What began as a relatively calm morning in the southern California foothills just outside San Diego literally became the stuff Guinness Book of World Records are made of when AMSOIL driver Johnny Greaves came roaring down a dirt road at 105 mile per hour and launched his 3,800-pound, 800-horsepower TORC off-road PRO 2WD Toyota through the air over the length of an NFL football field.
Landing quite peacefully some 301-feet later despite the overall violent nature of the jump. Greaves looped back around and was met by his Monster Energy/Toyota Motorsports team and off-road racing teammate McGrath.
"He made it look good, made it look easy. But that jump was huge," said McGrath.
With a spectrum of measuring and surveying equipment on hand, Greaves added more than 100 feet to the previous 2WD distance truck jumping record of 193-feet set last year. Check it all out for yourself here.
"I was a little bit nervous," Greaves admitted the day of the jump. "I woke up and I was going to go ride down there and look at the ramp and talk about what we need to do, but my brother was already in Jeremy's horse barn tearing the truck apart and getting the gearing right and I was like, 'All right, it's on!'"
With a gap of 200 feet (between the take-off and landing peaks), Greaves knew anything below 100 mph on the in-run would cause him to "auger" into the face of the landing. But with some spot-on mathematical calculations provided by his crew, and, believe-it-or-not, some tips on flying a truck like a dirt bike from McGrath, Greaves pulled off one of the most amazing motorsports distance jumps in history.
"Yeah, you can really manipulate the flight of the truck with the rear wheels - just like a dirt bike," said Greaves. "I'd actually hit the jump and rag the brake a little to get it to flatten out. Once I got the feel for that then I was like 'All right, I'm good. Let's hit this wide open!'"
Wide open in a 800-horse, 351-cubic inch NASCAR Truck motor emits an awesome sound. But Greaves would be a bit impervious to that, with all attention focused on the take-off-point, then, in vain, to spot any discernable landmarks once airborne. "It looked like a house in front of me," he said. "And when I hit it, you were up there so high that I couldn't even see the ravine or valley until the truck started rotating down."
Touching back down onto McGrath's property - and into the pages of the upcoming Guinness Book of World Records - Greaves and his team were elated with the Monster effort. And when asked if this at all compares to the thrill of racing Traxxas Off Road Championship (TORC) at places like Crandon (Wis.) and Bark River (Mich.) where Greaves is a household name, much like McGrath in AMA Supercross, the grin his face said it all.
"I'm not a stuntman or a jump guy, but Monster gave me the opportunity to do this and I took it," he said. "It's the greatest thrill I've ever had. You can't believe how long you're in the air, just up there in this massive truck floating through the air."
The Traxxas TORC Series- The Off Road Championship, presented by AMSOIL is the world's premier off road series, bringing together the best of Midwest short course off-road racing with exciting new West Coast venues and in 2010, a new East Coast race in Charlotte.
Until then, we'll see you at the races.
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