WORCS round 5 took us back to The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, NV! We haven’t raced in Las Vegas in two years, and I was stoked to get back to the indoor/outdoor track they construct for us!
My team and I couldn’t make it out for practice this time, so we headed out on Saturday morning and arrived at the arena that afternoon. We set up our pit, I got checked in, and then I had to do some additional prep work on my car. By Saturday night I felt good and ready for my race on Sunday.
On Sunday morning I radioed for one of the RZR170 racers. Then I headed to my pit to fuel my car and check the tire pressure. The Pro Stock class was the last race of the day, and when it was time, I headed to the line. We lined up two-by-two and then got to go for a quick site lap to see the track. After one lap, we lined back up and got ready to go. I started in the second row and was ready as the green flag flew. I got the hole shot and took off chasing down the two cars in front of me! I rounded the turns on the outside portion of the track and then hit the jump heading into the arena. My car was feeling great! Then as I came into the first corner inside the arena, I felt the gas pedal disappear. I pulled over on the side of the course and got out to see what had happened. I quickly realized that my gas pedal had broken off completely. I got back in my car, finished lap 1, and pulled into the pits. We couldn’t do anything to fix it, but I was able to keep going using the small bar the pedal had been attached to. I had lost a little time but was back on the course determined and going strong.
Then, in the middle of lap 3, the overheating demons came back to haunt me. I have been battling overheating issues since completing this car, and we have tried (what seems like) everything to fix the issue. I radioed to my pit crew and told them I was pulling over to let the car cool down before carrying on. For the duration of the race, I fought the overheating battle, pulling over on the side of the track or in the pits to let the car temperature come down when I needed to. In the end, I did finish the race and salvaged some points.
We have the car torn down, and we are determined to figure out the overheating issues before the next round in Cedar City, UT. I know this car is going to be awesome once we have it running correctly!
Thanks so much to all of these amazing companies and people that support my program: GBC Tires, Elka Suspension, Benchmark Performance, Candle Motorsports, Method Race Wheels, Crow Enterprizes, Polaris RZR, Super ATV, Energy Coil Racing, PRP Seats, Rugged Radios, Maxima Racing Oils, Tireblocks, JAMAR Performance, Race Team Sites, Crown Performance Products, Got Sand Performance, Oceanside Driveline, 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 @csims_188, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/csims188/, or on my website at www.sims188racing.com.