2002 Whiplash Snowflake 100 ATV Race

The heavy red dust made it treacherous to race in, but great fun to watch! As always, the tradition of the Whiplash Fall race in Snowflake Arizona was upheld. Hundreds of fans and racers converged on this little spot on the map for the long Labor Day weekend, and the party was on. A very recent fire in the area had organizers scrambling and actually re-routing the race course itself, but there were no complaints from the racers on the new course. It was dusty and FAST.

Even the Minis had a chance in the spotlight, with a half-dozen heats of their own on Saturday, run on the Jetting portion of the main course. There are some serious up-and-comers in this group, particularly a couple of young ladies whose skills and attitude caught our attention. With more than a couple years until they turn 16, expect them to to give the "Big Boys" a run for their money.

After the trucks and buggy classes finished up Saturday late afternoon, the ATV's kicked off casually with a "Parade Lap" around the 25 mile course, to take a quick look and plan strategy. It consisted of about 24 1/2 miles of fast dusty desert, then they came in through the well-watered mudhole that was the pit stretch. Anticipation built...

Sunday morning came early, and more than 80 quads were on the line by 7:00 am. Starting 20 seconds apart, it was barely 15 minutes after the last quad left the line before the leaders were coming in to complete their first lap. One of the nice things about the Whiplash Series is that they actually break the ATV's into six classes, so racers are competing against riders closely matched to their experience level. Practice may have been a little casual, starting several hours before scheduled and with little announcement, but they had the first quad off the line on race day within minutes of scheduled start time, and staging was precise.

If you want to know how your favorite rider (or you!) did, check out the results page. Also be sure not to miss the photo galleries - even the mini's showed some great action for the camera.