Team ATK captured another win at the Chilli Cookoff

Team ATK captured another win in the Jeepspeed Unlimited Currie Cup Class this past weekend at the MORE Chilli Cookoff 250 in Lucerne Valley, California, making it three in a row for the new team and vehicle. There were four competitors off the line, with Jon Krellwitz in the ATK Wrangler starting third, behind Nick Beal in a Jeep Comanche and Gregg Jackson in a V8 powered Jeep Cherokee. The first lap was filled with challenges, as Krellwitz and ace co-driver Skyler Gambrell fought their way through the dust and traffic. Slowly but surely they picked their way through the field; in one turn, passing three 1400 (unlimited prerunner) trucks. Mid-way through the first lap, Krellwitz approached a bottleneck which appeared to be the result of the Class 8 Hummer. Gambrell, having a keen sense of the Lucerne terrain, recommended doing a little rock crawling in the all wheel drive equipped ATK Wrangler to pass the gridlock. With ease, the Wrangler articulated over boulders on an alternate route. Just as the ATK Wrangler approached the main course the Class 8 Hummer was back in motion; Jeep power made short work of the Hummer, with Gambrell shouting out a 'yeehaw!, it's a Jeep thing', while Krellwitz made the pass. The remainder of lap one was plagued with dust, but the Krellwitz/Gambrell team made short work of it. Laps two and three went smoothly, with Krellwitz setting the class fast lap on the second lap.

At the end of lap three, the ATK Wrangler stopped for its scheduled pit to take on 20 gallons of Sunoco race fuel and to pick up co-driver Matt McCallum. The final two laps were exciting but without incident. Krellwitz and McCallum cruised into the finish for the Win! Krellwitz noted ¨What a great race! The truck ran perfect and we didn't have one issue all day. This is the first time a Jeepspeed Unlimited truck has beaten all of the competitive Jeepspeed 1 cars."