All good things must come to an end. Unfortunately, so too must the winning streak for the Lovell racing team. The second race in the 2008 XRRA Western Series wrapped up in Albuquerque, NM with the team out of the finals but still looking strong.

The sun rose in a cloudless sky over the Sandia Motorsports Park and the Lovells were some of the first to review the newly created rock course. In similar fashion to the Moab course, it featured plenty of double jumps, boulder fields, banked turns, and a large tabletop.

The running order was handed out and the brothers found themselves only one flight away from each other with Brad running opposite Shannon Campbell. Brad recalls, “With Roger running just before me, I really had to close my mind to his run and focus on my race.” After a month and a half out of the driver’s seat, Roger piloted the Dirt Logic Ranger through the course with his usual skill in the rocks and added speed in the dirt. “Watching Roger run really boosted my confidence, the nervousness left, and I finally felt ready.” Brad put his foot to the floor and the 347 Ford paced the LS2 powered moonbuggy off the line. The pace of the race did not slow over the rock pile or double jump and the Fabtech Ranger screamed into the boulder field. Disaster struck as the very first boulder impacted the rear link and broke the suspension joint. Unable to continue, the truck was plucked off the course and Brad received a 4 minute DNF.

The team flew into action and turned what could have been a catastrophe into a quick repair with plenty of time for the second round. After helping turn wrenches, Roger jumped in the Dirtlogic Ranger and made quick work of Lane #1. “Ever since my hard crash last year, I have been cautious of double jumps,” comments Roger, “Since then, the truck has gotten better each race. I had complete confidence in the Fabtech suspension and easily sailed over the gap.” Roger kept the BFGoodrich Krawlers on top of the boulders making a clean pass and finished with a course time of just over a minute.

The second half of the day only saw both trucks get faster but the early DNF was a thorn in Brad’s side, “The rest of my times were right there with the leaders but the courses were so easy and short, there was no way I could mount a comeback. I’m not happy about the failure and have nobody to blame but myself. We just need bigger rod ends.”

Attrition shifted the running order and the last round of racing and saw a much anticipated race between the brothers. “They really play up the side by side racing,” comments Brad, “In the end, your racing the clock because each lane different.” The fans see it how they please, however, and the Fabtech Ford got the jump on the 302 powered Dirt Logic Ranger. “I never had a chance going against that truck while in the slow lane,” reports Roger, “It’s the next generation of what I am driving and clearly works well.” Brad posted a 0:49 run which was only 0:02 off the fast time.

At the end of the race Brad’s efforts were only good enough for 20th while Roger found himself only 0:30 out of the finals in 11th. Roger adds, “I prefer technical courses and the relatively flat tracks this year have favored the high horsepower trucks. The next race is in our hometown of Colorado Springs and we won in this truck last year so I feel pretty confident.”

Stay tuned as the Fabtech Ranger returns the WE-Rock Rockcrawling circuit May 17th in Cedar City, UT where Roger will serve as spotter for Brad.