2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009 - 2010 - 2011
  2/10/09. TR Racing Snake bit again at Parker. For the second year in a row, TR Racing's Rich Blunk and Larry Trim came within a few miles of a podium finish the the Parker 425 Desert Race. Last year we blew the motor 37 miles from the finish line while closing in on 2nd. We started 2009 loaded for bear with our new 500hp Ford V-6 Nascar motor, and support from TR Racing Wheels, The Roof Doctor, Camburg Engineering and Mickey Thompson Tires. This year, after battling with the Team Orbit truck for the last 250 miles, in wet mud and pouring rain, we finally took the lead just 30 miles from the finish line, only to loose power when the motor sucked in a little too much water with just 20 miles to go. Still, the hard fought effort ended in a 3rd place finish for the season opener. No flats, Mickey Thompson's MTZ Radial was up to the task again. Thanks to co-drivers AJ Blunk and John Koeth along with the whole TR Racing Pit and Support crews.
  12/8/08. Desert Redemption. We Win the Henderson Desert Classic. After a tough year in the Best in the Desert Racing Series, TrailReady Motorsports needed no less than a win in the Series finale, the Henderson Fab-tech Classic, to salvage the year. We got it, and in convincing fashion. Our Daystar Products Ford finished the 200 mile sprint 1st in Class and 25th overall in a 66 car field that included 45 Trick Trucks and Class 1 cars. The race featured four 50 mile laps with a Grand Prix finish which meant as soon as the fastest car completed four laps, every car that followed would be shown the checkered flag and scored by completed laps. Driver of Record, Rich Blunk started 4th in the 7200 class and was in first position by Race Mile 12. At the end of lap one he had a 1 minute lead over 2nd place Joe Stone and at the end of lap two, handed the perfect truck off to co-driver Larry Trim with an 8 minute lead over our Mickey Thompson Tires teammate, Shawn Giordano. The course had a new section that was exposing gnarly rocks and was littered with broken vehicles and flat tires. We assumed the lead Trick Truck would lap us before the end of our third lap and end our race so we charged on not knowing where Giordano was behind us as there was only the main pit and no reliable on course status. As it turned out, the eventual Trick Truck overall winner finished his fourth lap 12 minutes after we started ours and just two minutes ahead of Giordano so we were the only Class 7200 truck to complete 4 laps. When the call came over the radio that we had the race won if we completed the last lap we just cruised to the finish line. Special thanks to all of our sponsors for 2008 especially Daystar Products, Eagle Alloys, and Mickey Thompson Performance Tires who's MTZ Radials performed so well we had only 2 on course flats all season(none in this race). TrailReady Motorsports finished the 2008 desert racing season with 2 wins (including the SNORE Caliente 250), one 4th, and 3 DNF's. We finish on a high and are prepared to continue winning in 2009. See you in Parker! Photo courtesy www.dnpoffroad.com
 

11/10/08. TR RockRacer Draws a crowd at SEMA. Our recently completed Rock Racer, ready for February's King of the Hammer's event, was displayed as a feature vehicle at the SEMA show in Las Vegas.

1/20/09. TR Racing names Ian McGlynn driver of record for 2009 King of the Hammers. Ian will tackle the epic event in the TR rock racer represent TR Racing Wheels during pre-race activities on the lake bed.

  10/1/2008. Silver State 300 turns into a charactar building experience as TR Racing blows two transmissions in effort that falls short.
After 50 miles of testing with the motor repaired, our first C6 tranny failed after only 2 miles. We still had reverse and backed the Ford Ranger all the way back to the starting area. The team managed a nice 1 hour and 15 minute change to our spare tranny and once again crossed the starting line in a hurry to get to pit 1 before it closed. We never made it as the spare transmission failed as well. The team now prepares for the season finally, the Henderson 400, the first weekend of Dec.
  9/1/2008. TrailReady Motorsports Racing featured in new Baja Racing Video Game.
By your copy for XBox360 or PS3 and you can drive our #7212 Ford Ranger Desert Race Truck. BAJA: Edge of Control is scheduled to bring revolutionary physics and vast open racing worlds to the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION3 computer entertainment system on Sept 22.. Developed by the founding members of the MX vs. ATV franchise, BAJA: Edge of Control combines the best elements of the real-world sport with the right balance of arcade fun as it challenges players to build the ultimate off-road machine and conquer vast, unforgiving terrain.
  8/31/08 For Immediate Release: Vegas to Reno Review
The TR Racing crew headed to Beatty, Nevada, hoping to impove on their 8th in class season points position, in this, the Longest race of the season, the 460 mile Vegas to Reno. We did just that, although not in the fashion we had hoped. We started 8th off the line in a field of 13 Unlimited Mini Trucks. Driver Rich Blunk got into a good rythmn early and settled in for the long distance with a planned driver change at race mile 260, where Co-driver Larry Trim would get in and take #7212 to the finish. This was not to be. After only 50 miles, our tough little V-6 blew a head gasket and forced us to end our day early. Oddly, our 50 miles was still more that 3 other trucks in class managed and our 10th place finish, which along with the absence of previous competitors, moved us up to 6th in points for the season with two races to go.
  5/11/08. Caliente, NV. TrailReady Ranger takes win in Dusty Times 250.
In what was scheduled to be a test and tune run and video day with Invictus Productions, Driver of record Rich Blunk was supprised by a full field of Class 7 trucks when only one had pre-registered. Blunk, along with guest navigator Mark Freemal, answered the challenge and ran a clean race for the three 54 mile laps. Things got even better though when due to some confusion at the finish line, Blunk was shown the green flag instead of the checkered and just to make sure, took a 54 mile victory lap. The race also gave us the opportunity to make final adjustments to our new 4.2L Ford V-6 in preperation for our longest race of the season, the epic Vegas to Reno, coming up in August. Thor Wixom and crew was on hand with their new RED Camera putting together some super high res clips for the 2XLgames video game featuring TrailReady Motorsports, also scheduled for a August release.
©TR Promotions 2008




 

4/22/08 Terrible's 250, Primm, NV. TrailReady Motorsport’s Unlimited Mini Truck battled the Nevada Desert, 20 determined class rivals, 100 additional racers in our way, and finally, a bent driveshaft and thirsty radiator on our way to a respectable 4th place finish in the Silver State Series 2nd event of 2008. The battle really started days before we got to the starting line, when our new motor arrived late and held up testing of the motor, new transmission, and upgraded steering system. We finally got the truck ready just three
hours before the green flag dropped. Larry Trim started the 250 mile race 16th off the line with a promise to hand over the truck to co-driver Rich Blunk in good shape and 7th place or better. Trim and navigator Jared Bradley pushed the Ford through the field and by Pit one at race mile 31, they were already in 6th place. Rich Blunk took over after 120 miles and with his co-driver, Cliff Robinson, blasted through the silt and rocks until, with 50 miles to go and 2nd place truck of Shawn Giordano just minutes ahead, a bent and
twisted driveline limited his speed to 55 mph. It was decided that the time lost for a driveline change was roughly equal to time lost where we could go over 55 and so we pushed the truck to the finish. In the last 30 miles the Sorenson/Stone entry got by us and relegated us to a hard earned fourth place finish. In a sport where it’s not uncommon to average a flat tire every 100 miles, we enjoyed yet another race with no flats thanks to Mickey Thompson Tire’s remarkable MTZ Radial.
©TR Promotions 2008

 

2/23/08. First Annual King of the Hammers a hit with TrailReady Motorsports. While TrailReady Products was a sponsor of the first official desert/rock race, we also entered the TrailReady Rock Racer in the 50 mile race that mixed typical desert racing terrain with the worst of Johnson Valley's famous "Hammers" trail system. Featuring names that include "Wrecking Ball, Sledge Hammer, and Jack Hammer, there was no shortage of carnage here. There were 43 of the US's most prepared rock racers lined up on Friday morning.
Trailready was 27th off the line and Rich Blunk started the race. The course map showed no trails for the first 20 miles and Blunk, with no rock crawling experience, volunteered to start and hand off the car to Larry Trim at Pit one. Unfortunately, a Wednsday night wind storm had blown away much of the course markers, putting those of us without GPS on board at a serious disadvantage. Without any marks to guide the way and unable to keep pace with some of the better performing desert trucks, Rich found himself lost for an hour in route to Check point 2. We completed our drivers change and fuel stop at 10AM. Larry Trim, now in the drivers seat, promptly got lost a couple of miles from Check two, and lost another 15 minutes. Finally we got in the first serious trail and pasted 5 broken cars. Then off course again for 15 minutes. Another trail and trying to find away around Pistol Pete on this one. His coil-over suspension buggy faster on the trail but slower in the rough stuff. Now Pistol can say that he's nerfed competitors with his rear bumper too, as he backed into us a couple of times looking for the right line on the trail. Out of this section, Larry got distracted adjusting the on board camera and hit a rock in a wash, flattening the left from tire. Not a big deal as we prepped with dual beadlocks. Now across the sand flats and fighting the engine temps. This was the story for many of the buggies not designed for blasting through the desert. As Larry headed up the hill to the next trail section, we broke a front driveline U-joint. We headed back to main pit and fixed the driveline and changed the tire. Heading back on course we discovered that we also had a broken side gear in our rear locker.
This first annual King of the Hammers event was awesome and the most fun we've ever had with a rock buggy. We look forward to next years event. photos: courtesy crawlmag.com
www.mikesracephoto.com





  2/6/2008. The TrailReady Motorsports Gang could smell success in last weekend's first event of 2008, the Best in the Desert Parker 425. Unfortunately, we were denied a taste of victory when our motor expired 37 miles from the finish line. The Unlimited Mini Truck class (7200) continues to grow and a record 22 trucks left the starting line. 13 wouldn't make it. The 7212 TrailReady Ford Ranger however, was on a tear with driver of record Rich Blunk at the wheel and Cliff Robinson in the right seat. Starting 8th, Blunk battled with the Binns, Savage, and Ruane entries for the first lap while the Fords of Swift, Burnett, Lunn and Holmes dropped out early with problems. We fueled at Pit 3 (RM91) and rejoined the fray fourth on the course. We had a flat on lap one and made a quick stop for a new spare at main pit. We had planned to dump a can of fuel at pit one on lap two for insurance but with Ruane building his lead, and recent testing convincing us we could do a lap on 40 gallons, we made our only mistake of the day and took a chance on fuel mileage. Blasting through pit one, Blunk traded 2nd on the course with the Binns entry a few times in route to pit 3. Suddenly the fuel pressure gauge was faltering and so was our Ford. We ran out 9 miles from Midway. While we scrambled to find someone who could transport 3 gallons from pit two, Rich flagged down a Class 1 (believed to be the 1566 of Levi Rockhill) car with broken suspension and the nose plowing down the course at a snail's pace. After a short discussion a plan was devised to help both vehicles. The front of the buggy was jacked up and strapped to the back of the Ranger and the buggy pushed the Ranger the 9 miles to Midway. Using hand signals for speed, Rich thinks they may have hit 35mph and with no power steering on the truck!! Never give Up! After a quick driver's change and fueling, and having lost 40 minutes, 7212 roared back onto the course still in the top 5, now with Larry Trim driving and Jared Bradley at the GPS. Having rolled the truck at Henderson in Dec. and determined not to make that mistake two races in a row, Larry drove tentatively for the first 75 miles are so but soon found his rhythm and got us back up to speed. By the time we got to main pit, we had developed a steering issue which, when stopped at pit one for fuel, was confirmed to be a broken assist ram. As we left pit one, we saw the Race leading Raune Ford in the pit, putting us third on the course. Larry and Jared pushed hard, strong arming the steering wheel. The motor was beginning to sour, acting like a bad plug or wire but was still pushing the truck as fast as we dared with the steering. We made our final fuel stop at midway, 40 miles from the finish. Larry was told that Binns was out front with front end problems and Giordano was 4 minutes ahead with and maybe not at full speed. Excitement was building as we charged out of midway with expectations of a podium and hopes of a win. We hit the graded road a couple miles out of midway and had a connecting rod come apart, exiting through the oil pan. We had a great time and will be at Terribles Town in April with more horsepower. Special thanks to Casey Folks and crew of Best in the Desert for putting on a awesome Parker event.
 

Check out TrailReady Motorsports TV at www.youtube.com/trailready. We'll be adding new video clips after each event, along with other great clips we come across.

 

  
 
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