"Black Rhino Sponsored Athlete Cody Rahders Mint 400 Race Report"
El Cajon, CA, March 18, 2016- “Black Rhino Performance sponsored athlete Cody Rahders wasn't sure if he was going to make it to the Best in the Desert Mint 400 race last weekend. The Wednesday before, Cody’s temperature was 102 and after missing both work and school; making it to the Mint wasn’t looking good. However, the doctor decided he was sufficiently sick enough for antibiotics and prescribed something 24 letters long that literally worked overnight. By Thursday night he was on his way to Las Vegas for the race.
Saturday morning Cody and fill in co-driver James Hill lined up tenth for the start so clean air wouldn’t be much of an issue. At the green, they set a moderate pace and worked their way into fifth place by the end of the first lap. A quick pit stop for fuel and out for lap two.
Lap two they kept the same pace, passed one more car and got to watch the TV helicopter follow them for a while, then it was back into the pits for fuel and a run at the podium.
When Cody and James left the pits for their last 105 mile lap they came out running second in class and third overall. “I thought I had a good pace going. It got a little choppy; I slowed so we didn’t tear up the car. That’s when Wayne Matlock blew by me. I was being cautious in the rocks; the speed Wayne was going I’m pretty sure he didn’t care," Cody recalled. As they got to smoother ground Cody opened it up; that’s when they when they began to suffer mechanical problems.
Cody continued, “We had to stop for a while to let the car cool, then make it to Baja Pits in Pit A to see what we could do. Once we got going again we had more issues with heat that melted the wiring going to the ECU; the car quit at mile 47 and our day was over.”
“We had a great time; this is only my 3rd desert race and every time out we learn so much. We have the speed, turbo motor makes great power, shocks are dialed, no flats, new sway bar, everything worked great, just need to get some smaller issues in line and were there,” Cody said.
Cody Rahders Racing would like to thanks his sponsors for their support; Polaris RZR, Cognito Motorsports, Fox Shocks, Black Rhino, Method Race Wheels, Tensor Tires, K&N Filters, Superchips, Baja Designs, Sparks Racing, and Eibach Springs.
Special thanks to James Hill for riding shot gun, and my pit crew Kevin Sullivan, Jon Kelly, Nick Novak, and Baja Pits.