TMW - 11-29-2004 at 07:57 AM
From the Chasepit.com web site.
November 26, 2004
Chasepit.com 2004 Baja 1000
The first official race for Chasepit turned out to be a typical Baja 1000 adventure. The location of our base camp of sorts for this year?s race was
the popular resort destination of Pete?s Camp just north of San Felipe, BC Mexico. While the race started in Ensenada, a city nestled against the
shores of the Pacific Ocean 2 hours south of San Diego California, our pit location was no where near the comforts of Ensenada but much further south.
Our crew members numbering just over a dozen arrived Wednesday, the day before the race, in groups arriving from Phoenix, Yuma and Southern
California. Most crew members arrived without a hitch with the exception of a single crew that got caught up in a tangled snarl of detours just south
of Mexicali. This was the first adventure, a "three hour tour" for this part of our crew. While these unfortunate souls toured the finer sections of
Mexicali the remainder of our crew gathered to sort through the piles of equipment necessary to pull this off.
Chasepit had signed four race vehicles for a complete array of pit service at a location several miles south of a fishing village called Puertocitos
which is located about 45 miles south of San Felipe but the treacherous route takes over two hours to traverse in a pickup truck safely. A large
section of this road is the actual Baja 1000 course which many have referred to as the roughest section of the 1,017 mile course which leads racers
from the start in Ensenada to La Paz. While this road is a challenge as you can see in the photo below it is some of the most scenic regions of Baja.
In addition to the vehicles who signed for our pit services, several other teams had us signed for emergency use if necessary. In Baja, unlike at your
average NASCAR race, when you have difficulties you can?t just coast in to the pits. If you do not make arrangements to have "friends" throughout the
route you have no chance of finishing.
Our pit location was determined by the course itself. Each race team has its own crew of dedicated members that will chase the race vehicle down the
course and provide pit support. For a race like the Baja 1000 however, the logistics of a course that is spread over 1,000 miles of terrain is quite
the challenge. The founding members of Chasepit were aware of the difficulties presented by this years course, one of which was the transition from
the shores of the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez) back to the Pacific Ocean side of Baja about 200 miles into the race. Race teams that send their
dedicated team members to this section of the course would not be able to use these assets any further since the only access into and out of this
section was on the race course itself. Chasepit provided a means for race teams to contract out race support and send their dedicated team members to
sections further south.
It takes loads of gear to fully support a race vehicle in the middle of no-where much less several race vehicles each with their own special needs.
Overall, it took five pickups to haul the gear necessary to support our race vehicles. Above you can see a small portion of the equipment necessary
for this year?s race. Note the helicopter hovering above, following the progress of a race vehicle about to make a pit stop. Actually, the helicopter
pictured above, carrying a crew working for NBC landed next to our pit requesting re-fuelling services in addition to a cold bottle of water.
Race day was a beautiful one. We could not have asked for anything better. There was a slight breeze with afternoon temps reaching 80 degrees. Our pit
location was at race mile 236 along a 20 mile stretch of the course winding along the side of mountains overlooking the Sea of Cortez. Throughout the
event Chasepit was in communication with the race teams through the use of radio relay. Some teams have fixed wing aircraft that fly high above the
course allowing for the relay of communications between pits, the race vehicle and team managers stretched all the way down the Baja. The Protruck
team of SMD Motorsports was one such team. Through the use of "SMD Air Relay" Chasepit was able to receive and pass vital information such as the
progress of the race truck and any special needs to be addressed when they arrive.
The motorcycles and quads started the race at sunrise on Thursday morning and the four wheeled vehicles began their 1,000 mile journey at about 9:30.
The first four wheeled race vehicle to pass our location was the Trophy Truck of Robby Gordon. One must see Robby attack a desert racing course
firsthand to understand the adrenaline rush he delivers to all who are gathered along the course. Robby passed our location at well over 90 mph at
1:35pm. Race re-caps gathered later in the day showed Robby leading for the overall win until he had mechanical difficulties that put him out of the
race. Break or win is often the terms used to describe his Baja effort. The eventual Trophy Truck class winner and defending Baja 1000 winner Mark
Miller passed by eight minutes later. It was not until eight more race vehicles had passed and a half hour later when the eventual overall four wheel
vehicle winner passed by. The overall winner was the "Truggy" of Terrible Herbst Motorsports, one of the winningest desert racing vehicles of all
time. The term Truggy comes from the fact that the vehicle was raced as a Trophy Truck for several years before joining the ranks of the open wheeled
Unlimited Class One Buggies. The Truggy was moved into this class by means of removing its fenders, causing a blending of Truck and Buggy.
It was 2:10pm when our first customer, the three seat Trophy Truck #2 of "Pistol" Pete Sohren arrived. This Geiser Bros built race truck is something
else. While there have been trucks configured with three seats before, this truck has all three occupants sitting side by side, the driver sitting in
the center. Minutes before the #2 arrived, a helicopter arrived carrying several producers from NBC who were covering the event. One occupant of the
helo was dressed in a driver?s suit and announced his intentions to be swapped with one of the race truck?s co-drivers. Just as #2 came sliding in,
the driver told us that he needed to have the brakes bled, wisely calling out the size of the wrench necessary and requesting brake fluid. This truck
came in hot and the blur of activity began. In a matter of a couple of minutes the truck received 45 gallons of race fuel, had one occupant removed,
another stuffed in his place, had the brakes bled, received refreshments and had a spare tire changed. The rear axle was smoking due to a leaking seal
but the call was made to leave the issue for another pit further along the course. "Pistol" Pete re-entered the course in record time.
Just after the crew recovered from this stop the radio called out for our next customer to arrive, Trophy Truck #82 of Bob Sheppard. This race truck
was also built by the Geiser Bros out of Phoenix Arizona. This truck has the normal two person configuration but that is where the word typical ceases
to describe this truck. The Geiser Bros are known for their innovation and the location of the spare tires and horse shoe shaped upright fuel cell are
the most obvious unique attributes of this 800 horse power desert racing machine. This stop was much more typical involving fuelling the vehicle and a
complete visual check before sending #82 back onto the course. Note the use of the dry break fuel system on this vehicle. The dry break method of
fuelling allows the rapid introduction of fuel into the truck via a fuel tower much like those used by Formula 1 racing teams.
After each race vehicle returned back onto the course the Crew Chief met with the Pit Boss to discuss items to communicate with each race vehicle.
After departure the Pit Boss contacts the vehicle one more time to relay vital information on the stop and the race including, the amount of fuel
introduced into the vehicle, any problems noticed with the truck, any work done on the truck and the elapsed time between the nearest race vehicle in
front of and behind them as they continue to attack Baja.
The Chasepit guys had a short break before the next race vehicle arrived for service. The Crew Chief and the Pit Boss discussed the possibility of the
next two customers arriving at the same time which would present quite a challenge. This possibility became a reality soon after the Protruck of SMD
Motorsports arrived for a top off of fuel and installation of two different light bars. The crew was ready for the Protruck to arrive having gathered
the necessary tools and discussing a plan of attack. The Pit Boss decided to pit them as far away from the fuel tower as possible since the remaining
customer, a Class 8 race truck driven by Dave Raimonde would use the dry break system. Race truck drivers are instructed to pull right up to the chest
of the Pit Boss in order to help locate the vehicle in the best possible location for accomplishing the task at hand and the Protruck driven by Matt
Scarroni did just that. A Protruck is a tubular chassis purpose built desert racing machine that is built in accordance to specifications determined
by the Protruck class. All Protrucks race with the same chassis using the same shocks, lights, seats, transmissions etc. The only difference between
Protrucks is the manufacturer represented by the fiberglass body panels and the matched brand of the V8 motor under the hood. The amount of horse
power is limited to about 400 in these trucks which ensure that they are some of the most durable desert racing vehicles built. Since all Protrucks
are almost identical, it is a driver?s class. When Matt pulled into our pit the Chasepit guys immediately went to work on installing the light bars.
It was a sight to be seen as the Pit Boss ducked just in time for the guys to pull the lights over his head for installation.
It was moments later when the Class 8 race truck #807 arrived. A Class 8 truck is a full size pickup modified for desert racing. Usually the stock cab
is retained along with the stock frame rails. These full size trucks are known for their huge amounts of horsepower. Just as planned the #807 slipped
into the pit next to the Protruck and close to the fuel tower for re-fuelling. Since the fuel tower dry break system can introduce almost 100 gallons
of fuel in a matter of seconds it was #807 that left our pit first. This was of obvious concern to our Protruck patron. After we sent Protruck #227
back onto the course the Co-Driver Mark Cowan called out on the radio requesting that we contact the #807 and ask him if he would let the Protruck by.
In desert racing track position is most important due to the dust. Protruck #227 was in the hunt for the SCORE Championship and needed to finish well.
The Pit Boss switched back and forth between frequencies and convinced the #807 to comply with this request improving the chances of Protruck #227
accomplishing their goal. After all these race teams compete with vehicles in their own class and these two trucks were not in competition with each
other.
The dust and rocks flying as Protruck #227 left our pit signaled the end of our scheduled pit service. After shaking hands and thanking all of those
involved the Chasepit guys fired up the Barbeque grill and began to spectate for the remainder of the race. Due to the nature of the course and our
location, it was not until midnight that the crew could begin their two hour journey back to Pete?s Camp for that warm sleeping bag.
It is our pleasure to report that not a single person was injured at our pit and each race vehicle that received our service finished the 2004 Tecate
SCORE Baja 1000. In fact, our effort helped ensure that the Protruck of SMD Motorsports did in fact win the SCORE Protruck Championship. The guys of
Chasepit would like to thank the race teams and sponsors who made this unforgettable weekend possible.
The 2004 Chasepit Baja 1000 Crew:
Crew Chief: Mark Diebert
Pit Boss: Jerry Hinkle
Team Manager: Robert Weideman
Crew: Robert Sowinsky
Shannon Boothe
Dan Goldberg
Colin Corrigan
Todd Zuercher
Russell Wright
Cory Sell
Jake Hinkle
To learn more about the Baja 1000 go to www.score-international.com. To get more information about Chasepit and to view additional pictures and video of the Chasepit 2004 Baja 1000 Pit
Support team visit www.chasepit.com.
Junior
Photos by Jake Hinkle and Cory Sell
tunaeater - 12-2-2004 at 11:18 AM
Tom that would be so fun to be involved with. I bet it was a nice bbq after a successful day of ptting for those guys. Very nice story. Thanks for
sharing Paul
excellent story TW
capt. mike - 12-3-2004 at 08:09 AM
am glad someone went in and broke it up into paragraphs so it could be read easier!
i hope to hook up with a team next year to provide aerial support. if you know of any interested have them email me. thx!
also will need a radio man. i'll have 2 meter on board.
TMW - 12-4-2004 at 11:13 AM
Capt. Mike I'll keep an ear open for you. It is interesting that several low dollar teams (for lack of a better word) had air support at the 1000. The
Loco Mocos Pit team had a plane in the air and at the AM/PM in San Felipe I met a helicopter pilot who was helping a loose knit group of racers.
yeah - it ain't that much compared to what else
capt. mike - 12-4-2004 at 03:23 PM
you spend on logistics, and fixed wing very affordable vs. rotary. i'll subordinate part of costs just for the fun of it. i am thinking SF 250 coming
up. 