100 Mile Elsinore Grand Prix

Today, the endurance race Steve mcqueen made famous

honey and horsepower at Ohio four W Jamboree

Plus Illinois short course racing for the points championship

that more today on off road action.

Welcome to off road action. The show that pits man and machine against Mother Nature's toughest terrain.

Now today, a little bit of pavement and a lot of hard core dirt.

We're headed outside Los Angeles to the

Grand Prix

is one

that you do a year

and it takes guts and a no fear mentality of a Steve mcqueen to race the prestigious

or grand

tracks rough, really extremely rough. And uh, I mean, it's 100 miles close to three hours straight of just torture on your body.

The roost is really gnarly. The rocks here. They're like loose rocks, heavily marble type rocks, but when they hit you, they really hurt

yesterday. One hit me in the lip and I thought it knocked my tooth out. I had a big fat lip.

Yeah, the, the roost is really gnarly here. I, I never could have imagined how, how bad the roost is

trying not to ride behind the guy in front of you. If I took one in the boot, you'd think hit me in the boot is not that big a deal, but,

you know, underneath where it hit it sore.

But, yeah, we're gonna take some rocks today. It's, uh, it's a brutal

and it just beats you to death as you go along because of course, it's just rougher and rough. Rougher. That's what you get

all in the name of fun.

It's what we do for a living and we love it.

It's what we do for a living and we love it.

That's what we do for a living and we love it.

There's a chance can

find four riders. You don't always necessarily know

which line they're gonna go.

Do I go on the inside?

If I could have enough room

to push them out,

what do I wind up doing

right up here?

You know, we're doing 60 miles an hour down a section where somebody's doing 25 miles an hour. The course is 7 8 ft wide.

There's one worn in groove, there's Pebbles and rocks on the outside of that groove with a hill on one side and the cliff on the other. And those guys don't just hold the line, they're going back and forth and we're racing for money. So,

you know, we're trying to squeeze it in there.

Four

rocks rough.

There's

a

whole like two miles of cliff on one side

and if that ain't tough enough, it wasn't getting any easier when they got off the dirt and on to the black top.

Where else can you ride dirt bikes legally on city streets

and do about 100 miles an hour

on the

I

74 miles an hour.

You would think that the black top would be actually really sticky, but actually it's really, really slick and, you know, you got to be really straight and you got to make sure when you come on to the black top you're straight and when you go off you're straight. Yeah, that's really cool. Not too many races anywhere, you know, in the world get to just ride right through the middle of the town.

It's sketchy because you're coming off and on pavement

as fast as a motorcycle will go and then you're coming on to the pavement

and tires are dirty and stuff like that. It's neat. There isn't too many places you can go and actually race down

the streets down by the houses, pitch it sideways on the pavement. It's a ball.

My discipline is normally Motocross. So the pavement's way out of my element, but I'm learning it quick and I like it. It's really different. It's interesting. It's a lot of fun. I love it.

There's not a word better than awesome, I don't think. Is there.

Now, what's awesome is you don't have to be an old fart to appreciate the history behind this epic event

as racers young and old were down with the nostalgia.

I've heard of this event for years and years and years and I've always wondered what it would be like and I've always seen the photos of it right in the middle of town and I always thought that'd be really cool to race down through town like that. But,

and this year I got to get out here, I'm getting to see it and it's awesome.

I've watched on any Sunday a million times. I've dreamed about this race since I was a little kid. And last year I got a ride it and hopefully this year I'll win it. The history of this thing is awesome. That's why I was so happy to win it last year and put my name on that plaque.

I didn't know there was a trophy. I just want the money.

There was no money to win, but lots of laughs in the mini team race held before the Mushman 100 mini P.

Now, I'm not saying mini bike racing is feminine. But

what about this guy? What about this guy? He lost the bet right here. Talk to par with my mechanic lost the bet earlier on today.

10 bucks for this. It's gonna buy me dinner.

I

feel confident.

Hey, what can you say when a guy says he's confident in a halter top hard times for this team as the Elsinore track gobbled up minis like cupcakes at a Weight Watchers convention,

the tire

beginners. You know,

however, a busted tire wasn't going to slow this team down a

move that would have pleased the great band did.

I don't feel like Steve mcqueen.

We'll put you behind the handle bars of the Mushman 100 coming up.

Plus,

but drag

monster trucks can only mean one thing of four wheel jamboree

off road action will be back after this.

Welcome back to off road action.

Now, what of the Isle of Man and Elsinore have in common. They both of racing in the streets.

Motorcycles.

Hey, don't be a worse because they're all so fun and no race kicks, but quite like the mushman 100.

It's a killer event. I mean, you ride on pavement through the city streets out in the back,

there's just thousands of Spectators out there checking it out,

see what's going on. It's, it's really happening.

This is a classic, this is an event that draws maybe 1500 people to every year and it's all about having a good time. It's really cool. They get into it, they get fired up and

have a few beers and go crazy

if

it wasn't for the fans out there cheering us on. You go for 100 miles and

you hit the 6070 mile period.

You start getting a little tired and then the band's gonna help push you along the last 30.

This event going again. It's, it's pretty cool. You know, I'm glad to be a part of it

and there wasn't a shortage of racers but the top guys know how the long ones play out

whoever is on that podium deserves. Its definitely a war of attrition.

It,

it will be good being a 2.5 hour race. It's just,

you know, the toughest guy is going to win. Being good or tough isn't a prerequisite for getting on TV. Silly hats are good. Although this one is pretty lame

being a hot chick. Well, that's good too in the

middle of the 909 in California.

Of course, there's going to be

girls out here. They all want to see the motor.

I don't think they're here to check this guy out. But the ladies like bruises. So this one's in

and if you decide to race a bike more suited to cruise across country, we'll even talk to you.

Well, I'm racing a kind of unique machine here. I got the 950 KTM adventure.

It's quite a machine. It's got a B two

engine,

950 ccs.

It's kind of a street bike that can be ridden off road as well. Top speeds about 135 miles an hour,

fully fueled and everything with gas. I'm looking at probably 550 pounds rolling,

but his son wasn't so sure about pop's bike strategy.

If his arms aren't the size of papa by the end,

he'll be lucky. That thing is a big, big bike. I couldn't ride it, that's for sure. Not just even down the road, it's a handful for me, let alone going on the dirt, going

at

speed

with three Baja 1000 wins. Dad was taking the high road.

I would imagine if we were both on equal machinery and I was riding

a race bike like him. There would be a lot more competition, but I've already got a built in Crutch here. I'm riding the big boy here, so

I don't think we'll have to worry about that.

Crutch or not. Dad showed, who knows best by finishing the race while his son did not defending Mushman 100 champion Destry

Abbott also hit the showers early.

He came across a lap rider. It was,

I

was on the course and

ended up going straight into the rider and

thinks he might have dislocated his shoulder, but he'll be all right. He just

pulled off and

it was broken tires that caused a lot of bike casualties, but not for Scott Sheikh whose rubber didn't let him down as he edged his teammate, Bobby bonds for a second place.

My

tires held up

the whole

time.

We had the

mo

there

can't puncture,

you know, a full

foam

in

there. So,

yeah, my

hung in there and did its job,

you

know,

doing the job was privateer, Lance Snell who won the 2.5 hour epic with a great bike setup and smart game plan. It worked out pretty good.

You know, I started out kind of mellow guys were going a little crazy and,

you know, I let things settle in and about half way. I was able to get into the lead.

Just kind of go from there. You know, I had a little better mileage than the two strokes out there on my YZF.

That track was

as brutal as you can get. My hands are still tingling.

You

know,

it was survival.

Now, if you want to see Steve mcqueen himself race this event, go rent the DVD on any Sunday. There's nothing like it

now for many bikes to motorcycles to believe it or not Rhinos. It's the latest craze in off road racing. U TV. Cross

motorcycle racing to the exercise. Boom. What blows up in southern California becomes huge across the nation.

The latest craze in Cali, it's called U TV. Cross

exciting to,

it's

like being a kid again. It's pretty darn fun. When Yamaha introduced the Rhino utility vehicle, they never envisioned this.

The hunters would use them for gun racks on them and all their stuff so they could go out and get in the rough train back there. It was all over, people start modifying them. And next thing you know, we're racing

now, they're a long way from hunting moose. It's a

cross between a quad and a trophy truck competing on local Motocross tracks. The drivers of the modern stock classes have to endure 15 brutal laps.

The closer you can get to hell, get out there and push these things to the limit

and you're gonna get hardcore known around the world as the godfather of freestyle Motocross. Mike Metzger gives this series his blessing. Rhino racing is great off road, good racing

over the past year. Word about this series has spread quicker than a California wildfire. We're one of the first four cars to race every weekend.

Now we're showing up and there's 25 modified Rhinos out here racing. Tell you what it's booming right now. It's, uh, it's tremendously huge. A lifelong racer, Todd Arthur is all about going huge.

You know, I've had a lot of, uh off road experience

and, uh, the desert racing and, uh, we had a Rhino that we use for a pit cart. We thought what the heck we'd come out and try it. And I'll tell you, I haven't done much desert racing, but I should have done a lot of Rhino racing dominating the mod class points.

Todd wasn't monkeying around when he built the flying banana.

Basically started out as a Rhino. He can buy one for about $10,000 and then from there, depending how far you want to go with it, you can dump about another 20 $25,000.

We're about $35,000 into this racing on tracks littered with double and triple jumps.

The suspension was priority one. Obviously, we have extended the suspension and added some coil over shock, some Fox shocks and that really helps us out over the jumps. We're able to achieve about 18 inches of rear wheel travel in about 17 inches of front wheel travel. And we're still using the

existing four wheel drive out of the thing. He didn't settle for the 30 horses that comes with a Rhino. We have a modified uh Rhino 660 motor in it, which is a 686 right now

with some little head parting and carburetor modifications do things like that. We probably achieved about an extra 15 horsepower out of it. Leaving behind hundreds of horses and desert racing. Todd Arthur has no regrets.

I gotta tell you it's probably the most fun I've had

while the upgrades in the modified class are sweet. Some folks prefer their racing, old school style.

I like

the stock guys. We're a tougher breed for stock points leader, Jimmy Weel.

This class isn't about being a tough guy.

There's not on how much money you got. It's all about skill in a sport that welcomes newcomers, Jim, his wife. Laura wanted in,

came out last time he raced and won and watched him and just

told him I wanted to race too and he went out and got me a Rhino and here I am that didn't mean she'd take it easy on her hubby if I get a shot to bump him. Definitely, I'll bump him,

Jimmy had no need to worry as he blew away the field while Laura ended up in the last place. I

thought I'd do a little bit better, but

I'll get the hang of it. Hopefully I'll get better and get right up there with my husband. It doesn't matter where she finishes to Jimmy, she'll always be his champion.

I'm very proud of her to come out here and to take initiative to want to race with the guys. So I'm very proud of her. She, she did really good

who says girls can't race? So she came in last, at least she's trying.

They tuned off road action. There's more coming up.

Who knows? The

future champion may grow out of the cornfield of central Illinois

State tuned for hardcore

dance racing.

We're back on off road action

from April to September Beauty meets speed at the four wheel jamborees all across the Midwest and South. Everything from bikinis to big bad monster trucks

with its nonstop racing action. The four wheel Jamboree has more sizzle than Ohio's staple cuisine.

If you come to a Jamboree and you sit in the stands the day will go

so fast. There's so many activities out there. I like the little tough trucks out there. They're a lot of fun to watch, they crash

and the monster trucks are fun. So the whole show is a lot of fun. I don't watch

anything

with a top dollar show and shine and vendors of the Yin Yang, the Jamborees have something for everyone.

There's some nice stuff out here. You know, it's good for little kids.

Everybody.

Of course. What would a four wheel Jamboree be without a bikini contest?

But the real action was found at the mud drags.

We're the fast guys. We go out and we don't hold anything back,

pulling down almost 4.5 GS. These machines hammer down the 200 ft track in under three seconds.

It's a r

you launch it. It's like shooting a gun

when you step on a paddle, you're just along for the ride. It slams you in the seat and you just see the scenery go

and it's over

like a modern day buck Rogers. They hurdle across the mud with close to 3000 horses beneath them.

You nail it and it's just a rush, you know, the sound

and the jeep horses and everything just kind of builds up, comes on strong hits hard and sometimes it hits really hard. This right here is a lot of action. It's very strange

problem is it either goes really right or really wrong.

There is like no in the middle for 18 years, Chuck Cordy has gone wheels first into danger and has blown right through it. The sound of a blown alcohol motor is probably the main reason why I do this. I really like the sport and I like the

sound of horsepower.

The little Tin Can. Muffler cars haven't really made it in my book yet with three championships. His mud missile machine doesn't run a Tin Can motor.

It is an aluminum block, big block Chevy 540 cubic inch. About the biggest roots type blower you can buy on it with about the biggest injection you can get. We just force as much air and fuel in it as we can. The mud missile fast, but don't look for it on the asphalt. You can get away with things that our drag racing buddies can't because we only run for a couple of seconds.

If we would run my engine with my tune up in a quarter mile, it'd just be a melted blob at the end of the track.

We put 70 pounds of boost in this motor drag racing. Guys usually put about 40. It's making about all of them.

You're gonna make out of an

automotive type

even though Chuck nailed the fastest reaction time at Lima. He was D Qed for running it out of bounds. A rough showing though isn't enough to dampen his love of the mud.

We really like the sport like the people. Everybody helps everybody out. I've just had such a good time doing it. I'm not looking to quit any time soon.

More ahead here on off road action. So don't go away

back on off road action.

Now, you may think that a million dollar trophy trucks can raise its speed for extended periods of time.

We're about to prove you wrong as we had the Casey Illinois for their endurance series.

30 years ago, the corn fields around south central Illinois cried out to the local four wheelers.

Go big or go

home

the mid America off road club answered the call giving short track racers a place to strap in and get it on.

It's really good. It's really extreme short course racing. You know, here it's really hardcore, real fast paced. You got 3, 10 lap heats of, you know, door to door action to compete. These racers bring more than a set of wheels to the racetrack.

You need nerves of steel for this kind of racing. It can get pretty gnarly. You get a little fender rubbing once in a while in short course racing. Nothing intentional. Two guys fighting for positions. There's a little bumping and grinding. You gotta move them out of the way

now. You know, you can't just say, hey, move, you know, out here there are no semis in the pits or big dollar contracts.

You're not gonna get rich out here doing this. You can just make some gas money to go home on. Still these men give all that. They've got,

they say drive until you're scared and then push it just a little bit farther. We come here to run and run hard and we run hard, you know, all the time.

Five classes of buggies and trucks come out to the season finale.

Welcome to Lincoln Trails motor sports

among the weekend Warriors and series. Old timers. A kid has emerged in the truck class and dubbed the one,

just 22 years old. Rookie Justin Bremmer proved to be a natural by taking two overalls and four podiums in six events.

I just wanted to come out and watch this year and we hadn't planned on doing as good as we're doing. I surprised a lot of people the first few races they say, are you sure you've never raced before? His all out racing style has been compared to core champ. Carl

Rene.

It's a driver's class. I mean, you gotta run your truck, you gotta be smart

and his all business race face intimidates the competition. My girlfriend doesn't like it because she say I get in my zone and I don't pay much attention to her, but I try to just focus on the race at the end of the day. I'll, I'll, I'll give her the attention she needs when them races are going on. I mean, that's all you're focused on on this day. His focus was on clinching the class seven title.

I'd love to win the points race. I mean, that,

that means a lot to me today. I have to finish. If I don't finish, I'm not gonna get it.

Ernest

Hemingway wrote

by Guts. I mean, Grace under pressure

for Justin Bremmer. This was gut check time

battling for third place in race one. Dirk Carlin didn't go easy on the rookie

unfazed. The kid kept the veteran behind him all the way to the Checkers.

I

got a lot of fans I owe it to because they make me push it a little bit harder than I want to. Sometimes

with a third place in race two. Justin closed in on the title.

We got one heat left.

All I have to do is finish and I take the championship for the year as a rookie. A sure thing came apart on lap

three. I

gave it

a little

goose coming

over

here and I heard it start slipping, completely lost everything.

When Justin's main

points rival, Tim Shearer finished in second. The official scorers had to crunch some numbers.

I'm sweating right now. It's a little cool as the breeze is blowing, but I'm still sweating. I wanted this bad.

I wanted this real

bad.

Not sure who won just yet. I'm gonna go find out here and hopefully it's good news. I don't know what to expect. Are you

sure you

want to do this?

It was a really close race and it comes down to just a few points

for 2nd and 3rd.

You won.

He's fast, he's smooth,

you know, he's doing all the right things. I think he's gonna be a good driver. One to look for in the, in the future. I am the champion. Justin is gonna be a star. He's gonna be one of the good ones when you got guys that have been racing for 1012, 15 years saying you're good, you're gonna be good. I mean, that's, that means a lot. When you, when you hear that from veterans,

I like his number 2747 coming out of the sky.

If you're ever in Casey Illinois, be sure to check out the mid America off road clubs endurance Series. Well worth it.

Well, that's it for off road action this week. Remember two wheels are four. If it's got a throttle, we're on it.

I'm MEREDITH

Weiss. Keeping it off road.