Setting records is something that many of us never get a chance to do, but at the recent Record Reset event, plenty of records were broken. One of those people setting records was the driver of a purple Can-Am x3, Nicole Servey.
Servey is from Farmington, Utah, and is no stranger to racing as her husband, James Servey, also competed at the event in the Class C UTV Pro Class. James took the World record in both ET and MPH in his division.
“This is my third year racing my Can-Am side-by-side,” Servey said. “I have always been a little bit of an adrenaline junkie. I have been competing in barrel racing most of my life or anything to do with horses.”
The Can-Am X3 Servey races compete in the 46mm inducer turbocharger D/UTV D/PRO UTV class, where she previously held the miles per hour World record. The X3 has custom turbo piping and exhaust manifold made by the Humble Welder Company, a 46mm turbocharger with a built motor by Phoenix Speed Industries, Sand Tire Unlimited tires, Packard Performance billet intake plenum, and Packard Performance carbon fiber wheels.
“I teamed up with SS FAB and Phoenix Speed Industries for this specific race,” Servey said. “My husband is the original builder on this car and does most everything on this car except building motors and tuning the car.”
If you think racing is all fun and games, it can be, but a lot goes on behind the scenes, including on the way to the event.
“James and I left our home and started our travels on Monday, February 27th, where we would stay the first night in Mesquite, Nevada,” Survey said. “This is where we locked ourselves out of our motorhome for a couple of hours and had a tow company helping us to get in. The most stressful part was our three dogs were locked in the motorhome.”
“We arrived in Peoria, Arizona, at the Phoenix Speed Industry shop and SS FAB shop the following day. We immediately pulled my car out and started working on it, installing a new motor and shocks. We aimed to get to the track Thursday morning and start testing cars, but we didn't arrive until Thursday Night.”
Checking out the track is important in drag racing, just as it is in desert racing. Servey was able to walk the track and evaluate the best lanes come race day.
“The first couple of hits in my car were to feel how the track handled with the new air shocks and suspension height,” Servey said. “After I was ready to go, running ET times of 3.988 seconds and at 80.18 miles per hour and 3.943 seconds at 78.67 miles per hour. I then set a speedy time of 3.912 seconds with 82.35 miles per hour which set the bar high. I went to bed Friday night as the new current leader and record-setter.”
Servey was sitting well heading into the second day of racing, but things turned for the worse on Saturday.
“Saturday afternoon was spent adjusting suspension and air pressure, and soon after getting it dialed in again, I broke my primary clutch and was out for the rest of the night,” Servey said. “We stayed up till five in the morning rebuilding the primary with the help of Kenny Reed with Phoenix Speed Industries.”
Sunday morning, Servey’s Can-Am struggled to get off the line, so they changed out the secondary clutch.
“I was finally able to make some impressive runs and set a new record of 3.760 seconds and 85.61 miles per hour but suffered motor damage during that run,” Servey said. “There were only about three cars left running Sunday morning as all the other cars went out due to mechanical issues.”
“The car that took it made impressive runs back to back and was trying everything to beat me. They finally got with another race team and had one of the professional drivers jockey the car to land two impressive runs and knock me out of the running.”
Despite being done for the weekend and not having the runs she wanted, Servey was still happy with how the event went.
“I still walked away with the fastest miles per hour all weekend in my class and was super happy with how my car competed and how I competed under pressure,” Servey said. “Several owners opted out of driving their cars due to the crazy track conditions and fear of wheeling over and got professional drivers to jockey their cars also. I stuck with it, even though I am not going to lie, the track was a little intimidating, and being the only female driver competing felt I gave her hell and I could play with the boys too.”
All in all, any weekend in the dirt is a good weekend, and despite having issues, Servey was able to take home the fastest in class, which is a big honor. Servey is looking forward to the next Record Reset event and returning stronger than she did this year.
