At the start, Team 4Wheel Parts was prepared to do battle.

Greg Adler qualified in sixth position out of 160 racers. Brent Goegebuer crashed during qualification, but still made the race starting at the back of the field. At the start line, Greg was positioned next to fellow Team 4Wheel Parts racer Robby Gordon who started in fifth position. Greg beat Robby to the first corner and never saw him again. Robby Gordon suffered engine troubles and was out of the race at mile 14. Greg continued on and moved up into the top three positions.

Greg fights for second spot

At the end of lap one, Greg was in second place despite fighting steering problems. Meanwhile, Brent had passed over 30 competitors, but began suffering fuel pump issues after cruising through the tough rock sections. Greg’s final lap was a back-and-forth battle with veteran racer Rick Mooneyham for the second spot.

Suspension failure

Greg was leading with 2 miles to go when rear suspension failure caused the truck to tip on its side and lose all brakes. With a broken rig and no brakes, the team crawled down some of the most difficult terrain, including the infamous Back Door. Unfortunately, the rear driveshaft failed next and the truck couldn’t make the final hill climb with the front end alone. The team made a valiant effort to try to fix the rig, but there was too much damage to get it across the finish line.

A disappointed Greg Adler commented, “We were so close to a second place finish in the toughest off-road race in the world. We really wanted to get on the podium for Team 4Wheel Parts, but we’ll get them next year.”

Brent echoed similar comments, “We had a strong run going and didn’t get any breaks this week, but I’m already looking forward to KoH 2013.”

Check out some pictures.