KC Dirt Tribe racer Jason Voss entered his first race of 2014 wearing the big number 1 on his truck and hopes of defending his 2013 Trick Truck championship. Facing a field of 42 Trick Trucks and 48 Class 1500 open desert cars, Jason had his work cut out for him at this huge event. The brutal Parker course consisted of three 142-mile loops of some of the toughest desert terrain that Arizona has to offer. Starting in the middle of downtown Parker as the sun was about to rise, the race quickly started taking its toll on competitors. Normally on a long distance race like this, racers try to establish a moderate pace to begin. However, that strategy seemed to vanish almost instantly as the lead pack pushed each other hard from the get go.
The top three trucks were just minutes apart for the entire distance. When the leader suffered a flat tire, Jason Voss saw his chance and drove his truck to its absolute limits. He was ahead on time and knew he just needed to keep the truck in front of him in visual contact. At the finish line, Jason did indeed take the overall win on corrected time, beating the second place truck by a mere 10 seconds. In fact, the top three trucks finished within an incredible 32 seconds of each other after 425 miles of hard racing.
Check out our Parker 425 coverage
Other notable KC Dirt Tribe Trick Truck finishers included Troy Herbst, 5th; Jonathan Swift, 6th; Tim Herbst, 9th; and Cameron Steele, 11th.
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Jason Voss may have captured first overall and the Trick Truck win, but that was just the beginning of a great day for KC Dirt Tribe racers. 17 year-old Christian Sourapas took his first ever victory in Class 6100 for Spec Engine Trick Trucks. Fellow Dirt Triber Jerry Whelchel followed him across the line just four minutes later for second in the Camburg Racing truck. Christian’s twin brother Brett held on for a well-deserved fifth in Class 6100.
Defending champion Macrae Glass brought his bright yellow KC HiLiTES Ford
F-150 in for the Class 8000 win. “Pistol” Pete Sohren overcame numerous mechanical issues throughout the day and into night as his KC-PODs lit up the finish line as he grabbed first place in Class 7200. The final KC Dirt Tribe victory came at the hands of Todd Jackson in his Class 6000 Trophylite.
KC’s new Factory Support Rig and Crew Saves a Jeepspeed Racer
The Parker “425” proved to be a great kickoff to the 2014 Best in the Desert race season for the KC Dirt Tribe. Next up for this talented group of athletes will be the famed General Tire Mint “400”, March 14-16. This race also marked the first formal outing for KC’s new Factory Support rig and crew and it was an instant hit with racers and fans. In contingency before the race, it was busy all day with people lined up to check out the latest KC LED, HID and Halogen lighting products. On race-day, the entire set up was moved out to the pits to support the racers with any lighting help they may find themselves needing. That move turned out to be very valuable for one particular Jeepspeed competitor. As night fell, he encountered a roll over in the “Python” infield section. The roll wiped out all his lights. Even though he wasn’t running KCs, the KC crew immediately jumped in, set him up with a new LED light bar and got him back in the race. This kind of service will be open to all racers throughout the year.
KC Dirt Tribe Parker “425” Class Winners:
Jason Voss – 1st overall & Trick Truck
Christian Sourapas – Class 6100 Spec Engine Trick Truck
Macrae Glass – Class 8000
Pete Sohren – Class 7200
Todd Jackson – Class 6000 Trophylite