KOH style racing comes to Utah!!!

[reddman]

Well, really close to Utah at least for now.

As you may have heard, Bonneville Off-Road Racing has a new owner, and is in the process of adding a few new classes. For those of you who aren't familiar with Bonneville Off-Road Racing, we are a desert race sanctioning body that has been putting on races in Northern Utah and Nevada since 1984. We will be refering to it as Bonneville Off-Road Racing from now on rather than the accronym B.O.R.E., for pretty obvious reasons.

I am working with the guys in charge of King of the Hammers to put together our new Ultra4 class. It will be setup so that your average joe and his rock crawler can come out and race KOH style, right here in our backyard. There is a very good chance that we will have it all worked out so that our top finishers in Ultra4 in the 2010 season will receive highly coveted invites to race at the big King of the Hammers Race in Johnson Valley, California!

I am looking for your input on this new class. What I would like to do for this first race with Ultra4 is to combine JeepSpeed type vehicles, modified vehicle based crawlers, and full on crawler buggies. If we get enough JeepSpeeds involved in our Ultra4 class, then we will look into starting a real JeepSpeed class in our races. If we get enough really fast crawlers, we may end up dividing the class between the purpose built buggies and the modified vehicles, but that's down the road a ways.

Safety is of course a big concern, so full roll cages are going to be required. For this upcoming September 19 race we will be pretty forgiving on cage design. If there are possible safety issues, we will suggest improvements where they're needed that people can make over the winter before the 2010 season. As for fuel storage, our insurance requires something safer than an aluminum fuel cell. Plastic fuel cells will be allowed, but an outer shell is highly recommended. Both Summit Racing and Speedway have plastic cells with shells for under $300. We will also require 5 point harnesses and SNELL approved helmet. When I'm done writing the rules I will post up so we can all have a fun and safe race.

If you have any questions about this class please direct them to me, I'm happy to work with any concerns you might have or listen to your ideas. Please mention this thread to anyone you think might be interested in racing this class.

So let's hear what you guys think! Who wants to go fast? :greg:

 

[reddman]

Bonneville Off-Road Racing's new website is boreracing.org by the way. The site is not done, but it's getting closer every day. The old .net site is held by the previous owners, and is being taken down, don't mistake it for the new .org site.

Thanks!

 

[Erik d_lux]

I would be really interested in this.

As far as fuel cells go.... would a steel cell be ok then?

Where will the race be located in sept?

 

[Erik d_lux]

Another thing...

It would be nice to know the area and possible trails of the race far in advance. For KOH the locals who frequent the Hammers really have an advantage which is the way I think it should be.

 

[Grim]

keep us updated, would love to go see a race like K.O.H.

 

[reddman]

I would be really interested in this.

As far as fuel cells go.... would a steel cell be ok then?

Where will the race be located in sept?

The cell must have a flexible bladder to meet any pretty much racing organizations rules. If your steel can has a plastic or nylon/rubber bladder inside it, then it's ok. I hate to be a stickler about it, but it's already so hard to get insurance for these events, we have to maintain our safety standards. Thankfully there are cheap alternatives compared to $2000 FuelSafe cells. There are plastic cells available for under $200, and plastic cells with a steel can for under $300.

If your cell is located a ways away from the driver/passenger or has a good firewall, a plastic cell should be fine. If it has a can around it, then it can be mounted anywhere, even right against the seats.

The Sept race will be held in Wendover, NV. The course start/finish is about 6 miles south of town. There are some rock sections on and around the course I'll be looking at within the next couple weeks so I can lay out the Ultra4 only sections of the course.

We will give everyone as much advance notice as possible about the races and courses. We are working on a couple courses in Utah, but until we have the permits in hand there will only be limited info available on where to prerun/practice.

 

[Matt Stevens]

I would be really interested in this.

As far as fuel cells go.... would a steel cell be ok then?

Where will the race be located in sept?

And as far as the rules go guys its not just insurance. I have been going fast and watching people go fast in the desert for a while now and I personaly know if you don't keep your riggs equiped with the minumum requirements like tube size and fuel cells you will die I have seen several deaths first hand from things that blew me away like a truck that endo'd at about 40 MPH and both people inside died (I didn't think you could even get a good bruise going that slow). I personaly would never get into a desert racer of any kind with out a good fuel cell and aproved fire suit, a gas fire just seem like a bad way to go to me. Ok now that I'm done being a wet blanket Get your shi+ together and lets go race.

 

[jsudar]

So is Ultra 4 a whole new class? I read in another post that Bonneville will be using the same rules as BITD. According to their rules, my junk would have to be in the 8000 class. Is Ultra 4 a Bonneville only class or does BITD and SCORE have something similar.

I guess what I'm asking is: if I build something to conform with Ultra 4 rules, what will happen if I should venture outside of Utah and want to race with another sanctioning body? Should I just build to class 8000 rules?

 

[Matt Stevens]

So is Ultra 4 a whole new class? I read in another post that Bonneville will be using the same rules as BITD. According to their rules, my junk would have to be in the 8000 class. Is Ultra 4 a Bonneville only class or does BITD and SCORE have something similar.

I guess what I'm asking is: if I build something to conform with Ultra 4 rules, what will happen if I should venture outside of Utah and want to race with another sanctioning body? Should I just build to class 8000 rules?

We are not using BITD rules to a "T" just a guidline for now. Most classes like 8,7,5-1600 are standard classes form any race org. and the saftey standard is Score's CR rules. but we all (org's) have our own classes that the other doesn't or they do but call them deferent names like 7200 BITD is Score class 6 and Snores class 7 unlimited. but I race Score and Snore a lot and I keep up to speed on BITD and I have never heard of an ultra 4 in desert racing I think it is a class Reddman is starting for all you Jeep Freaks cause that KOH stuff is Beachin.

 

[reddman]

So is Ultra 4 a whole new class? I read in another post that Bonneville will be using the same rules as BITD. According to their rules, my junk would have to be in the 8000 class. Is Ultra 4 a Bonneville only class or does BITD and SCORE have something similar.

I guess what I'm asking is: if I build something to conform with Ultra 4 rules, what will happen if I should venture outside of Utah and want to race with another sanctioning body? Should I just build to class 8000 rules?

I have never heard of an ultra 4 in desert racing I think it is a class Reddman is starting for all you Jeep Freaks cause that KOH stuff is Beachin.

The guys that run KOH have told me that every sanctioning body that they are working with is now calling the class Ultra4 (including BITD). I had wanted to call it the KOH class, but understandably, they don't want the name of their race getting lost as a class name.

It is my intent to keep the rules for our Ultra4 class similar to the rules for BITD Ultra4, etc. so that our racers can still race in their races too. My hope is that we can race some JeepSpeeds in Ultra4 for the September race. If enough JeepSpeeds turn out, then the 2010 season will have separate classes for JS and U4.

 

[rockreligious]

It would be interesting to see the rockcoarse sections when they are available so that those thinking of Jeepspeed can determine if there xj's are up to the task...sounds awesome though.

 

[Matt Stevens]

Reddman if enough jeep speed entrants show up to the september race don't you think it would be a good idea to let them race jeepspeed on the general race course. I say if 3 jeep speeds show up give them there own class.... but its your call, this is your group.

 

[04nachotaco]

are there any marked trails in that area i can go run for the hell of it? where can i find a map or something? also very interested in competing 2010 as i dont think my rig will be ready by september

 

[ChestonScout]

What about propane tanks? I am running 2 steel forklift tanks in the very back of my rig?


My rig is big but this might be fun! They let Clayton Krattz run the LCQ for KOH with his 54" boggers???



EDIT....

He is also running the same propane tanks as me. If it is safe enough for KOH it should be safe enough for everything

 

[Matt Stevens]

What about propane tanks? I am running 2 steel forklift tanks in the very back of my rig?


My rig is big but this might be fun! They let Clayton Krattz run the LCQ for KOH with his 54" boggers???



EDIT....

He is also running the same propane tanks as me. If it is safe enough for KOH it should be safe enough for everything

The fuel cells need to have a blader inside of them. if you go on racedezert.com under the classifides you can find used race cells starting around $100 and there are no marked trails but if you go to the old boreracing.net site i think they still have some maps of the area.... all I have right now is the BLM hard copies.

 

[Mug]

Reddman if enough jeep speed entrants show up to the september race don't you think it would be a good idea to let them race jeepspeed on the general race course. I say if 3 jeep speeds show up give them there own class.... but its your call, this is your group.

I like the idea.

 

[Chevycrew]

Race cells for propane?

The fuel cells need to have a blader inside of them. if you go on racedezert.com under the classifides you can find used race cells starting around $100 and there are no marked trails but if you go to the old boreracing.net site i think they still have some maps of the area.... all I have right now is the BLM hard copies.

 

[Matt Stevens]

Race cells for propane?

I don't know now you have me all mixed up. I have never heard of running propane off-road. I thought propane tanks were being converted to hold race gas? can anyone clear this up? And if you do use it why??

 

[Mug]

I think ChestonScout and Clayton have gasoline engines that have been converted to run on regular propane (LPG), which of course needs to be stored in high pressure tanks (the most common source for used LP tanks are old forklifts). Propane conversions for carburated off road engines is usefull because feeding propane into the engine is not affected by steep angles, which would normally kill a carburated gasoline engine.

Matt, are you thinking of how some guys use old beer kegs for gasoline tanks on dune buggies and sand rails?

Bottom line - Race associations won't allow rigid fuel tanks (for any fuel) because of the chance that they may bend/twist/rip/get punctured which could allow leaking. You can run poly tanks sitting inside steel boxes, or any other tank which has a flexible bladder inside it.

 

[Chevycrew]

I think chestons point was the rigid steel propane tanks were allowed at KOH this year. Yes, they had propane in them.