Desert Dingo team member Lynda McNeil sang the National Anthem Sunday morning at the VORRA races at Prairie City. Yes, that’s Richard walking in front of the camera at the start.

Car cam video from the third moto at last week’s Bug Invasion I at Prairie City.

Crusty gets us on two wheels. I honk at the fans. We have a near miss with a baby in a stroller.

Car cam video from the first moto at last weekend’s “Bug Invasion I” at Prairie City, California.

We had green, red, white and silver VW Beetles racing the VORRA series this past weekend and a good time was had by all, apparently including the race fans. One of them came up to me afterward and said “It looks like Jelly Bellies racing out there.”

Team meeting this Thursday night and probably a work day this weekend. More video to come.

Bob Messner displaying the $20 cash money, 12-pack of PBR and the fabulous recycled bowling trophy he got for dominating Bug Invasion I in No. 1177

Back and sunburned from Bug Invasion I. Try as we might, we couldn’t flip 1107. We did DNF twice with blown fuse and fan belt issues, but “Bullet” Bob Russell got third place in the second moto. The great thing about racing Class 11 is the camaraderie (also the breakfast burritos, polish sausage, ribs and tri-tip).

I’ve got video from all three races that I’ll be posting shortly. For now you’ll have to settle with a photo gallery.

Lastly, thanks to everyone involved with VORRA for being so supportive of the return of Class 11s.

P.S. Watch for “Bug Invasion II – The Bugs Strike Back” in 2011.

Nail polish is hard.

When you have 10 people on the team who each have their own tool sets, one of the first things that happens is that tools get mingled. We’ve decided to mark our personal tools uniquely. One person took white (I think it was Whiteout). Another person took pink. I’ve opted for two lines of neon yellow.

Back to Prairie City this weekend. 1107 gets buttoned up on Wednesday. Team starts pulling in on Friday night. Practice and qualifying on Saturday. Racing on Sunday.

APRIL 9, 2010, FOLSOM, CALIF. – Straw Hat Pizza in Folsom announced today that it’s sponsoring Desert Dingo Racing at the April 17-18 VORRA races at Prairie City and is offering all race teams and fans a special deal on pizzas delivered to the race track.

“We’re big fans of off road racing, lots of teams stop by on their way out to the track and we see this as an opportunity to make it easier for everyone to enjoy pizza at the races,” said Larry Lancelle, owner of the Straw Hat outlet at 1870 Prairie City Road in Folsom.

Race teams and fans ordering pizzas and drinks delivered to the race course will get a 10% discount Friday through Sunday. The discount also applies to customers who pick up pizzas at the restaurant and mention the “Prairie City Special” when ordering. Phone orders can be placed by calling 916-351-5888.

Lancelle is also sponsoring Desert Dingo Racing, a Baja 1000 race team that competes locally in the Stock Bug class. The team’s ‘69 VW Beetle will be among several old school Volkswagens coming in from around the state to compete in “Bug Invasion I”, celebrating the return of stock VWs to the Valley Off Road Racing Association (VORRA) 2010 season.

“Like Larry, we’re very community oriented and greatly appreciate his support for the team,” said Desert Dingo co-founder Jim Graham. “Being able to order pizza and have it delivered to the pits is a tremendous time saver and allows us to focus on prepping the car between races.”

Desert Dingo Racing campaigns a 1969 Volkswagen Beetle in off road races in the U.S. and Mexico. The team is the official World Diabetes Day Baja 1000 race team and works with the International Diabetes Federation to raise money for diabetes education and awareness programs. Two Desert Dingo team members have Type 2 diabetes and several other team members have a history of the disease in their families. The team makes the car available for public events and distributes thousands of hero cards with the warning signs of diabetes printed on the back in English and Spanish.

The white No. 1107 VW will sport Straw Hat Pizza logos and the team will distribute “Prairie City Special” promotional flyers at the event.

Scott and Scott confab on the tranny.

Richard, Scott ‘n Crusty spent Tuesday with Scott Sebastian at MetalCraft in Sanger. Sebastian took the parts from our assorted broken and junkyard-scavenged transmissions and built us the first of what will likely be two or three. The first one gets installed Saturday.

A handful of shots here.

One week til Bug Invasion I at Prairie City. More news to come on that tomorrow.

Under the lights. Also under Crusty’s deck.

Two weeks til our second race of the season, a VORRA short course race that is also “Bug Invasion I”. Richard, Crusty and I spent the day working on the car. Richard focus on hammering out dents from the rollover, Crusty and Richard worked on straightening out the frame, from the rollover, I scraped off decals, damaged as a result of the rollover.

Road trip planned for Tuesday to Sanger to meet with Scott Sebastian with MetalCraft to build one or more transmissions. I hope Richard, Scott, Crusty and Bob enjoy that 4 a.m. departure time.

A handful of photos from today’s work.

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Bob and Lefty race the first moto at the March 20-21 VORRA season opener.

Lefty and Bob, fresh off the first moto.

Wrapping up coverage of the VORRA season opener with this gallery of photos.