SILVER STATE 300

APRIL 24, 2010

Alamo, Nevada-the gateway to the Cathedral’s, a small town in a peaceful, green valley with cattle grazing, a few small motels and The Alamo Truck Stop. Saturday, 8:30 a.m. the place is a hub of activity swarming with chase vehicles, haulers, race cars, trick trucks, with the regular big rigs making their way up the highway, wondering what the heck’s going on here! Its race day for the Silver State 300 – the weather is almost perfect with clear blue skies, sunshine with an occasional whisper of a breeze. Sam Berri is ready to tear up the desert in his single seat Jimco starting the race in the 3rd spot behind two young racers. Sam and Team Margarita had begun their Silver State 300 adventure on Tuesday in a rain storm, traveling to Barstow to shake down the car. In February, the car had been hauled down to Jimco in the San Diego area because if you remember it had gotten busted up pretty badly at the Parker 425. The broken front end and been remade and was ready to race. Wednesday under threatening skies and a chilly North wind Sam did some test runs and discovered something didn’t feel right. Bob and Don caught a visual of a front broken shock spring on the driver’s side of the car. As it turned out, The King Shock truck was there where Sam was testing and he was able to get a new one. Bob, Don and Sam had it installed in a snap. Sam tested some more and then it was off to Vegas for fun and relaxation before the time trials.

Thursday was showery in Vegas. Team M headed to No Las Vegas to the new swanky Casino, The Aliante Station to get signed in for the race. Sam obtained the location of the time trials course-up off Hwy 15 on Apex Rd/Nellis AFB turn off and then up Apex Road. Team M got set up there, kept the car loaded up because the sky looked like rain. The Air Force put on a fabulous air show for our entertainment while we waited. The rain held off till Sam, Bob and Lois decided to walk the three mile course, then it rained steady on them. Sam got a good feel for the course. Just before 3:00 p.m. before the time trials started, the rain subsided and we were blessed with Mr. Sun’s warming rays.

Approximately 50 Class 1500 cars and 1400 trick trucks showed up for the time trials. They all took their look-see laps and since the course was quite sandy in spots it got pretty blown out. Sam was in the number 31 slot and he was having an awesome run when he came upon a trick truck stuck on the course. The BTID officials flagged to slow down so he lost his great edge on that run. Bob check with Casey to see if Sam could take another shot at it, because of the stuck truck. Sam proceeded with an out- standing time. We all had a strong feeling that he had done very well. We, meaning Don and Ellen, Bob and Lois, Lou and Alex, Brian and Andy and Sam, packed up and went back to the Aliante to await the results to be posted in Camacho’s Cantina. The margaritas were flowing and Team Margarita were getting amped up with anticipation. At 7:00 p.m. Casey Folks read off the names on the time trials list starting with the fifteenth spot. Sam took fourth place – not too bad but he wanted the pole. Chuck Hovey had the third place. He had finished the time trial but had lost the tranny and spent the night driving to San Diego to get it repaired. The amazing thing was the pole position was snatched by a teenager, driving for his dad. Sam had his own father-son thing going on with his eldest son, Sonney meeting up with him there at the Aliante. Sam had not seen his son in a few years so the reunion was very happy.

Friday was spent getting the car race ready and Tech and Registration. We had our team meeting to give out the pit locations. Chuck Hovey made it back that afternoon and he said he was ready to race. Sam, Bob and Lois attended the mandatory driver’s meeting. Sonney visited with Sam and we watched a great Parker 425 race movie before all the cautions and rules were reviewed. Meeting over and off to Alamo, for a good night’s sleep at the Wind Mill Inn’s cute theme cabins. Three more members of the team, The Kids- Rusty, Chelsey and Donald arrived midday on Friday and were camped out at Ashe Springs. Race Day began with a delicious breakfast in the Wind Mill Inn Restaurant. The kids met Sam and team there and it was time to proceed to that truck stop that was mentioned earlier in this adventure tale.

9:15 a.m. the cars were lined up, First and Second place were there, and no Chuck Hovey, then Sam. Chuck never showed, so Sam took the third place spot. The BLM official vehicle and BITD escorted the racers through 6 miles of Desert Tortoise Habitat to the starting line. First car left at 9:30 a.m. - Sam left at 9:32 on the hunt to bring down the first and second place boys with Andy McMillan in the Corona truck roaring after him. At the first road crossing Sam had hunted and passed the second place car – G&R Racing and was chasing down young Jergensen. They were about 2 minutes and 40 seconds apart with Andy McMillan about 1 minute and 10 seconds behind Sam. Behind Andy were the 1578 car and the LVDC Car with last year’s 1500 class champion, T. J. Flores driving. So exciting! Brian had heard that Chuck Hovey had blown up his tranny while testing the night before. So he had an adventure tale with an unhappy ending. The race course went up over the mountains and the racers headed down a large dry lake bed when the dust cloud from the Jergensen car suddenly stopped. Sam kept going with Andy hot on his trail. Sam went through Check Two with a smile and a wave! Andy stopped to get a splash of fuel at Two and proceeded to get a flat tire between Check Two and Three. Sam kept going on his Good Years! It was on to Check Three where the Baker Boys awaited to give him some fuel and refreshment. This was done in an amazing time of 50 seconds! They can “geterdone”! Team M gave Sam a smile and a wave through Check Four with the 1578 and the LVDC Car, also the Voss trick truck hot on the hunt. Something was not right and Bob heard on the radio that Sam had lost second gear and the GPS unit had broken off its mounts and he wanted hand it off to the crew at Five. Check Five, which was near the town of Caliente, Sam took a little more fuel, and he was able to hand the crew the GPS unit that he had been holding in his right hand for sixty miles. He had been steering and shifting with his left hand. He had lost second gear and first gear didn’t sound too healthy. Sam was still a little over a minute ahead of the LVDC Car. Across the railroad grade 25 mph zone and trestle they carefully drove. The race course took them over more mountains and on to Check Six, where T. J. was five seconds behind Sam. Team Margarita watched as Sam showed his style for racing through Check Six. We all headed to the finish line to await our hero, Sam Berri. We had heard on the radio that Sam had let T.J. around him. T.J. came in first and 5 minutes later we heard the familiar scream of that infamous orange, yellow and white car with that margarita holding Speedy Gonzalez mouse on the hood. T.J. Flores was on the Mesa telling his tale to George Antill, next was the last place UTV and then Sam was able to relate his story of the race. The Voss truck came into the finish line and since he had started the race in 9th spot he was able to beat Sam in time. The results overall, were, T.J. Flores - First, Jason Voss – Second, and our hero still, Sam Berri – Third, finishing the race in 5 hours and 52 minutes. Stay tuned for the next BITD race in August, which is the Vegas to Reno. Sam will compete at Yerington with VORRA’s first desert race of the season Memorial Weekend. Life is Good Today! Adios and Via con Dios!