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April 29, 2005
One way to get healthy? Go racing
Read books to his grandchildren? Take a walk in the park? Snooze in a barralounger when TV bores him? How about ... none of the above. His choice of rehabilitation? Off-road racing .... not as a spectator, nor as a car owner or as a crew member ... but as a driver of a bright orange 1965 Volkswagen no one will ever confuse with the Love Bug. Towles will drive the recently reconditioned (at a cost of $10,000) VW in the Terrible's Town 250 Off-Road Race Saturday. Riding shotgun on the way to Beatty will be Anatolio Bracamontes, a rookie to the world of one of the most exciting, but one of the more dangerous motorsports endeavors. "And if it's possible, Anatolio will drive the VW back to Pahrump," said Towles, as he relaxed in the sun Wednesday afternoon. "He approached me about getting involved in the sport ... now he is. "The biggest thing we hope for us, we're not the only car in our class," said Towles. Towles, who is 54 and has been racing competitively since the 1970s, has entered numerous Southern Nevada Off Road Enthusiasts (SNORE) events. His career includes competing against the likes of off-road legend Walker Evans and current NASCAR Nextel Cup and IndyCar driver Robby Gordon. "Actually, I have been racing cars since I lived in Idaho and drove down dusty logging roads when I was a kid and raced through the desert of Arizona. I got addicted to it, but it was a heckuva lot better than smoking, drinking or carousing around." And while involved in all this exciting enterprise, Dee watched his children succeed; daughter Sara was valedictorian of the Class of 1997 at Pahrump Valley High School ... Jake was twice the Nevada Class 3-A state champion wrestler in the 103-pound division ... Chad starred in soccer for the Trojans and is currently going after the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout. But those feats are for another story. The subject at the moment is risking life, limb and the pursuit of a healthy existence driving 55 miles an hour over a course filled with rocks, gulleys, hidden crevices, and other threats to one's physical well-being. "The worse thing is the dust," said Towles. "When a driver can't see what's going on ahead of him, he's got to find a way to make it through." Driving a VW doesn't seem like the most logical method of surviving a 250-mile grind through the desert. But this 40-year-old "bug" - that will compete in the 5100 class as No. 5188 - is special. Towles did a monologue about the orange machine (that was once white, but that was too ordinary). Said Towles: "We have Fox shocks on it; they cost $400 each and we have six. "We got our tires from Big O in Pahrump. The back tires are 9 1/2 inches wide and 33 inches tall ... the front tires are 265x15...like a small truck tire." Towles would not tell what the air pressure would be. "That's one of our secrets," he said, smiling. "We will have 22 gallons of fuel on board; it's VP Mister Moto 113 octane." Drive the maximum speed and he expects to get 6 1/2 to eight miles per gallon. "Anyone tells you he gets 15 miles per gallon is being passed by me." The engine is a 1600 cubic centimeter VW power plant that generates, under optimum conditions, about 85 horsepower with 115-pound torque. "The top speed is 73 miles per hour with gear ratios for off-road racing." "The transmission is a 4-speed 'bus-box';' we have put $2,500 into that," said Towles. Ralph Purdy, the Bracamontes and Amsoil are among his team's top supporters, both financially and philosophically. Along the way, Dee has acquired some nicknames because of his driving style - and misfortunes. "I am either 'Dee, wind 'em up tight' or 'Dee, roll 'em over,'" said Towles, leaning back in his chair with a sly grin lighting up his face. "Roll a car over and it's like being inside a cement mixer full of rocks, " said Towles. "Hit a rut the wrong way and a car can come to an abrupt stop. Approach a rock and attack it head-on. Take a rock at an angle and a driver will cause a lot of damage to the wheel, as well as the tire." The Towles team plans to compete in the McMillian 1000, a Best in the Desert race to be contested in the Tonopah-Beatty area July 6-7-8-9-10, and the Vegas-to-Reno race in October. Illustrating rare caution, Towles offered, "We hope it's going to be 80 degrees in Tonopah in July and that it won't be snowing in Reno in October." So Towles isn't always in that devil-may-care mood ... that's good to know. |
