Author:

After all of the miles traveled, dollars spent, wrenches turned, and the fuel burned, the conclusion to another wild year of Ultra4 racing was third place in the Ultra4 National Championship for the second consecutive year!
Finishing fourth place in the Western Championship was also very hard-fought. The gap to third was only 5 points out of 3000, effectively one position at any one of the races.

The final race of the year at the Crossbar ranch in Oklahoma was a perfect test of the new powertrain and 35″ tires. This test was critical for my plans to race the 2022 King of the Hammers in this configuration. The short version is, I was racing for a podium position on the last lap when a suspension bolt came loose, and the front passenger wheel tucked under the car. I was able to limp it back to the pits for a 10th place finish. Here is the whole story:

After Sturgis, I was quick to pull out the transmission to get it re-geared and rebuilt by cryoheat with plenty of time to test the new 35s. After the first day of CVT tuning, I was disheartened. The car was slower than I expected, and so much doubt crept into my mind. Maybe these big tires were just too much for these little cars. It turns out, with a little speedometer calibration and larger changes with the CVT… interia be damned, this thing is FAST! I’m excited to tune more and make it even better this winter, but it’s raceable as is, and my confidence was high.

During the week between tests, I had been prepping the rest of the car to nearly KOH level freshness. Just about every bolt and bearing was replaced, axles and driveshaft rebuilt, new hubs, brakes, and uprights. Not only was this important for the race, but KOH prerunning in the months following.
The last test weekend before scheduled departure was spent fine-tuning the shocks and springs in the desert. The car was fast, suspension smooth, and I was feeling very confident. I just needed to test in 4 Low a bit before heading home. In the steep, sandy mud washes, I crawled out the top of a chute, the tires started to dig and hop as the car bellied out, then SNAP, 4WD was gone, and the car was stuck.

A hike back to the truck, quick recovery before the sun went down, then return to the garage to figure out if I could, or even should, get everything back to race-ready in under a week. As always, Cryoheat and RCV were awesome. Same-day service and priority overnight shipping kept my dreams alive. The car was back on its wheels in just a couple of days, and the final prep could continue. Nerves and uncertainty were very present while I packed and finished the last few projects. Still, everything I could realistically do was already done, and making sure the spares, tools, truck, and trailer were ready to go were the obvious priority.

A Sunday night departure was followed by a slow and steady trek across the country. 1400 miles later, I arrived in the paddock at 2 am Wednesday morning. The next day, off and on, wind and rain made setting up a challenge, but I managed and finished my errands to be ready for pre-running the next day. The track was still a bit soaked Thursday morning when a pit neighbor and I went out to see the rock “B” loop. Once into the actual trails, it dried out a bit except for some large puddles. The rocks trails are technical and unrelenting, mixed with muddy trails and high ridgelines. It looked to be a real driver’s course and brutal test on the machine. In the long, slow technical sections, my engine started running strangely and would shut off. Eventually, stumbling back to the pits, I diagnosed and tested for a few hours without great results. By now, it was getting dark, and I still had to go see the faster “A” loop. With only my bumper light to show the path, I learned the loop as best I could.

Friday was a long day, as the final pre-running in the morning was followed by qualifying, then the race in the evening. I spent hours figuring out why the engine would run fine one minute then poorly in certain situations but would always fire back up and run fine afterward. This was frustrating and difficult to replicate. Running out of time, I convinced myself it was a heat-soak issue that I could race around. I took it pretty easy in qualifying as the course was easy to overdrive, and I didn’t have that much practice on it. 12th off the line with the people I needed to keep an eye on just in front of me was just fine for me. I was here for a championship podium, race pace testing, and not a race win. The couple hours between qualifying and race start went quickly, and soon I was in staging. At this point, everything was going to play out, and there was nothing you could do but enjoy it and focus on the race.

Roll up to the line, and the green flag drops, “keep that motor spinning happily, but not too fast” was on my mind the entire first lap. Slower than I could have been in the fast sections and much faster than I wanted to be in the slower ones. What a fun course, wide-open speed, tree-lined ridges, Muddy washes, and driving up a running river bed. You can’t ask for a more diverse race course! My pit strategy was to fuel every lap, uncertain on the fuel range and to have the car looked over made that an easy decision. After the first lap, I was up to fifth or sixth, and both of my direct competitors had reported issues. I went out on my second lap with the sun going down, slowing down a bit to save the car and see if I needed to pick up any time in the end.

Successfully slowing the pace but gaining positions from attrition, I came across the line in 4th with a large gap to 5th and lap to go. Passing Shannon Cambell in the pits put me 3rd on the road, which was amazing, but I wasn’t sure if the car would stay together for another lap. Slowing down even more to a “cruise” pace, I let Shannon go and followed him around another car before he took off on a mission. I was starting to feel a shake in the front right corner that concerned me, but with just a few miles to the pits, I hoped it would hold together enough to get looked at by the support crew.

Unfortunately, it did not. In some of the tight, winding grass corners, something in the suspension let go and the tire tucked under the car. It was still movable, so I shifted into 4Low to make it back to the pits. A couple of miles of “surfing” with nearly no steering ability, I reached a rock section that required a change of some kind, or the vehicle would surely roll over. I removed the tire, steering, and brakes, then tied the remaining suspension up. Fully prepared to absolutely smash this car until it wouldn’t move anymore, I drove the car through the last mile of rocks and short course. My only concern was tipping over, which was very challenging and oddly fun. Crossing the finish line before the lead group came around, I knew I would be scored as starting but not finishing the final loop of the third lap (6 of 6 loops). Out of time and the car badly damaged, I parked it and awaited the results.

I crossed the line 9th and only one person made it further, which pushed me to tenth. However, the mission was accomplished, and I secured my second national championship podium in 2 years. Not a smooth season by any means, and I fell short of my own expectations plenty of times but begrudged persistence does eventually pay dividends. I’m so thankful to my sponsors for coming along for this wild ride. Hopefully, you are seeing the evolution towards an even more competitive program and wish to be more involved. I have big plans for 2022 (full race chassis) and would love to have you by my side for another year and beyond.

After the finish, congratulatory beverages were had, then quickly followed by many hours of sleep. The following day was nice to watch the other race classes, record a podcast, and pack up before the awards banquet. Many thanks and handshakes later, I was headed back West and already thinking about the 2022 season. Another two and a half days on the road before I was unloaded in San Diego and picking up the pieces of my “normal” life.​

Duane Garretson takes 1^st place!! 

A lot of you already know, but in case you missed it, CGYS Motorsports 4500 car #26 smashed it at Nationals taking the pole. Winning the race and capturing not only the Eastern Series Crown, but we won the 4500 Class National Championship!!!  We are very thankful to each and every one of you for your continued support. 

2021 UTV World Championships
​
It was a stressful week before the UTV World Championship as we only had 9 days to prep the car from our last race at Glen Helen. We arrived on Thursday morning, I had a weird feeling that I had not felt before, but it was a good feeling. I had a p6 start, second row at the starting line. Because we had limited time (school, work, prep) we were unable to modify the engine, exhaust, tune, etc for this race. We did find out most of the other cars had modified motors, clutches, exhausts, etc., so I knew I had to drive smart, keep the car together and push myself if I wanted a decent finish. The start had a light-up start that made it pretty confusing. Green lights were on and I took off the line and made it around turn one P4. We started to go out to the desert, and I caught up right away. My parents and friends think I have “dust vision” because I drive a lot better than most in the dust. I started applying pressure to the cars ahead of me and making passes. By the second lap, there were a lot of people already broken or flipped. By 3rd lap, I started to lap people. The course was very rough, and I noticed my car was super loud, and when I said loud, it was so loud that my ears were ringing. I had punched a hole in my exhaust. I kept the car together for the rest of the race, and I was told that I passed a total of 18 cars on course. It felt pretty good getting to that finish line. At this point, I didn’t know what place I was in. I was directed around the track and went to the podium where my parents had told me that I had placed 3rd Overall! I was so happy! I ran my hardest and had a great time and feel like I am that much closer to the number 1 spot.

Thank you to everyone for their continued support.

WORCS Round 7 and 8 San Bernardino, CA
October 2nd and 3rd 2021

It was an action-packed doubleheader this past weekend. It started on Saturday with me starting in 4th place. As I worked my way up to the 2nd place spot, I had some breakage and frustration when my driveshaft exploded on me, taking me out of the race. I was able to get the parts replaced with the help of another team and was ready to come back stronger than ever on Sunday.

Sunday’s race went off with a bang as I went on the inside line just after Taladega and took the lead. I was able to run out front with about a 12 sec lead for a while until I came upon a lapped car stuck in a very tight u-turn corner. I attempted to go around on the outside, but I put it on its side with the deep ruts and soft sand. Thankfully, and eventually, some people got me upright, and I went back to work. At this point, I was in 12th, but luckily we had 20 mins left. I was able to charge back up to 6th with some good battles in between. One of these days, I will put ALL the pieces together for that top spot!!

The next race will be October 15, 2021 out in Lake Havasu, AZ for the UTV World Championship.

September 5, 2021- Cedar City, UT – I thought I’d start by giving a quick update on what I’ve been up to over the summer along with my race report for WORCS round 6…

I am happy to report that back in June I graduated (one year early) from high school with straight A’s. School has always been challenging for me so this was a huge achievement! For graduation, my parents planned a trip to Washington where I got to attend DirtFish Rally School for 3 days! I had a blast and learned a ton! I also got a job working in the off-road industry for ID Designs. I am working 30 hours a week running CNC machines, making parts, and (hopefully) will have the opportunity to learn to weld. I am loving it! This schedule allows me to continue to keep myself in shape with my daily gym regimen and allows me the time to work on my race car and program.

Now, we’re back at it after a few months off! My team and I headed to Utah on Thursday morning and arrived at the track that evening. We got our pit set up and then headed to the hotel for the night. On Friday, I went back to the track early, checked in at registration, and got ready for practice. I ran the short moto practices and the full course unclassified. My car was running good, but we made a few adjustments to compensate for the elevation, and after those changes, my car ran great! I was stoked and ready for my race on Sunday.

On Saturday, I headed back to the track early so I could radio for two of the RZR170 racers. I did some final prep work on my car, went to the driver’s meeting, and then I had some fun jumping from the tower and going down the massive slide into the lake at Three Peaks Oasis where the race was held.

On Sunday, we arrived at the track in the morning. I checked my tire pressure and fueled my car. After one last look, I felt really good and ready for the race that afternoon. There were 13 cars in the PRO Stock class, and when it was time, I went to staging and lined up on row 2. The green flag flew and row 1 took off! I focused and got ready for our flag, then one minute later, our flag flew. I hit the gas down the straight and was in P2 around the first corner. After a few quick turns through the track, I was able to make a pass moving me to P1 on my row. The course was just over 5 miles long and had more turns than any track I have ever raced. I stayed on it, and by lap two, I had moved into P3 overall on time. I was 20 seconds behind P2 and was determined to catch him. I held P3 through lap 3. During lap 4, my car started giving me trouble. It was bogging and losing power. I lost a position and moved to P4. At one point during lap 5, my car would barely move so I pulled over to see if I could figure out what was going on. I quickly realized that the mechanical failure was not fixable on the course, so I got back in my car to finish the race. I was able to (slowly) complete lap 5 and then lap 6, finally taking the checkered flag in 10th place.

I did a lot of prep work on my car and felt really good going into this race. I did what I could to keep going. Unfortunately, luck has not been on my side this season.

We’ve got my car torn apart and I am prepping for WORCS round 7 at Glen Helen Raceway in a few weeks. I am going to keep giving it my all and want to end the season strong!

Thanks so much to all of these amazing companies and people that support my program: Polaris RZR, GBC Motorsports, Benchmark Performance, Candle Motorsports, Method Race Wheels, Crow Enterprizes, Elka Suspension, Super ATV, Roll Design, Energy Coil Racing, Factory UTV, Baja Designs, PRP Seats, Rugged Radios, Maxima Racing Oils, Tireblocks, JAMAR Performance, Race Team Sites, Crown Performance Products, Got Sand Performance, Oceanside Driveline, HOK9, Vision Canopy, Perrault Motorsports, Dirt Rider Designs, and my parents who make this possible for me! Thanks to WORCS for putting on the series and Harlen Foley for the awesome pictures! You can check out the Sims188 Racing team on Instagram @csims188, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/csims188/, or on my website at www.sims188racing.com.