Not much going on here, just waiting on my parts to be finished up at
Powder Coating Kingman AZ, Ceramic Coating, Media Blasting (ALLCOAT). I figured I would continue racing history of the 001 PPI Toyota.
2nd race, 1984 MINT 400:
This would be the first time chassis 001 and 002 would race together as Tommy Morris was able to finish up his truck. Little side story here I wasn't aware of was Tommy Morris (Tom) was 1/2 owner of the 002 with Cal Wells. Tom was still interested in racing and did not like the idea of sitting on the sidelines since he had not quite yet gotten rid of the racing bug. Cal Wells would work hard to convince him that he was needed more in the pits then he was in a race truck.....More on that some other time.
Both trucks were entered in class 7, Ivan Stewart/Bryant Hibbs in #705 while Tom Morris /Frank Arciero Jr in #703. There were seven entries in the class with six of them being Factory backed.
Photo credit unknown
Jean Calvin, Dusty Times June 1984:
"Ivan Stewart proved the wait worth wild as he put his trick Toyota in an instant lead, although for one lap Manny Esquerra kept him honest, only 5 minutes back in the Ford, then Manny retired. Roger Mears barely got his Nissan dirty before rolling it grandly out of the battle. Tom Morris/Frank Arciero Jr struggled through a pair of long laps in their Toyota before calling it quits.
Up front Stewart led John Baker, Mitsubishi, by a mere 7 minutes midway, and Sherman Balch had his Nissan just 12 more minutes behind. But Balch, and Jerry McDonald, had big trouble on the 3rd lap. McDonald did not finish, but Balch carried on to place 3rd with four laps done. Ivan picked up a 29 minute lead on Baker starting the last lap, then Baker lost a couple hours in the dark. Ivan Stewart sailed home the big winner over John Baker, and the media hype was all about Ivan beating the class 8 times, just as Baker had done at San Felipe. These are some mini truck folks!"
Ivan Stewarts 001 Toyota had 4 flats and some minor front end issues which resulted in about 45 minutes of down time. He stated that the truck was at approx 90% of where they wanted it and he couldn't wait till they worked all the bugs out of it. Ivan's time was 11:26:06, 26th Overall.
Tom Morris and Frank Arciero had all kinds of problem including a steering box issue. Tom wasn't happy with the design of the box having only 1 bolt on each side of the box and wanted 2. When the bolt broke he turned to the designer and said "can I get 2 bolts now?" He did. Antics like the one below probably didn't do the steering box any favors but it sure made a great cover shot for the "SCORE News" magazine...
Photo credit unknown
Little race info: There were 399 entries but only 389 took the green flag, and only 97 of those finished (25.2%). The overall win went to Jim and Billy Wright in their class 2 unlimited Raceco. This was a back to back MINT 400 win for the father and son team at the time of 9:20:31. Brian Collins/Ken Cox would finish in 2nd with Cameron Thieriot/Greg Lewin in 3rd.
Photo credit Gary Prichard
Mike Lund would have a great battle with Mike Julson/Tom Ebberts with Lund winning and a strong 2nd overall with the time of 9:26:42. Julson vanished on the 4th lap and Frank Snook/Dave Rogalia finished 2nd with Todd Davis/Kevin Derby in 3rd.
Photo credit unknown
Walker Evans would beat Dave Shoppe and Steve Kelley to the finish line, 28th Overall at 11:28:58.
Photo Credit Jeff Furrier
Info gathered from Tom Morris and Dusty Times (June 1984).