Amsoil's Roger Lovell Conquers The Silver State 300

LAS VEGAS, NV 5/2/11 – The Silver State 300 is a 303 mile loop in the most desolate areas of southern Nevada. It’s one of the best off-road adventures to be had in the US and encompasses sandy washes, scenic canyons, blinding silt, and high speed roads. After a tough finish last year with chassis damage and a fire, Roger Lovell was back with the #4432 AMSOIL Ranger to try his luck.

This year, the rapidly growing Unlimited 4wd class was the largest group at the race with 34 entries. The team started mid-pack and fought the blinding silt. “After last year, our plan was simply to outlast the other trucks,” said navigator Brad Lovell, “We set a strong pace and focused on making the truck survive the whole race.” By race mile 100 the brothers had gained position without pushing the truck past the limit. Roger’s focus on the road maintained as he fought a vehicle that was originally designed to have a top speed of 40 mph. Brad recalls “Somewhere out there I called a turn wrong and we found ourselves in an expanse of silt. I was pondering options when the biggest silt whole I have ever seen was dead ahead. Roger pinned it and the wave of silt swallowed the whole truck. We were completely blind with no idea where we were pointed. I couldn’t even see the GPS. I couldn’t believe the tires clawed us through it.”

The team’s plans were working as many other teams were stopped for repairs or crashed. The pit crew performed lightening fast fuelings that twice helped Roger gain position. “The teamwork was spot on,” said Roger, “Brad and I were working well together and I kept the truck right at the limit. It went 300 miles without missing a beat. While the results were outside my hopes, I’m confident that we had a great performance.” When the dust was relatively settled, the pair finished with a time of 7:38:17 which was good enough for 12th place. The level of competition in the 4400 class was dramatically higher than last year and combining this with Roger’s 17th place finish in King of the Hammers puts him in a strong position for Ultra 4 series points. The next stop on this tour is Salt Lake City July 15 – 16 where Roger and Brad will each race.  

Roger adds, “The support from AMSOIL, BFG, Torchmate, and Spidertrax was over the top at this race and much appreciated. Logistics and prep for a race like this is difficult and our team knocked it out. Congratulations to our Torchmate teammates JT Taylor and Jessie Haines for a great race.” The next stop for the Lovell Brothers is the Temple Canyon Hill Climb May 14th & 15th. While a fierce competition in its own right, the team will use this race to prepare for their upcoming assault on Pikes Peak.