2008 Vegas to Reno

The 2008 Vegas to Reno race is just around the corner and I am heading to the race soon to bring you a live report of our progress in the race as it unfolds. Team HUMMER has four vehicles entered in this year's Vegas to Reno race. Team owner, Rod Hall will be sharing time behind the wheel of the #3111 Team HUMMER H3 SUV with his friend and business partner, Mike Winkel from Reno, Nevada. Rod is currently tied for the lead in the Class 3100 points championship with Mike Falkowsky of Ramona, California who drives a Ford Escape.

Chad Hall will drive the #4111 Team HUMMER H3 Alpha and is currently the Class 4100 points leader by seven points over John Sunderland of Valley Center, California in a Ford Expedition. Chad won this race in Class 8100 last year behind the wheel of the H1 Alpha which went on to win the 2007 Best in the Desert Silver State Series Class 8100 points championship. He and his brother Josh, switched classes this year after new trucks were built for them at the GM Proving Ground in Mesa, Arizona which they debuted at the 2007 Baja 1000 which Chad won in the new H3 Alpha.

Emily Miller will be at the wheel of the #4110 Team HUMMER H2 SUV which was driven with great success for the past 3 years by Josh Hall. Emily lives in Encinitas, California and has been an important part of Rod Hall Team HUMMER for a number of years helping us with a variety of marketing and administrative tasks. She made her solo driving debut at Best in the Desert's Terrible's 250 at Primm, in April where she finished second in Sportsman Class 1800. Emily will move up to a pro class at this race and will drive the entire 455 mile distance in Class 4100 with Jake Povey in the second seat as navigator and team mechanic.

Josh Hall will drive the #8111 Team HUMMER H2 SUT and is currently leading the Class 8100 Points chase by 9 points over Larry Tunnell, Jr. out of Parker, Arizona who drives a Chevy pick-up. Josh has won the last four Vegas to Reno races in Class 4100 and this will be his first year racing the event in Class 8100. This will be a pivotal event for Josh, Chad and Rod since the leads in their respective classes are very close and each of them will need to have a very good finish to maintain their position on top of their classes.

I will be in close touch with the team and will issue progress reports throughout the race. You can also watch their animated image on Iritrack, an internet website that tracks the position of all the entries in the race by going to www.racetheworld.net or you can access a link to this site on the opening page of our website at www.rodhallracing.com.

The race will start on Friday, August 22, with the first of 215 cars and trucks off the line at 10:30 AM. The first Team HUMMER truck to start the race will be Josh Hall in the #8111 Team HUMMER H2 SUT. I estimate that he will start around 12:30 on Friday with our other three entries starting within 10-15 minutes after Josh.

I'll continue with this blog at that time but now, it's time for me to pack my equipment and head for the Silver State.

George R. Thompson

TEAM PROFILE - THAD STUMP

Thad is the engineering liaison between Team HUMMER and General Motors. He has a long history with GM in new product development both on the car and truck side of the business. Duties with the Team are wide ranging including oversight of the construction of new race trucks, development and testing as well as copiloting in the H2 and H3 racers. Thad provides the link back to GM that ensures the lessons learned are considered and incorporated in future General Motors products.

On the personal side, Thad lives in Gilbert, AZ with his wife and two of his five children that haven’t yet flown the coop. Outside of the support for Team HUMMER a lot of his time is devoted serving as an elected member of the governing board for the 37,000 student Gilbert Unified School District. When given the chance, Thad likes to spend time with his family camping, hiking or just traveling to new places. He has been known to sneak into the woods with sharp sticks in search of the great Wapiti.

HUMMER - Why We Race

This video, posted on our YouTube site, is a great commentary from engineer Thad Stump on why HUMMER races off-road.  One of the greatest aspects of the race program is HUMMER translates the information into changes that impact the SUVs that hit the showroom floor.

For the latest Rod Hall Racing videos, log on to www.youtube.com/rodhallracingoffroad.

PHOTO CONTEST

We've had several friends and fans send photos they have taken of the team at various races and events.  We will be posting a section in our photo gallery titled "FAN PHOTOS."  If you send us photos to media@rodhallracing.com, we'll add them.  The team will be selecting their favorites at the PRIMM 300 Sept 5th & 6th.  The winner will receive a Rod Hall Racing team hat.

We'll be running the contest throughout the year, so start snapping now.  Looking for the team?  We spend most of our time around Reno and Phoenix.  However, the team will be pre-running the "TSCO Vegas to Reno" August 1st and 2nd.  

Posted by E. Miller

ROD HALL DRIVES TO RECORD 18TH BAJA 500 VICTORY

Mike Winkel crossed the finish line at 1:07 AM in Rod Hall's H3 SUV tonight after the duo spent over 14 hours on the course to win the Stock-Mini Class in the Tecate/SCORE Baja 500. The #760 H3 beat every production class vehicle, except Chad Hall's H3 Alpha but, more importantly, Hall's 18th Baja 500 win moved Rod Hall into sole possession of the record for Baja 500 wins over Ivan "Ironman" Stewart. The two had previously been tied for wins at 17 each.

Rod Hall now holds the record for most Baja 500 wins at 18 and the most Baja 1000 wins at 19. Rod hopes to move the Baja 1000 record to an even 20 wins later this year but, no matter the outcome of that race, it is unlikely that anyone will challenge Hall's amazing record of Baja race wins for quite a few years, if ever.

The H3's victory is the second win of the day for Rod Hall Racing and Team HUMMER. The combination of HUMMER and Rod Hall has proved to be the most formidable team in off-road racing, particularly in Baja!

Goodnight from Baja California...

grt