Factory Team

PL Travel Chronicles

The 2010 ROAR Fuel Nationals have come and gone. Pro-Line decided this year we would drive out to Colorado and support or great team of drivers. Chad Bradley and myself would do the honors of the 1200-mile journey in a 27-foot box van. We left the PL factory on the morning on Monday June 21st and would drive 19hrs straight into Colorado Springs. The last half hour proved to be a difficult time as my navigator, Chad, finally began to dose off but was still awake enough to spot out 3 deer in the middle of the road (Oh, deer that could have been bad!) with a heavy box van traveling at 65mph. With possible crisis behind us we made it to the hotel and crashed for a couple hours. Tuesday was set-up day and time to start mounting tires and prep our cars for Wednesday practice. We did not expect that Colorado Springs would have the variations in weather that occurred; from high heat to thunderstorms we encountered it all.

The weather and the high altitude at 6200 feet would prove to be an obstacle to overcome by most. Engine stalling was the norm for most of qualifying, along with ever changing track conditions. In the end the PL team did a great job and my navigator Chad Bradley would make the Buggy A-main, and miss Truggy barely due to a bad Lipo pack, which was a bummer. Sunday came and the sky’s opened up before the start of the A-Mains, which set us back about 1 1/2 hours. In the end PL tires were the most widely used tire for the event and I’m proud to say we had a strong showing.

After a long sleep Sunday night it was back in the truck to head home. This time we decided to take the back route home through Interstate 70, I must say the scenery is awesome and much better that the flats lands of Arizona and New Mexico. Check out the pictures we took along the way. We could not do another 19hr day of driving after being in Colorado for a week, so we decided to drive 13 1/2 hrs and stay in Vegas for the night. We stayed at the Silverton as it was cheap and has the Bass Pro Shop right next door. Check out the picture of the bike built by Orange County Choppers for the Pro Shop, tons of details. Our final decent from Vegas would be a mere 4 hours bringing us back to good old California.

In the end it was a great journey, and I’m grateful to have a job that allows me to travel and work with a great group of drivers.

Till next time.