CORR Pro II Trophy Truck Part 1 - Track Tech, Chula Vista, CA

Today, a tribute to an off road hero. Although Jason Baldwin passed away two years ago, the spirit of this core champion lives on in this inaugural race, you'll see right here on extreme. It's fender mash and gear banging truck racing action.

Hey guys, welcome to Xtreme 4x4. And today we've got a couple of firsts for you.

If the idea actually started when we brought in this Jeep Cherokee to build our Jeep Speed one class desert racer, we're gonna be finishing this up in a couple weeks. Now, we got tons of emails about this truck, huge interest in this budget form of off road racing.

But we got just as many emails from guys who wanted to see something that was well, a little bit more extreme.

So we called up our friend Tony

Vano at North American off road and he built us. This,

Tony's been building off road trucks and buggies since 1984 and by off road, I mean, hardcore race vehicles like trophy trucks for the Baldwin family

right now. He's concentrating on core spec race trucks.

This chassis was delivered just the other day as a true roller with a fresh set of 37 inch

Toyos two works rear axle and a set of wicked hubs. Basically a rolling jungle gym that'll become one killer pro two race truck.

Now, it takes a huge amount of drivers skill to be able to pilot an 800 horsepower beast like this one's gonna be. And you can't argue with the fact that one of the best behind the wheel was Jason Baldwin himself.

Some of the most intense racing action we've shown you in our first two seasons of extreme

has included number one, Jason Baldwin in the driver's seat.

It's like doing 100 and 40 miles an hour on a hovercraft across the desert through 3 ft hole. It's,

it's pretty wild.

He was the catalyst of a racing family that included his brother, Josh, father, Jim Baldwin,

brother in law Carl Renat

and dozens of support staff and drivers.

Jason however, was the most prolific,

having won two prof four championships in core as well as the score Baha

1000, which culminated in him being named dirt sports driver of the year

with my dad.

He was always gracious to our camera crews.

He got me right in the middle of an interview.

Never hesitating to give us an inside look at his pro force suspension

or the team's engine innovations.

We last saw him just one

before he died tragically in a small plane crash while returning home from racing Baja

and with his wife, Evie by his side,

off roads ambassador couldn't say enough about the sport he loved. I mean, we've got so many fans out here, so many people that just love going to off road races and,

and girls guys, you know, everybody, you know, there's old people, young people.

It's, once they see this stuff, they're hooked. It is really cool kind of racing.

Now, his father, Jim Baldwin thought of a great way to keep Jason's spirit alive. It's called the Jason Baldwin Memorial Cup race. And we're gonna show you the first race ever today on Xtreme 4x4. And not only that for the rest of the season, while we're building this Pro two race track, we're building this as a tribute to Jason

up next. It's the prows

versus the pro fours for the winner. Take all Baldwin memorial Cup race when Xtreme 4x4 continues.

Now, we just took delivery of this wicked Core Pro two chassis and in the coming weeks, you're gonna get to see us turn this thing into a hard core race truck with all the go fast goodies you'd expect. Now, before we take you to the first ever full length core race shown an Xtreme 4x4, we're gonna have a look at a track that's becoming a driver's favorite

with almost 800 horses and speeds that top the century mark core racing is blowing up.

We love it. It's real intense. It's a door to door fender bang and racing. There's no give and take added to the core schedule in 2005,

Chula

Vista raceway south of San Diego

became an instant driver favorite. This is like a Talladega superspeedway of off road racing. It's very technical and very fast. The man responsible for this wickedness is track builder, Joe

Gedman,

otherwise known as Mr

Dirt. I've been moving dirt for 30 years

to be ready for race day. His army of heavy equipment has been working the track for a month straight. It's a little over a mile and to grade this whole area, we probably moved about 300,000 yards of dirt that includes the hot pits and all that up on top to the naked eye dirt is

dirt to make it race ready, though, requires special care out here. This is almost all clay around here. So the big trick is to get it blended to where we get it really good and wet right before they race on it. Otherwise it turns to flower. What Joe does out here leaves the teams making adjustments back here

in a sport of half a million dollar machines. Success can be decided by a simple tired groove brand new tires.

Tire grooving is very important. This Xtreme 4x4 racing, we groove our tires different for each type of soil condition to get the best bite on this soil. Every cut serves a purpose

to have channels this way for steering

and then these,

these, this way is all for breaking, we want a bunch of sharp edges. So when you buy the brakes and the tires start to lock up, it's gripping against something. It's hard to believe that grooves can be as vital as horsepower or suspension.

But the proof is in the numbers yesterday during practice, we used tires that we used in the previous race in Crandon.

They were cut for a softer loam

soil.

During practice out here, we lost seconds on our time.

So this morning when we practice, we had a tire group cut for this harder pack track with more blue groove in it

and we increased our speed by almost two seconds to LA.

When teams can't crack the track's tire set up. Joe

Guman usually gets blamed. They're race drivers of course. So they always complain about something.

I don't pay any attention to. I have a thick skin,

thick skin to design it, nerves of steel to drive in it.

And now we're gonna go back to Chula

Vista for the start of the Jason Baldwin memorial Cup race. Now, Ken Stout is gonna give us the play by play

the top 10 pro two sitting there waiting for the green flag. They qualified and earned a right to be out front.

They get a full straight away head start over the pro four competitors

and Todd Ledoux

was the number one qualifier in the pro two trucks.

He gets the early lead followed by Ricky Johnson in the back winding up. The top 10 is Rhonda Coner

in third place. Is Steve Barlow. He makes a nice move down in hellhole and it looks like Rhonda Concer gets turned around.

We'll go back to the front. Todd Ledo,

followed by Ricky Johnson. A

real surprise after not being in the truck for eight years.

Then it's the Red Bull sponsored machine of Steve Barlow,

Scott Taylor and the Skyjacker machine down low trying to pick up some spots

as we go back to Todd Leo

Skyjacker on the side of the truck, Todd Ledu took a shot in the head on Saturday,

got a couple of stitches up there and RJ trying to set him up,

charges up hard, then checks up, goes into the SS.

It takes a whole another line. So inside, outside R J's gonna go high here and try to get a run up off the top of this turn and go around Todd Leduc. Can he pull it off right here? Yes, a nice clean pass right around Todd Leduc. You

can see all the shrapnel there.

Ricky Johnson qualified this truck

in the top four positions here and he had not been inside of a truck in eight years practiced with it on Friday

came out qualified

and put this truck in the top part of the field. It was an amazing run

and now finds himself out in front in a crack and winning $66,000.

They used to call him the bad boy back in Motocross days,

he won seven championships

and Motocross and Supercross.

Of course, also won the first ever pro two championship back in 1998

with court. Now you're looking at Scott Taylor,

Scott Taylor and the skyjacker back machine looks like he'll get around Steve Barlow. And the Red Bull truck

behind them is Mike Ober,

that big high bank turn one kind of flat on the bottom. High banked up on the top. If you can use the cushion, you can get a nice run off of it. But obviously the shortest way around is down on the bottom.

Want to give a little, you got to get a little

and that's the way that turn works down here in the hell hole,

a huge elevation change as they fall down into this big long left hand sweeper, two or three different lines there

over the wolf section. Some of the guys running way up high on the berm right there. All three of those choosing to stay down low

and again, back up over the table top right here to set up for another long right hand turn

three different lines as they try to take this turn three wide.

What a great battle it looks like Oberg

is gonna get around Barlow

Marlow had a great run in both rounds 15 and 16.

They're following a six time champ

the skyjacker back machine, of course, and that's driven by Scott Taylor, as we take you back up to the front,

Todd Le Duke has been beaten on RJ through the S

turns every single time

just wearing on that left rear tire.

You wonder how much more the truck can take.

Stay tuned. The winner of the Jason Baldwin Memorial and the check for 66 grand. When Xtreme 4x4 continues,

we're headed back to Chula

Vista for the completion of the Jason Baldwin Memorial Cup where former Supercross champ Ricky Johnson holds a slight lead over Todd Le Duke once again with the play by play. Here's Ken Stout.

If the pro twos can stay in front of the pro force, it is absolutely huge. The only person to ever win in a pro two in a big cup race like this

against the Pro Force is Scott Taylor

again, Todd Le Duke trying to get close to that left rear.

RJ had a little bit of breathing room right there.

RJ has not won a race in prow

since 1998. The last time he sat inside of one of these trucks,

Todd

Luc not giving him an inch though.

These guys using literally every inch of this track.

The firms have been built up after a full day of racing. This is the final race of the day.

There's been about 10 races out here. So some huge firms running up onto the concrete walls and these guys are using it all like this right here.

These trucks soak up so much the suspension on these trucks simply mind boggling what they can take.

RJ loves a, a car or truck

with a real soft sway bar. He likes to feel it roll all the way over until he gets on the bar and finally gets some bite. And that's the way you want these trucks to be if you want to be fast. But when you do that, you're transferring a lot of weight and it opens up the door for these guys to roll one over. As you take a look right there

at Josh Baldwin in the pro four truck

and side by side, they go here. This is for the lead.

Oh man. And another big hit right there. RJ says you want to lean on me. Here you go, brother.

And now R J's left rear tire is going flat.

If you have to have a flat tire in his track, you want it to be on the left side,

but it will eventually hurt him enough. I would think Todd

Luc would be able to get by.

You won't see him lose too much speed right here through these left handers

with the second, he has to make a right hand turn.

That's when he'll start losing ground,

lost nothing to that left hander. Here comes the first right hander

on the flat tire.

It rolls way over in the bar, obviously, no traction here. Now,

he doesn't have front wheel drive to help pulling him out of the cur.

Look at the left rear corner just flopping around

another right hander

and Todd Luc has closed the gap

sitting back behind them guys, Mike over

just waiting

for somebody to fall out. So he's got a crack of this deal.

RJ hanging on with a flat tire,

an amazing run for him. And there are your first Pro fours, Dan Van

Hove

on the 77. That's a pro two, but they aren't struck it. Adrian Shinny in the pro four,

1st, 2nd and 3rd. And now it looks like Todd Le Duke's engine might be given up.

So after all that hard work,

it looks like Todd Leduc

will have to pull up. It'll open up the door for Mike Ri

is seven at second.

A high speed left hander in turn two.

Todd

Leno off the pace

and now

will have a lot of ground to make up if he's going to catch RJ. But RJ still with that flat left rear,

the truck and team owned by Jim Baldwin.

Josh Baldwin runs underneath the banner

also r the kno.

And of course,

this race is named after

Jason Baldwin. The Jason Baldwin memorial again who ran underneath that umbrella for a number of years, just a super individual

2004

Provo champion,

also a score champion.

He was a phenomenal driver and of course, his number was 66 and then also represents the purse here to the winner today,

Mike

really closing the gap. We also see back there another Pro four truck that's Kurt Leno

coming on

RJ fighting valiantly

with that left rear flat tire. Now he's hung on this long. He is beyond me.

Coming on.

Missing the championship in Pro two, literally by two points.

First year in the class.

He's done a great job. Billy Sleeper. Power underneath the hood.

Shirley Shaper

also builds a lot of power plants

that they run in the dirt late model series across the country.

And now that left rear tire is starting to come apart.

You see it just shredding the body work. Kurt Le Duke and the profound coming on

right there.

RJ had to change his line

and here comes the first Proco truck of the race.

The Skyjacker back machine driven by Kurt Le

who has won virtually everything out there at one time or another. Adrian Chinney gets into the side of RJ and RJ S Day is done.

He'll try to hang on here but he will not win the Jason Baldwin memorial.

Mike Ober out front. Kurt Ledu who's finished second in the points a number of times in championship off road racing has won multiple events.

Has Ron perished the car over his career

and right there, the checkered flag flies.

Well, there you have it. Congratulations. Goes out to Mike Oberg from Eagle River, Wisconsin for the victory and the great big check for 66 grant. Now, other core drivers will have their shot at getting their name engraved on the cup as the Jason Baldwin Memorial becomes an annual event.

Welcome back to Xtreme 4x4. And now that you guys have seen the kind of racing these trucks have to endure. We'll take a close look at what makes a core chassis so unique. The most common misconception is that a core truck and a trophy truck are the same thing. They're not, the differences are subtle but they are there. The number one thing you notice core truck, single seat just for a driver. The trophy truck has a spot for a navigator. The other issue trophy trucks designed to

a

500 thousands of miles. You're out in the desert all by yourself in a core truck, you're never alone. You got a truck over here and a truck over there and you're basically trading body panels for the entire race. So when you got a truck like this, you want it to be built strong and you want it to be built right

now to get that strength. The chassis is built at a 4130 chrome Molly tubing, which has a tensile strength of 95,000 pounds per square inch. Now that

along with the overall design of all the chassis tubing and the triangulation gives it the strength and more importantly the safety for the driver when these trucks are in those wild wrecks. Now, we're gonna go over all the unique features of this truck as we build it. So you're gonna get to know this thing really well, but we wanted to get it in here and show it to you right away because the next time we have this in here, we'll start to work on the power plant for this thing and that is gonna be awesome.