By Mike Henle
The“Weatherman”MemorialPCIRaceRadios48thAnnualSNORE250 is in the books after being highlighted Oct. 6-8 in Beatty, Nev., about two hours north of Las Vegas.
Together with significant silt and the rest of the challenges that usually accompany an off-road race, this particular event featured a field of about 63 entries including overall winner Travis Chase, who borrowed a truck to compete in the fifth race of the 2017 Patrick’s Signs/McKenzie’s Championship Series.
Chase, of Glendale, Calif., won the event with a two lap time of 4 hours, 2.25 minutes. A 38-year-old plumbing contractor, Chase said he borrowed the truck from Brian Shaleen, a fellow off-road racer and owner of Fusion Off-Road.
“I have been trying to sell my Class 1 car,” explained Chase, adding that the SNORE 250 marked the first time he had competed in a Trophy Truck (or 6100). “Since I didn’t want to use the Class 1 car, I asked Brian if he’d loan me his 6100 truck and it worked out really well, especially since SNORE had a $2,000 bonus for winning the overall title.”
While Chase agreed that the silt was very thick on a day with no wind, the challenge actually worked out for him.
“The silt actually helped us because we were the first truck off the line and we didn’t see much of the dust until the second lap,” he explained. “The dust was very thick especially without any kind of breeze.”
A very respected off-road racer, Chase has a strong list of sponsors that include General Tire, KC HiLites, Method Race Wheel, Jamar Products and King Shocks.
“I have all of the respect in the world for people who promote off-road racing,” he said. “It’s not an easy job and I made sure that I thanked everyone from SNORE for the work they do.”
Part of the fascination of off-road racing is the never-ending challenges that come with a brand new course, and this particular layout didn’t short-change anyone who took on the open desert. The race certainly had its share of action and included a metal bending accident.
“We had the highest of highs and the lowest of lows at the race,” summarized Lynn Dickton, who was running third in a Class 1 unlimited entry driven by Joe David, a businessman from Ridgecrest, Calif. “We were running third in Class 1 but at mile 78 we got drilled by another car in the dust. The impact literally slammed the back of our car so hard that we caught on fire.”
The crash that included a Class 10 entry ended the duo’s day.
“Sadly, we were done, but thankfully we are OK and here to talk about it,” Dickton said adding that the accident also knocked David out of the SNORE points lead. “I feel so horrible for Joe, who put so much into the car and is now having to rebuild the back of it. But, wow! What a ride it was for the first 78 miles. I’d go again without a second thought.”
Other winners included Jim Tucker, Class 1; Fred Hatch, 10; Chad Cummings, 12; Travis Chase, Unlimited Truck; Preston Shields, 1450; Justin Smith, 5 Unlimited; Ruben Garcia, 5-1600; Kenny Freeman, 1-2 1600; Jason George, 2000; Michael Brenner, Stock Bug; Broc Smith, SxS Pro Limited; Mitchell Alsup, SxS Pro Turbo Unlimited; Jay Rossie, 1450 Sportsman; 2000 Joseph Cammans; Bree Cloud, Limited Sportsman; Brandon Homme, Unlimited Sportsman.
SNORE will wrap up the 2017 season with the very popular McKenzie’s Rage at the River event Dec. 8-10.