Total Chaos Brings Female Duo Jessi Combs & Nicole Pitell -Vaughan to Battle at Primm

Total Chaos driver, Nicole Pitell -Vaughan, recently invited Jessi Combs to be her navigator in the "Battle at Primm."

The Team Total Chaos crew is no stranger to stiff and fierce competition. However, they recently embarked upon a journey into unknown waters, when they rolled into Primm, Nevada to race in one of the snore series' most popular events . Not only had driver, Nicole Pitell - Vaughan never competed in the "Battle at Primm," but she would also be working with her navigator for the first time - Myth Busters television star, Jessi Combs.

Although Nicole Pitell - Vaughan and Jessi Combs had never raced together prior to the "Battle at Primm," they came out of the gates as a competitive force.

Although Vaughan and Combs had never raced as a team prior to this event, the driver was very confident in her teammate's skill level and abilities. "Jessi is a highly experienced motorsports athlete and has competed in several disciplines of off road racing," ensured Vaughan. "I have high expectations for my navigators, and I knew the 1450 class at this race was very competitive.

The driver said, "We see each other at a few industry events every year. When I lost my three-peat co-pilot who I had been racing with, she was one of my first replacement choices to sit in the right-hand seat when I started looking.".

"We were supposed to race back in October at the Race for a Cure in Barstow. But we had some scheduling conflicts with her world record attempt. . ."

With all of their ducks in a row, the female duo and their crew arrived at the event confident they had the equipment and experience to prove a competitive force. Their Toyota Tacoma was fine tuned and ready for competition, and they were geared up and eager for the waving of the green flag to deem the battle underway. However, in spite of their readiness, it was only natural to feel some sense of uncertainty.

"Actually, I was really nervous to start up front," recalled Vaughan. "I like rear class starts. I knew over half the field ran V8s and, hands down, had more power than Lil-T. I trusted Jessi and that extra set of eyes to keep me from getting punted off of the course. And I knew the truck was set up very well," she explained. We have some of the best fabricators and pit crew in the industry at Team Total Chaos."

The female duo of Nicole Pitell - Vaughan and Jessi Combs proved an effective team, but a mechanical malfunction on the final day of racing left their vehicle strnded and lying on it’s side.

But the nervousness was short lived. And when the battle began, the Total Chaos duo wasted no time establishing their position. Drawing the 11th starting position for the opening day of racing, they managed to finish the event in sixth place out of a field of 54 trucks. Their finish alone was something to be proud of. Only one minute separated fourth and sixth place, which made the accomplishment even sweeter.

Vaughan, Combs and the crew returned to the track the following day with anticipation of what would transpire in the hours to come. Again, they made a run toward the front early, reaching the fourth position. But bad luck lurked farther down the course, as they blew a steering rack seal.

Even though Vaughan tried to maneuver the truck off course and "hang on," the results were not favorable. In fact, the truck rolled over, coming to a stop on the driver's door.

Although the outcome of the final day did not go as hoped for, overall, Total Chaos made an impressive stand at the Battle at Primm, and one can rest assured that the team will continue to make showings in the future.

Nicole Pitell - Vaughn and her team are acutely aware that proper maintenance will play an essential role in their success so they depend upon K&N products for their filtering needs.

"A race is generally won or lost in the garage," she explained. Worn out or damaged components can cause a race car to not perform to its full potential. We have endorsed K&N filters exclusively for over ten years," she continued. K&N is a premium product for daily driving use and race applications. All of our shop pre-runners, race trucks, and daily drivers use either the K&N intake systems or replacement filters. K&N filters are an awesome product."

Looking back at the her recent experience at the Battle at Primm , the driver concluded, "I have to admit, the most rewarding part was how pumped some of the competition was on our position on the opening day, as well as the chick fans who congratulated us after the race. It was very cool to see some women pumped that two ladies were out there racing and battling with the top field of boys."