The inaugural Bonneville Offroad Racing (BOR) Junction Jam in beautiful Grand Junction, Colorado, was like a roller coaster ride. But before I get ahead of myself, this update will contain videos, links to our socials, and photos, so buckle up, buttercup; I’m about to get long-winded. All the photos are from Jaide. If you like her work and want her to do some for you, let me know, and I’ll put you in contact. We have contracted her for the entire season, and I’m sure you can see why.
Let’s start with the end of the last race. After taking 3rd at the Dino Dash, we knew we were in a good position for points going into race two of the season. The car survived mostly unharmed; the skid plate needed work and a new belt was the bulk of the repairs. Everything else was just clean-up and prep, triple-checking everything to ensure nothing was cracked or about to break.
We left for Colorado on Thursday. If you follow our social media, you’ll know we’ve all taken up golf recently. Some of us are beginners, others returning to the game after excelling in their youth. Long story short, we’ve been bringing our clubs to a lot of races lately. We even played in San Felipe during the Score International SF250. This trip to Grand Junction was a first for all of us, so why not play a bit? We ended up playing quite a few rounds at Adobe Creek, a beautiful 27-hole course about 30 minutes from the track. It was lots of fun, and I’d gladly play there again.
I had to pick up my co-driver at midday on Friday. Mike had flown into Grand Junction for the race straight from a work trip. Landing just before our scheduled pre-run, there was no time to waste in picking him up. However, we managed to have a bit of fun embarrassing Mike at the airport. Watch the video below to see how we did it. I’m not sure if he was embarrassed because of what the sign said or because he was associated with us—you decide.
The pre-run was intense. The course was rough—especially the first 10 miles, all on ridge tops where one wrong move or a blown tire could send you into a ravine. As you’ll see in the race video, the track evolved into a belt-burning, silty mess. Many of the lower-powered 2-wheel-drive rigs needed help up hills, and so did we when we lost a belt. But I’m getting ahead of myself again.
The second half of the course had fewer ridges and more tight turns and rocky straights—it was quite enjoyable. However, the thought of doing 8 laps made my shoulders ache before even getting behind the wheel. The organizers proposed cutting down the lap count, but almost everyone agreed that if you could survive 8 laps, you deserved the win. For my team, debating whether to run all 8 laps or give the backups more seat time was crucial. We decided Jon would drive the first 3 laps, then I’d take the last 5. Mike would co-drive for the entire race to minimize our downtime during driver swaps. As we’d learn on race day, though, no plan survives first contact with the enemy.
Friday after the pre-run included tech inspection, contingency checks, and the world-famous Injured Racer BBQ hosted by Simco Racing. The Simco clan generously provided a ton of food to feed the crews of the 40 cars and a large contingency of volunteers, asking only for a small donation that goes into a pot for any injured racers—easily worth the was bills we shoved in the helmet considering how much my crew eats, plus I’m not superstitious but a little good karma never hurts. Thanks, Simco Racing—you guys rock!
Race day arrived with an epic turnout—almost 40 cars for an inaugural race was incredible and a testament to the new leadership in BOR. I helped stage all the cars while my team prepped Jon and Mike to get them off the line. It was a good thing I focused on organizing the field because I always get incredibly nervous before the race starts, and this time, not being in the driver’s seat made it worse. I let the pros handle the car while I stacked the cars behind us in their class and grid order.
Early in the first lap, the boys lost another belt. Mike quickly swapped it out, sending us to the back of the pack among slower-class cars, eating dust and traffic to try and get back into the fight. Before starting lap 2, the boys pitted for another belt. It was a Formula 1-worthy stop—I threw it through the window as they drove by.
At the end of lap 3, the plan went sideways. Mike said he needed to get out of the car, unexpectedly putting Bones in the co-driver’s seat. It was a scorcher of a day. Do you remember way back to Mario, where the sun was literally trying to kill you? Yeah, it was like that.
I dumped 3 bottles of water down my back to help with the ever-increasing temps. Quick as lightning, the swap was made. We fueled up, Bones got buckled in, and we were off—straight into burning another belt. Track evolution on an 8-lap course is brutal. Driving over the same ground repeatedly roughens it up badly. The second belt failure was entirely my fault for trying to power through the silt beds.
Despite being far behind, we pushed hard on that lap. We had to pit again for yet another belt. Unlike my graceful toss earlier, this one hit the roof, and when I stopped to retrieve it, I parked on it. <Insert huge eye roll>
Off we went again. A couple of miles in, Bones unexpectedly called out, “Yellow caution into this right, pull over—I’m gonna be sick.”
He proceeded to vomit his breakfast all over the iPad and his lap. Thankfully, he got his helmet off in time. I’ve thrown up into a helmet before, and it’s not pleasant—imagine being waterboarded by your own vomit as you struggle to unbuckle the helmet. Vomiting sucks, but it can always be worse. Bones decided to hop out and get a ride to pits with one of the rescue crews while I continued the lap solo. I pushed as hard as I could without a navigator, but it was rough. Mike jumped back in at the pit, and we went out hoping just to finish—but we didn’t. At the start of lap 7, I lost all pressure in the brake pedal. I limped it for 20 miles, hoping to get it fixed before the final lap. Unfortunately, with less than half a mile to go at the end of lap 7, the wheel literally rolled past us. Just like in a cartoon, it rolled by and gracefully fell over. I laughed. When I said Jesus take the wheel, I didn’t mean that one.
It turns out the wheel was only held on by the Wilwood rotor, and the car’s weight gave it up. The RCV axle nut had stripped off, and the Lynchpin was taken with it. Everything except the trailing arm itself was trashed. Thanks to our sponsors, everything is already repaired, and we’re ready for the next race. The Freedom 200 is the week after the 4th. Tune in to our social media for live updates!
We didn’t podium this time, but only three cars finished in our class. We still managed to secure some points, currently sitting second with three races left in the season. We’re confident and ready to chase down more at the next race!
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