WORCS round 4 started out great. My team and I headed up to Honolulu Hills Raceway in Taft, CA early Friday morning. After arriving at the track, I got checked in a registration, unloaded the trailer, and got my pit set up and ready to go. I headed to practice that afternoon. The laps were long, so I got two practice laps in and really got a good feel for the track. Everything on the car felt great! I got my car washed up, went to tech, and got a plan together for Saturday before closing up and heading to the hotel for the night.
On Saturday, I was up and at the track early to coach two RZR170 racers. Then I did some additional prep work on my car to make sure everything was 100% ready for Sunday’s race. I went the driver’s meeting, and then helped another racer fix his car so he could race on Sunday too. We grabbed some dinner and turned for the night at the hotel.
I headed back to the track on Sunday morning. When I got there, I checked my tire pressure and fueled my car. I was pumped and ready to go! The Pro Stock race was the last race of the weekend, and when it was time, I headed to the line. There were 15 cars in my class and I was lined up in row 2. The flag flew and row 1 took off. I watched the flagger and got ready to go. After one minute, the green flag flew and we took off! I was in P3 off of the line, and as we headed out on to the course, I stayed close to the car in front of me. About halfway through lap 1, I was able to make passes in a corner moving me into P1 on my row. I had clean air in front of me and I hit the gas! Then, coming down a hill into a long, sweeping corner, I was going too fast and my tires caught an edge, flipping me onto my side. I was out in a remote area of the course by myself, so I quickly got out of my car and attempted to flip it back on my own. I almost had it, but was very grateful when Randy Perry (the owner of WORCS) showed up to help me. We got my car flipped back on four wheels, I strapped myself back in, and took off. I was going to do everything I could to make up all the time I’d lost.
My car felt ok and luckily no damage had been done when I landed on my side. I raced through laps 2, 3, 4, and 5 without any issues, and crossed the finish line in 11th place. I was happy that I earned some valuable points and was able to finish the race.
This season has been tough so far. I am working hard to move my way back to a podium finish. I plan to race at the GBC Stadium Series this Saturday (4/17/21) and then again in May (5/8/21). After that, we will get the car prepped and ready to go again for WORCS round 5 in Preston, ID at the beginning of June.
Thanks so much to all of these amazing companies and people that support my program: Polaris RZR, GBC Motorsports, Benchmark Performance, Candle Motorsports, Method Race Wheels, Crow Enterprizes, Elka Suspension, Super ATV, Roll Design, Energy Coil Racing, Factory UTV, Baja Designs, PRP Seats, Rugged Radios, Maxima Racing Oils, Tireblocks, JAMAR Performance, Race Team Sites, Crown Performance Products, Got Sand Performance, Oceanside Driveline, HOK9, Vision Canopy, Perrault Motorsports, Dirt Rider Designs, and my parents who make this possible for me! Thanks to WORCS for putting on the series and Harlen Foley for the awesome pictures! You can check out the Sims188 Racing team on Instagram @csims188, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/csims188/, or on my website at www.sims188racing.com.