Looking to break into the world of off-road vehicle endurance racing?
Here's an idea: Start out by tackling the longest race in America.
That's what a Carson Valley team did last weekend, coming away with impressive results.
Minden resident Chris Willing won the ironman amateur quad class of the Vegas-to-Reno "The Long Way", finishing the three-day, 1,000-mile race that spiraled around the Nevada desert with a combined time of 36 hours, 38 minutes and 7.805 seconds.
"My first thought was, 'Can I go to bed now?'" Willing said. "Just to see that checkered flag on the last day, just that sigh of relief knowing that I accomplished something I'd set out to do.
"I had certain expectations of how tough it would be, but going through it, I started to see that I really had no idea."
The race had three legs - Beatty to Tonopah, Tonopah to Hawthorne and Hawthorne to Dayton.
Dave Richardson, a co-worker of Willing's at Verizon, first floated the idea of competing in the race last January. Willing quickly signed up and they recruited another co-worker, John Humphrey, to be the team manager.
They decided on the name CnD Racing (taking the first initials of the two riders, Willing and Richardson).
Willing signed up for the quad class of the race while Richardson signed up for motocross.
"Dave got the team together and got us organized," Humphrey said. "This was his deal and it was our first attempt at anything like this. He mapped out all the logistics and Chris was real interested in riding with us.
"A lot of time and effort went into this team."
After eight months of preparation and over four months of 100-mile training rides, Richardson saw his hopes come to an abrupt end on when his engine blew on the second day of the race.
"Dave was real disappointed," Humphrey said. "Just with all the time and e
ffort he put into it, not being able to finish was very tough."
But the team took solace in Willing's win, although Willing is the first to point out that he was the only competitor in his class.
"It really didn't matter what place I got anyway," Willing said. "I just want to see if I could do it."
He also managed to cross the finish line before the pros and experts competing in the ironman division.
"That was kind of fun," Willing said. "They have to figure in time corrections and things, but being the first one across was something I could take a little pride in."
Willing said with racing all day and being ready to go the next morning at 4 a.m., there were times where he wasn't sure he'd be able to go on.
"About halfway through Day 2 I was just hitting a lot of rocky sections and the going was very slow," he said. "I was just taking a pounding and wondering if I should even continue. I came around a corner and there was a big group of people cheering me on. At that point, I knew I couldn't quit.
"There were things like that all along the course. You'd get to your next pit and there were people from other teams coming over to give me a bottle of water or pour water down my back. It was a pretty amazing experience just as far as the camaraderie of the racing community."
Both Willing and Humphrey pointed out the team's good fortune when it came to the bike. In a race where blown engines, tires and gear boxes are common occurences, the worst damage Willing suffered was a cracked gas tank.
"That credit goes to Rob Taylor at Testa Racing," Willing said. "He prepped the bike before we left and even drove out the new gas tank for the overnight repair. Everyone out there was losing motors and front ends and we got lucky and made it through without any huge problems. I was very impressed with the bike."
Things went so well, in fact, that Willing completed the race on just one set of tires.
Humphrey said the experience the team gained was invaluable as well.
"We're mostly local," Humphrey said. "The race was very costly. We had six chase trucks and a number of people on the pit crews.
"We're considering doing some more races, like 300- and 400-mile races.
Overall, we really enjoyed this and we'd like to be able to do it again.
"There was some adversity out there but the team came together and it was a great experience. We'd love to take on some more sponsors and maybe give this another shot."
Not, Willing said, without some better suspension.
"The guys are walking around calling me Iron Butt," Willing said with a laugh. "We just did this on the suspension I could afford, which was mediocre. A lot of those pro guys were running on $4,000-5,000 equipment and they're just floating out there."
Team members for CnD included pit boss Alfredo Ramirez and his son Jordan, Richard Gildersleeve, Ted Bilger, Nigel Vopalensky and Chris Ogle.
The team's sponsors included Testa Racing, Todd Hill, Steven Diaz/NetBuys.com, R.J. Roofing, Inc., Gloria Galvan - Quiroz, Cozette, Mack, Zandra and Isabelle Richardson, Jennifer, Christopher and Elliot Willing and Jason and Heather Fatzer.
For more information, visit the team's Web site at CnDracing.com.
Joey Crandall can be reached at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.
