Congratulations to Nick Nelson for taking the top spot in the Ultra4 race at the Glen Helen Grand Prix. The 2.5 hour race was brutal with the leader changing hands at least 3 times and the top 10 changing dramatically throughout the course of the race. The Top 3 podium finishers for Ultra4 were: Nick Nelson, TJ Flores and Nick Campbell. The top 3 finishers of the modified class on Saturday were: Brandon Heyes, Jeff Rector and Larry McRae.

There were 47 drivers who took the course at the Ultra4 4WP Glen Helen Grand Prix, marking one of the largest turnouts we have seen since this years King of the Hammers. The event was timed to run right after an adjacent Lucas short course race, and with that race running a bit behind, Ultra4s took the course about 30 minutes late. This meant starting at 7pm, and running till 9:30pm.

And, just like at the Badlands, Ultra4s took the lights out to race far after the sun set. There’s something special about night races, not sure exactly what it is, but the sounds of engines, sirens, and fast moving Ultra4s in pitch black certainly has its appeal. While the cameras don’t like it, drivers and spectators seem to agree it is indeed epic.

As was the case last year at Glen Helen, the early race leaders were taken out by what we call the last 45 minutes of fatigue. It is in the last 45 minutes of the race where the Ultra4s really seem to be pushed to the limits, with overheated engines and blown transmissions lining the pits. We saw both Jason Scherer and Bill Baird in the lead for the entire 2/3′rds of the race, but a failed transmission took Jason clear out. Just like that, after having the lead the entire time. Right after, Bill suffered a fairly hard roll and although he walked away safe, the rig was done for the night.

As we got closer to the finish, it became clear that Nick Nelson and his Jimmy’s 4×4 Ultra4 racer, were in the clear for the win. He ran a solid, and consistent, race all night which tends to be the secret sauce for Glen Helen. Last year Loren Healy won, coming back from about 5th position to take the win in the last 30 minutes. A similar playout happened this year as well with Nick. Congrats to Nick for a very well deserved victory.

Also worth mentioning the Ultra4s had the opportunity to run the Lucas short course race as well. For fear of damaging their rigs prior to the Grand Prix, only 4-5 drivers decided to run the short course race. One of those drivers, Gary Ferravanti who’s rig is pictured above, ended up winning that race. In addition, Gary and his son, who drove the latter part of the Grand Prix, scored a 4th place position at the end of the night for the big race. Props go out to Spidertrax as Gary is one of the original testers for the Ultimate Unit Bearings (run on his front axle), and as it happens his first test with them was at last year’s Glen Helen race. He is still running on that same set of Ultimate Unit Bearings. Pretty cool.

Special Thanks to The Blog @ Spidertrax for the coverage.  Be sure to check out Spidertrax.com and let us here at Bent Fabrications know if there is anything we can do to help you build your winning racer!  Here are the results from the race.

Modified Results

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