Vegas to Reno: Gastel Racing Factory Can-Am

Great Podium Finish for Logan and the Gastel Racing Team

Dirt Wheels Magazine: What kind of mods were made to your team’s Can-Am for BITD’s Vegas to Reno?

Logan Gastel: Believe it or not, the lower half of our car is completely stock with the exception of reinforcing suspension pick-up points and steering rack mount. For suspension we are running LoneStar Racing’s long travel suspension kit. For three years now we’ve been running the ITP UltraCross tires and Raceline bead lock wheels, and we’ve had nothing but success with them. We are running a completely stock Can-Am clutch with a stiffer primary spring.

Dirt Wheels Magazine: What would you change after seeing the outcome of the race?

Logan Gastel: I am very happy with the outcome of this race. I am not sure if there’s much I would change. I feel like our pace was fast, and we were able to move from 40th to battling up front with the leaders on corrected time. In the end we came up short by a few minutes.

Dirt Wheels Magazine: What was done to ensure no problems occurred with the belt?

Logan Gastel: We really don’t do anything special for the belt other than monitor the temperature gauge to make sure we keep the temperature in check. A cool belt is a happy belt.

Dirt Wheels Magazine: Were all the modifications and fabrication done in house? Or do you rely on a shop?

Logan Gastel: My car was built by a local fabricator by the name of Steve Anmire. He has been building  cars for me for three years, and has also built cars for other teams in the class. It is amazing how you can make ideas in his head come to life.

Dirt Wheels Magazine: What are the most important preparations for the race?

Logan Gastel: For Vegas to Reno we did a standard prep to the car. We did do a lot more testing with our new LoneStar long travel kit. The biggest hurdle for this race was planning pit logistics and strategy. It took me five days before I had a plan I liked.

Dirt Wheels Magazine: What does the pit crew do to prepare?

Logan Gastel: I like to make sure that everybody in the pit crew has a job and understands what they need to do. That way, when the car pulls into the pit, there’s no hesitation in execution of the plan. All the guys killed it at Vegas to Reno. Sometimes the guys in the pit are more important than the person behind the wheel. These races are coming down to minutes, and a lot of minutes can be made up or lost in the pits.

Dirt Wheels Magazine: What did you personally do to prepare for this race, and do you think you were well prepared?

Logan Gastel: Leading up to this race I tried to do a lot of hydrating. I knew it was going to be hot, and I had be able to store fluids. Being behind the wheel for the whole 540 miles is more mentally challenging then physically. I just had to keep telling myself how close we were last year before breaking. I knew we had the speed to run up front, but also knew we had our work cut out for us starting 40^th.

 

On behalf of Gastel racing I would like to thank all the guys on my team who take time out of their lives to come racing with us. Without them this would be impossible. I would also like to thank all my sponsors for their continued support and look forward to the rest of the 2017 Best in the Desert season.