KORE Gets Second At 2009 Terrible’s 250

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.

“Basically, Fox rebuilt our shocks and Les Black rebuilt the carb.  We changed filters, belts and fluids, threw in a fresh set of plugs, some new Grabbers and drove to Primm.  We dropped in a new transfer case in the hotel parking lot and rolled her through tech inspection,” said John Zambie.

KORE’s late entry guaranteed a rear start.  At just after 6am the Stock Full class was roaring into the desert.  Kent Kroeker drove with Frank Martinek in the right seat.  Within ten miles they had passed half of the Stock Full competitors.

“Despite the partial prep, that truck never felt so good.  The suspension and power were dialed.  Everything felt perfect and we were crushing everyone,” said Frank.

After the first 80 miles, the four top competitors, Foutz, Griffin, Kroeker, and Merritt rolled through the pits within two minutes of each other!  With two more laps to go, it was going to be an all-out battle for the win.

By the end of lap two, Kroeker and Martinek were leading on time, less than a minute behind Griffin.  At the KORE Pit, the team put in 20 gallons and Rudy Iribe swapped into the left seat while Martinek remained in the right to provide up-to-date course information.

Everything was looking great, but within ten miles the Powerwagon’s serpentine belt had snapped.

It took six minutes to change the belt and during that time Foutz and Merritt got past them.  Rudy drove like a madman to get back into position, but by that time the gap between Griffin had grown to 4 minutes.

“I was hoping this would be a repeat of Primm last year when we finished just behind Griffin, but won on corrected time.  All it took was six minutes of bad luck and we were back in second place.  The Stock Full class is just that competitive,” said Kent Kroeker after the race.