Author: Cody Quattlebaum #33
Teardown is an understatement when it comes to racing Adventure Offroad Park in Tennessee. Ultra 4 put on an excellent race, awesome production, and a hell of a course. This was by far the toughest course of my career so far and the attrition amongst other teams on course would prove it to be a hard race to complete. Once again, good prep at home and the help of good friends at the race (my dad, brother, and sister, Hunkerdown racing, Team Indiana and Gforce racing) carried us to crossing the finish line, just not entirely in one piece.
I got off to a late start leaving home around 11am to head to Tennessee and prerun. I was getting some last minute prep done that I didnt want to do it at the course. I arrived at the course around 4pm in the afternoon and got checked in at the front gate and I got to meet Dave Cole for the first time. I quickly got unpacked, said hello to my Team Indiana friends and headed out to see what the course looked like. I got onto course a little late in the afternoon but figured I had plenty of time before it got too dark, I was sorely mistaken. I was able to prerun the 4600 route in time and got to see some of the lines I would take but did not want to try to tackle it all by myself on course with dusk approaching. It did not take long for me to realize this was going to be an extremely difficult race and that finishing the race would be 75% of the battle. Luckily, weather was on our side because if it had rained any more prior to hitting the course I doubt I would have made it up some of the obstacles. I got back to camp and swapped course opinions with some friends, ate dinner, drink too much and headed off to sleep.
I woke up and had to get my bearings straight after a late night with the Team Indiana buds. Once I had some Ibuprofen, Pedialite, hydrated and ate breakfast, I was feeling ready to prerun the course once again. This time, I was joined by my friend Chris Holland of Moab Offroad and Hunkerdown Racing. I had already seen the course once we decided I should lead and we would split off on the Either/Or sections to see which route would be best. This ended up being a huge help and we were able to cover the course much more quickly. Once Chris and I had our route down we decided to we better prerun the qualifying course. We ran into some course traffic on the qualifying course as this section was pretty tight and all classes were trying to prerun before qualifying started in a few hours. After we got off course we ate lunch and headed to the drivers meeting to hear what we would be up against for qualifying and racing.
Everyone gathered at the pavillion to hear JT go over the safety, rules, and courses. There was a lot more discussion this time, given that the course was tight and everyone suspected there would be a lot of lap traffic and breakdowns on course. My stomach sank to the ground when JT said up to 5 laps was the goal for the UTV class, I had a hard time believing this course would be faster than Kentucky. After a few more questions and comments we were all ready to line up for qualifying.
Tension was high and my prerace jitters were hitting me hard as I lined up for qualifying. Ultra 4 set up an awesome production with cameramen and drones following you every foot of the course to help all the spectators see what was going on. 31 racers registered to qualify in the 4900 UTV class on Friday, 25 of the racers successfully qualified. The course was a little tricky as there were a lot of arrows and tape that made you take a double take. As I stared down my steering wheel, my heart thumping loudly in my chest, the official dropped the flag and I took off. I immediately zoned in to the task at hand and did my best, making one costly mistake half way through where I stopped after nearly turning the wrong direction with JT pointing me back to the correct path. I got back on track and executed the rest of the course well, placing 22/31 to take off on for the main event Saturday morning. I got back to camp and hurried back to spectate the other classes as they qualified the 4500/4800/4400 classes. A few of our good friends we able to get off the line early in their respective classes. The plan for the rest of the night was to look over the rig, check my paint markings, and get some rest. I set up my spares at the pit and the awesome people of GForce helped me get some boots on my axles, afterwards I headed off to bed.
Its finally race day and my dad, brother, and sister made the trek out to spectate the main event and cheer me on. This was the first time they had seen me race in person so it made this race a special experience for me. We all woke up and I got ready as UTVs were lining up to race first, as usual. Qualifying helped me shake off some jitters but there is no preparing for the rush you get as you line up and inch forward as racers take off one y one ahead of you. I got up to the start line once again and gripped the steering wheel like I was racing with my hands welded to the machine. The flag dropped and I was off, ready to tackle to challenges waiting ahead of me.
Lap 1 was one of my fastest laps of the day. Attrition set in early and on the first hill climb I got stuck behind a racer but they quickly recovered as we sped off into the muddy section. The tires were wet and muddy in time to hit the massive rocky hill climb that felt line driving through a blender. There were 2 racers already down in this section, out for the race due to broken parts. The rest of the lap was standard, I drove the lines I had preran and executed to plan with a decent time of 27:22. Friends and family were getting excited as I was bouncing around the leaderboards.
Lap 2 was the toughest lap of the race for me. Attrition was setting in quickly and racers were scattered around the course. I am not sure how many I passed but I do remember seeing a friend, Aaron Lynch, on course rolling himself back over. I waved to see if he needed assistance but he told me to keep trucking. A few turns later and I ran into another racer stuck on course, waving us around through the woods. This bypass ended up costing me a few minutes as a tree got stuck in my rear tire well and the broken down team stopped what they were doing to help me get going again. The tree costed me a few minutes, a fender and some plastics as I grew frustrated with the situation but I am thankful that my fellow racers helped me out and kept me from getting out of the Rzr. After the tree mishap I continued on, knowing I needed to push to make up a little time. It was long before I made a small error and almost ending my race. A few miles down the course a rock had hit my front tire and caused the wheel to twist out of my hands as I was descending down a rock climb, this caused my to roll over. My front passenger headlight hit the dirt and I was along for the ride. The only thing I remember thinking is “Please land on all fours” over and over again. Luckily, I landed flat on all fours after a full 360 degree tumble and was able to continue on. I exited the woods and pulled into pits for a once over by the team before heading out for lap 3.
Lap 3 was a boring lap for me, I was now focused on finishing the race without totaling the rzr after a terrible 2nd lap. I ran into my friend Chris, down on course, and asked him if needed help but he cheered and pointed me through he woods so I continued on. I rounded to the pits and once again had the team do a once over for me before getting the white flag for lap 4. I heard my family cheering me on and saw them cheering from the side line as I headed out for what would be my final lap.
I got some confidence back on lap 4 and knew I was close to finishing the toughest race I have participated in this year. I knew a lot of racers were not going to finish but I had no idea how many were taken out a this point. I was dead focused on surviving this lap and making it to the checkered flag. About half way through the lap I felt something was off with the rig and heard some noise coming from the rear driver area. I ran into my friend Chris again and asked him to check it out. He somberly let me know I had a flat and I knew some of the toughest obstacles were still ahead. I made the decision to continue on and achieve the goal I set for myself no matter the costs at this point. I arrived at each obstacle and was increasingly surprised after each one when the Rzr would not back down. The BFG KM3 held on via the Raceline beadlock ring and got me across the finish line for the checkered flag and a 12th place finish. Prior to the race I joked with other racers and friends that you would be in the top 15 if you finished and I was not far off. My family was at the finish line to greet me and look at the carnage. I could not have been happier to complete the race as I looked over the beatdown Rzr.
So, 2 races down with Ultra 4 and I finished them both, achieving the goal I set for myself. To my surprise I am now sitting at 10th place in the Ultra 4 East Coast Series with only Crandon remaining for 2021. I am prepping and upgrading the home base with a new 24×26 shop for the race team to prep and build in as we set our sites on Crandon September 3rd and a nice winter break to prep for the 2022 race season. Thank you for taking the time to read this race report and following our team as we continue to grow and develop in this competitive class. I absolutely could not do this without the support of my wife, family, friends, and sponsors so please check them out and let me know if you need advice for your rig, racing or just want to chat about UTVs.
I want to give a sincere thank you to everyone that helped me get through the toughest race I have had to date.
- My wife Lindsey Quattlebaum for all of her support
- Bandit Offroad and Powersports for everything they do for me, making this possible
- Proving Grounds Racing for there help this season, becoming good friends
- Team Indiana for all of there help, pitting 2 races for me this year and treating me like family
- My family and friends, whom there are too many to mention. The ones that answered questions, bought swag to support the team, spectated at races and online, and cheered me on as I chase my dreams.
- Offmap Racing and Hunkerdown Racing for inviting me to Hammers a few years ago and getting me addicted to this sport.
We would like to thank all of our sponsors in 2021 Ultra 4 Racing Series
All Things UTV: Helping me get parts all season
Factor 55: For great recovery gear that I luckily did not have to use
KWT Filters: For keeping my engine clean and healthy
Ogio: for their high quality suit case that helped me travel to the races
PRP Seats: for their equipment keeping me safe all year, even as I rolled over.
Savage UTV: For high quality, dust tight cases for my belt, tools, and first aid equipment
Trinity Racing: For excellent belts, exhaust, and tuner that made me fast and sound good while doing it.
Big Hammer Fabrication: For a great grill that helped me meet the U4 requirements
Krawl Offroad: For their support
BFGoodrich Tires: For tires that kept me going all season, even in the harshest terrain.
-Cody Quattlebaum Bandit Offroad Racing #33
banditoffroadracing.com 