Taming A Trophy Truck: OTSFF Motorsports' 6100 Spec Trophy Truck (2024)

One of the most recognizable trucks in the desert world is the Trophy Truck. The dominating look, high horsepower, and insane wheel travel make these trucks one of the best performing machines on the planet. One step down from the Trophy Truck class is the Spec Trophy Truck, the same idea, just tamed down.

For OTSFF Motorsports, their beast is a one-off custom-built chassis truck that was done in-house. The truck was engineered and designed by Dave Tounget of Terra Dynamics in Temecula, California and finalized by Adam Fitza. Truck lives with Fitza between races where he makes all the necessary repairs and preps the truck for the next race.

“I have personally been into desert racing for 10-plus years now,” Fitza explained. “I have been a part of the OTSFF group for about five years. I was introduced to Andre (team owner and driver) of 6184 by a colleague. He was interested in the sport and started with an I-Beam class 8 truck before he got the itch to compete at a professional level in the Spec Trophy Truck class.”

“He trusted me in getting him into a competitive race vehicle,” Fitza continued. “We contacted Dave, put in some long hours, and the truck was built. The rest is history!”

Having a competitive truck and team that works well together is key in stressful situations. Some situations can not be prepared for, but one thing that can be ready to go – the truck.

Under The Glass

If you think these trucks look great on the outside, they look even better underneath. Underneath the Ford Raptor fiberglass body built by Glazzkraft, is a piece of machinery weighing in at around 5,500 pounds, capable of going 100 miles per hour through some of the most extreme terrains.

“It’s the same truck body and same chassis from last season, but thanks to the rule changes we’re able to do a bigger motor now, so we opted for a 550-horsepower motor,” Fitza said. “This, of course, meant having to install a newFlowmasterexhaust system.”

Powering this spec truck is a GM LS3 backed by aB&M TH400 Reid Case while the fuel comes from a 109-gallon Pyrotect fuel cell. Keeping the truck cool areTriton Race Coolers,Phenix Industries plumbing, and Motul fluids. Getting the power to the CMS rear housing is a JE Reel driveshaft. The housing usesUS Gear 10-inch Lightning Series gears andJamar 6 Piston TT brakes.

“This current truck is one of a kind,” Fitza explained. “It’s light, nimble and fast. Designed from years of experience in chassis design and thought outside of the box to create a very competitive race vehicle.”

A great benefit of running in the Spec Truck class is the ability to be competitive with class restrictions. New rules for the Spec class are set up to make the 2020 season even more exciting allowing the use of a bigger motor, jumping from 430 horsepower to a 525 horsepower LS3 with underdrive. In addition, the class is allowed to use up to a 40-inch tire compared to the 37-inch allowed last year.

“The spec truck class is hands down the most competitive class in off-road racing,” Fitza said. “With an average of 40-plus trucks per race and every truck with an equal engine, it makes for some great competition and racing.”

Anyone can go out and race, but it takes a team to put a truck together, successful pits, and a driver willing to push just hard enough to get the truck across the finish line.

Making Of A Smooth Ride

To have a smooth ride over the rough desert terrain it is not just one part that needs to work properly, but an entire system. The suspension system on this Spec Trophy Truck is set up to handle everything thrown at it.

With a 126-inch wheelbase, 40-inch Toyo Open Country RT tires wrapped around forged beadlock Vision Wheels it only begins to explain the ride this truck will give you. Featuring 24 inches of front suspension travel and 29 inches of rear suspension travel Fitza has done all the shock tuning himself in-house.The truck utilizes Fox 4-inch bypass shocks in the rear, 3.5-inch bypass shocks in the front, and 3-inch coilovers in both the front and rear.

“We’ve also stepped up to bigger tires. We’ll be using the 40-inch Toyo RT tires,” Fitza continued. “We upgraded a bunch of other things from last season, including the Fox shocks. Basically, anything I touched on this vehicle, anything that came off the truck, got either rebuilt or replaced. I truly believe the truck is better than it’s ever been.”

Finishing off the details on the truck they use Custom Off-Road Design for their paneling and skid plates, Life racing electronics wired by Danzio Performance. Keeping the team held in are PRP seats while Rugged Radios help them stay in constant contact with the rest of the team and for their night adventures they have Rigid lights illuminating the way.

“The truck is very well thought out,” Fitza explained. “The ease of working on and prepping truck is my favorite part. In desert racing, there are so many unknowns while racing to keep the truck simple makes for faster turn arounds and easier pit stops. The steering is a traditional Saginaw box by Power Steering Solutions that gives zero steering feedback which makes for great handling and driving.”

With all technology in the suspension, we can see why they enjoy racing the truck so much.

Racing In 2020

The 2020 racing season is underway already with the Best in the Desert Parker 425 in the books, and the Laughlin Desert Classic around the corner on February 20th to 23rd. The success the team had in 2019, is already happening after completing another race and finishing 12th in their class.

“The 2019 season was our first full season in the 6100 class (Trophy Spec) in the Best in the Desert series,” Fitza said. “We came into the season with the goal of finishing every race. We put a lot of time into the truck and Andre drove amazing. We ended up finishing every race with Andre driving every mile with navigator Kerry King. Ironman! Ultimately finishing out in fourth place in the season points standings. That’s huge! We were all very excited with the outcome.”

The team is going to compete in the entire Best in the Desert series this year along with the Mint 400 in March. They all believe if they keep their consistency flowing they can finish again in the Top 5 in points. With a great team and striving for success each race there is no reason why we won’t see the no. 6184 on top of the standings come years end.

“We’re all very excited for this season,”team owner and driver Andre Laurin said. “I’m pumped with the modifications made to the OTSFF/Motul6100 truck. Last year we had a great truck. The results we achieved on the track spoke for themselves. But thanks to some of the new rule changes we have been able to build an even better one for this year.”

The OTSFF Motorsports team would like to thank all of their sponsors for continued support in their program. Their sponsors includeMotul, Vision Wheel, OTSFF group, Rigid Industries, Toyo Tires, US gear, PRP seats, Sunoco Race Fuel, Flowmaster, B&M, Holley EFI, Bell Helmets, Rugged Radios, Jamar Performance, and Evans Coolant.

Stay tuned all year long as we check out how the OTSFF Motorsports Trophy Spec handles the 2020 season. Be sure to check out the full gallery below, featuring all the details of this truck. What do you like most about the truck? Tell us in the comments below!