Lovell Brothers Survive Brutal Inaugural Ultra 4 Stampede in Second Place

Oct 8, 2010

Brad Lovell's bonus drop. Yeah, and you thought parallel parking was tough.

Before reading any further take note of the photograph that looks as though the Lovell brothers are attempting to park perpendicular. Kinda makes parallel parking woes look feeble doesn't it? At the inaugural running of the Ultra 4 Stampede race held just east of Reno, Nevada, that particular maneuver was referred to as a "bonus drop."

The general consensus was that three laps of the Ultra 4 Stampede was every bit as challenging as King of the Hammers.

"We had to do it three times during racing," remarked Brad Lovell, "I'll tell you, that race was brutal."

And that's how he felt after a few weeks of rest, one of his earlier quotes was - "The brutality of this race redefines rock racing," and "King of the Hammers now has a sister, and she isn't pretty."

The race was held on private land, three laps, 66 miles each. The brand new course elements included rough and rocky desert roads and three untamed canyons. There were no wide open sections of desert, or rounded rock canyons for even a hint of relief, every rock was a tire and vehicle killer.

Every bit of the course was rock, the Lovell brother's tactic was just to survive and finish.

"Every bit of the course was rock. The high speed roads were lined with boulders and the canyons were littered with jagged boulders. There was little room for any missteps. Being that it was a new event, I don't know that the media latched on like they should, from my perspective as a driver, this race was every bit as grueling as King of the Hammers," remarked Lovell.

There were several nasty silt hole sections, but between the K&N Filter, pre-filter, and air cleaner grease, there was no evidence of dirt inside their air cleaner during post race inspections.

The team's tactic was simply to finish and keep moving at all costs. Rocks, silt and dust flew. Boulders churned under the truck and Mother Nature battered the under-carriage. The AMSOIL Ford held and the brothers kept their focus.

At the top of the second rock canyon, everything went wrong for the Lovell brothers. The drive train started a horrific clanging and the rear axle lost all its lubrication. With the win now out of sight, the team returned to their initial objective - finish. The banging of steel continued but the team kept a strong pace and saved what was left of the truck for the silt and rock climbs near the finish line. In the end, the effort was good enough for second place. Only 35 percent of the vehicles that started - finished - a mere 18 vehicles in all.

"There were a couple nasty silt holes out there. We hit one really hard. A wave came over the front of the truck and I could feel the impact push on the floorboards. Short of air, the engine choked, but then recovered. Between the K&N Filter, pre-filter, and air cleaner grease, there was no evidence of dirt inside the air cleaner. Pretty impressive," commented Lovell.

"We just returned from the We-Rock Grand Nationals at Miller Motorsports Park where we took third place. Not the repeat championship that we were looking for, but a good end to our season," adds Lovell.

"It's now time to do some testing before everything gets torn apart in preparation for 2011. We have a couple important things coming up this fall, I will be racing the Baja 1000 with the Torchmate Class 7 team and heading to Skip Barber Racing School with BFGoodrich. After that, there is not much time before King of the Hammers and a whole new season."

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

← PREVIOUS

K&N Supports Number One Dutch Endurance Kart Racing Team - SignMind Racing

Jon Henry Snatches First ALMS Win and Sews Up Eldora Championship