We’re back at Trail Hero at Sand Hollow, Hurricane, Utah…
With another revealing interview with Kevin and Brittany Williams.
With Jacob Reeves, the Youngest Competitor in the Unlimited Class at Trail Hero.
There are different classes of events at Trail Hero. There are sportsman classes, and every man classes that want to compete. Then there are the pro classes, which are pro mod and unlimited. With the unlimited classes, you can do whatever you want.
Now, Jacob is only 16 years old. Brittany actually got Jacob in video for the first time, when he was the youngest competitor overall, when he was just 15. For those that don’t know what type of rig Jacob drives, it’s a buggy. But it’s the most insane buggy imaginable.
Here’s what happened yesterday…
Jacob finished the third course yesterday, in the trail breaker, which are the hardest trails they can find in the area. It was hot, and everyone, was struggling. Jacob does hard stuff in his Jeep, like going over parking curbs. Compared to the others, what Jacob does is insane.
It’s emotional, there are a lot things happening. He has his family and friends and others cheering him on. That puts
pressure on Jacob, that he has to do things a certain way, while it’s all timed. He has 15 minutes per course, and there were three courses today in the unlimited class.
Jacob’s Rig
Jacob and his dad built the whole thing, it was a GoBoat chassis, which is a portable boat that fits in your car, SUV or pickup. It sets up in minutes. The GoBoat comes with the blow molded chassis, 1 mm thick. It comes in a kit, in a box. Then you have a jig and you tack it together. You can have the whole chassis together in a day. So if something happened, like you rolled off one of those cliffs, you could put one together over the weekend.
You could buy one from YouTube from Drew at GoBuilt, if you wanted to. But at that point you would be cutting it off and starting over. However, sometime it’s faster to cut it off. And they do that. Which is better than having him ship everything from Wisconsin.
Jacob’s Rig is Truly Sick.
He has two sets of turning breaks so he can walk each tire of the car. He has a rear steer lever, with miscellaneous switches, and ignition and starter fans. If a computer goes out you just hit the switch. For a computer, it’s just a stock Chevy truck computer. There are not many people using a V-six, a Chevy 1500. Jacob chose that because it’s a V-6, it makes torque for V6 because of that truck motor. It makes straight 300 horsepower out of the blocks. This isn’t high speed. It’s slow speed stuff. It’s very technical.
He can steer the rear, he can steer the front, he can start each tire individually. The only thing that’s more impressive than the rig are the drivers. They are not just looking and steering. They have numerous buttons levers and buttons. They are continually maneuvering this vehicle in ways that other people would never do.
What’s even more incredible is it’s not just Jacob.
In these competitions, he has a spotter, and Jacob’s is special, his father Jason is behind the winch. In trail break you’re not allowed to have a spotter, but in cone dodging you are allowed to have a spotter. That means you have another set of eyes. If Jacob misses something, his man Charley is also back there.
Charlie and can tell him where to go. For a long time, Charlie and Jacob were the youngest and oldest competing. Charlie is 77 years old, and he is still competing. He’s a friend, not related to Jacob and his father. He actually came in number 1 in the last heat.
How Jacob Got Started Racing Off Road
Jacob’s father was an off road racer. Their family raced off road Broncos when he was a kid. He was only 7 or 8 when he got behind the wheel of an off road racer, in Charlie’s Bronco. Jacob was already competing at age 14. And today, offroad racing is one of his favorite things to do, just being behind the wheel.
Last year, when Brittany was videoing Jacob for Lite Brite, Jacob rolled his vehicle. While that is always entertaining for spectators, that was not his goal. With these vehicles, sometime you can right yourself all by yourself, just by turning the vehicle in a certain direction or by doing certain maneuvers.
Kevin and Brittany consider what Jacob does to be the top of the food chain in motor sports, putting him in the category of Spiderman.
Some of the hills, mountains and rocks, as most people can’t even walk up, as he handles terrain that Jacob rides up with ease. Jacob, at only 16, and being a top rider in the unlimited class now, is building a purposed-built competition car in the next few years.
Otherwise, he continues to enjoy off road racing, and be more competitive. He continues to enjoy wheeling as a fun pastime when he’s on his personal time, too. Though he admits, he will be back on the competition line any time he can.