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.

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

There’s nothing I can add. If you don’t have all day, skip to 4:45 for the roll and aftermath. The roll in pictures is here.

I think it’s time to spring for the HD GoPro Motorsports cameras.

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.

Here I was all set to get some great video of 1107 rounding the corner at Checkpoint One of the SNORE 250 in Primm, and this 16 car comes in and ruins everything!

Photos tomorrow. We’re all bushed.

Skid bought it for $300 from a guy who was about to have it hauled to a junk dealer, apparently because his landlord thought it was an eyesore. The car was a rolling frame with an engine and transmission, but not much else. We stripped it down to the pan and built it back up from there.

In line for the 2007 Baja 1000. We didn’t come to appreciate this til after the race, but we didn’t have much in the way of clearance, which was our downfall. Went with red rims in honor of Eric Solorzano. Notice the night lights mounted directly to the roof, also with no protection. One low hanging branch and we could kiss them goodbye. The black on the hood was to reduce glare from the lights.

Note the substantially greater clearance, the new vintage Jeep tires that give us an extra 3/4s of an inch of clearance. Front shock reservoirs have been moved to the inside of the fenders for increased cooling. Trunk is double-fastened with clips and a rubber bungie cord. New light bar with lights repositioned further forward. The car being prepped for Primm is pretty much in this configuration.

Sometime Sunday Creech is coming by with a Checker cab outfitted with a tow hitch to trailer 1102 to his place in Ben Lomond. Bob “Bus Boy” Russell, our team sommelier, will drop the engine and transmission. We’re pricing spare race transmissions as I write this, and looking to folks to rebuild our primary tranny.

Photos tomorrow. It’s a new race day for the team.

And, at Eric’s Tijuana workshop, that was the best chorizo and jalapeno pizza – the size of a car hood – I’d ever had.

Considering we only did the San Felipe and the Baja 1000, we still racked up 64 points and finished 7th in all the Class 11s competing.

Wait til we win both races next year.

Here’s a quickie video of us prepping all the vehicles on Race Day morning. We all headed across town in a caravan around 10:15 to line up for an 11:30 a.m.-ish start.

The neighborhood kids would hang out with us. I took some photos. You can check out the gallery here.

And we’re back! About 12 hours from Ensenada to Felton. 1102 is safely ensconced on the trailer in the front yard. We’ll be needing a couple of new fenders, a rebuilt transmission, a short throw reverse lock out shifter and some other bits and bobs, but we should be back in business in short order.

Here’s a gallery of photos from Contingency Row on Thursday and the race on Friday. More to come.