King drivers tame course and Mother Nature in Parker

Parker Arizona has long been known for its stunning natural beauty and quiet laidback charm. What should be a nice place to ease into the Best in the Desert race season instead has become a torturous race that tests the limits of the drivers, crews and their vehicles. For two years in a row, the race has started under tranquil skies only to deteriorate into heavy afternoon rainstorms. Parts of the course were either standing puddles or running rivers. When the wet sandy mud dries, it works like 40 grit sandpaper to grind away at the moving parts of the vehicle and the wills of the cold, wet competitors. Even with a two-hour extension of the cut-off time, due to the rain, the finishing rate was only thirty percent of the field who started. Under these tough conditions King Shocks racers did extremely well taking the over-all win and first place in nine classes. The over-all and Trick Truck victory went to the hard charging BJ Baldwin. BJ’s race weekend started out well with a fourth place qualifying effort in Time Trials that would insure some clean running on lap one. The only problems he would have on race day were a broken radio antennae and a missing spare that fell off the truck. Wanting to put on a good show for his title sponsor General tire that also sponsored the race, BJ showed no mercy on the competition setting a steady pace that nobody could match. The second overall finish and the class 1500 victory went to the King Shocks equipped Grove Lumber entry of Steve and Ray Croll. Sporting a beautiful new, orange based paint scheme, Steve got the luck of the draw and drove the first couple of laps he described as “trouble free” despite the rough course, handing the car over in second place to Ray his father. Ray had to contend with the weather but not much else as they motored on to take the class victory beating second place by around 30 minutes.

Dr. Macrae Glass was the first class 8000 competitor to drive onto the podium. Dr Glass, the defending champion who won every race in 2009, is picking up where he left off last year with another impressive win. “The key is having good preparation,” said Macrae, “We planned for the rain just like last year. We were able to get a great start and held on to that so we didn’t get caught in the worst of it”. Co-Rider Michael DeHaas had similar comments stating that the truck has all the best parts on-board and is meticulously maintained. “In order to win you need the truck and the team to be ready for anything “, said De Haas. Two other King Shocks teams who have been racking up the wins are Kory Keysar who has gone back to back in class 1100 and the class 5000 team of Eric Anderson, David Ollis and Rick Holmes. The trio of VW racers has been posting victories wherever they show up. “The last lap was kinda sketchy,” said David Ollis, “There were huge puddles and lots of water running down the course. The washes were getting full and the mud was deep. We concentrated on keeping our pace up and getting to the finish”. Congratulations also go out to winners John Krellwitz, class 3700, Eric Helgeson, class 1700 and Dan Moore taking the top spot in class 1800.