2014 Vegas to Reno Race Recap - EVO 1 Takes 1st Place!!

CarsonCindy

CarsonCindy

Administrator
Staff member
Last Friday, Eddie and I got to be a part of the Discount Tire/Off Road Evolution pit crew as they took on the 2014 General Tire "Vegas to Reno" race presented by FOX. At 535 miles of pure dirt fun, this race is considered to be the longest off-road race in the United States! This year, 304 vehicles entered the race ranging from Trick Trucks, 1500 class rigs, Jeeps, UTV's and Ironmen and of them, only 114 finished. Of course, Mel Wade in EVO 1 was not only one of them but, for the 2nd year in a row, he was also able to take 1st place in the Ultra 4 class with an impressive time of only 14:48:12.388 - that's over 3 1/2 hours faster than last year! This was not only the fastest time of any Jeep out there, it also put him at 88th place overall! Here are some photos from our epic day of racing out in the Nevada desert, I hope you'll enjoy them.

Here's a shot of Mel Wade and his primary co-driver Jim McGean of Dynatrac ready to go at the starting line in Beatty, Nevada.
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EVO 1 ready to race!
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Crew Chief Kyle Giard and Co-Driver Greg Melancon going over the race plan.
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Lining up.
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Helmets and gloves on and ready to race!
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At the starting line and ready to go!
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EVO 1 at Pit 2 - Eddie tightening up the front diff bolts while Harley gives Jim some water.
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EVO 1 blasting its way to Pit 3.
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Pulling in for a quick check up and for some gas.
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Fill-er up!
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Jim getting hydrated.
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All Clear!! Let's go!!
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Time to get back out on to the race track.
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On their way to Pit 4, EVO 1 lost their alternator. Fortunately for them, they had a spare and were able to change it out on the course but, because of the time they lost, they elected to bypass a scheduled stop at Pit 4 and push on.
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Eddie and Greg suiting up to re-fuel at Pit 6.
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EVO 1 coming in to Pit 6.
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Greg and Eddie topping off EVO 1's dry tank and getting it ready for a long stretch ahead.
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Time for a quick visual check, tighten lug nuts and top off fluids.
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Clear to head out - GO GO GO GO GO!!!
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All setup and waiting for EVO 1 at Pit 8.
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After getting a call on the Radio from Pit 7 alerting us of a driver change request, Greg suits up and gets ready to "drive the space shuttle".
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Kyle and Jim giving Greg a rundown of the course ahead before getting behind the wheel in EVO 1.
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Waiting for EVO 1 to come in, Greg spends some time studying the course hazards he'll be encountering along the way.
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EVO 1 pulling into Pit 8 with Collin Fletcher behind the wheel.
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Eddie and Kyle giving EVO 1 a splash to make sure it can make it all the way to the next pit which was quite a distance away.
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Greg getting in the driver's seat and ready to pilot the space shuttle.
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Mel doing a quick visual of the front end and tightening up the differential bolts.
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All clear to head out - let's GO!!!
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Riding into the sunset.
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Setting up at Pit 11 in the dark.
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EVO 1 pulling in.
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A call on the radio ahead of time let us know that the light bar bracket had broken and so we were ready with heavy duty zip ties to do what we could to stabilize it.
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Greg had calmly mentioned that something was feeling off for a while now and that he and his co-driver Collin initially thought they might have a flat tire so we took a bit more time giving everything a thorough visual inspection.
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Just when we thought everything looked good and were ready to send EVO 1 back out, Eddie spotted this.
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In the dark and with the hydraulic lines blocking a good view of the front track bar, it was hard to see that it was broken. Fortunately, we did catch it and we did have a spare. Here's a shot of Mel and Collin getting to work replacing it.
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20 minutes later, all was fixed and EVO 1 was ready to go again.
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All setup and ready for EVO 1 at Pit 14.
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EVO 1 coming into the pit.
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Time to do another thorough visual inspection to make sure everything was still holding up.
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Mel getting ready to get back into the driver's seat.
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Little Mel all strapped in and ready to assume the role of co-driver.
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Checking the zip ties on the light bar one last time.
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Next stop - the finish line!!
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Racing to the finish line in Dayton, Nevada.
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CONGRATULATIONS!!!
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For the 2nd year in a row, EVO 1 takes 1st in class with a time of 14:48:12.388, is 88 overall, and out of 304 Trick Trucks, 1500 class rigs, Jeeps, UTV's and Ironmen! And remember, this was done with off the shelf production EVO suspension parts and Dynatrac axles! It should also be noted that Mel ran this race with the exact same set of Nitto Trail Grapplers that he used last year and without a single failure. :clap2:

A BIG THANKS goes out to Lisa, Teresa, Harley, Melvin IV, Collin, Greg, Rob, John, Terry, Russ, Gusto and Kyle for making all this possible :thumb:
 
As a bonus, here's a group shot of the Discount Tire/Off Road Evolution Race Team in Virginia City.

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That is just awesome! Who's the guy on the far left? Looks just like a guy I went to high school with.

Oh, and any issues with the diff bolts coming loose in the past? I've never heard of anyone checking them like that mid-race.
 
Great job guys and thanks for sharing the photos! :beer:

Sent from my VS980 4G using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
StrizzyChris said:
That is just awesome! Who's the guy on the far left? Looks just like a guy I went to high school with.

Oh, and any issues with the diff bolts coming loose in the past? I've never heard of anyone checking them like that mid-race.
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Hard to say for sure but, when you're bombing across the desert at stupid fast speeds, anything and everything can and will come lose. Fortunately, someone noticed oil on the ground at the first pit and alerted me to give it a look. We make sure to keep an eye on it throughout the race.
 
It should also be noted that EVO 1 ran this race with the exact same set of Nitto Trail Grapplers that he used last year and without a single failure. If that doesn't speak volumes about Nitto tires, I don't know what would.
 
richardjcurtis said:
Hey Eddie, just a question:

why were they tightening the front diff bolts so often?
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To be fair, we weren't always "tightening" them but rather, "checking" them just in case. The alternative would have been to pull the cover, clean all the RTV, reinstall it with new RTV and refill. That would have fixed the problem but in a "race", you do what you need to keep on going and with as little down time as possible.
 
wayoflife said:
It should also be noted that EVO 1 ran this race with the exact same set of Nitto Trail Grapplers that he used last year and without a single failure. If that doesn't speak volumes about Nitto tires, I don't know what would.
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Wow, thats a kewl nugget of info :thumb::thumb::thumb:
 
Congrats again to the entire team. :thumb::clap2:

As always, great pics and recap for all of us here on Wayalife!! :yup:
 
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