The Wolff racing crew loaded down and headed East for the second time of the 2023 Ultra4 USA season. Traveling nearly 1,000 miles to Pottsville Pennsylvania for the reading rumble taking place at the scenic famous reading outdoors. Which turned out to be the perfect ultra4 playground. From massive rock climbs, to wide open valleys. This reclaimed coal mine was the perfect destination for an ultra4 race.
We kicked off the weekend of racing with qualifying Friday morning in both the UTV and 4400 classes. We took off the line in the UTV class and managed to put ourselves on the 3rd row in a 5th place starting position for racing later that day. We then lined up the 4400 unlimited car and laid down the fastest pass of qualifying overall. Putting ourselves once again in the pole position on race day. That makes the fifth event in a row we have managed to put our 4400 UFO built car on the top spot(that’s every race of the year so far). So we were super happy with our qualifying results in both classes.
A few hours later we would take to the starting line for the 4900 UTV Pro modified race. We left the line and managed to pick off a few cars in the first lap. Coming around the start finish line in physically second place, just 30 seconds or so behind the leader after starting nearly 3 minutes behind. We had a great race going for us, but lap traffic would play a deciding role in our race outcome. Trying to fish my way around lapped cars, I made a mistake and cut a rear tire down, forcing me to pit, and costing me several positions on course.We were absolutely punishing our Nitto tires and it was just a matter of time before something happened. We got back out on course and we were making up the lost ground when catastrophe struck again and we lost our front suspension plowing into a rock at high speeds, literally snapping one control arm completely in half, and the other seriously wounded. We managed to limp back around and finish right where we started in 5th place for the day. Which I was very pleased with considering the amount of punishment I physically put the car through that day. We headed back to the pits to look the cars over and assess them before racing. Which led to the discovery of some electrical issues in the 4400 car. We believed at first we had bad batteries in the car. So one of our crew spent the entire rest of the day tracking down batteries that would fit in the car. Which required a pretty specific battery honestly. Because we needed a very specific size and shape to fit down in our battery trays. We secured two new batteries and spent the evening getting them installed in the car along with a new starter.
Saturday was race day for the 4400 class, where we were set to leave the starting line in the number one position. After getting the new batteries and starter installed the previous evening we thought we were ready to go! But our problem had still not been resolved. We went to fire the car to head to staging and again had no power. We actually had to jump the car to get it to the starting line. We knew headed into the race it could potentially cause more problems. So we limited our power usage by not turning on our forward facing Project x lights. We take off the starting line and set a blistering pace on the first lap. Securing the fastest overall lap time of the entire weekend. Our Radflo shocks had us floating through the entire race course! By the second lap we were already starting to catch lap traffic and pick off cars one by one. It would seem with each lap I would run away in the wide open spots, and then eventually run into dead stop lap traffic in the rock sections, which would force me to sit and allow the competitors behind me to catch back up and lose all of the lead I had. On the 6th lap I planned to pull into the pits and get a splash of fuel in the car to ensure I was able to complete my 7th and final lap. When I was coming into pit road nearly 50 feet from my pit the car shut off on its own and we rolled to a stop. At first I believed I could re-fire the car and make it to my pit, get the fuel and take off. But I soon realized that I had bigger problems. By that point most of my crew and the crew of many other race teams had rushed to my car for assistance. We scrambled to get the car refired. We tried jumping it with a nearby pick up truck to no avail. By this time I had lost my lead and had been passed by the 2nd and 3rd place racers. I had lost my win. But I wasn’t ready to give up. Between My crew and other friends, we secured a battery and jumper cables to the front of my car, and gave myself enough power to cross the finish line, and complete my 6th lap. In doing so I secured myself points for that race with a finish, and since I had managed to complete 6 laps faster then the majority of the field, and the fact that when the leader came around to finish his 7th and final lap, I was only a lap down, while many other racers were several laps down. So we ended up in 7th place for the day. Not the race I wanted, but I was very happy to still secure points and not completely toss my race. Ultimately what took us out of the race was an alternator failure.
Sunday we just weren’t quite ready to leave yet. Ultra4 usa racing was all finished up. But a local series, the “dark water” race series, was hosting an event on the same race track minus the rocks. We didn’t have a car to race when we woke up. But Myself, and my uncle Robert scrambled to replace the front suspension on the 4900 Canam so we could race that day. Being that it was also my birthday I thought I would treat myself to another race! We finished replacing the suspension about 20 minutes before the race started. We started nearly dead last. As there was no qualifier and starting order was determined by signup order. But we were fine with that. We took off on the first lap, and picked off all but one car, passing over 14 competitors. Starting the second lap we were behind the lead by maybe 20-30 seconds and managed to make the pass on the second lap to come around with the lead to start the third lap. The race format was the same as ultra4 1 and a half hours plus one lap. I had stretched myself to about a 3 minute lead, when once again making the pass on lap traffic I stepped out of my line and plowed a rock with my back right tire. I pulled over on the race course and made the change myself. Costing me about 5 minutes and my physical race lead. I got back out on course only losing one position, and started in on my chase for the lead. But the leader was no slouch and he never let off the entire rest of the race. We crossed the finish line in physically second place and earned our spot on the podium.
What a weekend it was in pennsylvania! We really look forward to going back up there to race again in the future. They had it all and they definitely put the Ultra4 into the race course!
