It was a chilly fall day at the Wild West Motorsports Park in Reno, Nevada, but despite the weather the fans still filled the stands to watch their favorite drivers finish the 2019 Ultra4 season. Known as a fast, short-course filled with action, it features a large rock section right in front of the stands that adds to the spectacle for the spectators. And, it’s the last race of the year, meaning the drivers are really giving it their all—further adding to the excitement and enjoyment for attendees.
The races started on Friday with qualifying for all classes. Dan Wyrick was first in the 4400 class, Justin Hall was first in the 4500 class, Dawson Allington was first in the 4600 class, Casey Gilbert was first in the 4800 class and Cole Clark was first in the UTV class.
After a day of racing, it was clear that the track was challenging and especially hard on the cars. Attrition was high and breakdowns were common. While challenging, many drivers still seemed to love the course.
4400 Class
In an uncommon (but not unheard of) move, Loren Healy bowed out of competition for himself and drove Vaughn Gittin Jr.’s number 25 car for this race. Vaughn was competing in the last round of Formula Drift racing, and because of Loren’s excellent efforts as a Fun Haver teammate, Vaughn took third place for the day.
Second place went to Mike Bou after he was able to pass Loren Healy (in Vaughn’s car) on the last lap of the race.
At the end of the day, Cody Addington was the winner. It was his first Ultra4 win and he did it driving Loren Healy’s old “Red Dragon” chassis. Cody’s hometown in Northern California was only about two hours from the event, and you could hear that he had a lot of fans cheering him on during his victory and while on the podium.
We talked with Cody after the race about his win:
Prepping for the Race
“Going into the weekend we were ready to race. Had a lot of problems early on and had to work on the car all day Friday. Last year was a rough race, and we knew we had to get on the podium this year. The short courses are more my thing than the long ones. But I had a different program in mind this year: to be smart and finish the race. I always have high-hopes going into the race, but stuff happens.”
The Race
“We started in seventh place, but I didn’t want to rush it, I figured I’d let people fall off, and not be overly aggressive. We got into lappers into lap three- then things started getting dicey when getting by people and making moves. I just kept thinking- don’t be stupid, don’t kill the car and don’t pop a tire—or you won’t be on the podium. There were lots of flats out there. Lucky there was no crazy moments out there for me. I just drove and then inched up the field from seventh to second, then I saw Paul Horschel broken down, and I knew I was in first with three laps to go. Just tried to keep the car together for the rest of the race, but the brakes were gone at the end, something went wrong, I had to keep pumping them and pushing the pedal to the floor. Somehow, we made it to the end in first. It was super exciting.”
“My favorite moment from the race was coming down that hill on the last lap knowing I was in first and I was going to win the race. It was amazing for me—I’ve worked hard for this and I’m a low budget, small team, so this was huge for us. If I had to use one word to describe this race it would be: redemption.”
4500 Class Winner: Dave Cole
4600 Class Winner: Dawson Allington
4800 Class Winner: Bailey Cole
UTV Class Winner: Cole Clark
Read about the Ultra4 Race Rampage in Ridgecrest, here.