Round 2 Rolls Around Nevada: NCRR 2018

May 1, 2018
Story By
Shana Whitford

Making an even bigger competition this year, John Goodby, the promoter of the Nor Cal Rock Racing series (NCRR), created total of five rounds to complete his show! That’s two more rounds of competitive motorsports for all you crazed Nor Cal fans. As the popularity for the sport continues to grow, so does the crowd and the fans who crave it as they keep coming back for more.

The thriving class of the UTVs will be granted two extra rounds exclusively to themselves, making it a five round race series as opposed to the normal three round series. “I wanted to expand the Side by Side (SXS) racing in the area. All of the other NCRR classes can’t really withstand any more events, but the SXS can because of their costs to operate and maintain,” explains Goodby. So there you have it folks…you now have the Nor Cal Side by Side Championship Series (NCSXS).

Familiar to the NCRR natives, Round 2 took place in Northern Nevada at the Wild West Motorsports Park. Underestimating the warm weather and clear blue skies, we all received our first farmer tans for the year. A true opposite from all the mud experienced in Round 1 last month at the Prairie City SVRA, the Northern Nevada short course offered a few tight turns and rock piles that not only demonstrated both uphill and downhill altercations, but were also stretched far and wide for some extended spectator gratification. There were plenty of rollovers, dicey pass attempts and visions of spinning rubber shadowing in the dust above.

4400 Class

Team Nitto's very own JP Gomez, the baby in the well known Gomez Brothers Racing team brotherhood, won the day…well…all day!

"I get to run this car to its limits, and not rolling it is always a plus,” said JP. Carrying his persistent streak of speed from Round 1 to Round 2, JP had the fastest lap time of 1:39:601, winning both his heats. Not far behind was his brother Raul Gomez with an extremely close lap time of 1:39:786. “It’s always fun racing the Nor Cal series as it’s an adrenaline rush through the whole course. High speed cornering and going through the rocks as fast as you can without losing any tires is always challenging.” The two brothers followed each for a while during the main, until competitor Brendon Thompson snuck in between for a second-place win, sending Gomez brother Raul home with third place.

4400 Race Results

1^st Place: JP Gomez
2^nd Place: Brendon Thompson
3^rd Place: Raul Gomez

4500 Class

Desperate times call for desperate measures! Due to a family emergency, Dustyn Friesen called upon longtime family friend DSI Dave Schneider to pick up the car and have a whack at the NCRR competition in his place. Dave drove from California up to Canada and picked up the car on Wednesday before the race, a complete 24-hour roundtrip. With only three hours of sleep prior to practice, Dave focused the entire weekend and ended up having a blast! Come race day, the 4500 car finished second in the first heat and won their second heat. 17-year-old co-driver Woody Rose willingly sided with Dave and together they won the main. After the race, Dave complemented his co-driver, “The kid was key to winning! He was absolutely on point.” Keep in mind that up until this race, Dave had never before driven Dustyn's car! Nor had he driven competitively for the last 18 months. Now that’s teamwork!

4500 Race Results:

1^st Place: Dustyn Friesen
2^nd Place: Mike Bedwell
3^rd Place: Justin Hall

4600 Class

Patience was a proven virtue for driver Peter Turgeon in the 4600 class. With both the 4600 and 4500 classes running at once, lapped traffic up a nasty uphill rock section turned for the worst in no time. With other competitors breaking or failing to make the pass, Peter decided to wait it out as he watched from the bottom until the mess cleared. Avoiding the carnage kept Peter safely on his wheels. “I just kept my driving smooth and consistent,” Peter claimed. He also admitted to having a front row seat as he watched 4500 competitors Justin Hall and Dave Schneider race their hearts out. “It was a great day of racing. Can’t wait for Round 3.”

4600 Race Results:

1^st Place: Peter Turgeon
2^nd Place: Josh Bacsi
3^rd Place: Anthony Thomas

4800 Class

Two days before the race, Wade Coleman and his crew discovered they had a bent rear housing. He took his 4800 car to Trent Fabrication and completed the repairs just in time. The car held strong for Wade to win his first heat…with the brakes failing on the last lap. After a solid recovery in the pits, Wade would drive conservatively during his second heat to avoid overheating the brakes and finish third. He was the first to drop into the rock section during his main. “After that I never looked back,” he explained. Girlfriend and co-driver Jeanette Chester kept tabs on the other drivers around them. Together, they led all eight laps and brought home the win.

4800 Race Results:

1^st Place: Wade Coleman
2^nd Place: Jeren Gunter
3^rd Place: Justin Day

Pre-Runner Class

Run what you brung is the Pre-Runner class. Justin Radford, the returning champ from Round 1, felt he battled all weekend with his setup due to changing some stuff on the truck prior to race day. Despite the changes, it seems as though Justin and co-driver Joe Thompson made all the right decisions. “Each heat we were messing with settings trying to make it better, and right before the main we went drastic which seemed to give us more traction, so we had a better drive off the line to get in front of fellow competitor Ian Murray. I knew if I could just get in front of him, he would have a hard time getting around me. So, we did just that and came home with the win!”

Pre-Runner Race Results:

1^st Place: Justin Radford
2^nd Place: Zack Merrill
3^rd Place: Travis McCalla

Class 10

Class 10 Race Results:

1^st Place: Max Baggett
2^nd Place: Ryan Sargent
3^rdPlace: Kameron Kallas

UTV 1000

As the shop owner of Auburn Extreme Powersports, Jeff Barbarick discovered an intriguing way to help promote his business: race UTVs. He started in 2014 and quickly learned about his competition, including Beau Judge. “Beau is hard to beat, I’ve taken second to him many times.” Taking advantage of the freshly watered down track, Jeff set off to a good start, which kept him in front of Beau for six laps out of the nine. Then…Jeff blew turn six, allowing Beau and the next driver to pass him. But soon after, Beau and the next driver got tangled up, allowing Jeff to retake first. “I was cruising the last lap, and my spotter said I had a good lead. When I came back to where Beau and car #89 were, the yellow flag was out. I slowed for the yellow flag which allowed the guy behind me to catch up. He tried to sling shot past me and take me on the outside in the last turn. We unfortunately locked tires and luckily, I was able to drive out of it. It broke my axle but I was able to drive it in for the win. Being in front of and maintaining the lead in front of Beau was the highlight of my weekend. That guy is a tough competitor and you have to bring it to beat him.”

UTV 1000 Race Results:

1^st Place: Jeff Barbarick
2^nd Place: Tim Compton
3^rd Place: Mark Olson

UTV Turbo

It was prep work times three for the UTV Turbo winner Beau Judge. With a total of three race cars, he was competing in both the UTV Turbo class and the UTV 1000 class, along with his son Braden competing in the UTV 170. Driving his new car only once before, Beau continued to create the perfect set up. He started out in eighth position for his first heat, and within the first turn on the first lap, he took the lead. Starting out in the front row for his second heat, he had a near perfect repeat, once again taking lead position. Within the first lap of his main, he built up a pretty good gap between himself and the rest of the pack, and only separated himself farther and farther away as the laps progressed. The man is untouchable! Curious, I asked Beau what would be the highlight of his weekend, and he responded, “I guess the highlight of my weekend would be winning in a brand-new car, and only my second time in it.” An outstanding accomplishment by an amazing driver!

UTV Turbo Race Results:

1^st Place: Beau Judge
2^nd Place: Brian Van Dyke
3^rd Place: Darren Nelson

UTV 170

Don’t blink…or you’ll miss him. At only nine years old, our winner of the UTV 170 class made this his fifth race in a row to conquer first place. Braden Judge started in the tenth position in his first heat, only to pass his entire class and take the lead by the time he reached the second turn! “I was excited to see the track was fast and wide,” Braden admitted. Winning his first heat put him in front for his second heat, leading the whole way. In his main, Braden duked it out between himself and second place after a few turns and exchanged a little bit of carnage, which included getting his back bumper torn off. Towards the end, Braden’s closest competitor got a flat tire, which guaranteed Braden the crown. Not only did Braden dominate the weekend, but unlike the rest of his friends, he got to be out of school on Friday!

UTV 170 Race Results:

1^st Place: Braden Judge
2^nd Place: Shelby Waterbury
3^rd Place: Wyatt Blevins

UTV 800

The 13-year-old Hailey McCalla has been riding quads and razors since she was two. For many years, she has loved watching Lucas Oil with her dad. It didn’t take much. When dad got a race truck, Hailey was hooked. The avid dancer and aerial skills artist won both of her heats. With the combined 800 and 1000 classes during her main, Hailey made it her personal goal to stay caught up with some of the cars from the 1000 class that started ahead of her. Battling every corner and straightaway, she ended up passing two of the cars from the 1000 class. With dad’s voice and the rest of the pit crew cheering her on over the radio, Hailey could feel the excitement. “I knew at that point that I had to keep pushing if I wanted to keep my lead on the other cars.” She did just that and held her lead position all the way to the checkered flag. Impressing us all, Hailey was touched when her competitor standing next to her at the podium mentioned how proud he was of her. “It was really great to see that I impressed someone so much that he included me in his speech,” Hailey added.