“You Will Believe a RAM can fly!”Read how Kent Kroeker and KORE design the long travel suspension kit on the Mopar Ram Runner and bring the Ram Runner to life. Mopar® Magazine goes behind-the-scenes on the creation of Mopar’s high-flying 2010 Moab Jeep® Safari smash hit—the Mopar Ram Runner. Download the full article here.
Kent and SaraMae Kroeker were featured in the May Dirt Sports magazine article along with driver, Harri Rovanperä and their sponsor General Tire. The in-depth article chronicles KORE’s rise as a major competitor in the SCORE Baja Race series. Download the full article in pdf here.
The Kore General Tire Dodge Ram Powerwagon makes it virtual debut in Dirt2, the closest thing to real desert racing you can experience from your living room. read more
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – On 25 April, the best Stock Full class racers in the country gathered at Primm, Nevada to pit their machines against one another on one of the roughest courses in the Best in the Desert Series.
Normally it takes over a month of full-time work to prep a vehicle for a race. Everything must be rebuilt or replaced. Only two weeks had passed since competing in the Mint 400, so there was very little time for KORE to repair and prep the Powerwagon. read more
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – Four hundred miles of Nevada whoops, rocks, and silt. With 194 entrants and only 85 finishers, this year’s General Tire Mint 400 proved to be one of the toughest on record.
With nobody else in the class the team wasn’t under a lot of pressure. The plan was to cruise to a finish and a win. As the day unfolded it became clear that this race was destined to be the biggest nail-biter of the season. Who would have thought that the number one adversary was going to be the desert itself? read more
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA (25 November 2008) – The 2008 SCORE Baja 1000 was marked by relentless terrain diversity and technical sections not seen in years. Fresh from an important victory at the Primm 300, General Tire’s Team KORE was poised to tackle the course.
“We felt like this was going to be our race; everything was lined up for the win. Our success at Primm proved we have the speed to beat anyone in our class,” said John Zambie.
But after just a few miles of racing, bad things started happening. With Rodolfo “Rudy” Iribe at the wheel and Zambie in the right seat, while passing another vehicle, a low-hanging oak tree took the Power Wagon’s upper light bar clean off. They had to get off the course and salvage the remaining lights, then stop again at their first pit to offload the lights to the crew. This put them not only behind the entire Stock Full class, but also many other race vehicles.
Rudy drove hard, making up time, passing everyone except Chad Hall in the H3. It was a dark and dusty night with no wind. At Race Mile 284, minutes behind Chad, Kent Kroeker and Frank Martinek took over driving duties.
“There was no time to replace the upper light bar. We just had to suck it up and race with the Soltek LED’s we had on the bumper. They have great coverage, but limited range, so we were constantly overdriving them. It was kind of scary sometimes, but you do what you have to,” said Kroeker.
Kroeker had been suffering from the stomach flu all week. Near the end of the San Felipe whoops he remarked to Martinek that he was not safe to drive the truck to the finish because he was starting to “gray out.” Martinek radioed ahead to the pit to have Rudy get ready to drive again.
A driver swap and some minor repairs at Race Mile 400 put the Power Wagon back in the fight. Heading up the beach toward Santo Tomas Rudy had the truck minutes from the lead. Approaching Erindera, they hit a huge, man-made booby trap – a giant hole dug with a back hoe.
“There was nothing we could do. We were doing about 60, so Rudy just down shifted and pinned in. We hit the other side so hard it bounced the truck about ten feet in the air. We rode the front end, looking at the ground for a long time. I was amazed we didn’t cartwheel,” said Martinek.
Soon parts started flying off the truck. First the front drive shaft, then a brake caliper. With no four wheel drive, they got mired in deep silt. Digging for hours while Chase brought parts to make repairs, their chances for the win disappeared.
“Chad drove a perfect race and deserves that win 100%. We had some weird luck, but getting second in this year’s Baja 1000 was like my driving experience: Yeah, I’m glad I didn’t puke in my helmet, pass out and yardsale the truck, but it still made me throw up in the pits,” said Kroeker.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – The “Primm 300” is the roughest, most brutal race in the SCORE series. Hundreds of miles of rocks, sand and cross-grain pit drivers not only against each other, but against the terrain. Angered by a 3rd place finish at “Vegas to Reno” only two weeks prior, Team KORE worked non-stop, completely rebuilding the Power Wagon in record time.
“Primm is gnarly,” said Team Manager John Zambie. “In the short time allotted, we did everything we could to get the truck ready. Didn’t sleep much – finished prep the morning of the race – but we got it done.”
A 6am start from the back of the pack forced driver Kent Kroeker to fight tremendous dust while driving into the rising sun.
“A rear start is a huge disadvantage at Primm. The visibility was so bad we had to take a lot of chances to get past everyone. When we finally got behind Griffin, I hit him hard. Then it was a game-on for the rest of the race.”
An all-out death battle ensued between John Griffin’s Ford and Kroeker’s Dodge. Swapping leads numerous times throughout the race caused a lot of nail biting in the pits. Both teams had to stop to refuel and each time the lead changed. For the entire second lap, both trucks remained within seconds of each other, going all out for the win.
With only 20 miles to go, Kroeker was in the lead. Then the motor stalled and Griffin got by, forcing Kroeker to drive inside his dust, all the way to the finish.
“They started 30 seconds in front of us, so I knew I could finish behind him and still win on corrected time,” said Kroeker, “His dust was so bad, a lot of the time, I couldn’t see anything. I had to flog our truck as hard as I could to stay with him and rely on my co-driver to navigate from the GPS.”
With zero visibility, two miles from the finish, Kroeker hit a rock, exploding the right rear tire.
“There was no time to change it – no time to even think of that. I just kept it pinned and hoped most of it would stay on the wheel.”
The crowd cheered as Kent Kroeker and co-driver Frank Martinek powered down the final mile with a mangled bumper, crumpled bedsides and a shredded tire, flapping on the wheel.
When they reached the checkered flag, KORE had the win by 16 seconds.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – March 29, 2008. Class 8 took an unprecedented thrashing when KORE’s Stock Full class race truck beat all nine competitors in the legendary Mint 400.
“It’s one thing to win in your own class, but when you can stomp an entire class of theoretically faster vehicles, nothing could be better,” said Kent Kroeker, President and CEO of KORE. “We spend a lot of time and energy tuning this truck. Now, after five races, it’s finally paying off.”
KORE’s Dodge Ram race truck is powered by Mopar’s 5.7 liter Hemi® motor built by XV Motorsports. A custom South Bend ceramic clutch connects the motor to a Blumenthal’s blueprinted NV4500 5 speed manual transmission. Eight huge Fox bypass shocks control the most advanced rubber on the market – the new General Grabber™ competition tires.
Strong winds and cool temperatures made the grueling 95 mile course perfect for racing. Kent Kroeker and Rodolfo Iribe shared the driving duties, alternating every lap. Robin Stover, Four Wheeler Magazine’s Feature Editor, co-drove for Iribe during the start.
Robin said, “That truck just wants to run hard. I felt like we could have gone a lot faster, but Rudy was playing it safe. The course is pretty gnarly and it gets worse every lap.”
Lap two was a little harder on the truck, but some minor welding at the Mopar/Collins pit put the Hemi® back in the fight.
“Stock Production is a tough class to race because rules don’t allow changing the basic design. We’ve added some sophisticated parts that allow us to go very fast in the desert – but it’s still essentially a stock truck that wasn’t designed to hit giant bumps at 70 mph. So, you end up laying in the dirt a lot, frankensteining everything back in place,” said Keg Parker, KORE Engineer.
Tony Talbert, General Tire’s Off Road Project Manager co-drove for Kroeker during the last lap.
“I literally can’t believe the beating that truck could take,” said Talbert. “It was amazing going that fast over stuff that rough. The Dodge is one tough truck.”
After getting the checkered flag Kroeker said, “When I was growing up, three races were important to me, Barstow to Vegas, the Baja 1000 and the Mint 400. I’ve been fortunate enough to compete in the first two many times, but the Mint 400 disappeared before I was racing cars. Many thanks to SNORE for bringing back the Mint, many thanks to General Tire for no flats, Fox Racing Shocks for making the baddest shocks on the planet, Baja Designs for our super bright Soltek LED’s – and all the KORE volunteers for helping us get the win – the first time at the Mint!”
On April 26th see footage of the race from inside the KORE race truck on the Speed Channel as well as full coverage of the General Tire Mint 400 on Versus TV
CLASS: STOCK FULL® / 8100
OWNER/DESIGNER: KENT KROEKER
SUSPENSION: KORE
VEHICLE MODEL: DODGE RAM 2500 4X4
MOTOR: XV Motorsports 5.7 LITER HEMI® V-8
HORSEPOWER: 420
TRANSMISSION: 545 RFE
SHOCKS: 8 FOX RACING SHOX BYPASS
LIGHTS: BAJA DESIGNS SOLTEK® HID
TIRES: TOYO 37X13.50X17 M/T
WHEELS: 17X9 WELD COMMANDO P.R.O.
INTAKE: AEM CUSTOM DRY FILTER
CAGE FAB: WORTHINGTON OFF ROAD
SEATS: CUSTOM MASTERCRAFT PRO 4
GAGES: NORDSKOG
WEIGHT: 6800 LBS.
GEAR RATIO: 4.56:1
RANGE: 370 MILES
TOP SPEED: 126 MPH
We replaced the original motor with an XV Motorsports built 5.7 Hemi that uses all-forged internals, a trick XV aluminum manifold and our own Holley carburetor. The idea being that a .20 over, balanced and blueprinted V-8 that runs a carb would be much more reliable than the OE fuel injection with a plastic manifold. Sean Hyland built this motor and it’s proven to be stone-axe reliable over thousands of race and testing miles.
Since the motor and transmission are not talking to each other via a common computer, we had to have an extensive gauge package. We chose Nordskog gauges for their ultimate reliability and high tech features.
For reliability and simplicity we run two AEM built Mopar ignition computers. The software is great because it permits us to data log, change parameters, and monitor air/fuel ratios. We also use a separate AEM air fuel gage on the co-driver’s side, so we know when to change filters, or if we have a clogged jet or other problem. With a carburetor that runs volatile 110 octane reace fuel, fire is a real concern. Open float bowls during a rollover are not good. For this reason we use an automatic fire suppression system. One pull of a lever and the engine bay and cab fill with foam.
Under the hood there’s a lot going on. Two huge Fox 4.3 inch bypass shocks provide maximum bottoming resistance while two Fox 3.0′s provide control. Class rules mandate that stock brakes, radiator and steering components be retained. It takes some creative thinking to make it all work.
Two transmission fluid coolers, one engine oil cooler, two fuel cells and four big shocks make it happen out back. For safety, all fueling is done on the driver’s side while the exhaust exits on the passenger side.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – The 40th annual Baja 1000. The big one. Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas – almost 1300 miles of non-stop punishment. This year just getting to the starting line was fraught with obstacles. But seized motors, wildfires and two rollovers could not stop the Desert Assault. Five Dodge trucks made it to the starting line. KORE’s own Stock Full class Hemi, Greer Racing’s Class 8, Canada’s HRT Cummins diesel-powered truck and Tennessee’s two RPM Offroad diesel trucks.
One would win, two would finish and two would fail.
KORE’s focus of effort was the newest truck in the stable – the Stock Full Class vehicle powered by a 5.7 liter Hemi motor. Its first race garnered a 2nd place finish in the 2007 Baja 500. Then electronic engine management issues ultimately caused a full engine seizure at her next race, BITD’s Vegas to Reno.
Between Vegas to Reno and the Baja 1000, brush fires ravaged San Diego County, home of the KORE race shop and all personnel. Mandatory evacuations forced the shop to close for almost two weeks, throwing the race program off schedule at a critical time.
“Despite the time constraints, we replaced the original motor with an XV Motorsports built 5.7 Hemi that uses all-forged internals, a trick XV aluminum manifold and Holley carburetor, so fuel injection couldn’t mess us up again,” said Kent Kroeker, owner of KORE. “Now we’ve got a bulletproof power plant that does what we tell it.”
With only four days of testing, KORE was confident they had a winning combination under the hood. The team relocated to Baja. All was in place for a solid race. Then while prerunning near Santo Domingo in the famous KORE Beast, Kroeker hit a rock that snapped every steering component in the blink of an eye. This sent the uncontrollable truck containing Kroeker, KORE Engineer Keg Parker and Toyo Tire rep Jeff Bootz up an embankment and into a full barrel roll with The Beast landing on its roof. Nobody was injured in the rollover, but the extraction process was arduous and time consuming, bringing an exhausted crew back to Ensenada just a day before the race.
“It was unbelievable what we did to get that truck out. It was destined for Dakar next year, so we had spare parts, tools, a winch and air compressor on board. With the help of some Mexican locals, we used every trick in the book to right the truck, turn it around and get it safely to town. The steering knuckle was snapped in half. We used about 30 hose clamps to hold the lower ball joint in place – then we drove it out! It was amazing,” said Toyo’s Jeff Bootz.
Recent rain made for perfect conditions on race day. Team Desert Assault was placed strategically down the peninsula. With Kroeker in the right seat, legendary off roader Malcolm Smith drove a flawless 200 mile start to KORE Pit One at Santo Domingo. Arriving in good position, he handed a perfect truck to Rodolfo Iribe and Keg Parker. Rodolfo “Rudy” Iribe proceeded to pass everyone in the class, bringing the KORE Hemi to San Ignacio in the lead 13 hours later.
Now, with the most technical sections behind them and room to let the truck breathe, John Zambie and “Happy” Jack Ruddy quickly put 30 miles on the Stock Full arch rivals and eventual class winners, GM’s Team Hummer.
Then, in the lead at race mile 870, disaster struck. The transmission that had been working perfectly during the entire race showed a rapid and irreversible temperature spike from 140 degrees to 250 degrees and gave up the ghost immediately. Since the spare transmission was not readily available at KORE’s Loreto North pit, the team pulled a transmission from one of the chase vehicles and installed it in the race truck.
Several hours later with the tranny swap complete, Darren Skilton and Glen Plake were back on the gas, racing south still looking at a podium finish. But within ten miles the replacement transmission failed. For the next six hours the team worked frantically to find the cause of the problem, eventually coming to the conclusion that the interface between the computer and fully-electronic transmission had failed, causing both transmissions to commit suicide. At 5 AM, after 15 hours of work, all resources exhausted, dead in the water and unable to make the next check closure, Kroeker called the race.
Near Loreto, the Canadian team of HRT replaced a blown turbo, a recurring curse that thwarted their 2006 Baja 1000 effort. Previously running strong in Second Place with few problems besides a quick lower control arm replacement at El Crucero, Kevin Ostlund, owner of HRT was anticipating a strong finish. Then out of nowhere the truck’s turbo imploded. Troubleshooting revealed that the co-driver had lost track of a loose rag that inadvertently clogged the in-cab air filter. Fortunately the Canadians had prepared for the worst and had a spare turbo charger on board. After only a couple of hours of down time, they were back on the trail at 100% power, bringing the truck across the finish line for Fourth Place in Stock Full.
Team Tennessee remained undaunted after rolling one of their trucks during prerunning. Detailed preparation and solid logistics placed their two trucks in good position as they thundered down the peninsula. RPM’s first truck piloted by Clyde Stacey charged southward at a steady pace finally getting across the finish line for Fifth Place in Stock Full. Fuel troubles early on slowed the pace of RPM Off Road’s Justin Matney, but the team continued, running the entire race with only 2 psi. of fuel pressure! RPM’s second truck eventually rolled across the finish line, but not before the clock ran out.
Three hundred miles south of Loreto, the KORE/Greer Class 8 truck was stuck in deep silt. Precise driving by Thom Greer had brought the 740 horsepower Mopar monster to Chapalla in a solid second place. Fresh tires and a new alternator were all the truck needed. Glen Greer then proceeded to close the gap until only an hour separated him from the lead position. Now just hours from the finish, mired axle deep in silt, all seemed to be lost. Nearby chase personnel soon came to the rescue and the 540 cubic inch monster was back underway. Soon the KORE/Greer Class 8 rolled into Los Cabos for a First Place finish.
This was the first Mopar-powered Baja 1000 victory in over a decade.
“It was an amazing race for everyone,” said Kent Kroeker. “This is the most difficult point to point race in the world and our teams performed admirably. In retrospect we could have done a few things differently, but all the money and preparation in the world probably wouldn’t have flushed out the gremlin that bit us. The motor and suspension set up were perfect, the team was dialed and we could have won. But like my Dad used to say, -If you had a whole bunch of should-have, would-have and could-have in one hand and 25 cents in the other, you could buy a doughnut.-”
Kore Proves New Hemi® Race Truck with a Second Place Finish in the 2007 Tecate® Score Baja 500
ENSENADA, MEXICO — With overcast skies and a light breeze, conditions were perfect for racing. Over 500 vehicles waited to pit their skills against the sand, rocks, whoops and silt beds that comprised one of the roughest, most technical Baja 500 courses in history. Racers who had run the course in advance reported that not since the “El Nino” terrain of 1998 had the trail been so challenging.
“The Baja 500 has always been one of my favorite races. It’s typically tight and low traction, the kind of course that favors focused driving and a highly prepared team,” said Kent Kroeker, owner of KORE.
This was the race debut for KORE’s new Stock Full class race truck. This truck is a 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 4×4 powered by the latest generation 5.7 liter Hemi® V-8.
“We’ve got a lot of experience racing the Cummins-powered Rams. We know their assets and liabilities. Throwing this truck into a race as tough as the 500 was somewhat of a gamble because we had engineered it so differently — and none of our ideas had been tested in competition. We had well over a thousand miles on the chassis and we were still tuning, adjusting and rethinking things the night before the race,” said Kroeker.
Kent Kroeker and Robin Stover came off the line in the back of their class and by race mile 125, they had passed everyone in their class as well as every class 7 truck and 5/1600 car.
“KORE’s new truck is deceptively fast. The lighter weight of the Hemi® motor combined with the traction of four wheel drive allowed us to maintain an incredible speed average to our first pit. With half the horsepower but twice the traction we drove right by numerous Class 1 cars and Trophy Trucks that were mired in silt — and out accelerated everyone in our class and anyone near us,” said Robin.
But luck was not on their side. Leading the pack, almost half way into the race, an electrical problem caused both radiator fans to malfunction, causing a blown lower radiator hose. Repairing the electrical glitch and plumbing wasn’t a problem, but finding enough water was. With a little over a gallon of emergency water on board, driver Jason Hughes and co-driver Chris Williams were forced to dig a hole in the sand and extract water from the earth in order to fill the radiator.
This malfunction set the team back only an hour — but it was enough to put them at the back of the notorious “log-jam” at race mile 210. Over twenty vehicles were stranded at a narrow choke-point in the course. Drivers struggled with their vehicles, trying to negotiate the sand and silt, but to no avail. Several cars were rolled over and stacked on top of each other. For over six hours, team KORE towed and pushed race vehicles out of the way and back onto the course.
“Vehicles were stuck everywhere. We towed and pushed them sideways, backwards and upside down. It didn’t matter any more. We didn’t even ask; we just hooked on to them and dragged. It was heinous,” said Jason Hughes.
Escaping the log-jam and reaching KORE pit 3 by midnight allowed just enough time to tighten lug nuts and refuel. Marine Corps pilots John Zambie and Jack Ruddy flawlessly drove from Valley Trinidad to Santo Tomas in record time, putting a perfect truck into the capable hands of Rudy Iribe and Keg Parker. Morning fog and airborne silt reduced visibility, but as the sun rose, team KORE rolled across the finish line for a second place finish.
Kent Kroeker stated, “This was a great Baja 500. We tried so many new things and everything worked as-advertised. From the new Fox, five-tube bypass shocks to the trick in-cab AEM intake system and dry filter, we had perfect performance. And our standard race-proven parts performed like they always do: The ten Baja Designs Soltek HID lights mounted to our HRC light bar turned night into day and came out unscathed after ramming numerous competitors too haggard to get out of the way. Our DOT rated Toyo MT tires gave us our tenth race with no flats, and the indestructible Weld Racing Commando P.R.O. beadlock wheels held them in place securely for the entire race.”
“I’m not disappointed about taking second. Race cars get better with age because only racing can illuminate weak points. Just getting to the finish line is a huge accomplishment and we couldn’t have done it without the integrity of the Dodge Ram 2500 platform. It’s one insanely tough truck. Because it had never been done before, we had no idea if the OE drivetrain parts like the 545 RFE transmission or the Hemi® motor could withstand the rigors of professional desert racing — or if the stock steering components, frame and suspension parts would fail at the higher speeds and stress loads this new truck could generate. We had some bad luck due to small problems but now the rough draft is coming together.”
“We’ve got some more development to do — minor tuning like changing gear ratios, adjusting spring rates and chasing down a couple of electrical gremlins, but now KORE has all guns aimed at one thing: winning the 40th annual Tecate® SCORE Baja 1000.”
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – The 2007 Vegas to Reno was difficult for team KORE. Plagued by flat tires, broken axles, overheating and eventually a seized motor, just finishing the grueling 500 mile course proved impossible. 2008 was better, but not without its share of challenges.
For 2008, KORE attacked Vegas to Reno with the latest generation General “Grabber” competition tires, a new XV Motorsports Hemi motor, a more refined truck and a much more experienced team.
Fourth off the starting line, Kent Kroeker and Sean Hyland held their position, driving conservatively to keep the truck together. Soon after the first pit, an enormous “log jam” brought the race to a standstill. At least 20 race cars blocked the course. Passing was impossible. After waiting several minutes, Kroeker and Hyland chose to take an old mining trail that was barely visible – and only passable by a four-wheel-drive vehicle.
“It was a risky move because it was a tight trail and we didn’t know where it would lead,” said Kroeker. “Backing down may have been impossible.”
At Pit 3, KORE had the lead. Sean Hyland took over at the wheel with Kroeker now co-driving. Although the truck was running well, silt clogged the air filter several times, slowing the speed average and requiring Hyland and Kroeker to stop and clean the intake.
After 100 miles of flawless driving, Sean brought a perfect truck to Rudy Iribe and John Zambie. A quick splash of gas and some preventative maintenance was all that was required. But in less than 50 miles, silt began to clog the transmission’s shifting assembly, making gear changes difficult or impossible.
Swapping out the clutch master/slave cylinder assembly at General Tire Baja Pit 6 helped for a while, but shifting was still difficult, often forcing Iribe to stop the truck completely in order to change gears. Then, just prior to pit 10, Iribe and Zambie snapped a stub axle at the U-joint. KORE’s lead Chase mechanic, Joe Salas, threw in a new part and the truck was back in the fight in under 17 minutes.
Coping with a malfunctioning clutch, Iribe and Zambie were still able to get the truck across the finish line for a Third Place finish with a time of 14 hours and 34 minutes.
“We have yet to get through a race without incident – Vegas to Reno was no exception. Breaking parts is to be expected as we develop this program and establish duty cycles. Next year we’ll be more prepared and more competitive,” said Kent Kroeker.
See KORE’s General Tire Hemi race SCORE’s “Primm 300” in Primm, Nevada on 6 September – then the world famous “Baja 1000” in Ensenada, Mexico on November 21.
Team Desert Assault® Takes The Podium
in the 39th Annual Tecate® Score Baja 1000
Baja 1000 2006
LA PAZ, MEXICO – On November 16th, 2006, three Stock Full© race trucks flying the KORE logo left the starting line to take on the notorious SCORE Baja 1000. KORE’s 2006 Team DESERT ASSAULT® consisted of #865, RPM Off-Road, from Bristol, Tennessee, #866,Worthington Racing from Los Angeles, and #867, Team Canada Racing, from Alberta. Each team drove similarly-equipped Cummins diesel-powered Dodge Ram 2500 4×4 pickups.
“We’ve been doing this for so long now, we’ve got the whole thing down to a science. Prerunning and racing are standard Baja – you prepare the best you can but anything can happen. But by using proven, off-the-shelf parts we eliminate a lot of variables and increase our chances of success,” said Kent Kroeker, President and CEO of Kroeker Off Road Engineering [KORE]. “We use Toyo tires, Weld Wheels, Fox Racing Shocks, Baja Designs Lighting Systems, FASS fuel pumps and AEM filter systems. This not only makes the build easier, but facilitates logistical support, since each truck uses common parts.”
1047.8 miles of whoops, silt beds, exposed rocks and standing water from recent hurricanes made this year’s Baja 1000 particularly challenging, claiming 146 of the 283 Four Wheel class starters – a 51% attrition rate. Team DESERT ASSAULT® didn’t have it easy.
“We had passed everyone within the first 50 miles, but then we broke a sector shaft,” said Loren Worthington, owner of #866. “We were right in the middle of the race course which made changing out the steering box dangerous, awkward and time-consuming. We barely made check point two without timing out.”
Meanwhile the rookie drivers Kevin Ostlund and Richard Thomas made no errors and drove #867 consistently, maintaining a solid second place behind Team Hummer’s Josh Hall. The team members of KORE pit 4 in San Ignacio changed out a broken half shaft in record time then John Zambie and Mike Sedway took over driving duties. But luck was not on their side. By Race Mile 650 it was all over for the Canadians.
“When the turbo came apart it sounded like a 35,000 RPM Calliope thrown down a sewer pipe. I’ve never heard anything like it,” said former Marine Harrier pilot John Zambie.
RPM Off Road’s #865 was plagued with mysterious electrical problems, causing a DNF early in the game.
“It was very disappointing to come all the way across the country only to DNF. It wasn’t what we were expecting after a near flawless prerun,” said RPM’s Justin Matney. “But racing the Baja 1000 was one of the greatest things I’ve ever done. Baja is in our blood now, so we’ll be back next year for sure – with two race trucks and more people. ”
Kent Kroeker and Robin Stover took the bruised but not beaten #866 at Race Mile 340, prior to Bay of LA. Barely making check closures and inching up the speed average was the name of the game for the next 22 hours.
“The frame cracked twice and twice we welded it up. This slowed us a bit, but pulling multiple stuck vehicles out of the mud, water and silt took a lot of time. I couldn’t believe the silt beds south of Loreto. They were so deep that twice they swallowed the entire passenger side of the truck. I couldn’t see anything. That was definitely the gnarliest wheeling I’ve ever done,” said Stover.
2AM, Ciudad Insurgentes, Landon Worthington took over in the left seat while Kroeker co-drove.
“It was like a graveyard out there. Cars were everywhere stuck in the silt. Drivers stood near by with long faces and tow-straps in hand. We just couldn’t help everyone. There were so many. So close to the finish too. It was heartbreaking,” said Landon.
Conservative, precise driving by Landon Worthington brought #866 down the Steps to the finish line in the city of La Paz. As the sun rose over the Sea of Cortez forty hours and seventeen minutes after the start in Ensenada the race was over. KORE/Worthington Racing had made it to the podium for third place.
It was Landon’s first desert race ever.
“This was a great Baja 1000,” Kent Kroeker said later, “KORE sponsored three unproven race trucks that were piloted by people totally new to the sport. The Canadians and the team from Tennessee had never even seen a desert before. And they chose to race the Mount Everest of motorsports in a professional class! Their dedication and commitment to the mission was unbelievable. Our chase and pit crews performed admirably and everyone on the KORE team returned safely to the U.S. The Fox shocks worked great, we had zero flats from the Toyo M/T tires, and superior performance from the Weld Commando P.R.O. beadlock wheels. The new LED light technology from Baja Designs was absolutely amazing – especially in heavy dust. We had some bad luck, but overall it would be hard to ask more from an adventure like this.”
KORE is currently building a new race truck that uses never-before-seen navigation and communication technology sourced from U.S. military. The first race for this new vehicle should be the 2007 SCORE Baja 500 in June. Currently the number of race trucks on KORE’s 2007 DESERT ASSAULT® team is six.
KORE is currently building a Hemi-powered, regular cab race truck that uses Fox 4.3 inch bypass shocks in a unique configuration designed by Kent Kroeker.
The 2007 Baja 500 will be its first race.
It was a bad day in Arizona.
Running strongly in second place then Losing the front ring and pinion at Race Mile 155
turned The Beast into a heavy two-wheel drive handful. Desperately trying to maintain
speed to prevent getting stuck in the deep sand of the “Python,” Kroeker puts The Beast
on its lid, leaving him and Robin Stover, Four Wheeler Magazine’s Feature Editor, hanging
like bats in their harnesses.
Following KORE tradition, Kroeker drives The Beast back to California under its own power.
Two months in the capable hands of Greg Boardman at the Desert Racing Concepts
compound and The Beast was a new animal.
Fiberglass fenders and bedsides, a new roof and door panels – DRC gave The Beast new life.
Bigger, stronger, faster, but no longer race-legal for the Stock Full class.
The rollover at Parker was the birthplace of DRC’S Dodge Ram Fiberglass bodywork
and the KORE UNLIMITED SERIES suspension system, proving that good things can come
from bad circumstances.
Follow KORE on Facebook 