Barstow, California was the site of the Mojave Off-road Racing Enthusiast’s (MORE) night race Sponsored by Sierra LED. The 250-mile course was broken down into six 36-mile loops of the best terrain that Barstow has to offer. From big rolling whoops, fast wash sections to narrow rocky hill climbs it is all here.

Racers started south of Outlet Center Drive and headed into the foothills near Hodge Road which led back north to Pit A. This remote pit is accessible from Stoddard Wells Road gave the racers a chance to refuel and inspect their battered vehicles from the rocky goat trails they had just conquered.

This year’s overall winner, the Corona Trophy Truck.

The crew of volunteers that managed the pit where the highly experienced Tri-State Motorsports team led by founders Rob Black and Eric Medina. The Tri-State team can only be described as a swiss army knife. They can provide race support, welding, medical assistance, radio relay, recovery, overall pit safety, and more.

After Pit A the racers had a fast section of washes with the dangers of wash outs that lead up to a very technical and more dangerous College Hills section. Starting at about mile marker 25, vehicles had to negotiate the sharp edged trails that roller coastered off camber, up and down hill.

If not careful the race vehicles could slide off the cliff and find themselves stuck until the end of the race. There is no room to pass here, passing had an elevated risk and needed to be done with precision. The descent of College Hills eased into a long fast straight away, where these off-road machines could finally stretch their legs getting up to speeds around 100 mph before they headed back into the start/finish line and onto the next lap all over again.

We were able to catch the Bent Tube Motorsports, a team from Huntington Beach, California, who entered their 1450 class truck in its first race. The green horned team was driven by owner Jack Olsen and navigated by Ben Prall and Nick Bolton.

While sitting in line during staging we asked what was going through your minds leading up to the flag dropping. “Well, I wanted to run a conservative race to survive,” Olsen said. “Also I was worried I am going to get nerfed (hit from behind) by Mark Crum who is starting behind us.”

Locked and loaded, the Bent Tube team strapped in and ready to go.

After a quick learning curve, they adapted to the situation and finished fourth place in their class. “Fourth out of eleven?! We couldn’t have asked for it to go any better!” Prall explained. “When I got in half way in the race, I was over taken with sudden weight on my shoulders to be the best navigator for Jack.”

“I just took a few deep breaths, read the GPS, called out turns, and watched for vehicles in the mirrors. Suddenly when we crossed that finish line and we were greeted by our Rag Tag pit crew,” Prall continued. “At that time I knew we had done well.”

Through out the whole race, they only suffered one flat tire. Feeling confident after an ego boosting finish, The Bent Tube team has their eyes set on the next upcoming MORE race, the PCI 300, in Lucerne, California.

The no. 1457 of Bent Tube Motorsports pushing along through the dark Barstow night.

“I think we will be ready,” Olsen said. “A fresh prep with a few changes and I think we will be prepared to hang in there with the famous Jeff Musgraves, (fellow 1450 class veteran and friend who has helped the team develop a 1450 class competitive vehicle).”

Special Thanks to Cody Jeffers and racing staff from MORE for putting on a good race and Tri-State Motorsports Team for running Recovery until 5 am. For a complete list of the official results, be sure to check out the MORE Racing website.

The Bent Tube team poses after completing the race.