on the foot
the whole way. He was just too hot. So,
this is awesome because at,
at night time it's a little weird when you're on the track, it's all lit up and you're like, in your own little phone, you can't see nothing outside of the track.
That perception is kind of a little bit different because the lights aren't perfect. But, uh,
it just gives a whole new thrill to it.
It doesn't scare me one bit. I love it.
It's a little bit different. You get a little bit of glare. You know, everybody gets a little amped up because a little bit short of race, you know, everything kind of clicks off a lot faster and stuff at night and that. So, you know, a little bit different, more of a little like circus atmosphere, I think.
Oh,
these guys are suicide jockeys, man. I mean, come on Sacramento Miles. One thing was this, I don't know about it. It's a bunch of crazy guys with studded tires having a good time.
It's those studs that allow the bikes to stay upright at over 50 miles an hour on the short track. You have
excellent traction. I mean, it's just unbelievable traction.
More traction you ever have in a dirt bike in the dirt? That's for sure.
I'm glad I, these things stick better than pavement. You can
jack it into the corner and you just
go
the angle of the screw and the placement of how you put them in the knob is actually what gives you the bite. Uh, you know, as the screws start to turn, you have to go back and tune them so that they stay sharp and they'll actually sharpen themselves as you ride on them,
you hook up real consistent. So I guess you can trust, it's easy to trust your bite, you know, to just lace it on in there and real close to somebody
the best
it's cold out
but fun
sliding into the corner, whipping it out, it sticks like pavement.
It's awesome, man. It's the
best. You got to try it
with a shot to move on to the winner. Take all dash for cash 100 racers in eight classes, throw it down on the ice,
not old enough for a driver's permit, but on the ice, he didn't crack under the pressure.
The 14 year old was ready to take on the big boys after winning the 250 amateur class,
Jeff free. That is a legend in off road and builds ice tires in the winter. However, his golden pedigree wasn't enough to help him in the 500 class.
I just took the 500 out yesterday. A little pond right behind my house and you can't even shift. It's so small, you know,
and it's like
fired up. It ran like, well, it must work. It worked good the last time I was out. So I gotta do some playing with the tire pressure or something in that thing because
it ain't working the way it's at.
No worries because his third place in the 250 Pro race earned him a spot in the cold cash. Round
one rider who wasn't advancing was Brad Highland. And his ancient husky.
Actually, I'm going really fast.
I make those guys look faster. That's all it's a fossil about like me.
Uh, I believe it's about the early, early seventies vintage Husqvarna
and I had to put a new gas tank on it.
Uh, took the rear fender off. Didn't need much, didn't need that much and took a few parts off and added a few. And that was about it.
Now, with the help of everyday items, he was able to make some more modifications. The seat was getting pretty ratty so I needed something new and you don't use the back part of the seat anyway. So I thought, wow, a bicycle seat will work. So I, I
found that in the garage and put that on there
and, uh, the beer can was an attempt to deflect the, the noise
and, uh, they got a noise ordinance and I'm gonna try to comply. It's too, it's too loud for me.
Brad wasn't going to take home any medals or money on this night, but to him that's not what it's all about. Yeah. Th
this is a hoot first time out on a pond on a friend of mine's pond. I just got hooked. That was it. I gotta do it. You know, it, it's fun. It's a lot of fun. I'm
really worried about the dash for cash race.
A lot of fast food is gonna be in that race.
21 racers advanced to the finals. The pros started in the back and had 10 laps to catch the amateurs.
It makes it kind of fair for everybody and we have had
amateurs
win
and they're just tickled to death that they can beat the pros. So
it's a fun race.
Greg Pickett rules, the Lakes of Michigan. So he was looking forward to taking on the Wisconsin competition.
It's always fun to get, um, come over to another state and,
and just, um, ride, ride against guys that I've never rode against before.
You know, that's,
that's a lot of the fun right there.
Pickett blew away the pros then picked off the amateurs one, sometimes two at a time.
It then became a race between the season pro and the new kid on the ice
experience paid off this time as Pickett passed Brock on the outside and held on to win the jackpot that will help with the gas money. But, you know what, I would have done it for free. You know, I just have fun riding. That's all. That was a lot of fun handicap race. Never done very many of them starting in the back row like that. That was fun, you know, coming through the traffic. That, that was fun. Lots of fun.
What could be more fun than racing under the lights? Well, the after party at the Toasty Sunset Tavern, a warm way to top off a cold night.
14 year old Brock Schwarzenbach has grown up a bit since he first shot this piece racing in the A Ma Midwest flat track series in the summer along with Ice Short Track in the winter.
He's still too young to get into the Sunset tavern though.
Stay tuned to off road action because when we come back, we're going to the score
Laughlin Desert Challenge to watch the unlimited Class One Fly
International is one of the world's premier off road series
and classes ranging from pro trucks to VWs nearly any truck enthusiast can get in on the action.
Let's head to the Laughlin Desert Challenge for more.
While the main event at the score,
Laughlin Desert Challenge is the million dollar trophy trucks. They're not the only ones kicking up some desert dust.
Anyone that wants to come out and build a vehicle, we have a class for it. You know, I don't know any other form of motor sports that you could do this and this is racing. I mean, this is all the fun a guy could have in a lifetime. This is an E ride
with no restrictions. The class one unlimited is our score. Racing's fantasy come true class where Wayne Lugo can rip it up.
It's the thrill of chasing down people. It's the thrill of the driving. It's the thrill, the speed
and it's just a thrill of survival.
We're talking about 100 and 30 miles an hour over dirt. It takes some real
coons to get out there and do what these guys do. Wayne's doing it from the cockpit of his bank's power trie,
we took a truck, all the technology of a truck but we skinned it like a buggy. You take a truck and a buggy, you slam the two words together
has
get a truckie. Everything here is a one off piece of equipment. Motors in the front says 447 cubic inch
Ford V8, 800 horsepower, 700 ft pounds of torque. Red lines at about 7400 RPM. It's pretty impressive when you can sit in this seat
and uh, and be able to put the hammer down for that for that kind of speed.
It always wants to get out of control. I mean, the horsepower is your friend because you can drive through problems, but horsepower is your worst enemy because it puts you right into every problem too.
And it is, that's the whole rush right there. Just slamming the gear just
and just, just, just standing on it
to win. He's got to stand on it for 244 mile races.
When the green flag drop,
you've got to focus on one thing. It's gas and breaking and shifting
and, you know, how, how fast can I get in that turn? Where, where's my breaking point? Where do I gas
and how fast can I accelerate?
With all that Power Wayne's truck needs the suspension to handle it. I tell
you,
if you go back the old school when they didn't have the shock technology, they didn't have the travel, you had to drive through the bumps
and when you're driving through the bump it's slower. The fastest way is over the top of the bump,
we'll travel. That's what the sport is all about
this right here. That gives you that 20 inches to travel all the way drooped down. So when we're going over the bumps, we're coming off the jumps, that suspension is falling and the whole, the whole point is how fast can it fall to touch the ground? Because the more time the wheel has contact with the ground, the faster we can drive it.
And so when it's down on the ground level, you notice the R
control arms are flat to slightly up and this is when it's fully drooped out. Same thing for the rear end, it runs about 32 inches of rear travel
for us. It was a very safe number. The U joints are never in a position where the pinch or bind
and it gives a truck lots of time when you're skipping over the whoops, the rear end just falls. Axles, big 44 spine axles, 10 inch ring and pin
gears. All the biggest stuff that they can make. It's all special built. You don't go in your normal parts shop and buy them.
I mean, even from brakes,
they're all CNC brakes, four piston brakes, 17 inch rotors. I mean, everything on here is big. If you're gonna build a vehicle like this, it's gonna be a quarter million bucks. I tell you the cheapest part was to build it, to maintain it. Well, that's a whole another story.
After all the preparation, it comes down to race day.
He'll,
and he'll have fun. That's the most important thing.
So whatever happens
in both races, mother nature proved tougher than Wayne Lugo's truckie
got
caught, a lot of guys passed a lot of guys, but as fast as I can pass them,
I was stuck with flat tires so that they turned around and pass me. Uh, finally at the end of the day, I got two flat simultaneously. We only carry one spare tire. So I had to drive in on a flat tire. But, uh,
we had a, we had a great weekend. We were really happy for trucks to perform more to our expectations today
and, um, we'll just regroup the guys and get ready to do it again.
Welcome back to off road action
in the car racer, Danica Patrick got her first taste of competition behind the wheel of a go cart
while the core series has a true rookie class for kids called trophy cars
blasting around the race track with over 850 horses. There's nothing more intense than driving a pro core truck
driving these trucks is incredible. I mean, we stream these motors at 8400 RPM
and I tell you what, we hit these jumps anywhere from 80 to 100 miles an hour and love sailing these trucks over 100 ft long.
It's truly an adrenaline rush to the kids. These men are more than racers.
Thank
you, kid. Looking up to you want your autograph thinking you're some sort of gladiator or hero that just makes you,
that puts you on top of the world. Thanks to the core series. The kids aren't just watching their role models. They're racing like them too.
Trophy carts, kids as young as eight race, these half size replicas just like their idols.
I go 20 miles an hour and it feels really cool going that fast. It's really fun, especially when you get to pass
people when you're up in the
front. Adding to the fun, the track looks and drives like the one the pros race on.
I like the straightaways. They're my favorite because you could go as fast as you want, you could go full throttle.
My favorite part of the track is a whoops. You get to jump very high and everything and sometimes you get a pass because people don't like to jump very high.
I
wish they were around when I was a kid. That's a lot of fun. Whoever invented it. I mean, they're my hats off. They're having a great time and that's what it's all about and they're learning how to drive, you know what it's keeping them busy off road racing in general. Even before the trophy cart has always been a family orientated sport. So it keeps the kids off the street, it keeps them involved in things. And so what's really neat is now they're not only involved with our racing, they're involved with their own racing. It was so long ago when only a handful of carts came out to compete.
Now there's no shortage of future superstars.
The trophy car class is a, is a phenomenal deal that's just taken the sport like a whirlwind over the last year and a half. I think there was 85 carts today.
You have modified and you have stocks and you have
all different classes. So
the trophy cart thing is, it's going to grow very, very large. Troy
Herbst is a multi time Baha winner and desert racing champ. He also lays it down in the core series.
Having a lot of fun.
His kids inherited that racing bug.
Daughter, Shelby just started her four wheel career.
Didn't take any convince him she was on the gas
and having a lot of fun.
And eight year old Riley
who just like dad
knows the thrill of victory
feels very good. Inside. When you
following the big dream,
when I'm older, I would like
to
score.
And
Riley's trophy cart is designed with his future plans in mind. It took in a Kawasaki 450 motor and what we've done with this horsepower to weight ratio,
it has more torque and more bite than the pro four that the big boys drive. So
when these guys get their handling and get their drifting and
hit the bumps
by the time they're 1617 years old, that'll make the
pro four guys want to get the heck out of the way. As you can see up there, there's a shift. He's got a shift and go through the gears. What we're trying to do is we're trying to bring
to him, being able to up
or down shift, read the terrain
and be able to accelerate a
lot going
on.
You have to push your radio button,
steer
and
shift that all at the same time. It's kind of hard.
It'll be maybe a higher
learning curve. But as soon as we get the shifting down and as soon as we understand what we can do,
it'll just make us that better, much better of a team
while they may be focused on the future watching his Children race. Troy
Herbst hasn't lost sight of the. Now,
now, I know my dad smiles so big when we come back in from a race ear to ear and I must have more fun watching them than I do in turn one and pro four. You know, I really have a good time with these, watching his kids. He's not the only one having fun.
Very cool. If you have
a
card, you have to come out here and watch the experience.
Riley's already got the media sound bites down pat.
Well, that's it for off road action this week. Remember Two wheels are for, if it's got a throttle, we're on it.
I'm MEREDITH
Weiss. Keeping it off the pavement.
