Just Misses Sweep of Twin Weekend Races to Kick Off 2012 Campaign
LAUGHLIN, Nevada, January 16, 2012 – Having endured a challenging 2011 off-road racing season, Joe Bacal brought his oven-fresh, factory-backed Lexus LX 570 to the 18th Annual SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge looking for a bit of redemption. After narrowly missing victory on Saturday “by one corner,” Bacal set a marker on Sunday with an emphatic win in the Stock Full class against a feisty 2011 class champion.
“We did a lot of work on the new LX to address issues we uncovered in our first two seasons,” said Bacal. “It paid off big in Laughlin–the truck really flies! A lot of the new speed comes from an improved suspension, courtesy of King Shocks.”
Bacal had just completed the new LX 570, a badly needed replacement for his battle-scarred first generation racer. It had virtually zero test time before the Laughlin races and Bacal faced a problem early on. But once the big LX cleared its throat, Bacal realized he had a very quick racer.
“We had teething electrical problems that slowed the new rig at the start of the first race,” said the 2010 Stock Full class champion. “It caused the engine to run in limp mode intermittently, but it cleared up long enough that I was able to reel in the leader and nearly got him at the end.”
Although the new Lexus was quick out of the box, Bacal’s rivals in the Stock Full class weren’t making life easy for him, and the race format of multiple laps around a short course made for a lot of wheel-to-wheel racing.
“We diced with the leaders and had to race guys in other classes that we normally wouldn’t run into,” said Bacal. “The racing was close and we also had some pretty big jumps that kept things interesting.”
In addition to the suspension changes, Bacal’s JT Grey Racing team and his vehicle builder, Geiser Brothers Racing, made further improvements to the big LX 570 in the off season with an eye toward weight reduction and more favorable weight distribution. The results were encouraging to the team as they look forward to a highly competitive 2012 racing season.
“It’s important for us to start strong this year after the difficulties we faced in 2011,” noted Bacal. “The competition has also intensified considerably, so we feel really good about our position so far. Fortunately, our sponsors such as King Shocks, BF Goodrich, KC HiLiTEs and ARB are stepping up to the challenge with us.”
For more information and updates on Joe Bacal, visit www.controlamidchaos.com
Bacal and the JTGrey Racing team acknowledge the following companies for their outstanding products, services and support:
- Lexus
- F-Sport (wheels, performance parts)
- BF Goodrich (tires)
- King Shocks (suspension components)
- KC HiLiTES (lighting)
- Cancer Treatment Centers of America
- Head First Design (graphics and marketing support)
- ARB (off road accessories)
- Geiser Brothers Racing (vehicle build and prep)
About JTGrey:
JTGrey Performance Driving, LLC was created in 2007 by Joe and Teresa Bacal to provide expert high-performance driving services (on and off-road) to the auto industry and related companies such as parts suppliers, print advertising and marketing agencies and the commercial and feature film industries, among others. The company is based in Phoenix, Arizona.
JTGrey Racing was created by Joe and Teresa Bacal in 2008 to support Joe’s off-road racing efforts and is also based in Phoenix.