GenRight Off Road to Race a Jeep in 4400 Class at King of the Hammers
Racer Tony Pellegrino breaks down the mods that are destined to make GenRight’s Jeep Wrangler JKU a surefire winner in 2020.
Following a brief hiatus from the event, longtime King of the Hammers racer and previous second-place finisher Tony Pellegrino is stepping back into the driver’s seat for the 2020 KoH event (February 7) as the driver of record for the second race vehicle in the GenRight stable. But he’s not racing his old 4400 race car. Instead Pellegrino will be racing the flagship GenRight Jeep Wrangler JKU–which is dubbed the “Terremoto”–in the 4400 class.
For the last two years, the GenRight team owner and prolific off-roader took a break from competing to help his son, Jordan Pellegrino, move up to and get settled in the 4400 Class for racing in Ultra4.
“The Terremoto has been wheeled hard since we completed the build in 2013,” says Pellegrino, who has logged in 10 years racing in the Ultra-4 4400 class. “It has the GenRight Elite Suspension featuring Summit Machine links and FOX IBP shocks, Currie Enterprises axles front and rear, with R1 Concepts brakes, WARN winch, Factor 55 Ultrahook, GenRight roll cage, GenRight aluminum JKU dash and center console as well as bumpers, fenders and aluminum rocker guards, Rugged Radios race radio, Mickey Thompson 40” Baja Boss tires, Scosche mirrors and fire extinguisher mounts.
“The GenRight Elite suspension is trail proven and road worthy, so why not race it?” adds Pellegrino, who in 2006 founded GenRight Off Road, which focuses on Jeep Wrangler armor, suspension and accessories.
Southern California native Pellegrino and GenRight Racing will complete the minimum requirements to make the Jeep compliant with the rules for 4400 class. That means new seats with non-removable headrests, a bladdered fuel cell, fluid catch cans, a few additional bars for the roll cage and a handful of other small items are needed to be upgraded to pass tech inspection.
‘I am taking a trail wheeled, street legal, full-body vehicle and racing it against $150,000-plus specially built cars. I’ve watched these drivers all season at each Ultra4 event. I think we will do well.’
“I think the Terremoto will finish the race within the time limit,” says Pellegrino, whose crew includes Darren Ruzicka, Brian Maxwell, Chris Calkins, Jim Woods, Mark Fechner and Steve Maxwell.
“Ideally, a top 10 finish is what we are shooting for. The Terremoto just wheeled 102 trails in 2019. The only thing that I had to do was change the T-case fluid. It was solid all season, just like it was in 2018. I am taking a trail wheeled, street legal, full-body vehicle and racing it against $150,000-plus specially built cars. I’ve watched these drivers all season during our VIP Experience runs at each Ultra4 event. I think we will do well.”
Pellegrino and the GenRight Off Road team’s longtime participation in the King of the Hammers is as strategic as it is impressive, with the crew hitting the off road trails as a way to test and prove the quality of the Simi Valley company’s Jeep parts.
“We test our products in the real world, at The Hammers, which are some of the hardest rock-crawling trails in the United States,” says Pellegrino, whose aftermarket company is also celebrating its tenth year as Official Suspension of King of the Hammers and Ultra4 Race Series. “In 2020, I will be racing my well-known Jeep JK in the 4400 Class to prove how good our products are.”
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