Dave Underwood Class 1 Car

 

1st Place Winner of Terrible’s 250 at Primm, Nevada 2009
Car Owner/Driver: David Underwood
Crew Chief/Co-Driver: Mike Hendrickson

Dave and Mike have been long time friends for over 10 years now, after being off-road enthusiast for many years riding quads, motorcycles and dune buggies, racing at various southern California locations such as Glamis, Ocotillo, Superstition as well as Mexico, Dave decided to take the next step in a large customized buggy/car. After searching for 6 months he came across Sandco Performance, Darren Southworth owner and builder, well experienced in the industry, “Puts Out One Mean Car”. Dave’s new car is a Sandco SH4 with a Chevy LS2 block stroked to a 427 with a dry sump oil system. The motor puts out 600 horse power and 500 foot pounds of torque at the rear wheels through a Mendeola sequential 5 speed trans axle. So after about 600 to 700 miles of just driving in the desert (and one flip over) later Dave decided to go racing.

Race Details as told by Co-Driver Mike Hendrickson;

The stage was set and we shot for what is called the Richest Race in Nevada with over 20K dollars to the first over all winner. Spent weeks testing and prepping the car until it was just right. Left for Primm, NV on a Thursday to set up main pit make ready for the race. Friday was more prep to ensure we had all of our proper safety equipment in place for tech inspection. We rolled through contingency as there were tons of venders selling parts, shirts and misc items. After passing inspection we went to a drivers meeting to review the race rules and then back to camp to go over our plans for the race with everyone in the crew. After a good night sleep, up a 4am to suit up and go over last minute things to be at the staging area by 6am. Here's the fun, first race ever Dave driving and myself as Co-Driver, two car start so a 1/4 mile drag race to the first corner! We pulled number one first off the line and we got to the corner first. Dave puts in a great run passing cars like crazy at least 10 cars the first lap, he stayed in the groove and kept calm. Our plan was to just finish the race without breaking anything and it was a good plan as we didn't even get a flat tire. Dave kept up a fast pace and never being passed as we flew down the course seeing truck after car broke down, flats and even flip-overs on the side of the track. After the first lap we swapped out Driver/Co-Driver seats for 10 gal of fuel and off to the second lap. We had a good lead so I just kept the speed up with no car problems.

At the finish line we were happy to find out that we were the first car in class to cross the line. After they finished race, Dave and Mike did a couple of interviews and headed to the pits. Next morning they learned that not only did they win their class but they won the race as the first overall!