On a wet and muddy Barstow race course, 3G Racing followed up their victory in the May race with a strong Second Place finish in the MORE/SNORE Freedom 250 night race on July 26, 2003. With a total of 81 cars entered – including a race high 36-1600 cars – 3G finished second both in class and overall to Mike Malloy. Over the last two MORE races the Malloy and 3G teams have dominated the 1600 class with the teams swapping victories and second place finishes.
Drawing the 4th (1604) starting position in class, car owner/designer/fabricator/prep boss Tom Craig took his first turn in the driver’s seat of the three-race-old 3G machine with veteran rider Robyn McMullin. A summer thunderstorm hit the area just after noon and soaked the typically arid Stoddard Valley. The rain let up before the 6 PM start time but the 5 hours of intermittent downpours left drivers to deal with huge puddles, and later mud, over the 40 mile loop.
The combined MORE/SNORE event brought the cream of the 1600 crop together, pitting the top 1600 racers in the sport against one another and forcing a blistering pace. And with the forced pace came carnage. 1623 missed a shift and over-revved his motor, complete with the ominous blue smoke, becoming the first official “DNF” (did not finish) less than half a mile into the race. Car 1698 rolled about 5 miles into the first lap inflicting damage that would end his day early. The Barstow course was living up to its car-eating reputation. Consistent times and problem free runs over the required 7 laps would prove to be the key to a strong finish.
Through the first lap, little had changed at the front of the pack. However track position – especially with the dust free conditions – is of little significance in these timed desert events. Car 1621 was leading on time and quickly moving through the pack. On time Tom and Robyn were just a few minutes back running around 5th. After the 2nd lap, the ranks began to significantly spread out, with a few hard chargers moving up closer to the front of the pack.
As the last hints of daylight disappeared on lap three, Tom and Robyn made the first of two planned stops and got the light covers removed. A quick stop at one of the team’s 10 pits along the course was a tad too fast and the crew missed the covers on the “low-beam” lights. This necessitated a brief unplanned stop to pull the low-beam covers as the HID lights could not be used when driving in another car’s dust – they were just too bright!
Going out on his fourth lap, Tom made another quick stop – though unplanned – at the main pit to have the power steering fluid refilled. By this time the standings where beginning to clear. 1621 was running out front and leading on time, Tom and Robyn were second on the road and third on time, trailing 1635 (Malloy) by a couple minutes on corrected time. With each passing lap more cars were dropping out of contention. The top three remained unchanged through the fourth lap.
Tom stopped at the main pit going out on lap 5 as planned for fuel and a rider change. Kevin replaced Robyn in the right seat and 14 gallons of 110 where added, all in just 90 seconds. The plan was for Tom – by far the team’s most experienced driver – to drive the 280 miles if the team was contention and to this point everything was going as planned. The only problem that Tom reported was that two of the “low-beam” lights were tripping their shared circuit breaker and would only run for short periods at a time. Despite these minor issues the standings remained unchanged for lap 5 and 6.
Going out on lap 7, Tom and Kevin still trailed 1621 and 1635, though 1635 was behind Tom on the course, he was a head on time. Sometime after the last pit stop the radio in the car stopped working and the pits could not talk to Tom and Kevin. They knew who was in front of them but had no idea who was behind them or what the time splits between any of the cars were. Things began to look a bit brighter as 1621 never showed up at Pit C. The 3G team got one of the breaks it needed. This left Tom as the first car on the road!
Tom stayed out front and was first car to complete all 7 laps. Now all the team could do was watch the clock and wait for the next finisher. In a reversal of the scene at the May race, the 3G car finished first but was beat on time by Malloy (1635) by a couple minutes.
All in all it was a great weekend for the team another nearly flawless run! Over the 4 races this year 3G Racing has used five different drivers to bring home first, second, and third place finishes. Luckily for the competition, the team only has one car!