Photos by www.fatkidphotography.ca

The 2010 Kamloops Offroad Racing British Columbia (KORRBC) series kicked off the season on May 30 at their track north of Kamloops. The KORRBC track is a short dirt course that had a major makeover this past off-season. The new course incorporates a longer front high speed straight section with some tighter technical sections as well as a double jump before hitting a corner. This all works together with the previous course's table tops, smaller jumps and high speed corners to make a very fun course to watch and drive. For those that can't picture a short dirt track course, envision a motocross track that has a little bit smaller jumps.

The Flying Zucchini Brothers Racing team raced in the Outlaw class for the last 2009 race on October 2. The idea was to have a little fun on the course and utilize the experience to dial in the suspension for the upcoming 2010 race season which was going to include some high speeds at King of the Hammers and the Silver State 300. It only took this one race and the team was hooked on the throttle down racing style found at KORRBC races. The Flying Zucchinis decided to race again in 2010 after winning one heat, and being competitive in other heats at the October 2 race. To prepare for the May 30th race, Curtis had Baja North assist him in rebuilding the coilovers after they took a beating at the Silver State 300. Saturday night before the race, we finished mounting the brand new Toyo MTs and set out for the pits. The KORRBC track is very family friendly and most racers seemed to camp in the pits with their families the night before the race, which is what we did.

The morning of the race we had quite a few people wander through the pits to come and check out our buggy. It is very different than any other truck at the race and thus drew some attention. I had decided to sit in the stands and watch instead of the passenger seat with the idea that I could see more outside the truck and help strategize with Curtis between heats. The format for the day was two heat races and one main race. The heat races were 6 laps long and the main was 9 laps long. At the drivers' meeting we found out there was only one other vehicle in our class, so the officials made the decision to run the Outlaw class with the Protrucks. The Protrucks really are the 'big boys' of the KORRBC event. Most of these guys are running coilovers, bypass shocks, and 500 plus horsepower motors. Curtis and I were both excited about how we'd fair on the course with these guys even though we were actually racing them for points. The first heat race was a standing start with Curtis starting in the back row of 9 vehicles. I told Curtis that because we had four wheel drive and the Protrucks were all two wheel drive that he should just pin it off the line and don't let off until the first corner.

As Curtis sat in the staging lanes I heard a number of comments from the spectators. Everything from, "what the hell is that thing doing here" to "that's a rockcrawler and it's not meant to go fast. It's just going to break." After the green flag dropped I had to laugh to myself as the comments changed to "Holy crap! That thing went from last to 3rd by the first corner!" As the racing progressed I could tell that the buggy's suspension was tuned extremely well and the new cam in the motor helped us to keep up horsepower-wise. However, short dirt track racing takes a lot of technical driving skills. You don't just mash the throttle and hit a jump. A driver must hit and let off the throttle at certain times to make the truck jump properly and I could tell Curty was rusty. He was able to work his way up to second place and on the bumper of the leader by the 4th lap. With two laps to go the field of racers was spread out so the officials ran a slow lap to bunch everyone up. Everyone around me must have thought I was crazy as I kept telling Curtis out loud to put the hammer down when the green flag dropped and get into first place. There is no way Curtis could have heard me, but he was thinking the same thing and when the green flag dropped he found an opening and raced by the lead black and red Chevrolet Protruck of Craig Byers. Curtis maintained the lead and took the win for the first heat surprising many spectators and racers.

The second heat was a rolling start with Curtis at the back of that pack again and we decided again to try to pass as many trucks as we could in the first straightaway. Curtis was unable to pass as many guys as before in the straightaway. However, the first corner is a high speed long sweeping corner and most of the two wheel drived vehicles maintain their speed by running it wide. With four wheel drive Curtis was able to cut to the inside of the corner and beat them to the other side then do the same thing at the next corner ending up again in second place within the first part of the course. Craig Byers was again ahead of us and Curtis took on the task of trying to pass him. I realized right away that this time the driver of the black and red Chevrolet had learned from the last race and knew which lines Curtis was able to beat him on. So the two of them raced around the track with Curtis tied to his rear bumper trying to pass him anyway he could. With two laps go the field was bunched up again but this time when the green flag dropped Curtis got caught staring in his rear view mirror at the truck behind him and he couldn't get the jump on the leader. The last few laps he poked and prodded the leader searching for an opening and maybe even tapped him a few times but was only able to bring home a second place. The announcer for the event was really getting excited watching the two leaders battle. He kept saying "Curtis Warner is driving that little rock buggy for all it's worth" and followed that with "Curtis Warner isn't happy winning the Outlaw class, he wants to beat all the Protrucks as well." After the second heat Curtis and Craig sought each other out to shake hands as they were having a ton of fun battling each other.

The buggy had seemed down on power during the last few laps of heat 2 so we took the mass airflow sensor off and clean it with some brake clean prior to the main event. As the drivers got into their trucks the driver of the black and red Chevrolet said to Curtis, "Too bad you have to start at the back," to which Curtis responded with a smile, "Don't worry, I'll catch up." With a rolling start and the same game plan as before, Curtis was able to make it into second by the end of the first lap. There was one really eventful moment on the first lap when the gold Sportsman-sponsored F-150 Protruck spun out in front of Curtis and I thought he was going to t-bone him, ending our race. But he was able to stop and squeak by. As the race progressed Curtis was again glued to the rear bumper of Craig and again Craig was taking very smart lines and making sure that he was on the line Curtis wanted to be on. The crowd was really getting into it and the naysayers sitting beside me before were now cheering for Curtis to pass Craig. I could tell Curtis really wanted it bad as he tried to pass in every part of the track he could, but could only ever get the nose of his buggy to half way up the side of Craig's Protruck and then had to back off as they went into the corner. On the last lap Curtis pushed the buggy for all it was worth and almost rolled it in one corner. The tires were 90 degrees to where they should be but he was able to hit the throttle and turn out of it. The result was a good save but loss of valuable ground to the leader so he worked his way around to the finish content with second place overall and first place in class. However, on the exit to the very last corner and less than 100 feet from the finish line the buggy died. There was no electrical power and Curtis could do nothing but sit there and watch as everyone passed. The Corvette on a 4x4 frame in our class was only a few hundred feet from being lapped by Curtis when the buggy died so Curtis had to sit there and watch the Corvette drive the entire course then pass us for the class win. I could see Curtis pounding on the steering wheel in frustration. Later we found out it was a blown fuse that ended our day.

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Kamloops Off Road Racing BC - 2010

Kamloops Off Road Racing BC - 2010

Kamloops Off Road Racing BC - 2010

Kamloops Off Road Racing BC - 2010

Kamloops Off Road Racing BC - 2010

Kamloops Off Road Racing BC - 2010

Kamloops Off Road Racing BC - 2010

Kamloops Off Road Racing BC - 2010

Kamloops Off Road Racing BC - 2010

Kamloops Off Road Racing BC - 2010

Kamloops Off Road Racing BC - 2010

Kamloops Off Road Racing BC - 2010

Kamloops Off Road Racing BC - 2010

Kamloops Off Road Racing BC - 2010

Kamloops Off Road Racing BC - 2010

The Flying Zucchini Brothers team would like to thank the KORRBC officials for putting on such a great event, Baja North for tuning our suspension to allow us to be as competitive as we were, Toyo Tires for the MTs (race compound) that really stuck to the track, and our other sponsors, the Gear Centre Group, Hard Bodies by Aqualu, Evolution Machine and Fabrication, Mastercraft Seats, and Sportsman 4x4.

- Dave Warner