The 2019 UTV World Championship is in the books! My team and I headed out to the event on Thursday morning. We arrived at the race course that evening and got settled in. On Friday morning, I headed out on the Poker Run in my Polaris General. The Poker Run is tons of fun, and it allows me to see the race course. I got to do two full laps and had a blast! Then, my team and I headed to tech & contingency in the Riverside Hotel & Casino parking lot. It was a great set up with tons of vendors, and I got to see a lot of my sponsors which was awesome! We pushed my car through tech and then made a stop at Rugged Radios so they could tune my new antenna. We also made a stop at Elka Suspension so Doug from Roll Design could adjust my shocks for the race on Sunday. After tech, I got to hang out with my friends at the Pit Crew Challenges and then we headed to the driver’s meeting. I wrapped up Friday night with a haircut from my friend and pro driver, Dustin Jones, and have now earned the nickname “Mullet CSims188”!
On Saturday, I watched some of the desert races, and that afternoon, we loaded up my car to take it to test. We just finished putting my car back together after the roll at WORCS a few weeks ago, and I wanted to make sure everything felt right. We found a spot and unloaded my car. After a few passes, I was confident everything was good, so we loaded up and headed back to the pits. On Saturday night, we made sure our pit vehicle was stocked with anything I might need during the race, and checked my car one last time. I turned in early to get a good night’s sleep before my race the next day.
The alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. I got up, had some breakfast, and put on my race suit. It was go time! I headed to the line at about 5:45 a.m., taking my spot on row two. I was number 26 in the line-up, so I knew I was going to have my work cut out for me. At 6:30 a.m., the first green flag dropped, and row one took off. I took a deep breath and got ready. Exactly one minute later, the green flag dropped for my row, and we all took off! I was in the 2nd place spot off the line and hammered down on my gas pedal as we drove into the desert. I competed in the Production 1000 class, stacked with 45 cars, in my stock Polaris RZR RS1. There were all different types of vehicles competing and drivers from all over, including pros. I settled in and stayed focused as I navigated the first lap of the 7 mile course. As I completed the first lap, I had kept a good pace and was already catching row one. I was able to continue that pace through the next several laps. Coming into lap 7, a car spun out in front of me and I had to brake quickly to avoid a major collision. I bumped the car, but was able to get around it and take off again. It cost me some time, but I was happy that I was still rolling. I drove with everything I had on the 8th and final lap to catch the cars left in front of me, and in the end, I crossed the finish line in 5th place behind 4 pro drivers. I felt good about my finish!
We are busy prepping my car for WORCS round 4 this weekend in Las Vegas, NV. My team and I are heading out on Saturday morning for my race on Sunday. I love racing at The Orleans Arena and I can’t wait to get back in my car!
Thanks so much to all of these amazing companies and people that support my program: Addict Racing Engines, Demon Powersports, Method Race Wheels, GBC Motorsports, Benchmark Performance, Crow Enterprizes, Energy Coil Racing, Factory UTV, Ace Motorsports, Baja Designs, Gates G-Force, PRP Seats, Rugged Radios, Maxima Racing Oils, Bikeman Performance, Grounded 4, Tireblocks, Elka Suspension, Roll Design, Crown Performance Products, Surface Sun Systems, HOK9, Corona Print Shop, Perrault Motorsports, Dirt Rider Designs, UTV Underground, and my parents who make this possible for me! Thanks to UTV Underground and Polaris RZR for putting on this awesome event and Harlen Foley and his Dirt Nation Magazine crew for the amazing pictures. You can check out the Sims188 Racing team on Instagram @csims188 or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/csims188/.