Final Results from the Red Bull Non-Stock 600!

Max Wiiings Team heads to the FINALS!
Left to right, me, Brian Nixon, Luke O'Hara, and Kyle Ray-Smith. 

I was going to title this "MAN I'M SORE ALL OVER," so allow me to explain. 

Before the qualifier race, no damage yet!

On Saturday we raced in the first Red Bull Non-Stock 600, which was a kart race for 20 teams.  We didn't win first place (which was a trip to the 2025 Formula 1 race in Miami for the entire team), but we were in the final race and had a shot! Here's how the day played out. 

Driver meeting for 20 teams and 80 drivers.

The team decided to let me drive the opening leg and then switch over to Brian Nixon in our qualifying 5-minute race. Each race required two drivers, with a driver swap at one pit stop, so this strategy meant that Kyle Ray-Smith and Luke O'Hara would drive in our second race. In other words, Brian and I just had to finish in the top 2 of our 5-kart qualifier race to get into the finals! If we didn't finish top 2 in the qualifier, our team would be thrown to the wolves in a massive 12 kart LAST CHANCE QUALIFIER race where only the winner would advance to the finals. If nothing else, the odds of being in the top 2 of 5 are better than being #1 out of 12! Here's how the first race went:

Here's the leader board before the first race.

All the races were from a standing start, with the 5 karts staggered in two rows like in a Formula 1 race. The starting positions were randomly drawn, involved no skill, were totally up to luck, and we had no control over it. Needless to say, we started LAST in our first race too! Hey, no big deal! I can drive a goofy kart on a gravel oval! On top of starting last, we were in the very first qualifying race of the day, so we didn't get to see how anyone else drove the track before us. Oh well, from moon landings to trying new medications, I guess someone has to go first!

The Max Wiiings team, AKA Bunch of Idiots. With free Red Bull.

From the green flag, it felt like I got a pretty good start, and managed to pass one kart, then maybe another, but man it was BUMPY and ROUGH, with lots of gravel flying all over. Gravel in my face (I'm wearing a helmet and after the first corner I put the visor down, DUH!) Gravel inside the kart, gravel hitting my body, etc. The kart body was digging into my upper arms so bad; I tried driving with my arms up and out of the cockpit, so that just gave me bruises under my arms. These laps were only about 21 seconds each, and it felt bumpy every single second! Oh yeah, the steering wheel was almost in my chest, and I'm the smallest guy on the team, so I'm sure this was going to be even more painful for the other guys on our team! Even with the discomfort, there was only way to race, and that was mash on the gas pedal all the way and all the time, don't hit the brakes AT ALL, and try to keep the kart moving around those tight corners. Oh, and try to avoid contact. 

Gravel? No problem! Everyone races on the same track!

So, it's super bumpy, the karts bog down in heavy gravel, but there was a faster and less quicksandy inside line on the corners. Coming around turn 4 on one lap, the kart in front of me dove into the pits, and I think I was in the lead! At the same time, I was hoping the team would call me in to swap drivers, but it seemed to take forever. Since it was only a 5-minute race, maybe I was out there about three minutes, but it felt like an eternity. Finally, my teammates threw the pit signal, and I jumped into the pits. I got out as fast as I could, and Brian hopped in. With no seatbelts or harnesses, well, you just go for the gusto. Brian took off, and I realized I was just about out of breath. Did I mention it was super bumpy out there?

Before the first race, already getting grooves and loose gravel going into turn 1. 

How bumpy was it? Well, despite having built what we thought was a solid bunch of wings on the front and the back of the kart, the massive 14 wing assembly on the rear end didn't like the bumps and committed suicide by falling off the kart in the first corner. No big deal, I didn't even notice it, so I hope the Red Bull people can use the footage from the camera they had mounted on the now detached wing! Luke managed to rescue the wing (and camera) from the racetrack (as the race was going on) and filmed the rest of the race with it! We'll find out if Red Bull uses that footage, it should be spectacular! Dear Red Bull, You're Welcome! 

Hey, no more rear wing! Less weight makes us faster!

Brian did a great job finishing the race with the battle-damaged kart, and brought us home in second place, which also meant that we were on to the finals without trying to survive the Bataan Death Kart Race of 12 karts crammed onto the tiny racecourse for the Last Chance Qualifier. At this point, since we had just competed in the first of the 4 qualifying races, we rolled the kart back to our area to assess the damage and prepare for the next race. Speaking of damage, you remember me saying it felt like the steering wheel was in my chest? Brian had a similar comment about the steering wheel being in another part of his anatomy. Slightly lower. But hey, if a bunch of Shriners can drive these little karts in a parade on smooth pavement, surely, we can drive them all out with other racers around a dusty gravel pit!

Brian leaps into action with a knife and some cardboard...

Besides the rear wing being reported as Missing in Action, the front wing also needed a little NASCAR duct tape to better prepare for the finals. A little hot glue helped too. Brian then had an inspired idea and got some carboard and a knife. He then built "Wing #2" and put that on the rear of our kart. This repair and ingenuity got a lot of attention from the Red Bull folks, and they were making sure that their photographers got shots of Kyle in the kart with Wing #2 before the final race. Speaking of which, there were video cameras at every corner of the track, on the karts, at the finish line, on a drone, and on some of the driver helmets. The Red Bull people are very professional about promoting their product and all their events around the world, so there should be some EPIC video of this kart race too! I forget how many times we got interviewed, so we'll see how it turns out and let you know.

Wing #2!!

In addition to all the crazy kart racing, skits, costumes, and etc. there were food trucks, a DJ, bars, other displays, lots of spectators, and even some minibikes for folks to ride. The weather was nice and sunny, and Red Bull even threw in a free lunch to all the drivers: so, thanks for the hot dogs! And free Red Bull! During the day we even heard power tools firing up in several other team's areas as they made late changes to their costumes and karts. You probably don't usually use a power saw or a Sawzall on a race car, but, whatever! I would guess that they'll repeat this event next year, so be on the lookout for another crazy kart race in 2025. One other summary statement: We ended up with a lot of bruises for those free hot dogs and Red Bull!

The podium where the winners would be recognized later. 

Did we mention the race sponsor yet?

Thanks to the race sponsor Red Bull. 

As we fixed our damaged kart, the other qualifying races were run, and then the big pile of karts in the Last Chance Qualifier raced.  With the addition of the Last Chance winner and the team that performed the best skit, we now had a field of 10 karts in the final race. With such a small track, and so many karts combined with the SUPER BUMPITY GRAVEL PIT KOBAYASHI MARU SCENARIO, it was just going to be chaos out there. At least the drivers wore helmets, even though the karts didn't have roll bars or seat belts of any kind. (Warning: that was a foreshadowing statement for the finale.)

You're thinking "Photos or it didn't happen?" Here's the Max Wiiings team in the FINAL!

Kyle went to the grid for the final race, and this time we didn't have to line up last! I think we started in 6th, so pretty much mid-pack. Only the race-winning team would get the free trip to Miami, so we had to pass 5 other karts before the finish of the race. Luke had his helmet and was ready for the driver swap, and we waited for the green flag. By the way, instead of another 5-minute race, this was a 10-minute race, (or 600 seconds, hence the name of the race) so it was going to be even MORE BUMPY GRAVEL FLYING DUSTY GRAVEL PIT BEDLAM out there. Hmm, maybe that should be the name of the event next year, the EVEN MORE BUMPY GRAVEL FLYING DUSTY GRAVEL PIT BEDLAM BROUGHT TO YOU BY RED BULL RACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kyle and Wing #2 getting attention from the Red Bull photography team.

GREEN FLAG! Kyle moved up a few positions, and then the pit lane opened, and karts were going in and out of the pits. Our spotter Brian was making sure that we had a good bit of open track when we pitted, and an open pit spot also, because there was only room for 5 karts to pit at once. While I'm no good at math, I don't' think that 10 karts could all pit into 5 pit stalls at once, so we avoided that problem. Kyle pitted and got out, Luke got in and sped back onto the track, and we were ready for the final part of the race and a free trip to MIAMI!

Heading to the grid for the FINAL!

Let me point out that Kyle and Luke are the fastest two drivers on our team, and that since Brian is faster than me too, well, I'm the slowest guy on the team! In other words, I was happy to have the quick lead-footed drivers in this final. Luke was driving all out and making up positions, gaining on the leaders, and then the unexpected happened. Or maybe the expected finally happened, and just ahead of Kyle there were two karts that crashed in turn three, and one of the karts rolled over. 

VIDEO--Pre-Race PADDOCK VIEW

Like in most racing, with a serious incident on track there were yellow caution flags immediately flying, and since Luke is such a great driver he slowed down as he came up to the accident, which is what every driver is REQUIRED to do, not pass anyone under yellow flags. However, some drivers did not slow down and before we knew it, they had passed Luke, and then the race just kind of stopped, without a red flag. 

OK, there are two key points here: 

    1: Safety is important, so stopping the race was the right thing to do. Otherwise, there would have been 9 karts trying to win a race flying through dust and gravel and likely right smack into a driver getting out of a turned over kart. The crashed driver was ok, and I believe their team finished the race.

    2: Luke did the right thing by slowing, but we knew there was about zero chance that anyone that passed him under yellow would get penalized, so we lost out on several racing positions.

VIDEO--GRID for FINAL, Kyle in 6th

Eventually all the drivers were directed how to line up, the green flag flew, and they finished the last few laps, even though we had lost several places by being safe and following the rules of the yellow flags. It's too late to file a protest, and life isn't fair, so it was kind of a goofy way to end a goofy race. Hey, they even told us that life wasn't fair in the driver meeting, so it must be true!

Even the front wing and nose had a rough final race!

Bottom line, Luke and Kyle drove their butts off in the final race, going for all the marbles, and they have the bruises to prove it. Brian drove a great qualifier and put us into the final, and dang it he's still faster than me! I'll just humbly take the blame for getting us entered into this crazy race, buy hey, we had a lot of fun, got some free tools from the race sponsors Northern Tool, free hot dogs and Red Bull from Red Bull, and yes, we had a fun day. 

Wing #2 on the back survived the final race!!

Special thanks to Brian for also doing the artwork, car graphics, team t-shirts, and helping with the design and construction of our ridiculous kart! 

Special thanks to Julie Nixon for allowing me to do crazy stuff like this too. She's the greatest!

Final word: MAN, THAT WAS SUPER BUMPY GRAVELLY WICKED AND I'M STILL SORE THE NEXT DAY!