Pizza Factory signs on as a Desert Dingo Racing sponsor for the Yerington 300.

MAY 27, 2010, YERINGTON, NV. – The Pizza Factory in Yerington announced today that it’s sponsoring Desert Dingo Racing at the Memorial Day VORRA Yerington 300 and is offering all race teams and fans a special deal on pizzas delivered to the race track.

“The Yerington 300 is a great way to celebrate Memorial Day weekend and we wanted to do something for the all the race teams and who come out for the event,” said Larry Boyce, owner of the Pizza Factory restaurant at 120 N. Main Street in Yerington.

Read the entire press release here…

This may have been 1107’s first wiring diagram

Bill “The New Guy” Rickard came by the office yesterday and picked up the GPS unit, the VHF radio and our satcomm display to work his magic on 1107’s electrical system. I accidentally forgot the GPS/Iridium transceiver in the car and Richard picked it up earlier today and he will drop it at Crusty’s tomorrow.

All this means we should be able to travel backward and forward in time finish a race without a short circuit knocking us out of the running in time for our first off road desert race of the season Memorial Day weekend at Yerington, Nevada.

A work day this weekend. Updates as they occur.

APRIL 16, 2010, Soquel, Calif. –Winchester Auto Soquel announced today that it is sponsoring Desert Dingo Racing’s 2010 off road racing season, including the Baja 1000 in Mexico in November 2010.

‘We love racing and we’re longtime supporters of local race teams,” said Winchester Auto Soquel manager Mark Froling. “We understand that people are looking for good prices and good advice and we’re proud to be teaming with Desert Dingo Racing.”

“We’re doing nine races this season and that means we’re going to be breaking a lot of parts,” said Desert Dingo crew chief Richard Palasik. “Mark and his team at Winchester Auto help keep us in the running and we really appreciate their support.”

Read the entire press release here…

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.

March 29, 2010, Watsonville, Calif. – Dixon & Sons Tires, Inc. announced today that it is sponsoring Desert Dingo Racing’s 2010 off road racing season, including the Baja 1000 in Mexico in November 2010.

“Off road racing is the ultimate test for a set of tires,” said Dixon & Son owner Dusty Dixon. “We like what Desert Dingo does, on the race course and in the community and we’re proud to support their race program.”

Read the entire press release here…

This light bar has nothing to do with what I’m about to write, but it took me all winter to paint, clear coat and install the TrailGlow HIDs, so you’re gonna have to check it out.

We head out on Friday, March 19, for Prairie City for our first race of the 2010 season and between now and then we need to get the skid plate and bumper integrated, our transmission put back together and the engine installed. Piece of cake.

Creech is trailering 1107 to the race. Seth is cooking for everyone. Robert and Mike have been putting the finishing touches on the newly rebuilt engine. Skid will be there. Crusty and I will be working on integrating the skid plate with the rear bumper this weekend (technically, Crusty will be doing it and I’ll be standing around). Also, I’ve volunteered to do scoring because, as I told the organizers, “it makes it easier for me to black flag any other Stock Bugs that get too far ahead of us.”

Am I missing anyone?

While I can’t mention any names, I want to thank the anonymous sponsor who is providing us with equipment we need and who, for reasons I entirely understand, doesn’t want to be mentioned. Thank you.

So remember how, in the The Sporting Life interview, I said my favorite race vehicle of all time was one of the Kamaz trucks that won Dakar? Here’s a video and photos validating that statement.

Now if only I can convince our team manager to take a vacation to Russia in the winter.

Brett Svatek did a piece on the team and I spent most of my time talking about eating.

INTERVIEW: Jim Graham – Desert Dingo Racing
The Sporting Life, February 24, 2010
Jim Graham and his Desert Dingo racing team set out to conquer the Baja 1000 in a car that most people wouldn’t feel safe driving to the 7-11…they are truly living The Sporting Life.

Bob jacks up 1104 in preparation for removing the engine.

1104 moved from my place over to Desert Dingo Racing HQ (aka “Richard’s place”) to begin winter tear down. Powerwashed, engine pulled, transmission pulled, light bar removed, CV joints pulled. We’ve got three months to prep the car for the first race of the 2010 season. A lot of ideas to improve it. Gallery of today’s photos here.

Also, this is the greatest off road video I’ve seen in ages. Props to Trophylite.

Bob Russell runs through an electrical systems check the night before the Baja 1000.

The folks at Wired.com’s Autopia blog did a great piece on the Rugged Text and Track satellite communications system from EMS SkyConnect and on our illuminated number panels from TrailGlow. You can check it out here…

This is what it looks like from here, thanks EMS SkyConnect. Click on the image to get the big picture.

A lot has happened since this post and the previous one. Tranmission got replaced, tie rod too.  Jim said something about ball joints. The RV is pulling into Jeff’s at San Felipe and I expect he’ll be online shortly to help track the team. Chase 1 is meeting 1104 shortly at Pit 4. Everyone’s in good spirits. Thanks for all the messages of support.