Desert Assassins #16 Unbound Energy Trophy Truck driver Cameron Steele rolled the dice for the Baja 500 and nearly came up Yahtzee!

Yes the planets almost aligned for Steele and the DA as they took possession of a Trophy Truck originally built by the Geiser Bros. and owned by Jesse Jones just over a month before the race. The truck was collecting dust and in disrepair but it was a Geiser Bros original and everyone involved knew they could breathe new life into her.

31 days before the second toughest challenge of the SCORE desert series, the 39^th annual Baja 500, Cameron called Jesse and said “I want your truck!” With no hesitation Jesse handed her off and she headed for Geiser Bros. It was determined that everything could be changed and replaced except the front suspension before Baja and the front would get the Geiser package it needed before the following event, SCORE’s Terribles Cup this July in Las Vegas.

Head techs for the DA ‘Bluebear’ and ‘Bean’ (2006 SCORE Mechanic of the year nominee) moved to Arizona to make the dream become their nightmare. Working out of the Geiser shop the planets started coming into order. Living at ‘Pistol’ Pete’s house and getting home cooked meals the guys were on the charge.

The biggest hurdle was a power plant, the old one was ‘junk’ as was the tranny but Geiser had one of those. More cosmic parallels were found and an uncles, sisters, brothers, nephew new a guy that built NASCAR motors….yeah we were holding our breath.

Somehow Cameron landed in front of Clay Andrews of Hype Manufacturing and Clay Andrew Racing Engines; actually it was Jamie Campbell who made it happen along with their mutual buddy Nate. Clay builds for the world of NASCAR and won as builder and team owner in the Busch series in 2006 with David Gilliland, yeah the pole sitter for this years Daytona 500. This was the real deal.

Clay picks up the phone and makes the call to the North Carolina Engine shop, the poor guy on the other line thought he heard Clay wrong when he said “in less that 2 weeks”! From call to install in just 13 days…..this was too good to be true.

Also in the mix were Lake Elsinore Casino and Alloy USA who offered to step up their support of the program to make the new monster live and growl fire at all takers. A team effort was needed and the crew rallied around the seemingly impossible dream.

The effort was perfect; the truck actually rolled through customs and was in Mexico a day early! The stickers went on and the test up the highway said all systems were a go! Subsequent dirt tests told us the boys at Geiser, the DA mob and Clay’s crew all had it together.

We knew our astrological signs were firing on all cylinders when the people at Bosch Power Tools became the official power tool of the Desert Assassins while we roared the truck to life in a lot in the center of Ensenada shaded by the giant Mexican flag the waves over town.

 Race day was awesome with some splits early giving the DA team a glimpse of what is to come in a Geiser/Clay Andrews/Yokohama/FOX/ATX set up truck. Although it was the front of the truck that put her on the trailer it was something the team knew was a possibility of happening.

The Monday after the race Bluebear, Clay Andrews crew at Hype Manufacturing and the Geiser Bros. already had the wrenches turning and the torches going as the new baby doll will be 100% when she rolls into the smash up derby know as The Terribles Cup.

…….. much more DA news in Baja that we will get to you soon.

• Darren Hardesty and Mark Randazo race their class ten car with 140hp against the 600 and 700hp monsters of class one and finish 4^th out of 54 starters.


• Heidi Steele and Chris Vano move to 2^nd in the 7sx championship points


• Kash Vessels turns up the speed in SCORE Lite and Cameron and co dog Cody spend 12 hours going 170 miles to salvage a finish after a broken rocker arm and a broken trailing arm.


• SCORE Lite car continues to lead class points at half way mark in the season.


• Open pro bike team comes back from 2 broken ribs, a blown out knee and a dislocated shoulder to finish 7^th of 26 bikes.


• The Desert Assassins welcome the Golden Nugget back as their sponsor while in Las Vegas for the Terribles Cup for the 3^rd consecutive year.

Trophy Truck #16 would like to thank…Unbound Energy Drink/Yokohama Tire/Lake Elsinore Casino/Clay Andrews Racing/Hype Manufacturing/Alloy USA /FOX Racing Shox /ATX Wheels/Geiser Bros./Ketel One Vodka/UNI/Alpinestars/Blue C Communications/Richardsons RV/Jayco//Lucas Oil/Hardesty Racing/Lightforce/Etnies/The Bay of Dreams/Ogio/VP/Dirt Bags/Graphix Pimp/Donahoe Racing and the Metal Mulisha

The official SCORE drawing for starting positions party will take place at the Lake Elsinore Casino for the 3^rd consecutive year on Sep 22^nd weekend hosted by the Desert Assassins, book now.

Cameron can be heard co-hosting SCORE radio bi weekly through the Baja 1000 and this week he can be heard from 6-8pm Wed on Totally Off Road Radio.

May 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Camburg Engineering leading the Mini TT 7200 class in BITD!!

Huntington Beach, CA – Breaking the ice in B.I.T.D. with a 3rd place finish at the start of the race season gave the team at Camburg a goal to shoot for. With the amount of testing and preparation before the Terrible’s Town 250, it is no wonder why they were able to pull off a 2nd place finish in a class stacked with some of the fastest mini trucks in the dirt.

Jerry Zaiden and Scott Zindroski suited up and tightened their belts early Sat. morning as they were staged at the Terrible’s Casino where the field of trucks and buggies paraded through the city streets of Pahrump, Nevada to their final staging area 15 miles out of town. The race was now getting started with the TT’s and Class 1 cars first off the line and kicking up dirt to the point where you could see dust clouds miles away.

Camburg had the rear start position in a field of 15 Mini TT 7200 class trucks and once underway started moving through the pack at a conservative pace. This race wasn’t to be won in the first 50 miles by anyone. The first portion of the course was littered with rocks and had a lot of technical single track which made for passing to be clean and executed. Coming through the first road crossing, visibility improved greatly and now with clean air, speeds were able to be opened up.

Once again in a technical canyon area, Jerry then tuned his sights for Barry Karakas in his Fabtech Tacoma. With Barry pulling aside to let the Camburg Edge by, Sandy Cone was not much further ahead. Coming into a hard right-hand uphill, both Cone and Zaiden struggled through the silt which made for zero visibility. The Nitto tires grabbed for any traction it could get a hold of and pushed the Edge ahead.

Jerry now in the groove of things set a pace that would continue to gain on the field of trucks and not abuse the truck. Flying by pits 1 and 2 with zero problems and then stopping and doing a quick visual check in pits 3 and 4 was an indication of how well the truck was working.

After crossing Highway 95 around mile marker 117 the course paralleled the highway and the silt became deep and thick. The Edge was then stopped against its will as the rear axle was now high centered in the main race line. Jerry and Scott got out of the truck to assess the situation to free the truck and direct race traffic. With zero visibility in a high speed section, safety was the utmost concern for Camburg and B.I.T.D. After 40 minutes of Jerry and Scott trading off digging duties trying to get the truck free, the decision was made to pull the truck off the course by a B.I.T.D. safety official. 52 minutes from the time they got stuck they were back underway and coming hot into Pit 5 where they had a scheduled driver change and fuel dump.

Jerry got out of the truck leaving Scott to continue co-driving with his business partner Jason Campbell to finish driving duties the rest of the race. Knowing the issues at hand, Jason picked up the pace in an effort to gain back lost time. This section of the course showed the extreme spectrum of terrain types and speeds. Jason was able to pass most of the 7200 trucks through the rougher sections of the course as the Bilstein shocks were working awesome. In the last quarter of the course in an area tight and technical approaching a slower class 2000 buggy around mile marker 213, the buggy exited a left turn and hit a large rock at the entrance of another quick sharp right turn sending them 8ft. skyward and onto their side in the middle of the track. Jason stopped with Scott getting out checking on the team to make sure everyone was ok. Scott helped both dazed and confused racers out and then everyone pushed the buggy right side up and off the course. Strapped in and back under way it was smooth sailing to the finish line for Jason and Scott.

The Camburg Edge crossed the finish line 47th overall and 2nd in class in 6hrs 32min 07sec. With the amount of down time Camburg had, the race for first would have been very close as John Swift and team had an uninterrupted victory. Camburg was able to cross the finish line on the Nitto tires they started the race on with the original AEM dry air filter as well. They had not one issue with any component on the truck and we’re 100% satisfied with the outcome.

With 170 starters and only a 58% finishing rate at this race, it’s a true indicator on how difficult the course was with knowing the caliber of teams at this event. It just goes to show what over the counter parts from some of the leading companies are capable of on a truck that runs a stock Ford 4.0L engine … you can say Camburg’s Ranger Edge is built FORD TOUGH.

“We’re looking to continue our same game plan for the upcoming Vegas to Reno event and will once again hopefully pull off a strong finish. We’re not only here to race, but to test, push and further develop our suspension products that we’re racing on and are available to all. Sitting first in points in our class is an added bonus for all our team!” – Jerry Zaiden

Camburg would like to thank everyone who came out to the race to lend a helping hand, Casey Folk’s and everyone at B.I.T.D. to give them the opportunity to race in their premier series with some of the best racers and teams around. Most of all they would like to thank all of their sponsors for their continued support, family and friends.

Sponsors: AEM Intake Systems, American Racing ATX, Beard Seats, Bilstein Shocks, Blue C, Board Ford, FMF Racing, Glassworks Unlimited, Hella Lighting, IRC Tracking, Ironclad Gloves, JBA Exhausts, Monster Energy Drink, Mothers Car Care Products, Nitto Tires, Precision Gear, Sparco USA and SPY Optics.

For more information on Camburg products and race team involvement, check out their websites www.camburg.com and www.camburgracing.com or contact them directly.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE





AMERICAN RACING®…THE OFFICIAL WHEEL OF THE CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY



Rancho Dominguez, Calif. – American Racing Equipment, Inc., a Platinum Equity company, is proud to announce a partnership with the California Speedway (Fontana, CA). "We are excited to be a promotional partner with the California Speedway organization," says Eric Carr, Vice President of Marketing and Product Development at American Racing. "This track is a premier venue for some of the largest races in the nation, including various NASCAR series events. NASCAR enthusiasts and American Racing customers are one and the same, and this partnership will help to communicate the variety of products and brands that are available from American Racing."

"We are excited to continue our past association with the American Racing group," says Fritz Maskrey, Senior Director of Corporate Sales & Marketing. "We look forward to upcoming 2007 race season with American Racing as one of our valued corporate sponsors.".