COMPETITION: GENERAL TIRE SAND OUTLAW SERIES FINALE

High-powered cars out kickin’ sand By Juli Moore/Dirt-N-Dunez Photography and Dirt Wheels staff

This was the launch for all the marbles: Pace against Packard. The run was so close that it came down to checking the finish line cameras. Packard took the win for the day and Pace the championship for 2020.

The 2020 season finale of the General Tire Sand Outlaw Series brought racing back to Glamis at Oldsmobile Hill after a 10-year gap. Previous rounds at Glamis have run on the relative flats alongside famed Gecko Road. With the drags returning to iconic Oldsmobile Hill, it seemed like crowd control and spectating locations were much improved. There was a good turnout, and the Sand Outlaw crew was careful to keep the hill groomed to keep things safe and fair for the racers.

NASCAR champ Greg Biffle (12) is the man behind Pace and Sand Outlaw. He builds Polaris RZRs with Arctic Cat snowmobile engines. Here he runs against Outlaw winner Jedd Packard.
This STM setup looks pretty serious. A stock CVT applies power smoothly, but drag starts must slam the power to the wheels hard and fast to launch competitively. Getting a CVT belt designed for 180 horsepower to survive 400 to 500 horsepower is tough. It should help the shafts stay aligned, too.
The Mod class has somewhat more restrictive rules than the Outlaw class. Dan Picht won the class at Glamis and the Mod championship in the #357 car for Evo Powersports.

The Sand Outlaw Series has become the place to make a name in the UTV drag racing scene, with the biggest and best builders in the world going head-to-head on the hill, with names like DW Performance, Evolution Powersports, K&T, LaRue Performance, Pace Offroad, Packard, Phoenix Speed Industries and SS Fab to name a few. With three classes—Stock Turbo, Mod Turbo and Outlaw—they have everything from mild dune cars running for fun to full-tilt drag cars. Glamis was the wrap-up of the six-race series. It started in February 2020 in Glamis and traveled to Sand Mountain, Utah; Winchester Bay, Oregon; and St. Anthony, Idaho, throughout the year.

The final Outlaw race of the season came down to the wire, with a final shootout between Jedd Packard with Packard Performance and Scott Hughes with Pace Off-Road. Both cars had great reaction times and ripped up the hill with 100-foot sand roosts behind them. The finish was so tight that the finish-line camera had to be consulted! Packard’s Yamaha took the win, but the season championship went to Hughes in his Pace #12 car.

Detailing on the K&T Performance Yamaha is amazing. The car has seen great effort to lose weight and help aerodynamics. The bag on the right-side floor is class-required sand ballast.
Competitors fight to gain power, then fight to keep the power from destroying parts like this rear differential. A stronger billet-aluminum case aims to keep the rear drive reliable.
Jason Wolf’s Polaris started as a four-seater. He has designed both sides of the body to be quick-release. This car runs hard.

2020’s Mod Turbo-class season champion was Dan Picht with an Evolution Powersports Can-Am. He did double duty, picking up 10th in the Outlaw class in a different Can-Am. The 2020 Stock Turbo-class season champion was Allen Adams from Texas. Adams wasn’t there for the final event, and that left the door open. At this final race, the class went to Best in the Desert Pro Turbo competitor Billy Long from Alaska! It was Long’s first time competing in sand drags. It looked to us like the desert and ice racer won every race on reaction time.

Sand Outlaw managed to return sand competition to famed Oldsmobile Hill after 10 years. The change made for great racing and fine spectating. It was free to watch the event.
Weight is the enemy of drag racers. No need for heavy comfort items like padding and upholstery. How comfy do you need to be for a few seconds? That’s a weird place for a cup holder, though.
Some machines went crazy losing weight. The rig sticking out of the passenger side is a wheelie bar. Modified Yamaha YXZs have more than enough power to flip over backwards.

FINAL ROUND RESULTS

Outlaw

1. Jedd Packard

2. Scott Hughes 

3. Goel Olivo

4. Jason Wolf

5. Matt Larue 

6. Jeremy Herron 

7. Andrew Larue 

8. Greg Biffle

9. Justin Borzini

10. Dan Picht

11. Jayden Mucmore

12. Mike Pollard

Mod

1. Dan Picht

2. Jedd Packard

3. James Servey

4. Talon Marshall

5. Ben Sobotka

6. Brandon Ristau

7. Danny Nadar

8. Andy Foster

9. Bob Barker

10. Brandon Wood

11. James Dominy

12. DJ Lenhart

13. Eric Morine

Stock

1. Billy Long

2. Bob Barker

3. Brandon Ristau

4. Miguel Gastelum

5. Juan Llamas

6. Augie Cortez

7. Chris Warnock

8. Chris Conway

9. Danny Lam

10. Grudge Winner

11. Henry Stacher

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