2005 Ford F350

Packed and ready to travel, the chase truck is self-sufficient and must carry some spares for itself should it need a replacement in a remote area.

Braaaaacccckkk......You'll Hear That Sound 23 More Times Before the typical off-road pit stop is over. Twelve lug nuts come off, and twelve more go back on when the crew driving this G&R Racing F-350 swaps out the two rear Toyo Open Country M/T tires on each of the team's off-road race vehicles.

THE G&R RACING TEAM
Drivers Garron Cadiente and Ron Whitton campaign two Trophy Trucks, basically unlimited off-road race vehicles that look like pickups, in several race associations. Notable finishes for the team include winning the SCORE San Felipe Overall and First in Class at the Best in the Desert Terrible's Town 250 this year. Cadiente was also named 2006 SCORE and Best In The Desert (BITD) Rookie of the Year. Wins have included the 2006 SCORE San Felipe 250 and the BITD Terrible's Town 250 three weeks later. Whitton began Trophy Truck racing in 2006 as well and placed a very respectable Third in last year's SCORE Baja 1000 race.

Both racers drive Geiser Brothers fabricated Trophy Trucks that are built to resemble Ford F-150s. Backing up those F-150 race trucks and their drivers is a tractor-trailer and a fleet of five Ford Super Duty chase trucks like the one shown here. The race rigs are only a piece of the puzzle and it takes a significant amount of help to complete the tortuous courses that make up desert racing.

Each Trophy Truck often carries its own spare driveshaft while the chase trucks carry additional ones stored in PVC pipes.

BUILDING A CHASE RIG
We caught up with Brian Godfrey and Mike Williams, G&R Racing team managers, just as they were returning from the SCORE San Felipe Baja 250 race. We were able to get a detailed peek at one of their chase trucks to bring you an idea as to what goes into building and maintaining such a vehicle.

This truck started life as a stock '05 Ford F-350 Super Duty equipped with the 6.0L Power Stroke diesel. The engine remains stock for utmost reliability and replacement parts availability anywhere the team may travel.

The team carries nitrogen for charging the shocks, tire inflation, and as an inert gas for the generator-powered MIG welder. When complete replacement parts aren't available, it may be necessary to perform a weld repair to continue the race.

The Knapheide utility bed is stuffed full of vital spare parts, and the chase team must strategize the best way to distribute parts amongst the crew during each race. Small parts are easily duplicated across all the chase rigs, but spares such as transmissions are thoughtfully allocated to trucks at certain race locations.

Each of the Super Duty trucks has the ability to carry two spare tires and two 55-gallon barrels of race gas plus numerous other tools.