SRD teams up with the Strategic Recovery Institute to make a difference!

Read about it in the New York Times

MARCH 8, 2012, 6:00 AM

California Team to Tackle the Sands of Baja in a 400-Horsepower E.V.

By JIM MOTAVALLI

Strategic Recovery InstituteThe tubular frame to be used by the Strategic Recovery Institute in the Baja 1000. The nonprofit expects its rolling chassis to be completed by mid-March.

At its essence, the Baja 1000, a long-running off-road race on Mexico’s Baja peninsula, is a wooly, slightly unhinged competition celebrating horsepower and torque. This year, a new vehicle class called Ultra Green will give the race an air, however subtle, of environmental stewardship.

Jeffrey Smith, a successful competitor in the 2011 race, has set his sights on winning the class in its inaugural year with a purely electric racer. He and his team are building an E.V. with twin WarP electric motors rated at a combined 400 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque, and five packs of Flux Power batteries. The racer is expected to achieve a top speed of 110 miles per hour and a range of approximately 80 miles.

The Baja 1000 has grown in stature since its founding in 1967, and according to Mr. Smith, teams might spend as much as $1 million on vehicle development and in-race support to be competitive. A win can be a thrill, but Mr. Smith and his nonprofit, the Strategic Recovery Institute, which puts formerly homeless individuals to work building electric off-road recreational vehicles, are after something else.

In an e-mail, Mr. Smith, a former Marine flight officer, wrote that his goal was to demonstrate that “battery-powered electric vehicles are fully functional, which includes taking on the most difficult challenge in the motorsport world.”

This year’s race is scheduled for Nov. 14-17 and extends from Ensenada in the north to La Paz. Mr. Smith said his team was a week away from having a rolling chassis completed.

Their quest is less quixotic than appearances may suggest. Mr. Smith won his class last year in a Volkswagen-powered Baja Bug. He’s hopeful that the strong performance of an E.V. at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb last year bodes well for his team.

The Baja competition is also something of a family affair, as Mr. Smith’s daughter and son-in-law, he a former professional supercross motorcycle racer, run Strategic Racing Designs, which specializes in building high-performance off-road vehicles. The firm designed the electric racer’s chassis and partnered with EV West to build the electric driveline.

The car’s systems must withstand more than 30 continuous hours of racing across dunes, gravel and shrub-pocked desert. Every team encounters endurance issues, Mr. Smith said, but his team will have the added burden of charging batteries. The four-hour charge times typical of E.V.’s like the Nissan Leaf at 240-volt stations are out of the question, so the team plans a combination of quick battery swapping and 480-volt fast charging, said to be capable of delivering an 80 percent charge in 10 minutes. Competitors outside the Ultra Green class guzzle race fuel at a terrific rate, so the E.V. will not be alone as it makes pit stops.

The team, based in Oceanside, Calif., may seem outgunned by well-financed programs fielding trophy trucks, but if the battery-powered Baja racer does well in November, Mr. Smith hopes to compete head-to-head in 2013 with 600-horsepower Class 1 vehicles.

A successful run at Baja could also provide a jolt to Mr. Smith’s goal of electrifying off-road recreation. “In Southern California there are 20,000 dune buggies and other off-road vehicles that people take out to the desert on weekends,” he said. “They run on internal-combustion engines now, but we want to put electric motors in them.”

SRD Wins the 44th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 in Class 5-1600!

This year’s Baja 1000 - the final round of a five-race SCORE Desert Series was held November 18-19, 2011 in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. The course covered 705 miles – both starting and finishing in Ensenada. There were 278 total entries in 26 different classes coming from 34 States and 16 countries. There were 155 total finishers for a 56% finishing rate.

The 4 man team of Drivers and Co-Drivers from Strategic Racing Designs was led by Jeffrey Smith, 49 from Oceanside, CAwho started the race and drove 370 of the 705 miles. Justin Herrmann, 27 from Vista, California drove the remaining 335 miles by alternating and leap frogging every-other leg of the race. Eric Sheetz, 27, from La Costa, California, fulfilled Co-Driving Duties for Justin and skillfully provided navigation and communication assistance throughout the night as their sections covered the South Eastern (San Felipe) portion of the course. Duwyane Harris, 28, from Valley Center, California filled the Co-Driver seat for the “Military Team” as both he and Jeffrey are former U.S. Marines. Duwyane was also responsible for much of the vehicle preparation and readiness and both he and Justin designed and fabricated much of the Team’s 1st place race vehicle.

There were 4 race vehicles in Pro Class 5/1600 and 3 in the Sportsman 5/1600 Class. Only 2 vehicles in the Pro Class finished for a 50% completion rate and none of the 3 entrants in the Sportsman class completed the race for a combined vehicle type completion rate of 28.5 %. The team from SRD completed the 705 mile course in a time of 27 hours and 18 minutes, beating the second place team by 27 minutes. The team’s average speed for course was 25.8 MPH which included 9 scheduled pit stops for driver changes, refueling and tire changes and 5 unscheduled stops for minor vehicle repairs and or getting unstuck from mud-holes and silt beds. The team estimates 2 hours of total stopped time of the total time of 27:18.While the drivers and Co-drivers were alternating driving duties, they were transported to successive pit locations by a well-seasoned Chase Vehicle team led by Larry Herrmann of La Costa and Glenn Cunningham of Vista, California. Larry and Glenn met the race vehicle at each pit stop in order to refuel and repair the car for the next leg of the race. In total they covered 597 miles of Mexican highways and road ways during their 28 hour adventure.

Much of Team SRD’s success is due to the support they received from their single Chase team and team of “Dot Watchers” who were back in the USA. Heather Herrmann, 26, from Vista, California and Marie Smith from Oceanside, California took turns throughout the 28 hour event passing information they received from monitoring the SCORE and IRC webpages to the chase team via text messaging that helped them maintain situational awareness regarding the race vehicles location and rate of travel – as well as that of their competition. This information sharing capability proves invaluable as the VHF radio communication link between the race vehicle and the Chase vehicle is often inhibited by the rugged Baja topography.

The competition in this class included both this year and last year’s series champions which makes the victory for Team SRD significantly more impressive. Equally impressive is the fact that this was the first time Jeffrey, Eric and Duwayne have competed in a Baja 1000 event (Justin was part of a winning motorcycle class in last year’s Baja 1000). Jeffrey was quoted at the end of the race regarding his experience stating “It was a great race – other than I left the (starting) line and I got stuck in a mud hole two miles into the race and it was a dead stop. We had a whole bunch of people jump in there, knee-deep in mud, and push the car back. We also got stuck in the silt beds probably three times; they just come up on you in the middle of the night. We had a great time”.

Justin, in his speech during the 1st Place Trophy Presentation made sure to thank the team's sponsors. "We'd like to thank Baja Designs, when you leave the start line at 2 in the afternoon, lights are key! By race mile 90 we were already in the dark, we raced through the night, another day, and finished in the dark with lights again! Also big thanks to Jason at VW Paradise... brand new engine ran 27 hours without an issue. Big thanks to Mastercraft Safety, when you're sitting in a car with 9 inches of suspension for 27 hours, a good seat is a good thing."

The Team looks forward to future races with SCORE, Best in the Desert and SNORE in 2012 as they show case their racing products, vehicle preparation, race planning and passion for international off-road racing.

The 2nd Annual Offroad Show & Tell - Post Report

The 2^nd Annual Offroad Show & Tell

After a successful and entertaining event last year, Strategic Racing Designs (SRD) was very excited to offer a follow up Offroad Show & Tell for 2011. By opening a “Jeep Class” for the vehicle display and adding a Beer Garden, SRD was proud to draw a large crowd to ultimately raise money for several charities. Vendor row provided a great atmosphere to mingle with industry members and learn more about the organizations receiving donations from the Beer Garden, Pit Crew Challenge, and all day Raffle.

The Castro-Limon Foundation was supported by Baja Pits and their incredible tacos, while Oceanside Ale Works and the Baja Cancer Foundation teamed up to raise funds with specially priced, and deliciously thirst quenching, beer. Vista High School’s Offroad Racing Club joined the vendors to show off their school project race car and sell refreshments to raise money for their group. They didn’t, however, forget to give back to their community in the Charity Pit Crew Challenge with multiple team entries. They represented their auto shop well with 2^nd and 4^th place finishes. “Team Cheap” took first place with a 45.2 second Trophy Truck tire change and was joined on the podium by “Chicas Locas”, the all-female crew who came in 3^rd.

All donation entries, as well as raffle proceeds, went directly to Fast-aid, who was on-site to answer questions and increase awareness about their cause. Local industry businesses stepped up HUGE this year, with remarkable contributions for the raffle including DVDs, hats, T-shirts, full sets of rims, tools, magazine subscriptions, and thousands of dollars in gift certificates.

With a higher number of much more diverse entries in the Show & Tell, there was plenty to look at! The contest, judged purely by the public, served to be a very close call, with single votes separating the winners of many of the classes. The battle for the People’s Choice Award ended in a tie between husband and wife, Russell & Shandra Fichtelman, who entered both their Ford F-150 Prerunner and Sand Car. Other victors included: Jeff Smith (UTV), Michael Carroll (Jeep), Will Janzer (Street Queen), Joe Mangles (Duct Tape Special), and Darren Southworth (Open).

“This was even more fun than last year and last year was awesome! stated David McCracken after the show. “I don't think I can wait a whole year...”

WE HAD SOOO MUCH FUN... THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DID..!!! - Julie Dee Newell

“Had a great time at the event, thanks for a great time.” - Brian Espinoza

“Huge thanks to SRD for all the support! Thanks for asking us to be a part of your event again!” - Fast Aid

“Great time with great people!!!” - Amber Bevilacqua, Oceanside Ale Works

First place finish in First 4 wheel Desert Race

Strategic Racing Designs’ Race Team arrived in Plaster City Friday morning, wasting no time to get camp set up and prerunners on the course for route reconnaissance. After completing several laps around the track, marking lines and identifying dangerous obstacles, Heather Herrmann, driver of record, drove a final lap in the race car to determine realistic lap times, average speed, radio reception & fuel consumption. Pleased with their preparation, training and state of readiness, the team organized final details for the next morning’s start and enjoyed a good meal and the company of friends and family around the campfire.

Rising with the sun, SRD’s team prepared for victory – staging in the first group to leave the line – behind the other competitors in the 5-1600 class. Heather described, “waiting to start was nerve-racking, I kept telling Justin, (co-driver of record) my stomach is doing summersaults… I can’t breathe! He laughed and told me it would be fine, to flip my visor down and get ready for some fun. After the green flag dropped I forgot all about being nervous.”

The team coordinated pits based on the course map, keeping in mind BLM regulations, mileage and radio range limitations, a vital element to a successful team. Merritt Townsend, Pit 1 Captain reported, “We didn’t plan on pitting for maintenance or repairs, but it’s always nice to be there if something goes wrong.”

No pit stops were necessary for Heather, who consistently increased speed around the course each lap. “I wish I could say I didn’t get tired towards the end, fighting the car through very deep silt and sand… but my crew kept updating me on how much time was between me and the guy out front – which kept us going - when we caught up to his dust, it was on!” Heather’s husband and co-driver Justin adds, “I was so proud, Heather drove awesome! After we passed 2^nd place we set our sights on first. I told her, this might hurt (regarding the harsh terrain) but you have to catch him, he’s right there!”

SRD’s #562 vehicle raced their competition into the finish line, with only seconds of separation. “I was worked”, said Heather climbing out of the driver’s seat, “that was one of the hardest things I had ever done and I loved every minute of it.”

Competitor, Charles Guy, greeted the team at the finish with a handshake. “I don’t mean any disrespect”, he said, “but that is NOT what I was expecting. Girl, you are one hell of a driver.”

The race format consisted of a 14 mile course to be circumnavigated in 30 second intervals between competitors, in a 90 minute time limit. The race organizer set up in two heats per class, the first race determined the starting order for the second one. As part of their strategy, Heather and Justin switched seats for the second heat. Justin revealed, “It wasn’t until we arrived at staging that we found out we got to leave the line 1^st due to corrected time. Heather and I would have jumped up and down if we weren’t strapped in, we were so excited. She stopped me in the middle of screaming and yelled, “Wait, do you know what that means, I WON!” Leaving first is a huge advantage, clean air (no dust) makes a world of difference, and she made it possible for me to start that way.”

The course was a totally different ball game after the big trucks finished racing on it. The silt was at least a foot deeper and huge ruts and breaking bumps were carved out in the turns. “We picked our lines well”, Justin reported, Heather was a great navigator.” By the end of lap one, SRD was leading their class by 5 1/2 minutes and continued separating themselves from the pack as they progressed. “I reminded Justin that we had to finish to win, and that he could take it a little easy over the harsh stuff since we were so far ahead,” Heather said. After 3 laps, the checkered flag came out, and SRD claimed victory by over 13 minutes.

Duwayne Harris, Pit 2 Captain, added afterwards, “Our team put a lot of planning and thought into preparing the race car and mentally approaching the event. Racing takes strategy, and ours was obviously effective. It’s really cool to have the time, resources and hard work payoff – especially for our first race.”

Justin and Heather, of SRD, negotiated driving the 5-1600 car with its owners, Josh and Luke Smith. “It was nice that Luke was willing to take a day off of 2^nd grade to come out and watch his car win its first race”, said Heather jokingly about her younger brother, age 7. Josh, also co-owner of the race car and currently deployed with the United States Marine Corps, sent an online message regarding SRD’s triumph, “YEAH, that’s what I’m talking about sis! I wish I could have seen those guys’ faces!”

The Offroad Show & Tell, Fall 2010, Post Report

SRD’s long awaited event finally came over this past weekend, and proved to be a success! The 1^st Offroad Show & Tell, brought together all facets of the offroading community to enjoy great events, great food, and great people. The Pit Crew Challenge attracted big crowds as teams raced to complete a Trophy Truck tire change. Team RPM took home the 1^st place trophy with a top time of 38.05 seconds, followed by Team Hangover in 2nd, and Tits in the Pits rounding out the podium in 3^rd. The all girls crew represented well, finishing both rounds in well under a minute. All donation entries went directly to Fast-aid, who was on-site to answer questions and hand out goodies.

Visitors had the opportunity to browse through vendor row, filled with local industry businesses. SRD was grateful for their contributions to the raffle, conducted every 30 minutes throughout the day – which included awesome prizes. Winners took home DVDs, hats, T-shirts, professional photo sessions, screen printing, coil-overs, Fox Shox, and thousands of dollars in gift certificates.

Vista High School’s Offroad Club joined the vendors to raise money for school events, selling beverages to go with the delicious street tacos served for just $1.

RC Racing, demonstrated to be a competition of attrition, the last vehicle standing in each class earning a spot on the podium. Other contests included “Most Interesting Podium Photo” and a “Vehicle Sound Check” judged by the crowds. SRD handmade trophies for each event, and awarded them to winners of each class in the show. (Top Tow Rig: Grant Gamble, Best Side x Side: Russ Fictleman, The Duct Tape Special: Matt “Chingas” Chase, Street Queen: Ryan "Bonzen" Lewis, Best in Open Class: James “Elvis” Taylor, People’s Choice: Russ Fichtelman)

“Overall the event turned out really well” claimed shop owner, Justin Herrmann, “when you put likeminded enthusiasts all in one place, you’re bound to have fun. We were well organized, gave out a ton of prizes, and can’t wait for the next Show & Tell to get more people out here to have a good time.”

“I would like to Thank SRD for putting on a really cool show and tell yesterday!!! I had a blast and won some cool stuff!! Thanks Again!!!!” – Tyler Crafts

“I'll second that for sure!!!!” – Natalie Schons

“SRD OffRoad Show Was a Success. Good People, Good Times.” – Dylan Lane

“HELL YA!!” – Ciara Silfies

”So we spent the day at an off road show here in Vista had a great day!” - Russell Fichtelman

“Had a great time at SRD's Off Road Show & Tell! My girls and I placed 3rd in the Pit Crew Challenge!” – Susan Johnson

“It was a great time. And next year I'm gonna be more prepared. Haha” - Jacob Andrew

“It was awesome! Great job! We had a lot of fun!” - Heather Townsend Bucaroff

“Great time At The SRD Offroad show this weekend!” – John Jones

“What a blast great job Heather & SRD.” – Tim McCreary

OffRoad Show & Tell Coming Soon!!!

Strategic Racing Designs is proud and excited to present the First Off-Road Show & Tell, on October 3, 2010 from 11am to 5pm. In an effort to provide a fun and interesting environment for our sport and to promote the cultivation of relationships between off-road enthusiasts, vendors, and sponsors, we have created an event that is sure to become a much anticipated semi-annual affair.

The Vision

After conducting some market research in the off-road industry, it came to our attention that there is a huge desire for the conglomeration of likeminded enthusiasts to network, consort, and "show off" their hard work and/or hard earned cash tied up in their desert toys. "We go to the races and drool over trophy trucks and attend every Expo to drool over the latest Luxury Prerunners, but we have more fun in the parking lot, where we get a chance to match up our regular rides against the regular guys." This quote in specific has resonated through our shop and is largely responsible for the founding of the Off-Road Show & Tell.

Designed around the foundation of a Classic Car Show, entries will be open to whoever would like to put their vehicle on exhibit. Separate classes are available for more specific judging – which will be done by the public according to a simple ballot system.

In the spirit of off-road racing, a dirt-course will be on site for remote control vehicles. Divisions will be organized respectively for all attendees to be able to participate. A Pit Crew Challenge is also scheduled, with simulated and timed re-fueling and tire changes. Entries for the Pit Crew Challenge will be collected on a donation basis – and 100% of the proceeds will be handed directly to Fast-aid!

Bringing yet another aspect of the desert scene to our event, we will host a Contingency Row, putting our vendors and/or sponsors directly in touch with the contestants displaying their vehicles. Paralleling a desert racing function, entrants in the show have the opportunity to be rewarded for representing their sponsors which include: RaceDezert.com, Richards Performance Muffler, Baja Designs, SignArt, Team Fastlane Racing, North County House of Motorcycles, RockHeavy, Fast-aid, BradleyLamont.com, Summit Steel, Douglas Wheel Technology, Crafts Printing, ORW, and Fox Racing Shox.

Spirit of Baja $1 Street Tacos will be available throughout the day to be enjoyed with music from our DJ. A raffle with prizes donated from the Offroad Community will be a highlight of the event as well as the Trophy Ceremony scheduled for the end of the day. We will present winners of each event with their awards on the Sponsor Named podium. Our team's Professional Photographer will document the Offroad Show & Tell in its entirety capturing the experience.

The Venue

The 1st OffRoad Show & Tell will be hosted by SRD at their primary facility in Vista, California. Vista is centrally located to San Diego County, North County, Orange County, and Riverside County. Here, in the middle ground of the off road community, we offer sufficient accommodations including parking, RC racecourse access, restroom availability, and city site approval.