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King of the Hammers 2012 Photo Gallery

 

 

Robby Gordon tests the SPEED Energy/Toyo Tires RPM Off-Road Torchmate rock crawler for the 2012 King of the Hammers in Johnson Valley, CA

2012 King of the Hammers starts tomorrow in Johnson Valley, California

February 2, 2012 - The first rays of the morning light stream across Fisher Mountain and give birth to a kingdom being built on Means dry lakebed in the Johnson Valley OHV area. Hammertown as it has been affectionately named by the throngs of people who make up this temporary city will be home to 20,000 starting tomorrow, Friday February 3rd. Two-dozen workers have been hard at work the last week organizing contractors, installing circus tents, and miles of metal barricade. They work in shifts with a security details watching over the kingdom under a flood of diesel powered light towers, and city planners directing the early birds to their pre-determined address for the next 10 days. A grid of streets with names like Griffin way, and King Ave have been marked with shiny new street signs atop white metal poles at the intersections.
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Torchmate's Gwen Garwood Prepares for Kid Kart Season 2012

In the last week, the Torchmate CNC Cutting Systems Kid Kart driver 5 yr old Gwen Garwood has put in a ton of laps getting ready for her run at a couple of different championships. Gwen has made huge improvements as a driver, we rarely see her miss her marks on the track. Gwen is a little bit down on horsepower at this point , but the team has no doubt that Magnum Racing Engines will get her motors where they need to be. In the next few weeks leading up to the first race of the season, Gwen and her mechanic/dad will be at the track at least 1 time per week testing motors and carbureator combinations and fine tuning her driving skills so Gwen can occupy the the podium as much as possible in only her second season of racing.

Lovell Brothers Set to Take on King of the Hammers

Colorado Springs, CO 1/28/12 - After season ending crashes for both of the team's rock racers last year, the brothers are back and ready to take on the toughest rock race on the planet. 2012 will the longest King of the Hammers yet with 165 miles of rock crawling and desert terrain. The week long event now features several races and a chance for competitors to qualify for start positions.
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Shaffer-Motorsports finishes 2nd at ACORE Season Openers

OAKLAND, CA JANUARY 19, 2012 Shaffer-Motorsports team car #401 finished second on both Saturday and Sunday at the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge. The team debuted the new black, red and white look for the 2012 season including the addition of title sponsor Transfer Case Express while still being supported by Torchmate CNC Cutting Systems. “We had fun even though we had to pull a motor out on Saturday after running with no clutch during the whole race,” said Mike Shaffer, driver of record. “The wheel to wheel action that was also nose to tail made for a very exciting race to drive, and then it was even cooler that we got to watch all the other classes when we weren’t racing.”
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Torchmate Racing and Lincoln Electric Announce a Unique Campaign at the 2012 Griffin King of the Hammers to Benefit OHV Access Issues

Share the Lincoln Experience with Torchmate at King of the Hammers. Participate in the cutting and welding of a 6 foot three dimensional steel hammer and crown which after completed will be auctioned off with proceeds going to the Off-Road Business Association. Find out more here.

ORBA To host free Vendor Poker walk at the King of the Hammers February 9th, 2012

The Off Road Business Association (ORBA) will host a free Vendor Poker Walk during Contingency for the 6th running of the King of the Hammers in Johnson Valley. Five freshman members of the trade based OHV advocate group will be hosting the poker walk. Participants may enter free of charge by visiting any one of the participating vendors booths between 10:00 am and 4:00pm on Thursday February 9th 2012. The winner will be announced at 5:00pm at the SXSPerformance.com booth #V42 in Hammertown.

Participating vendors are as follows:

RuffStuff Specialties Booth V24
SXSPerformance.com Booth V42
Trail Gear Booth V45
Poison Spider Customs V43A
Torchmate CNC Cutting Systems Booth V20.

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Torchmate Racing Shaffer-Motosports Finishes 2nd in 2011 Baja 1000

OAKLAND, CA NOVEMBER 29, 2011 Torchmate Racing Shaffer-Motorsports team car #401 finished second in class at the 2011 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 after completing 705 miles with an official time of 24 hours and 40 minutes through the most grueling terrain in Baja. With only 10 minutes separating them from the leader, the third leg driver Daniel Aeberli said, “We gave it everything. It was a great race at the end and the Torchmate car really gave us what we needed to finish.”
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Torchmate Racing JT Taylor on Speed Scene Live

JT Taylor Highlights the Money Matter Program and the Torchmate Racing Team

RENO, NV OCTOBER 27, 2011 JT Taylor was on Speed Scene Live TV and Radio show Tuesday night October 25, 2011 in Hollywood, CA. Throughout the course of the hour show, the group talked about the Torchmate CNC machines, the Torchmate Racing program and JT’s own racing accomplishments. “I had a great time in studio with Lucky, Diana and Bruce. I really appreciate the opportunity to be able to talk about Torchmates accomplishments this year and let everyone know about the Money Matters Program,” said JT Taylor. (Money Matters Program: http://torchmate.com/money_matters-1)
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>>Watch the recorded show

Torchmate Racing Mike Shaffer BITD Parker Race

RENO, NV OCTOBER 18, 2011 The Torchmate Racing team of Mike Shaffer had high hopes for the Best in the Desert Blue Water Desert Challenge, more commonly known as the Parker 425. One of the few lap races, the fastest to complete the two or three laps (depending on class) would be the winner. “We really wanted to have a good race, but at race mile 40 we lost oil pressure and had to shut the car down,” said Mike Shaffer. “The car didn’t like the 105 degree temperatures and the sand!”
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4 Wheel Parts Glen Helen Grand Prix Final Race of Ultra4 Season

PALO ALTO, CA OCTOBER 20, 2011 This weekend commences the 2011 Ultra4 Season at the 4 Wheel Parts Glen Helen Grand Prix in San Bernardino, California. There are 38 pre-registered drivers with over half still trying to qualify for the 2012 Griffin King of the Hammers in February. “4 Wheel Parts is proud to be able to support this race, and the series. Brent Goegebuer and I have also had fun racing this year and are looking forward to the King of the Hammers,” said Greg Adler. Greg Adler will be driving the 4 Wheel Parts #210 and Brent Goegebuer will be driving the 4 Wheel Parts / BFGoodrich Tires #4473.
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Lovell Ends TORC Season on the Podium

Colorado Springs, CO 10/20/2011 - The 2011 Traxxas TORC Season is in the bag. Brad Lovell had high hopes for the series finalie the Cycle Ranch near San Antonio, TX. The weekend not only featured two rounds of regular season racing, but also the inaugural $15,000 Traxxas Pro Light Cup. The newly constructed permanent track at the Cycle Ranch was alive with heavy equipment when the teams showed up. Over two dozen brutal jumps chopped up the zig zagging course challenging the nerve of Pro-Light drivers in particular.
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Featured at the Dirt Sports Nation Booth

The Torchmate TTB car was featured at the 2011 Off-Road Expo in the Dirt Sports Magazine booth over October 8-9, 2011. The unique flame paint job makes it stand out as the very popular Torchmate TTB Car which was a topic of conversation and was never seen without multiple people looking at it. Driver and Torchmate Racing Team Manager JT Taylor and Crew Chief Jake Povey were on hand to answer questions and talk about the significance of the design.

Torchmate Racing supports many organizations with Trophies custom built on Torchmate CNC Machines. Dirt Sports Magazine and Off-Road Industry Magazine Top Shop Competition was won by Rock & Roll Offroad in Texas and Off Road Unlimited took runners up. Each was awarded with custom Torchmate Trophies for their grand accomplishments.

For more information on the show go to www.offroadexpo.com

>>View photo gallery

SCCA National Champion, Team BFGoodrich® Take Shot at 44th Annual SCORE Baja 1000

From Rally Racers and Rock Crawlers to SCCA and Autocross Champions, 6 BFGoodrich® Tires Drivers Join Forces in “Baja Challenge” Race Buggy

GREENVILLE, S.C. (Oct. 5, 2011) — BFGoodrich® Tires announced today the six men who will make up the 2011 BFGoodrich Tires/Wide Open Excursions “Baja Challenge” (BC) team that will compete in the 44th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 Nov. 17-20. The six drivers earned their spots in the BC race buggy through different channels — one garnered a contingency prize by placing first in the STU class at the 2011 SCCA National Runoffs, and the remaining five earned spots through Team BFGoodrich’s “Select the Seats” campaign.
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Jesse Haines' Stampede Ultra4 Race Report

Well it's taken me a few days to recover from this year's Torchmate Ultra 4 Stampede. The Stampede is probably the biggest rock sports event of the year, next to the King of the Hammers race. It's a race I take very seriously, and our team invested an incredible amount of effort into preparing for this race. A month before the race my co-driver Gabe Strouse and myself spent a weekend pre-running some of the trails that would be used for the race. After that the car was stripped down and thoroughly prepped. The motor and trans were both in rough shape so they were rebuilt along with quite a few other things. As usual, things took longer than we had planned. We stayed up all night the night before the pre-run just to get the car ready in time to get it out on the race course. We put 50 miles on the car, and only found a few minor issues. With a little work the car was ready for Friday morning's qualifying.
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Torchmate Racing JT Taylor Wins Ultra4 Torchmate Stampede

Torchmate Teammates JT Taylor Wins and Jesse Haines Finishes 5th

RENO, NV Ultra4 Torchmate Stampede in Reno, NV on Saturday September 10th. The 130 mile Northern Nevada race boasted as the hardest Ultra4 race yet by promoter Dave Cole, even tougher than the King of the Hammers, makes the win even stronger. “This is a huge deal for Torchmate and this win is a long time coming for me. We knew we couldn’t let off and had to run a fast and consistent pace because there were 45 quality racers chasing me down… so, this is a big frickin deal,” said JT Taylor at the awards ceremony Saturday night as the crowd of racers cheered. SEPTEMBER 13, 2011 JT Taylor, Team Manager for Torchmate Racing, took the win at the
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Amsoil's Brad Lovell Has Breakout Weekend At The Big House

Team Now Tied For 2nd In Series Points

Crandon, WI 9/4/2011 – Aside from getting his first pro-light win, Brad Lovell could not have had a better weekend at the World Championships in Crandon, WI. Including a makeup round from the spring, the pro-light class faced 3 races that were wedged between dousing rainstorms.
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Torchmate Racing Title Sponsor of This Weekends Ultra4 Torchmate Stampede

Torchmate Teammates JT Taylor and Jesse Haines to Compete

RENO, NV Sept 6, 2011 The Ultra4 Torchmate Stampede in Reno, NV this weekend has two Torchmate Racers JT Taylor and Jesse Haines on course. Torchmate CNC Cutting Systems is the Title Sponsor of the Ultra4 Stampede, after being a primary sponsor of the “Lucas Oil on the Edge” 2011 Griffin King of the Hammers TV Show and supporting an entire team for the Ultra4 series.

The Ultra4 Torchmate CNC Stampede takes place in the heart of Reno, NV, Torchmate’s hometown. “We are glad to be able to support the whole series, but are especially proud to be title sponsoring an event that is in our backyard,” said Torchmate General Manager Bill Kunz. “This is one of the toughest races in the series next to the King of the Hammers, which puts it right up Torchmate’s alley.”

Torchmate Racing teammates JT Taylor and Jesse Haines will put their cars to the test on the brutal track across the Nevada desert. JT Taylor, Torchmate Racings General Manager, will be driving the #13 Torchmate Racing TTB car and Jesse Haines, a Torchmate Fabricator, will be driving his rear steer #4499 car. Both drivers are already qualified for the 2012 Griffin King of the Hammers.

The Torchmate CNC Stampede will be September 7-11, 2011 hosted at the Grand Sierra Resort and Exit 28 Motorsports Park. For more information go to www.Ultra4Racing.com.

Lovell Fights Hard At Bark River

Bark River is the longest and fastest track in all of short course. While Crandon might carry more fame, Bark River hosted what is surely the fastest and most dramatic racing of the season. 15 Pro-lights took the track for Rounds 7 & 8 or the 2011 season. Absent from the podium, but not the battle was the #44 AMSOIL Nissan Frontier of Brad Lovell.
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Scott Sroufe Shares His Last Few Weeks of Racing

July 23rd
We headed to Dakota State Fair Speedway. I started 3rd in the heat race and was running third until I got moved out of the way in turn 3 with a couple of laps away and ended up with a 4th place finish. We made a couple of small changes to the car for the feature. They farmed the track right before we got onto the track, so the track was pretty hammer down fast. I started 6th in the feature and made short work moving into 2nd place. While running in second with about 5 laps remaining the guy running in 3rd was trying everything he could to get around me including bending in my rear bumper by about 4inches. I ended up loosing the fight with a 3rd place finish. The car was a little bit too tight to keep up with the leader.
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Nick Socha Bids For Back To Back Gold Rush Wins

This past weekend Nick Socha traveled to Davis, Ca for his second race of the Northern California Gold Rush Series.

Nick is coming off a last to first victory in his series debut at Prarie City SVRA and was looking to take control the technical Davis track. Nick holds 3 back to back championships at the track from his former karting years and was looking to make a statement to his current competitors this weekend.
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Dawson Kirchner Takes 1st and 3rd at Lucas Oil Off Road Race

The first thing I can say about the weekend is that it was HOT. I was so thankful that we were doing night races. Practice and qualifying on Friday went well and I qualified third for Saturday nights race. For a nice change this weekend we didn't have to be at the track till 3pm for the drivers meeting rather than the usual 7am meetings. Due to the fact I actually drove home to Huntington Beach every night and slept in my own bed which was much appreciated.
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Brad Lovell, Pro Racer, At Lands End

Jesse Haines Recaps July's Races

On July 9th and 10th I was in Donner, CA for the 3rd event of the Cal-Neva Extreme rock crawling series. The Donner Ski Ranch has been one of my favorite venues since my first event there in 2008. For one reason or another, the fans that come to the events at the ranch always seem to remember me and the crazy lines that I’ve pulled off at previous events. It’s a good feeling knowing that I’m a “fan favorite” at the Donner events, and I’ve had great success there.
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Nick Socha Pulls Out An Unexpected Win at Prairie City Gold Rush Series

The weekend had it's ups and downs but it's one of those cases where you remind yourself to never give up no matter how bad things look. We practiced Saturday and finished the day looking like one of the fastest in the field, we were definitely confident going into race day. On race morning I was dialed and I put down my best qualifying session yet, I qualified 2nd of 14. It was a bittersweet feeling, you'd almost want to be 1st or 3rd and there is a reason why. My first heat ended in the first 50yrds., I was hung out to dry and put into the barriers. This was a bad feeling with how well we were running. With the result of the first heat being the start position for the main I was starting dead last!
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An End To A Very Exciting Race For Torchmate Racing

This was an end to a very exciting race for the Torchmate racing #4498 car! We travelled to Tooele, Utah for the 4th race of the Ultra 4 series at Miller motorsports park not really knowing what to expect on a short course track with the type of cars we race. We showed up the first day to practice and after seeing the track, I knew right off there was no need in me evening practice with the 40" maxxis trepadors on the truck. we needed a leaner, smaller tire designed for the dirt that a short couse offers. Creighton King and the crew at Maxxis provided us with some special cut short course 35" tires for the buggy.
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Rusty Bray Recaps This Weekend's WE Rock and TREC Races

What a crazy weekend! We just got back from Utah last weekend at the Ultra4 race and only had four days to prep the car and build a new front wishbone for the suspension and try to resolve the cooling issues. Jonathan Dawes took the car to his shop and Jesse and I worked on both of them there just south of Indy.
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Amsoil's Brad Lovell Punted From Contention at American Rocksports Challenge

There is no doubt that the Inaugural American Rocksports Challenge will be the topic of conversation for a long time to come. Held at the Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City UT, this was the first all out race to ever to combine a dirt short course with rockcrawling. As expected, it made for dramatic racing and carnage. Unfortunately, the AMSOIL / Lovell team did not escape without major damage. The story in driver Brad Lovell’s words.

“We have never worked so hard in a weekend to keep the truck going. About five laps into practice I discovered that I had no oil pressure. Thinking our weekend was likely done, I got a tow to the pits and we started thrashing. We replaced the oil pump and a variety of other parts and it finally came to life just in time to qualify. The fact that the engine was not destroyed is a testament to AMSOIL. With a strong engine we qualified 3rd and got some rest for race day."
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Torchmate CNC Cutting Systems Featured in 2011 Ultra4 Racing King of the Hammers Movie

SEE IT ON THE BIG SCREEN July 21st at Victoria Gardens in SoCal or Sunday, July 24th at Ultraluxe Scottsdale Pavilions in AZ.

Torchmate Racing Announced as Title Sponsor of Ultra4 Stampede

Four Teammates Head to American Rock Sports Challenge This Weekend

RENO, NV JULY 13, 2011 Torchmate CNC Cutting Systems has officially been announced as the Title Sponsor of the Ultra4 Stampede, after being a primary sponsor of the “Lucas Oil on the Edge” 2011 Griffin King of the Hammers TV Show and supporting an entire team for the Ultra4 series including 4 entries at this weekends American Rock Sports Challenge. The Torchmate Racing Team is burning an impression on the entire offroad community as impressive as the Torchmate CNC Tables precision cuts.
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Torchmate Racing Brad Lovell 2nd JT Taylor 3rd in Open Pikes Peak Class

RENO, NV JULY 5, 2011 The Torchmate team members of JT Taylor, Brad Lovell and Roger Lovell took on the highly anticipated 89th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Sunday June 26th after a full week of practice. All competing in the Pikes Peak Open Class, Brad Lovell took 2nd in his Nissan AMSOil Truck, JT Taylor finished 4th in the Torchmate TTB Car, guest driver Sam Berri finished 6th in the Tube Shark/Torchmate car, and Roger Lovell had an unfortunate accident that he walked away from in his AMSOil Torchmate Ultra4 car.
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Lovells Experience Triumph and Tribulation on Pikes Peak

Racing Pikes Peak is not something to be taken lightly. The utterly unforgiving nature of the road is clear to anyone who has driven it. In lieu of gravel traps, dense trees and sheer drop-offs line the course. It is not a race where you can push past the limit.
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Taylor Helps PPIHC Add Competitors

Scott Sroufe Finishes 3rd at Dakota State Fair Speedway

We headed to Dakota State Fair Speedway for night number 8 of the season. I started off bad right off the bat and drew 196 out of 200 for my heat race starting position. I started 9th in the heat race out of 10 cars. I knew that with only 6 laps in the heat race, I had to get a good start. I made my way up to 3rd by the 2nd lap and was catching the leaders. I ended up with a 2nd place finish in the heat race. We made another pan hard bar and shock change for the feature to keep up with the track conditions. I got into the lineup for the feature and the track guys decided to rework the track from the bottom to the top. I thought I was going to be in trouble with the newly reworked track. I started 2nd in the feature and took the lead on the first lap and lead for 5-6 laps. I was passed and moved into 2nd shortly after a yellow flag came out. I chose the top side on the restart and was battling for 2nd for a couple more laps and another yellow flag came out. I got a good restart, but didn't have the car to keep up with the top 2 guys. I ended up side by side for 3rd and 4th coming across the finish line and just edged out the other guy for a 3rd place finish.
Catch up with Scott Sroufe and find out what he's been up to over the past month.

Lovell Breaks Through in Crandon

Brad Lovell has won enough races in his storied career to be considered one of the best overall off road racers in history. His 95% podium rate in everything from rock crawling to rock racing proves the Colorado native knows how to get the job done. With that level of success, moving into short course racing should have been as easy as building a truck and lining up, right?
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Video of our race - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xgIQoyZcG0&feature=player_embedded

Crandon Primer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzAbs6vQRGU&feature=player_embedded

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JT Taylor Breaks Hill Climb Records in Preparation for Pikes Peak

Sam Berri and Roger Lovell to Compete in First Pikes Peak Alongside Brad Lovell

RENO, NV JUNE 16, 2011 JT Taylor has recently broken two track records in the Torchmate / Tube Shark Buggy, and will look to put another aggressive time in the books at the world renowned Pikes Peak Race June 26, 2011. JT Taylor will be driving the new Torchmate TTB car which allowed Sam Berri to compete in his first ever hill climb in the Torchmate / TubeShark Buggy. The Torchmate team will also include Brad Lovell and Roger Lovell, each entering a AMSOIL / Torchmate rig.
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Rock Rod Racing Takes 2nd at W.E. Rock Eastern Season Opener

The team was excited to go to the opening race in Dayton, TN which is the home of the largest and rowdiest fan base in the nation. We finished on a high note last year placing top 2 in every rock crawl event we entered. The offseason had us busy checking parts, freshening/investing in a few areas and prepping a new enclosed race trailer with organized, labeled storage of spares and tools. We had invested in a new Ruffstuff Specialties full float rear axle, Fresh drivetrain components from Yukon Gear and Tom Woods Custom drive shafts and a new Griffin Radiators cooling system. In March we had a shakedown run at the annual Big Meat run in Disney, OK and some occasional practice days. We were more ready than we had ever been before.
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Lovell Brothers Focus on Crandon and Pikes Peak

In one of the most challenging pushes of their 2011 race season, the Lovell Brothers will tackle TORC short course racing in Crandon, Wisconsin before a wild dash back to Colorado Springs, Colorado for the 89th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.
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Torchmate Latino Office Provides Trophies for II National Enduro Race in Girardot, Colombia

Torchmate Latino Racing Team Debuts at the Baja Orinoquia 1000 Km

The first race as a Torchmate Latino racing team was full of many emotions, difficult paths, and changing weather which made it difficult for all riders. Having gone through the entire protocol of signing up, loading the paths in the GPS and attending a couple of pilots meetings, Saturday morning we all headed to one of the most important military bases in Colombia where the rally started.

The motorbikes were the first to go followed by the rest of the participants. The first few miles were a bit easier since we had so much built up anticipation for the race, but the miles became heavier, the paths were challenging from stones to mud puddles and lakes and the weather was above 80°. After about 400 kilometers, we reached our first stop where the organizers of the event were accompanied by the village mayor, the police and the army of Colombia. All watched us throughout our exciting journey. We restocked, ate, slept and prepared for the second leg next day. On the way to the goal we consumed by the beautiful scenery that nature gave us. Rocks, trails, pits, lakes, and even rain accompanied us every kilometer we travelled. Finally we completed 533 kilometers of difficult and long race.

Jake Povey Takes 4th at 2011 VORRA Yerrington 300

Reno, NV May 29, 2011. Jake Povey and his co-driver/crew chief Alex Baker competed in the Group T class at the VORRA Yerrington 3oo over Memorial Day Weekend. The class consisted of 12 other trucks that all had to complete the 300 miles cut up into three long laps of 57 miles and three short laps of 40 miles.
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JT Taylor Beats Standing Record by 10 Seconds at CHCA Temple Canyon Hill Climb

RENO, NV MAY 31, 2011 After a win in the NORRA 4a Class with Marty Fiolka, Doug Nagy, and Jim and Lisa Greenway, JT Taylor headed north to Colorado to compete and win the CHCA Temple Canyon Hill Climb. JT Taylor finished first in the Ultra4 Class and beat his pre-existing record by 10 seconds in the blue Torchmate / Tube Shark Buggy. “We beat the record by 10 seconds because the conditions were perfect, the course was perfect and it truly couldn’t have been better,” said JT Taylor after a very successful weekend.
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Amsoil's Lovell Has Best and Worst Race of TORC Career

RED BUD, MI MAY 30, 2011 – The entire Midwest has been doused with rain and rivers across the country are ready to break free of their banks. Hidden in the lush landscape of southern Michigan is the legendary Red Bud racing facility that has been similarly saturated. The rain, combined with a brand new short course track set the stage for an extremely muddy start to the 2011 Traxxas TORC Series.
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Torchmate Racing SuperLite Driver Dawson Kirchner Puts Truck in First Place

RENO, NV MAY 24, 2011 The Torchmate SuperLite Championship Truck driven by Dawson Kirchner went all the way to first place on Sunday at the 6th round of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Round at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California. The win topped off an exceptional race weekend. “This was my second win in a SuperLite truck, I am really excited to be back on the podium!” said Dawson Kirchner.
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Nick Socha Continues to make Promising Improvements

Heading down for the Stockton Outlaw series to get seat time on an unknown track ended up being exactly what we were looking for. We are still getting acquainted with this unfamiliar kart and class of motor but are making promising improvements in the two times we've been out and are very close to where we want to be. After a long day of practice Saturday, we worked out a set up that we were happy with for the following day. We were able to try out some improvements we had made since our first race in Davis and further cut our teeth on setup and tuning. I think we'll be ready when we come back to the Gold Rush Series.
>>Read Full Article

Rusty Bray Wins Rausch Creek and Qualifies for 2012 Griffin King of the Hammers

Our weekend started off by qualifying on Friday morning after multiple rain storms! We ran the qualifier hard with Mike "fish" Hulfish running codawg! After a little mishap and the engine dying during qualifying, we ended up forth for the main event. We were right where we wanted to be because we could push or just stay with the top three and let them make the mistakes!
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Torchmate Racing Rusty Bray First at Rausch Creek Qualifier

RENO, NV MAY 23, 2011 Torchmate Racing Rusty Bray finished first in last weekends Rausch Creek Qualifier for the 2012 King of the Hammers, securing a win in the Ultra4 series and a spot in the 2012 Griffin King of the Hammers. “The track just kept getting more and more brutal and we started loosing parts and oil pressure,” remembers Rusty Bray. “As we got closer and saw the leaders Levi (Shirley) and Lucas (Murphy) I asked my co-driver Mike “Fish” Hulfish if he wanted to go for the finish or for the win…and he said for the win!” The second place finisher was just over 4 minutes behind.
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After Multiple Rain Delays, Scott Sroufe Hits the Track

The start of the racing season has been a wet mess with 2 weekends canceling due to rain. Finally after the 3rd weekend, I finally was able to make some laps at Dakota State Fair Speedway in Huron, SD on May 7th. I fought an ill handling car all night but made it thru the night with a 12th place finish. Sunday morning the car was unloaded into the shop to check everything over and the ill handling problem was found and fixed. The rear end gears were changed, parts were greased and the car was loaded on the trailer. I headed to Casino Speedway in Watertown, SD. The night went a little better and we ended up with an 8th place finish for the night. All in all it was a disappointing weekend, but I made it out of the weekend with only a little bit of sheet metal damage.
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Nick Socha Gets Back In a Kart and Runs To the Front

It was a good test weekend for the upcoming Gold Rush series. The competition was definately there but we realistically battled ourselves this weekend. We worked on set up and getting reacquainted with the track after several years. We got the kart pretty tuned in and running with the leaders during the previous day's practice but had issues with a new clutch which dropped us to 9 of 12 during qualifying on the day of the race. In the first heat I battled up to 5th place and had just reeled in 4th place but ran out of laps to take the position. In the main event we made a change that went the wrong way but was able to maintain for the 5th place finish. Overall, it was a great prep race for further series events.
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Lovells Bring Home a Pair of Dueces From Temple Canyon

CANON CITY, CO MAY 15, 2011 – Imagine that if for one weekend, it was legal to drive as fast as you dare on your favorite twisting, turning, mountain road and not worry about oncoming traffic. It’s not too good to be true and once a year the Temple Canyon road is closed to the public for all out racing. While it was Roger’s rookie year, Brad has tackled the road twice prior with a class win in Ultra 4. This year, however, Brad took on the Comp Truck division (unlimited trucks) in his #44 AMSOIL Nissan Pro-Light.
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Jesse Haines Pulls Out a Second Place Win at Cal-Neva Extreme Despite a Very Tempramental Car

April and May have been a busy couple of months for me. In the past 7 weekends I've competed in 4 rockcrawling events, and the Silver State desert race. This weekend was the 2nd event of the Cal-Neva Extreme series, and the event was held at the Exit 28 Motorsports Park in Reno, NV. The competition site at Exit 28 has arguably the best rockcrawling terrain of any place I've ever been in my 8 years of competing. This series is as competitive as any crawling series out there, and after winning the 1st event last month we were off to a good start.
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Torchmate Racing Ken blume and Rusty Bray Compete in W.E. Rock Eastern Pro Series First Round This Weekend

RENO, NV MAY 13, 2011 Torchmate Racing Ken Blume and Rusty Bray will compete in this weekends W.E. Rock Eastern Pro Series National event in Dayton, TN. The opening round for the Eastern Series, both Ken Blume and Rusty Bray will be focused on winning the Pro Mod class and setting the stage for the rest of the season.
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Roger Norman Rock Crawls For the Win at W.E. Rock

RENO, NV MAY 11, 2011 - Roger Norman took the Pro Modified Win in the Torchmate Racing Pro Mod #8 rock crawler at only his second appearance in the W.E. Rock Western Pro Nationals. “I felt better having the one competition under my belt,” said successful Trophy-Truck racer Roger Norman. “I came knowing this was one of the hardest sets of courses, and we just went methodically through the process of accomplishing each for the overall win.”
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Jesse Haines Brings Home a 2nd Place Finish from Oroville

Photo courtesy of Creighton of Maxxis Tires

This past weekend was the 2nd stop for the W.E. Rock Western Series Championship. The event was held at Surplus City in Oroville, California. The W.E. Rock event was part of Oroville's Feather Fiesta Days and teams from the event took part in a parade through downtown Oroville Saturday before the start of the event.
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Shaffer-Motorsports Podiums in Class 10 at BITD Silver State 300

Best In The Desert’s Bilek Silver State 300 proved to be a good test for the improvements made by the Shaffer-Motorsports crew to the Torchmate 1066 car. Starting in the last class 10 position on Saturday, by the end of the race 1066 finished a very respectable third in class. From the start, driver Daniel Aeberli picked his way through the carnage that was the first half of the race. “Race cars and trucks were broken and crashed all through the technical sections” said co-driver Berne Strom. Aeberli maintained a solid pace picking up four positions by pit 4 at race mile 161.2. “With all the setup changes we made before the race it took a little while to settle in and get comfortable,” said Aeberli. “Once we got in the groove, the car did everything we asked it to,” he added.
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>>Watch Torchmate Racing at Silver State 300 (Video Length 9:07)

Jesse Haines Finishes 4th Ultra4 Race in a Row

After a 2 1/2 month break, the Ultra 4 racing season resumed this weekend at the Best in the Desert Silver State 300. Not only was this race part of the Ultra 4 series, it would also be a qualifier for the 2012 King of the Hammers race. The 35 Ultra 4 teams that participated in the race made it the 2nd largest class in a race that featured approximately 250 teams. Co-driver Rich Klein and myself would start at the very back of the class.
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>>Watch Torchmate Racing at Silver State 300 (Video Length 9:07)

Amsoil's Roger Lovell Conquers The Silver State 300

LAS VEGAS, NV 5/2/11 – The Silver State 300 is a 303 mile loop in the most desolate areas of southern Nevada. It’s one of the best off-road adventures to be had in the US and encompasses sandy washes, scenic canyons, blinding silt, and high speed roads. After a tough finish last year with chassis damage and a fire, Roger Lovell was back with the #4432 AMSOIL Ranger to try his luck.
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>>Watch Torchmate Racing at Silver State 300 (Video Length 9:07)

Torchmate Racing Goes International

We are proud to announce the newest members of the Torchmate Latino Race team.

Camilo Rodriguez - KTM 200 - Beginners
Andres Rodriguez - KTM 525 exc - Beginners
Dairo Vega - KTM 525 exc - Beginners

The dirt bike trio chose their first race to be the Rally Baja Orinoquia 1000. Watch the video recap. The next upcoming race is the First National Race - Hare Scramble on May 15th.

Torchmate Racing Enters Two Cars in the 4400 Class at Best in the Desert Bilek Silver State 300 including Driver JT Taylor and Jesse Haines

RENO, NV APRIL 27, 2011 Torchmate Racing JT Taylor will be driving #4413 and Jesse Haines will be driving #4499 at the Best in the Desert Bilek Silver State 300 race this weekend. The commonly known Ultra4 class will be the biggest class at this years Silver State event that will start in Alamo, Nevada about 95 miles north of Las Vegas on Saturday April 30th. The Aliante Casino & Resort will host the race events and tech and inspection on Friday.
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Torchmate Racing Mike Shaffer Takes on Best in the Desert Bilek Silver State 300

RENO, NV APRIL 27, 2011 Mike Shaffer will compete in Class 1000 at the Best in the Desert Bilek Silver State 300 race this weekend. Representing Torchmate Racing, Shaffer will start 9th in Class 1000 in car number 1066. The BITD Bilek Silver State 300 starts in Alamo, Nevada, a tiny town on Hwy 93 about 95 miles north of Las Vegas. The Aliante Casino & Resort is host to this race and will be home to tech and inspection on Friday morning before the race.
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Nick Socha Grabs the Wheel of a Championship Kart

Nick Socha is heading to the Blue Max Kart Club in Davis, CA for the Outlaw Series as a reintroduction into Championship Kart racing. “I raced Karts for 7 years when I was younger, with Jim Socha as my meticulous head mechanic,” said Socha. “We are expecting strong competition and a large class but the Davis track was one of our strongest tracks and we have expectations of a strong start to the 2011 season.” The team had numerous Northern California championships before leaving the sport including four consecutive Season Championship podiums, 2 second place finishes and 2 season championships respectively at the same track they are heading to on April 16-17, 2011.
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Lovell Racing Teams with Nissan Motorsports

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO APRIL 20, 2011 – Lovell Racing today unveiled the redeveloped AMSOIL Nissan Frontier Pro-Light in preparation for the opening rounds of TORC in Red Bud, MI May 28th – 29th. The partnership with Nissan Motorsports is a highlight in the team’s preparations for 2011 and team co-owner Brad Lovell expressed his enthusiasm, “The racing heritage at Nissan runs deep. They have amassed plenty of championships and we are proud to be on the team. Nissan is passionate about racing as has some really exciting things in store for 2011.”
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>>2011 Lovell Racing Schedule

Torchmate Racing Tyler Thomas and Matt Shrive Compete at 2011 Arctic Man

RENO, NV     APRIL 12, 2011   Torchmate Racing Tyler Thomas and Matt Shrive were rookies among the veterans at the 2011 Arctic Man event that got weather postponed to Saturday April 9, 2011 in Summit Lake, Alaska approximately 280 miles north east of Anchorage.  Their high hopes of leaving with the win and a finish got cut short when Shrive crashed at speeds over 50mph on his snowboard.  “I am ok, but it completely knocked the wind out of me,” recalls Shrive.  “I was trying to help the snowmobile in the turn and when I crossed the rooster tail I got sucked in and thrown down.”  Luckily Thomas looked back and immediately stopped to help get his teammate up in attempt at a finish.  The unfortunate turn of events gives the team even more motivation to come back in 2012 as now veterans.
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>>Read About Torchmate Racing's Entire Weekend in Sports

Brad Lovell #1 Overall at the Blackwell 250

BLACKWELL, TX APRIL 9, 2011 – History was made at the finish line of the Blackwell 250 when, for the first time ever, an Ultra 4 racer took an overall desert win. The #232 AMSOIL Ranger fought dust and traffic all day after starting at the back of the 4400 class to come out on top.
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>>Read About Torchmate Racing's Entire Weekend in Sports

Torchmate Jesse Haines Completes Every Bonus Line and Takes the Win at Cal-Neva Extreme

RENO, NV APRIL 11, 2011 The first ever Cal-Neva Extreme rockcrawling event was held this weekend at Exit 28 Motorsports Park in Reno, Nevada. Cal-Neva Extreme is a highly competitive rockcrawling series based in northern Nevada and California run by promoter Glenn Bonner, who successfully ran the CalROCs series from 2008-2010.
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>>Read About Torchmate Racing's Entire Weekend in Sports

Jesse Haines Steps Back in to His Unlimited Rock Crawler For a 2nd Place Finish

As the 2011 Rock Crawling season started I was in a familiar old car (my unlimited car from '07-'09), but I found myself with another new spotter. I asked JT Taylor if he would spot for me just a few days before the We Rock event in Tucson. JT said he had spotted before, but I think the last time he saw a rock crawling comp most guys were running leaf springs. It took us a while to get on the same page, and the first few courses didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped.
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Roger Norman Rock Crawls with Torchmate Racing and Takes 3rd in Rookie Appearance

RENO, NV     APRIL 7, 2011  - Roger Norman decided to compete in another discipline of racing this year: Rock Crawling.  In his rookie appearance at the W.E. Rock West Tucson, AZ event he challenged himself and finished on the podium in his Torchmate Racing Pro Mod #8 rock crawler.  “Rock crawling is tougher than it looks,” exclaimed successful Trophy Truck racer Roger Norman. “There is actually a ton of strategy and teamwork involved.”
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>>Watch Roger Norman's Video Recap of the Event

Torchmate Racing Tyler Thomas and Matt Shrive will Compete at 2011 Arctic Man

RENO, NV     APRIL 5, 2011   Torchmate Racing Tyler Thomas and Matt Shrive will compete in the 2011 Tesoro Arctic Man Friday April 8, 2011 in Summit Lake, Alaska approximately 280 mile