The RhinoForums.net sponsored race team competed in their second desert race for the 2010 season on March 13th in Prescott Valley, Arizona. The race was held at the Prescott Valley Fairgrounds. Racers were excited to have a new venue and race track in Arizona's high country. The race track layout was in the infield of a one mile long horse track. The desert course layout had very fast straights, and some tricky, rutted, off-camber corners making it exciting for racers, and spectators alike.

Brian Bush and Co-Driver Greg Frantz brought out the Lonestar Racing, RhinoForums.net, and Rotax Your Rhino sponsored racer. They placed second in the first Whiplash race of the season in the Pro-Mod class at Speedworld in February. Supposedly, there was a lot of talk with the race organizers and racers as to why they were allowed to run in the Pro-Mod class which allows ANY UTV to run that has under 1000cc's. Brian and Greg thought they were matched up fairly with other racers in this class, as their Rotax powered Rhino makes no more power than a built Teryx or RZR do. Sounds fair right? Wrong!

The team was bumped into the "Unlimited UTV" class which caters to street bike powered UTV's. The reason given was that the race organizers "got a bunch of complaints" about the team being able to run in Pro-Mod, even though that's the class that best accommodates them, and there's nothing in the rule book that would disqualify them from participating in this class.

The team was a bit concerned with being able to compete with the street bike powered cars, but without argument, they suited up and gave them their best.

The racers lined up at the start/finish line and were to run a 45 minute stint. All UTV class' would run together as to save time and keep things exciting for the spectators. The green flag dropped and the racers were off into a track that some had never even had a practice lap on. The RhinoForums team soon found themselves in the roost of rocks and dirt of Brandon Simms R1 Rhino, Bobby Rabers CBR 600 powered trophy cart, and some other very quick UTV's. The first few laps were a bit nerve racking for the two, as their visibility was relatively non existent and they had no idea where the track was leading them. After the race leaders spread out a bit, the team found themselves a nice groove and started working on cutting faster and faster lap times. They ran for about 20 minutes battling closely with other cars (mostly Pro-Mod). Every lap seemed to get much faster and even though Brian was pushing the car as hard as he could, they couldn't gain any ground on the cars in their class. In fact, they were about to be lapped by Brandon Simms in his R1 Rhino about the time that 3 of the 4 rear wheel studs on one wheel broke off! At the time, they thought they had a flat. Brian limped the car into the pits where Bob Nolan of AZ Amsoil was waiting with a jack and a spare tire.

The team was disappointed by having a failure cost them time, but were excited to get back out on the track to finish the race. After being up in the air for about 10 seconds waiting for a spare to be installed, Bob leaned into the car and gave them the "shut it down" motion and informed the two that the wheel studs had broken off.

It's never fun to have a part failure cost you a race or cause a DNF, but the team took the bad luck in stride, and were happy to have been there, and had a great time running on the new track. Parts break, failures happen, it's racing! They'll be back out racing on April 24th at Firebird Raceway in Chandler, AZ and hope to be back in the class they started the season in.

Congratulations to all the UTV racers who came out and raced that day!

Results here:
http://whiplashracing.com/2010Result...RT_RESULTS.pdf

On behalf on RhinoForums.net, we would like to thank the sponsors who made this exciting new race Rhino possible!

·Lonestar Racing
·UTV Crap
·Muzzys
·Rotax Your Rhino
·Mr.RPM 912cc bbk
·Unisteer
·Trail Logic
·Dalton Clutch
·PCI Race Radios
·PRP Seats
·PWR Radiator and Oil Cooler
·Trinity Spindles
·Seizmik center console
·HJC Helmets
·Pitbull Tires
·UTV Offroad Magazine
·Rigid Industries
·Dragonfire Racing
Az Amsoil
Banners Plus

Thanks Dan!

Be sure to pick up the latest UTV Offroad Magazine for more information about this race Rhino and Rotax Your Rhino!

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Nice... cool to see he stayed in the gas even after the studs broke

And an amzing story and selection of photos surrounding the NEW SR1 Class!!!!

Great job Brian and Greg!!!

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Cool vid Brian.Have you talked to whiplash anymore about racing in the promod class.I will back you up on running the pro mod class.You should do the grindingstone race on the 4th.I know they will let you run promod.

Awsome video!!

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The whiplash take on motor swaps is that if you are not running the motor the UTV came with, then you have to go unlimited. I spoke with Jay for a long time about this. He is trying to make a class for all the guys with a built factory UTV and then a "run what you brung" class allowing engine swaps etc. I know you feel underpowered against the streetibke motors but we felt that way last year as they came up and were allowed to race with everyone else trying to keep racing affordable. The moral of the story is that if you are going to swap a motor, be sure it is going to be the fastest one on the track or it is better to stay with the motor the UTV came with. I support you in going back to Pro Mod but I don't think they are going to let you race with the guys that have factory based motor. Either way, it is fun to see you out there and we are making more changes to the Trophy Kart so it should be even faster next time.

P.S. It is not a CBR 600

Great vid! I can't believe there was only 1 pro mod and 1 desert pro. That sucks. Also can't understand why they didn't water the track? None the less, looks like fun. Too bad firebird is the same weekend as the next worcs race, but I'll be in page for sure. That's a fun one.

Another drawback to east coast living .... no one sells that around here

ALW

I was thinking and as far as I know, the only car that runs a CVT in the unlimited pro class is your rhino with the Rotax swap. As far as I know, there is not gear driven UTV in the pro mod class. They are all CVT. You may be able to tell them you are the only CVT setup they are making run in the unlimited pro class when all others, even the single seaters are allowed to run in the pro mod. It may be worth a try. Best of luck

Ther was a lot of race utvs but they all ran sportmod for one reason or another.

Sounds to me like the promod guys are a bunch of whiney ass titty babies.

If they keep you in the unlimited class then I say you put a turbo on it and that should make you more competitive.

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Eating rhinos and shitin rzrs...

^ I'm pretty sure no power adders are allowed unfortunately.

Thanks for all the comments and compliments fellas! I will be in touch with Whiplash this week. I will be asking them to apply points from Prescott back to Pro-Mod and let me enter in that class for the rest of the season. I will keep everyone posted on the outcome!

Hey SmileDoc. What engine is in that kart? Sorry for the mistake!

You're onto something Court. Too many utv class' and sand baggers I think......

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