August 15, 2009, Lucerne Valley, California

By the numbers:

Entries 96
Starters 80
Finishers 55
Fast Lap 0:44:34 (Mike Bilek on Lap 1)
Course Length 50 miles
High Temp 96
Low Temp 64
Female Podium Finishers 3

The course was the Lucerne Valley “A” Course, running counter-clockwise from the Start/Finish at Bessemer Mine Rd.  About 4 miles in was the “Rockpile”, the Ojos Negros of the US.   This area has traditionally been a total cluster bomb, with the hard partying crowd pushing the limits of the protective orange snow fence, which lined both sides of the course.

Class 100 (7 starters, 6 finishers)

1st 156 Mike Bilek:  ”Good race for us.  We did the first lap in just under 45 minutes, the rest were a little slower because the winds died down at night and we started getting into the dust.   This was our shakedown for the upcoming Vegas to Reno race and I’m very happy with the outcome.  Don’t forget to mention that my daughter, Alexa took second place in Class 12!”

2nd 181 Robert Pickering: This entry was an extreme last minute decision that they made at 2:30 PM on race day. Pickering & co-dog Mikey Childress were showing the truck at 15th Annual Wrightwood Mountain Classic Car Show when someone asked them if they were going to the MDR race in Lucerne.  A couple of quick phone calls were made; one to the crew for spares and another to Mikey’s dad, Reverend Roy Moore, who rounded up a half dozen Checkers for pit support.  They were able to sponge 25 gallons from Art “the Tech Dude” Savedra and a drum from a 1450 team.  Robert Pickering said, (from RDC Forum), “I took one for the team and stayed in the co-driver’s seat for the entire race.  The plan was that Mikey and I would drive two laps each but since we were in the hunt, I stayed put.” Brenthal Industries is building them a new Class 6 truck which, according to Mikey, is “basically a Trophy truck with a V6 in it.”

August 16th

RFS Motorsports takes the win in Trophy Truck and 2nd overall at the MDR 200 night race in Lucerne.  Mikey Childress drove the race with owner Robert Pickering co-driving.  Robert said "the plan was to change drivers after two laps but the race was just to close to take the time to make the change".   Mikey Childress said "once again our General Tire Grabber tires went the distance without any flats".  Rigid lights also out performed all of the HID's there giving RFS the competitive edge needed to achieve this victory.

August 13th

August 8th, 2009

RFS Motorsports wins the SNORE KC Highlites Midnight Special in Ridgecrest, CA.  The RFS Motorsports truck ran flawless.  After a dusty first lap they turned in 4 more laps under one hour.  Robert Pickering was estatic about the win.  He said  "we had lapped all of our class by the end of the third lap.  We had an easy lead but Mikey and I kept pushing the truck hard to see what type of finish we could get out of her.  The General Tire's worked good as usual with no flats".  By the end of the race, RFS had lapped all of class 7, class 8 and class 12.  It was another stellar day for the RFS Motorsports team! RFS Moves into 2nd place in the SNORE series.

June 10th, 2009

RFS Motorsports’ Robert Pickering and Mikey Childress Bring
Home a Win in Class 6 at 2009 Tecate Baja 500

Robert Pickering and Mikey Childress conquered the desert Saturday and won Class 6 in the 2009 Tecate Baja 500

ENSENADA, Mexico, June 10, 2009 – Pickering and Childress prevailed under strong competition, chalking up another win in an outstanding season for Team General Tire.

“RFS Motorsports did a stellar job, and we are so excited about their win here,” said Tony Talbert, Light Truck Product Manager, General Tire. “The Baja is always an extremely difficult race, but Pickering and Childress’s outstanding driving skills brought us this important win.”

General Tire is again ‘unleashing the fury’ in off-road performance for 2009, in the second year campaigning its Grabber competition tire. Designed with a tough, three-ply Duragen™-reinforced body construction to stand up to the rigors of off-road conditions, the Grabber also features a newly-developed competition-specific tread compound. In addition, the Grabber name and General Tire logo are prominently featured on the sidewall in red and white letters. The Grabber competition tires are designed in size 37x12.50R17 for class 8 and trophy truck/trick truck and 35x12.50R17 for class 1, 6, 7, 7 S, stock mini and Protruck.

General Tire also has a complete line of Grabber tires for the passenger and light truck market, including the new Grabber DOT-approved off-road tire (to be released later this year); the Grabber HTS, which delivers the perfect synergy of comfort, durability and performance; the Grabber UHP, which sets a whole new standard in performance and ride quality for SUVs, light trucks and crossover vehicles; and Grabber AT2, designed for aggressive all-terrain traction in all weather conditions.

June 7th, 2009

RFS WINS Baja 500 in Class 6!!!  56 minutes in front of 2nd place Heidi Steele.  29th place overall!  Good job Robert Pickering and Mikey Childress for a great race!

May 21st, 2009

Currently in 3rd place standings in SNORE;  27th overall

May 17th, 2009

We are proud to annouce Mike Childress as our second driver for all races 300 miles or more.  He is a great addition to the team and we know he will be the key to winning Baja 500.  Welcome aboard Mikey!!!

April 12th, 2009

After a loss of a motor on the Mint 400, we decided to do some upgrades to 7218.  She is getting all new wiring throughout the truck and a new motor with Motec fuel injection.  We have unfortunately decided to cancel the BITD Primm 250 to make the needed adjustments to the truck to have a successful season.  We look forward to the testing on April 29th in Barstow.

March 22nd, 2009

We are currently testing the truck to get ready for the SNORE Mint 400.  The truck just came off of a complete ground up prep.  Everything has been rebuilt and is ready to run.  We completely stripped the truck down to the frame.  We had the frame sand blasted so we could get back to bare metal.  We then inspected it, repaired any cracks and then clear coated it.  The motor was stripped down and checked.  We had to have the trans rebuilt and change out some components in it to suit our driver's needs.  The Fox shocks have all been rebuilt, new trailing arms, new radius arms and new beams were installed.  All new bolts have been installed throughout the truck.  We installed a new PIV in car camera system to shoot video from the truck while racing.  We look forward to seeing you on the 28th out at Las Vegas.

February 15th, 2009

SNORE Battle of Primm was a fun two day event.  We were still plagued with our unknown fuel problems.  Truck was only able to get up to 72 mph and was falling on itself in the turns.  Day one we ended up with a flat and our jack had somehow worked itself out of the mount.  When we went to change the flat we discovered that we did not have a jack.  We ended up losing 16 minutes to changing the tire.   We still ended up with a 4th place overall in class even though we were plagued with these problems.  Hopefully we will get all the bugs worked out before the Mint 400.