Havasu off-road racer Keith Waibel doesn’t know the meaning of ‘second place’
LAKE HAVASU CITY — With all that goes into getting a car and driver ready, just finishing a first race is usually cause for celebration. For Class 3000 driver Keith Waibel, however, there’s been almost no dust on the menu since Day 1. The 48-year-old owner of Hy-Tech repair in Lake Havasu was introduced to racing by his co-driver, Jeff Vetter. “Moving from Florida, I didn’t really know how it worked,” said Waibel, who has lived in Havasu for 10 years. “After going to watch the Parker 425 every year for five years, I was very interested.”. Waibel started off with a play car, spending a year honing his skills. He moved up to a car that “needed a lot of work to get it ready” but after six months of testing, it was ready for a pro course.
Class 3000, also known as Desert Lites, is a fast-growing class. Cars and trucks have a limited wheel base, unlimited suspension and an Ecotec 2.2 liter or 2.4 liter powerhouse capable of speeds around 100 mph. In 2010, Weibel debuted at Best in the Desert’s Blue Water Challenge in Parker. After winning the two-day race, he was hooked. He kicked off the 2011 BITD season with the far more challenging Parker 425 — and won again. “So, I was like ‘Hey, let’s do the series and see if we can take it all,’ ” Waibel said. The only 2011 race his team didn’t finish was the Silver State 300. “Forty miles from the finish and in first place — with the second place guy over three hours behind us — we broke a 30-cent bolt in our clutch that put us on the trailer for the day,” he said. “I learn something from every race. We found a weak link, but with the help of my buddy Jason (Morgan) at Morphic (Industries in Lake Havasu), we solved the problem.” Shaking off the DNF at Silver State, Waibel won Vegas To Reno, a 560-mile test of endurance and “everything a desert can throw at you.” He took the series with a season-ending win at the Henderson 250, and the team was ready to hit the ground running in 2012. They started off last month’s Parker 425 in first place, but a flat at Mile 5 put them at the back of the pack. Waibel said he was ready to call it quits after another flat at Mile 112 and a blown header gasket.”We had more problems on the first lap than the whole last season,” he said. With the help of team leader Tim Kraus and Vetter, however, everything got fixed and they ran down the class in the second lap for the win. Waibel’s team is preparing for the Mint 400, March 23-25 just outside Las Vegas. He expects to see a lot of competition, with more than 20 expected to enter his class.
He also builds and preps cars for other racers, and saw a 2011 Baja 1000 win with one of his cars. But when it comes to racing, he only competes in BITD. “(BITD owner) Casey Folks runs a great series and has had nothing but a perfect track record with the BLM,” Waibel said.
“I would also like to thank all my customers that come to Hy-Tech repair for service on their desert and water toys. Without them, I could never race off-road.”
EAT MY DUST By Bridget Lewison – for It’s What’s Now’