My kid and Welder Donnie headed out to Wrecking Ball with Jason Bunch from Tri-County gear to catch some of the KOH and they just happen to catch Jeff playing turtle... :D

:d

My kid and Welder Donnie headed out to Wrecking Ball with Jason Bunch from Tri-County gear to catch some of the KOH and they just happen to catch Jeff playing turtle... :D

IMHO, hardest obstical on the course


In fact of all the crap I've driven on, that is one of the hardest period.

Damn Dave, don't even give me time to finish posting! :mad3: Don't you have a race to plan for????? :laughing:

Looks like he would have rolled out of it if he had turned to the left? :confused:

Rob and Nick making the pass.

Wayes and team FOH stopping to chit chat with Jeff "Big Sexy" Mello to make sure he is OK.

Looks like he would have rolled out of it if he had turned to the left? :confused:

There is a few more pics in the sequence, Jeff continued on down until he was right in front of the camera. Welder Donnie had to use his ninja skills to jump out of the way before Jeff took him and the camera out.

lol! We almost did the same thing Jeff. Don't feel bad. Luckily our stinger saved the day.

I'd say this was the 2nd hardest obstacle. The plaque at sledge was the hardest for us, especially since all the spectators left and didn't push us back over......:laughing:

That drop was hard. We nosed down it before we knew what we were into and almost did the same thing as Jeff. That and Sledge were both really tough

That's one of the best parts of having a trail rig that doesn't have to be small to dodge cones like the we rock guys. 115" wheelbase makes the drop pretty simple:flipoff2:


Tim, did they happen to get pics of my tranny that I smashed just a little ways down from there? I know Jason Bunch was there when it happened, I gave him my brake pedal pad after it fell off:laughing:

Not on my camera, Donnie says Jason borrowed sideXside Charlene's camera.

Great pics Tim thanks... I think... for showing what not to do on race day.
No excuses the pictures confirm exactly what I knew from a split second before we touched bottom when I could see the rock on our right. Too late! Shoulda done my homework better.
How awesome is this race that one tiny mistake anywhere on 82 miles can take you to your knees in an instant after months of prep and years of honing your skills to get there. LOVE IT!

When we ran it on Tuesday, it seemed like a no-brainer to just go around that on the left. Why take the fall at all?

When we ran it on Tuesday, it seemed like a no-brainer to just go around that on the left. Why take the fall at all?

Did you drive down the left(bypass) line? I was riding with Andy Couch on Thursday in the bash buggy when we lined up for that and it felt bad. The right rear tire climbing on the peak of the rocks didn't feel right at all.
When we went down the fall line it wasn't really any drama at all, although Richard(Blue52 Team NAXJA) rolled it the exact same way that Jeff did.
Then we made him run it till he got it right. :D

We were going up. I did not run it down at all, I am just saying that it looked much easier.

We were going up. I did not run it down at all, I am just saying that it looked much easier.

When you get on top of the 'easy' line, your front left drops while your back right is climbing. And all you can see is 'Hobie's Hole' 25 feet below you on the left.

As far as the ledge, the pics show it but don't do it justice. You stand on the nose with the front right pinned behind a rock. The only way out is a front dig slightly drivers and pray that your front right climbs before the back passes the front or the Passenger Frt axle breaks.

I'm surprised no one tried the line off the wall on the (downhill) right. To left from Jeff in the cameras perspective.

Dave

We were going up. I did not run it down at all, I am just saying that it looked much easier.

Going down the line your talking about nolan is much more sketchy than going up.

Jeffs front tires were on the right line just pointed a little far to the passenger side and the rear was about 3 feet off. But it doesnt feel that way going into it.

Tom wayes and i rode our dirbikes up there on wed and checked out our lines. if i didnt do that i would have ended up right where jeff did.

You were kicking ass at that point jeff it sucks that it killed your electrics. You looked verry bummed out when we drove by a while after it happened and i really wish there was something i could have done. One limping brother to another.

Ian

Looks like 3ft to Jeff's left on the first drop would be smoother??

Looks like 3ft to Jeff's left on the first drop would be smoother??

3 feet to his left and he would have rolled all the way back to camp:flipoff2:

One situation the Producer just couldnt get us out of. THANK YOU for the pictures!!!!

My touch !! :D

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/3275/kohgif.gif (http://img7.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kohgif.gif)

Bad ass pics!
It was a heartbreaker when we heard he fell over over the radio and Jeff knows where he should of been.
Oh well, it makes a great campfire story.

My touch !! :D

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/3275/kohgif.gif (http://img7.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kohgif.gif)

When I went along with Mr. Roxy, Danger Ranger, surveyboy, Paul Gagnon and Crash on Tuesday night to mark the race course on Wreckingball, I knew that spot was going to be a super bitch to come down! :eek:

Bad ass pics!
It was a heartbreaker when we heard he fell over over the radio and Jeff knows where he should of been.
You've been hanging out with Yoder WAY too much. OVER!:flipoff2:

Randii

I have a sequence from the other side on my home desk-top, I'm not home so it'll take a while before I can post it, but suffice it to say, Jeff was the unluckiest man at the Hammers that day. The line was at it's worst when he rolled through, an inch of change in any direction and who knows what would have happened, had he gotten stuck and Lovell passed him, Lovell may very well have been the one testing his cage. He handled it like a champ and didn't give up despite everything going wrong during the recovery, even when his alternator failed further down the trail he was trying all sorts of stuff to stay in the race. :beer: for Mello.

And all you can see is 'Hobie's Hole' 25 feet below you on the left.

wow, how does my whole get brought up in every thread:laughing:


me and john drove straight down around the waterfall. piece of cake in an ftoy. but what i thought was easy in the race, it seems other rigs had problems there.

by the way, before KOH, when we were racing each other for just kicks, this is what happend when i took the "easy" line one night around 4am trying to make a pass:shaking:

http://www.thebestbuddies.com/pic/formulatoy10/52006/images/101_0020.jpg

http://www.thebestbuddies.com/pic/formulatoy10/52006/images/101_0024.jpg

Shoot Tim I didn't know that was Donnie. We were up there with him for a few hours and got a lot of good pics. :smokin:

I took the left, its not bad.The hardest part was getting around Jeff, His jeep rolled nicely down hill,was it 1.5 times till the tires? You had the strap off of their quick.

Shoot Tim I didn't know that was Donnie. We were up there with him for a few hours and got a lot of good pics. :smokin:

How could you not miss the drunken ninja running around? :laughing:

The pics are a bit blurry 'cause I guess he was into about 1/2 quart of Cranberry /Vodka by then.

Cool sequence El Fab at least we got to wow the crowd.
After dozens of rolls in that buggy this one was the first to ever dent the shock hoops amazingly enough. One dent is right at the base where it meets the hood on the protected back side but the hood is fine. I was all ??? WTF? Its very deep at first it looks like a kink in the tube but it's not. It's the equivalent of hitting it full swing with a splitting mall and now I can see where it got hooked in behind the same rock the tire did.

You were kicking ass at that point jeff it sucks that it killed your electrics. You looked verry bummed out when we drove by a while after it happened and i really wish there was something i could have done. One limping brother to another.

Ian

I think I only lost my sense of humor for a few minutes, man I was beat. Actually it stoked me up to see you still going considering there were'nt that many cars still in the race at that point. Nothing you could have done...Go Nor Cal boys!

You've been hanging out with Yoder WAY too much. OVER!:flipoff2:

Randii

Yoder and I aren't friends anymore didn't you hear?
He went all rich on me and bought coilovers and by-passes and then he has the balls to get "Barn Built Buggys Rock" stickers professionally made for his junk when I'm still cutting them out of shelf paper.
King Jason is my only rich friend.

Yoder and I aren't friends anymore didn't you hear?
He went all rich on me and bought coilovers and by-passes and then he has the balls to get "Barn Built Buggys Rock" stickers professionally made for his junk when I'm still cutting them out of shelf paper.
King Jason is my only rich friend.



:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing: :laughing: