for those who don’t know I just returned from a cross country race event called the One Lap of America, a long time running event that most compare to the original Cannonball run of years past(Son of creator of that event runs the OLOA). I won’t get into the details of the event or pictures as I already have a running thread for that but this deserves it’s own thread outright.
At the end of every One Lap an awards ceremony/dinner is held for the competitors and OLOA crew at the Tire Rack where various trophies and plaques are handed out to the class and OA winner. Every year nice trophies are made for the top ten overall winners and in years past some very nice pieces have been handed out. This year took a drastic turn.
At the start of the event I noticed UUC was one of the sponsors and had made some sarcastic comments in regards to them to members and Brock alike(those know my past dealings with UUC and their products for certain customers). At the ceremony it became clear that UUC was contracted to make the top ten trophies, which were supposed to have been in South Bend at the beginning of the event for inspection but did not arrive until the very last day of the event.
What you see right there is the trophy given to my friends Huge Bate and Rene Von Richtoven for a SECOND PLACE OVERALLfinish for this years event! That’s right, a USED cobbled up UUC flywheel with a UUC exhaust tip bonded to the hub via what appears to be exhaust sealant putty. No engraving to signify anything about the One Lap or what place finish it was. In fact, the flywheel still has remnants of clutch material and dust embedded into the surface. It was an absolute disgrace towards Brock and the event, and man let me tell you he was PISSED.
Rene took the hunk of shit and threw it into the parking lot, and then proceeded to use it as a door stop at the ceremony ending to hold the door open for the competitors as they were exiting the building. He gave it to me thereafter to “dispose of” as he so politely called it, but I have better plans for it for next years event.
I didn’t take any pictures of the other top ten trophies, but 10th-4th were nothing more than a USED UUC underdrive pulley with a crap shift knob bonded to the center in the same fashion as the pictures above. Leh Keen, who took first in class and first overall, was given a similar used UUC flywheel with some sort of shifter mechanism bonded into the center. He promptly posted online about an hour after they were headed back south that the shifter had busted off the base and was rolling around somewhere in the trailer.
Indeed it was, but even moreso towards Brock and the event. I know Brock said he was going to make it right for the top ten winners and get some sort of proper trophy to them, and apologized to no end during the ceremony.
I’ve got a message out to him to contact me after he settles down from all the event traffic over the next week. Going to discuss with him about having me create next years trophies.
This is what Leh Keen posted on FB for winning OVERALL. UUC is a bunch of con artists, I’m not surprised in the slightest. Leh also said Brock Yates was PISSED and was going to try to do something about it.
Adam, thanks for posting this. I’m adding it to the UUC haters email train I’m on.
Thats fucked up. Im not familiar with UUC or really this type of racing but, can tell just from what i have read this one lap race series has some serious expensive cars in it, costs a ton in travel costs, parts/labor etc. Gas isnt exactly cheap, neither are hotels, food etc and not to mention probably entry fee’s. Fucked up that this company cant contribute some decent prizes, let alone great trophies.
UUC ran a ‘special’ selling ‘blemished’ items for cheaper than the go for normally. Rob @ UUC said they’d be getting bushings that were the wrong color/colors poorly mixed/etc.
You might think I’m about to tell you that he got horribly made, unusable bushings, but it’s been OVER A YEAR and they’ve yet to issue him a refund OR send him ANYthing.
RIDICULOUS. Every time someone says they’re getting something made by UUC I promptly correct them, I can’t wait to hear news of their utter failure and demise/closing their doors for good.
