JAY, Okla. — On the last lap of the 4400 Unlimited class finale at MidAmerica Outdoors, the fourth round of the Ultra4 USA season appeared to be safely within Vaughn Gittin Jr.’s grasp.
The Ford Bronco driver, while physically running behind second-place Paul Wolff, had Wolff beat on adjusted time around the 8.5-mile race course. But midway through the lap, Gittin Jr. disappeared.
The Bronco, which had been abused by wet and muddy conditions throughout the two-hour race, began shutting off and on, giving Gittin Jr. no choice but to limp the No. 25 entry home in first gear.
However, his misfortune lent itself to the No. 1018 of Wolff, who regained the lead after starting from the pole.
“The last lap, I knew I had to go. There were multiple times where I thought I was going to crash, where you’re skimming trees and you’re like, ‘Oh wow, that could’ve went really bad,’” Wolff said. “I just pushed the car as hard as I could push it on that last lap to make sure I could seal that win.”
Adrenaline rushing, Wolff had to calm himself down after crossing the finish line.
“I had to collect myself before I tried talking. I didn’t know what was going to come out,” Wolff said with a smile.
Bryan Crofts, who had been running third, took second from Gittin Jr. Despite losing communication with his crew on the first lap, Crofts expertly maneuvered the tight, wooded course and brought his No. 9 entry home in second.
“You get to a point in the race where you feel like you can’t continue or give up, but you’ve just got to keep going and get a finish, and that’s what I tried to do,” Crofts said.
Gittin Jr. finished third in his battered Bronco.
Unfortunately, his Fun-Haver Off-Road Team teammate Loren Healy also dealt with issues. He broke his front-drive shaft and was unable to finish the race in his No. 67 entry. He was unofficially scored 19th out of 27 entries.
Shannon Campbell finished fourth and Phillip McGilton was fifth. Pip Justice, Levi Shirley, Jonathan Dawes, Bailey Campbell and Tad Bowker completed the top 10 in the 4400 Unlimited class at Visions Off-Road.