September 19, 2011–Reno, NV: Team GenRight’s Kevin Sacalas proved fast during Friday’s qualifying rounds at the 2011 Ultra4 Torchmate Stampede. Even with an engine misfire, Sacalas was able to claim the 4th fastest qualifying time of the day putting him in the front of the pack for the main race. Only current King Shannon Campbell, former King Jason Scherer and eventual Stampede winner, JT Taylor had faster times than Kevin Sacalas in his vehicle affectionately referred to as “Big Ugly.”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZzBsZEaADU
Sacalas experienced a small engine fire in the first 3 miles of the race but persevered and moved into 3rd place by race mile 20. Unfortunately, at approximately race mile 34 Sacalas lost a unit bearing and his front driver wheel fell off the vehicle. A replacement unit bearing was sent out with the 4410 car driven by Curtis Warner who unfortunately suffered a rollover before handing off the parts causing a setback of more than an hour and a half for Sacalas. Eventually the parts were delivered and Sacalas repaired the car.
The 4435 car made its way effortlessly through the rock gardens that had caused trouble all morning for teams, and it appeared that Sacalas could still finish the 130 mile race. Unfortunately, the brutal course once again took its toll on the car and Sacalas lost a rear wheel after several studs broke loose. Using remaining parts from his broken hub, Sacalas was able to repair the 4435 car enough to self recover, but did not have enough replacement studs to maintain race speed and return to the main pits with enough time to finish the race.“What a day!” claimed Sacalas, “We worked hard to keep the car going and really wanted to finish this race” Ultimately; only 17 of the 48 teams that started the race completed the vicious course. Sacalas continued, “We loved the challenge of this race, and appreciate the help we received from our fellow competitors. I look forward to being one of the few to finish the race in 2012. Right now we’re going to focus on the series finale at Glen Helen. That’s our back yard, and I’m confident we can do well on our home turf. “
Sacalas will actually be racing as part of Team GenRight twice more this season, both at Glen Helen Raceway. He will be racing in the Ultra4 Class at the Lucas Oil Regional race on October 1st and will be returning to Glen Helen for the Ultra4 Racing finale on October 22nd. Sponsors –GenRight Off-Road, The Orleans Casino, BFGoodrich Tires, Raceline Wheels, Hughes Performance, Novak Conversions, RCV Performance, Spidertrax and Viking OffRoad
About Kevin Sacalas – He is a 28 year old native Californian, based out of Riverside, CA who has been off roading at the Hammers for the past 6 years in his highly modified ’01 TJ. Big Ugly was his first attempt at building a vehicle from scratch. In two years of racing, Sacalas has raced 9 races and had 5 podium finishes. For more information on Kevin Sacalas and Big Ugly Racing, please visit: www.biguglyracing.com or become a fan on Facebook: Big Ugly Racing