Early morning Update for the H3's!

It has been a cold and dark night in Baja while Emily Miller in the H3 Stock Mini and Chad Hall in the H3 Stock Full continue to push through the evening. The sun is slowly trying to peak through at 5:46am and both teams are looking forward to it. Emily Miller, currently at RM371 has be making back miles she she jumped in the truck. She has almost made the full loop from Pit 2 to 4 and should arrive within the hour.

had Hall has been pushing for the lead and has taken it again against his Baja 1000 2009 rival of the day, Kent Kroeker (#861)! They are currently at RM515. Keep checking back to Rod Hall Racing and Twitter for up to the minute race details!

Rod Hall Teams Look Strong Even with Mechanic Issues

Rod Hall Racing Teams are doing great and staying strong even through some mechanic issues. 10:09pm at the BAJA 1000 course and Chad Hall is sticking it out right behind the Factory Dodge team and driver, Kent Kroeker. He currently is at RM 319.

The Stock Mini truck #761 ran into a few issues with failed steering rack and pump power that has now been fixed and Mike Winkle is 40 miles outside of Pit 2 (RM167) where Emily Miller waits patiently!

For more updates follow the Rod Hall Team on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rodhallracing1!

Australasian Safari Update #2 - from Josh

It's a little over three weeks away from the Safari and a few more details are ironed out. The race truck arrived in Perth over the weekend and now is on it's way to Freemantle on the western shore of the continent. The container is on schedule to arrive by the 11th and will then start the customs process. The race producer, Octagon, and Austorient have both been extremely effecient at helping us through
this process.

Our all important crew has been finalized as well. Josh Ogg (our SamCo prep guru) arrives in Perth on the 26th to start the final touches on the H2 SUT -"Tigger" as we refer to "him" in the shop.

I will arrive on the 28th with navigator Thad Stump and Jason Jacopian - our go to video pro.

Race truck owner Greg Knowles has lined up two additional Aussies to help with the cause. Daniel Villanova and Graham Jones both have extensive experience with Greg in the Australian Rally Championship and are a welcome addition to the team.

Add in the experience of Rod Hall and the talent of Emily Miller and our team is complete.

There are plenty of additional irons in the fire, so as those items become concrete, I will share that information as well.

All for now.

Vehicle Profile - H1 Test Truck

We just wrapped up the fifth Light Truck Tire Seminar this past Friday for Michelin and BFGoodrich Tires.  Along with organizational duties and demonstration driving, I get the fun job - driving participants on a "hot lap" in one of Rod Hall's "rolling stock." The vehicle is Rod's original H1 HUMMER race truck that debuted at the 1993 Baja 1000 and won the Full Stock class. 

The truck is a GM 6.5 Liter Turbo Diesel equipped with a set of BFGoodrich Mud Terrain KM2s and a suspension package that Rod Hall Products developed and distributes to the military. H1s with this suspension package can be driven at the same performance level that we push the truck on the hot lap course, but with approximately 16,500 of total weight. This is critical for soldiers' safety who need to load their vehicles with armor, artillery and gear.  The truck's purpose when it isn't racing around the course for the LTTS program is to test durability and handling of new parts in severe conditions.

The "durability demonstration" - another term for "hot lap" is the best part of the job and great to see people's faces as we zig-zag across the course at speed and hit the new little table top jump.  Most comments range from how surprised they are the truck handles so well or how big the truck is and how small I am.  Some laugh, some yell, some sit quietly white knuckled, but most everyone walks away wanting more.  

Posted by Emily Miller