Thing Motorsports- 14th TT and 3rd 7! - Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum

TotalImmortal · 03-12-2007, 10:44 AM

Race Report courtousey of Tony Cortes

The Thing Motorsports #58 TT was finally able to break it's SCORE curse and finish a race in the Trophy Truck division.
We'de done pretty well in MDR in our first season by winning the Class 1 Championship, but had had two DNF's in our SCORE attempts. Finally we ran a steady race in this weekend's 250 and pulled out a 14th, 39 minutes behind the TT winner.

Tony Cortes started as driver with Brice Faulwettor as co-driver. Car owner Frank Thing and his daughter Marsha got in at Valle de Trinidad and finished.
It wasn't without drama. On the road over the peninsula accross the mountains, Frank had both front wheels hanging over the edge of a very high drop off after hitting a high berm "not quite right" at speed. With Marsha flagging race traffic, Frank was able to coax "The Thing" back on to the course and on to the finish. Frank said he was hardly able to buckle his harness after getting back into the truck, he was so shaken. There were a couple of close calls and saves on the first 1/2 of the race also, but they happened so quickly there was hardly time to reflect on them until after it was over. This 14th for us felt as good or better than an MDR win. We've felt all along that we could run with the multi-million dollar teams through hard work and determination. We're far from a win, but for now we'll settle for a respectable finish.

The Thing Motorsports/San Diego Water Storage Class 7 #701 overcame the awful silt beds and finished with a 3rd, out of over a dozen starters. The silt cost them 45 minutes while they dug out. When they got to the Valle T pits they were almost delerious and exausted from the dig and breathing the silt while dodging race cars in the zero visibility. They said it was surreal being able to hear, but not see surrounding cars. They even heard a loud crash as a car was rear-ended near (very) them.

Shannon Dierkop started with Tyler Poppert as his co and then they switched seats at the same Valle T pits with Tyler finishing up as driver and Shannon as his co.
Shannon and Tyler are going after the SCORE Class 7 points championship for this season. They came into Santo Tomas with a missing 2/3 of a bedside after a very scarey hillside encounter with a car that was half over the edge, half on the trail.

I'm proud of our team and all of our volunteers who help us make this happen. We'll be flying high on this buzz for a while. We all work together very well. Thank you to all of you who helped us make this happen, especially to young Brice whose energy and persistence force me to keep trying to make our truck better (the TT).

Congratulations to all race finishers and especially the respective class winners.

TT#58

Here are some pics off of my dad's camera from before the race and our Valle T pit

Me Frank Shannon

Pre-filter change

Ugly Mug

7 truck

Contact

TotalImmortal · 03-12-2007, 10:45 AM

Some pics posted by others

Lance · 03-12-2007, 11:05 AM

We were stoked when you guys passed by us at RM 135. We had a dead tranny, and cheered you on as you motored by!

TotalImmortal · 03-12-2007, 11:30 AM

thanks Lance! seems like trannys claimed a lot of people on saturday

How was the experience other than that? i bet that thing hauls!!

Lance · 03-12-2007, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TotalImmortal

thanks Lance! seems like trannys claimed a lot of people on saturday

How was the experience other than that? i bet that thing hauls!!

We actually broke a tranny in half in the pre runner on Tuesday, and replaced it. My dad burned up the tranny in his motorhome on the way down to Ensenada, and camo's tranny in his F350 started slipping on the way home.

Other than it being a crazy tranny week, it was AWESOME... Pete is a cool cat, and his truck hauls ass!!!

Big Rich · 03-12-2007, 02:05 PM

you guys were HARD ON the TRANNIES

you guys are just sick

byen00 · 03-12-2007, 10:42 PM

There's video of TT #58 from MM90 at:

http://score-international.blogspot....-baja-250.html
[ subscribe to the iTunes "SCORE" video-podcast, & download to your video-iPod ]

You were among the Class 1 cars.

LIVE video of TT #58 was posted on 3/10 at:

http://07baja250.blip.tv/file/166425/
[ more LIVE videos at http://07baja250.blip.tv ]

03-12-2007, 10:44 AM	#1 (permalink)
TotalImmortal Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Member # 47179 Location: el cajon, california Posts: 829	Thing Motorsports- 14th TT and 3rd 7! Race Report courtousey of Tony Cortes The Thing Motorsports #58 TT was finally able to break it's SCORE curse and finish a race in the Trophy Truck division. We'de done pretty well in MDR in our first season by winning the Class 1 Championship, but had had two DNF's in our SCORE attempts. Finally we ran a steady race in this weekend's 250 and pulled out a 14th, 39 minutes behind the TT winner. Tony Cortes started as driver with Brice Faulwettor as co-driver. Car owner Frank Thing and his daughter Marsha got in at Valle de Trinidad and finished. It wasn't without drama. On the road over the peninsula accross the mountains, Frank had both front wheels hanging over the edge of a very high drop off after hitting a high berm "not quite right" at speed. With Marsha flagging race traffic, Frank was able to coax "The Thing" back on to the course and on to the finish. Frank said he was hardly able to buckle his harness after getting back into the truck, he was so shaken. There were a couple of close calls and saves on the first 1/2 of the race also, but they happened so quickly there was hardly time to reflect on them until after it was over. This 14th for us felt as good or better than an MDR win. We've felt all along that we could run with the multi-million dollar teams through hard work and determination. We're far from a win, but for now we'll settle for a respectable finish. The Thing Motorsports/San Diego Water Storage Class 7 #701 overcame the awful silt beds and finished with a 3rd, out of over a dozen starters. The silt cost them 45 minutes while they dug out. When they got to the Valle T pits they were almost delerious and exausted from the dig and breathing the silt while dodging race cars in the zero visibility. They said it was surreal being able to hear, but not see surrounding cars. They even heard a loud crash as a car was rear-ended near (very) them. Shannon Dierkop started with Tyler Poppert as his co and then they switched seats at the same Valle T pits with Tyler finishing up as driver and Shannon as his co. Shannon and Tyler are going after the SCORE Class 7 points championship for this season. They came into Santo Tomas with a missing 2/3 of a bedside after a very scarey hillside encounter with a car that was half over the edge, half on the trail. I'm proud of our team and all of our volunteers who help us make this happen. We'll be flying high on this buzz for a while. We all work together very well. Thank you to all of you who helped us make this happen, especially to young Brice whose energy and persistence force me to keep trying to make our truck better (the TT). Congratulations to all race finishers and especially the respective class winners. TT#58 Here are some pics off of my dad's camera from before the race and our Valle T pit Me Frank Shannon Pre-filter change Ugly Mug 7 truck Contact __________________ Brice

03-12-2007, 10:45 AM	#2 (permalink)
TotalImmortal Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Member # 47179 Location: el cajon, california Posts: 829	Some pics posted by others __________________ Brice

03-12-2007, 11:30 AM	#4 (permalink)
TotalImmortal Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Member # 47179 Location: el cajon, california Posts: 829	thanks Lance! seems like trannys claimed a lot of people on saturday How was the experience other than that? i bet that thing hauls!! __________________ Brice

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03-12-2007, 11:05 AM	#3 (permalink)
Lance Administrator Join Date: Jun 1996 Member # 1 Location: El Dorado Hills, CA Posts: 18,739 Blog Entries: 1	We were stoked when you guys passed by us at RM 135. We had a dead tranny, and cheered you on as you motored by!

03-12-2007, 10:42 PM	#7 (permalink)
byen00 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2004 Member # 32248 Location: CA Posts: 274	There's video of TT #58 from MM90 at: http://score-international.blogspot....-baja-250.html [ subscribe to the iTunes "SCORE" video-podcast, & download to your video-iPod ] You were among the Class 1 cars. LIVE video of TT #58 was posted on 3/10 at: http://07baja250.blip.tv/file/166425/ [ more LIVE videos at http://07baja250.blip.tv ]