TMW - 6-6-2006 at 07:25 AM
From Don Moss:
> Moss Brothers Racing Bronco puts another one in the
> win column! It was a rough and slow course, and we
> got hung up in two major traffic jams, but we lost
> only about 10 or 20 minutes in each, instead of hours
> like last year. With only 18 hours to finish, you can
> see we did not have lot of time to spare even though
> we didn't have any problems. We got out a grand total
> of one screwdriver and tightened one screw on one of
> the voltage regulators the entire race. Also note
> that we finished ahead of a bunch of other classes,
> including Class 9 and the Stock Full Size trucks. In
> fact our time would have been good enough for 3rd in
> Class 8!
>
> I started the race with Chris Reilly and we took the
> Bronco to BFG Pit 1 at race mile (RM) 99. This
> section included the "Pine Forest", which was tight,
> rough and dusty. We came across one traffic jam at
> about RM 60 on a steep uphill switchback section. Ken
> and Gary Dunn went to BFG Pit 2 at RM 173, and they
> had a traffic jam shortly after the pit where two
> other racers got hung up in a creek crossing. Ken and
> Dan Thunborg went to RM 248 through the Mike's Sky
> Ranch and Simpson Ranch area. Ken usually runs this
> section in the dark, so he was glad to see it during
> the day for a change. I got back in at RM 248 just as
> it was getting dark, and Dan and I took it to BFG Pit
> 3. Dave Grundman got in, and he and I went up the
> Pacific beach to Santo Tomas. The fog was horrible
> through here, and we could not see a thing without
> leaving our helmet visors open. We had hoped to make
> up some time and bring up our average speed in this
> section, but instead we had creep through here because
> it was dark and foggy. From Santo Tomas we headed
> back inland to Ojos Negros. In the canyon we came
> across the Camburg trophy truck parked in front of a
> 1600 class racer laying on its side in the middle of
> the trail. Dave jumped out and helped flip the car
> back over. It turns out the 1600 team was connected
> to the group of locals that got us running and then
> pulled us out in the 2002 Baja 500. The Camburg truck
> promptly got hung up trying to get around the 1600
> car. We pulled and pushed until we both finally got
> through the section. Before we got out of the canyon,
> we pulled another mini truck out of a rut. These guys
> had their tow strap all ready to go. It is suprising
> how many stuck vehicles you see that don't have a tow
> strap out, maybe they don't have one? We put some gas
> in when we stopped in Ojos, and Ken got in with Dave
> to finish the race. They were able to navigate the
> last section coming into Ensenada, even though the
> supplied GPS track was wrong. The physical course
> markings disappear in this section even before we get
> there during the start, either knocked down, covered
> with dust, or collected as a souvenir by the
> spectators. There is so much construction going on in
> this area that the route changes almost daily. We had
> planned to save the route as we came through during
> the start, but the GPS memory ran out and overwrote
> the data. Ken said there were suprisingly quite a few
> spectators in this section, even though it was 2 in
> the morning!
>
> The house we had for this race was different than past
> races, but in the same area on the beach. This one
> worked well, because it had a large area of concrete
> that we were able park and work on. We had to install
> new front and rear springs on the Bronco that we
> picked up on the way down.
>
> We were all back across the border by about 3 pm
> Sunday, after about a 3 or 4 hour ordeal getting
> through TJ and the border. I have never seen it so
> bad, just bad timing I guess.
>
> A big thanks to Robert, Cam, and Pete for helping out
> with the chase truck duty and all the other 5,000
> details that it takes to make one of these races
> successful. Pete drove all the way out from Iowa
> towing his motorcycle. He and Chris pre-ran the first
> 100 miles on Wednesday, since we hadn't really covered
> that section in previous years.
>
> Check the thewebwheeler.com for more stories and
> pictures, thanks to Cam and his website.
>
> And finally, a thanks to the following for parts and
> support:
>
> River City Differentials
> BFG
> Deaver Suspension
> King Shocks
> Sunoco fuel
> Baja Bros Flame Lab shirts
> American Racing Wheels
> Delta Rubber
Bruce R Leech - 6-6-2006 at 08:16 AM
nice report thanks TW