TMW
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Registered: 9-1-2003
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05 Baja 500 Stories
Here are some race reports as told by the racers, chasers or pit crew members. The first is from Paul Sullivan and he sheds more light on the 804
co-driver incident.
From 805:
We started our race Friday in Ensenada hooking up with Mike and crew near sign up. After a brief conversation Mike headed out with Stuart Chase to pre
run. I went back to sign up to get banded.
At approx. 2:00PM Mike's crew rolled the old girl into the contingence line. The crowd was huge plus the race vendors, street vendors, food, 2 stages
with music. It was pretty crazy. I over heard Sal Fish tell Kasey (BITD) that he loved this part of the race, all the people. Well, we spent the next
4 hours catching up with old friends & working our way thru the maze, being entertained by the crowd aaaannnddd by a friend of mines very drunk
wife. Mike you missed a lot boob shots going with Stuart. Lisa wound with signatures covering both breasts & ass. Gotta love a sharpie. She kept
Mikes crew plus everyone around going. Finally just after 6:00PM we started thru tech.
Tech was fairly easy except for the Safari Black Box, another huge line. One more job for the crew as Mike & I scooted over to the Drivers
meeting, boring as usual. Good chance for a short power nap & more old friends.
I think it was close to 8:00 PM when we arrived at the hotel. We thought we only had a short list to finish before we headed to bed, wrong. Mike had
not one but two new hi-tech starters, neither would work when hot. We fought this until almost 11:00. At this point the decision was made to go back
to stock. Not a problem as there was 3 auto part stores with in 2 blocks. A job for Sat morning.Scooby as promised showed up to down load his GPS
notes, which turned to be HUGE help all race. 11:30 we headed for bed.
5:30 AM Race morning starts. Quick showers and then to the parking lot to pack the tool bags, add drinking water, food, double check the prep and wait
until 8:00 for one of three auto parts to open. 7:55 starter arrives,Mark,Mikes do everything guy, talks the store clerk into opening earily.10
minutes later, tools put away,the old girl fire up.
8:50AM we are line waiting for the start. 9:05 The line starts moving forward. 9:50 we are waiting for the Green flag to drop. Mike shows the crowd
his skills at the hard left off the line nailing a technique perfect turn, then 650 plus horse power. The run up the wash b-tchin.Thousands of people
standing shoulder to shoulder for miles cheering. The overwhelming Police presence kept the obstacles to a min. at this point. Later in the out lying
areas I saw objects thrown & boulders like the one that got Richard Boyle.
The race to BFG #1 was a breese.Mike did a great job, I tried to work the GPS and remember what Scooby had told me. At BFG #1 the crew fueled us and
did a check, no problems, off we went. We were stuck briefly after beach section. Then the "fun started".
The first place we were held up was when another class 8 was parked on top of a pro truck blocking the course. Then in multi places before and
including simpson ranch. We ran trouble free to BFG #2. At BFG #2 we fueled again and had a header bracket welded-not once out of the truck for even a
flat. Mike did a fantastic job of driving/saving the truck to keep us out of trouble. For those, including my self, who have never been on this part
of Baja it is brutal, single track,whooped up,up/down the mountains & rocks everywhere. We carried on.
At approx. mile 238 we broke the left front tie rod. Not a big deal if the chase trucks could get to us. The first attempt to fix it lasted 20' or so.
Then Mike McGyver took out his hack saw cut 2 pieces from his hi-lift jack and with the help of Jr & Poolman w/ Jr.'s box of nuts & bolts we
were back to racing or we thought. 2 miles of racing later we parked 31st in line @240 waiting our turn for the infamous silt hill.We radioed BFG
relay our situation and asked for our crew to wait at Mike's,unfornuatly this communication never reached our crew. We were never able to reach
Weather Man.
10:00Pm we spent the next 3 hours waiting for a chance to attempt the hill. Finally @ 1:00 Am we are second in line behind the #801 truck. He screwed
up every square inch at the bottom of the hill spinning his tires. We had to pull him out once because he was stuck blocking the whole course. At this
point after each attempt successful or not we had to wait for the silt fog to go down. 801 after numerous attempts finally finds hard ground to launch
from far right. I climbed out to walk the bottom one more time and came to talk w/ Mike. I felt our best chance to not be one of the permanent stuck
racers was to try to get far right where the 801 truck was able to find traction. We took off with as much speed as we could started up on the
shoulder when the bank gave way leaving us stuck for the night. Our night ended there. Our bad luck the crew never getting the message from BFG relay
tried until 4:00AM Sunday to get us out.
5:30AM Sunday sun up in the Chevy Hilton Hotel. Mike starts shoveling, while we wait for the chase crews. First to arrive was the crew from the 1019
car w/ a 1600 in tow, they promise to be right back. Next the #60 Trophy-Truck with drinks & breakfast. Then Mark on TW's XR-200.The plan is set
and we decide I get to ride Tw's XR out, not my best choice. It is 8:30
9:15 TW finds a strange rider on his bike entering Mike's Sky ranch. The rest of the crew are waiting for news.
10:15BFG relay has a visual on 805 before the green house under her own power headed for Mikes. BFG relay updates on her arrival at Mike's and tells
us he is signing off the air to go back to Ensenada.
11:00Mike & Mark are Mike's, wanting to get back to the trailer. Not even wanting to wait for drinks. The next race begins.
11:15 Jeff randall & My self are in the chase truck trying to catch the race truck when we come upon a person lying on the ground 1.5 miles from
Mike's. We roll up ask what is usually a basic question "do you guys have everything under control"?Answer -Yes. Not this time. The person lying on
the ground jumped from the # 804 truck which lost his brakes. At this point they had not checked his vitals or made radio contact for help.
I made contact w/ BFG relay just before he shut down. Then went back to check vitals. Along with everything else that was going wrong at this point,
his friend gave Roy, the injured co-dog, 750 mil Vicadon (sp)for those who don't know never give an injured person any meds.So once again the Sharpie
is put to work marking both arms the meds given.So no one, EMTs or Doctors give the wrong med or dose to go along with the field meds. Field meds
screws up the EMTs plus the emergency room Docs.BFG -Wild Bill pulled a rabbit from hat on this one.He contacted Score (Sal & Oscar) not much
help,Then Score's Medical Director-bingo help Mexican medical on the way. Next was Steve Scarconini(sp) who sent in his EMT. Steve also located a
helicoptor, McMillian's.After 2 hours we were finally back on the road.
1:00 we catch up to Mike who no clue why he lost us. And we left him with no helmets to drive on the road or drinks.......Sorry but we leave no one
stuck in the desert.
4:00 arrive in Ensenada.load up, a few of us get showers. At six we all head home, safe and more stories to tell.
From the 125 car:
Chuck started 25th in Class 1. Dust was horrible. RM 8 hit a refridgerator sized rock which busted open the L.F. lower arm along with a flat. Changed
the flat himself and limped it to Ojos where Jimmy was waiting with the welder. Got fixed and was off only losing three spots in class. Unfortunately
he was back in the middle of the class 10's now which meant even more dust. Picked off a few and was up to 24th by Urapan. Sat in a parking lot near
Erendira for 7-8 mins where Pat Dean's mishap was blocking the course. RM 142 Lano Colorado- pulled in where Dan Treto and I dumped 24 gallons into
the car. Left our pit 18th class 1. Immediately got into some thick dust and stuck the car into a 5ft deep x 4ft wide ditch along the outside of a
sharp "right hander". We haul ass up the course 1/4 mile and begin working on the situation. Maxed out the winch pulling the car up and out. It took
the assistance of 5 or 6 locals pulling up on the rear along with Danno sitting in the truck with his leg locked on the brake pedal. Once out, we look
the car over and decide it's not repairable within the time frame we had.
The left front corner of the car was torn off. Luckily the ranch owner (or worker) from the vineyard along side the road was willing to cut a section
of his fence down in trade for a cerveza and an old AllWays Racing sweatshirt that Dan was wearing. This ranchers good deed saved us lots of time by
not having to go out on the racecourse. Drove the car out to the highway on three wheels where we waited-out the next 5 hours. Then just as we ran
out of beer, the trailer arrived. Back to Ensenada. First Baja 500 DNF in the last 9 consecutive starts. Can't wait for the NV1K.
We later discovered some local kids walked off with a pair of Simpson gloves and a Simpson collar. They were spotted down the road in the pits wearing
them.
From class 3:
Forwarded from Don Moss
The list of consecutive finishes has ended.....
It was a tough one! We were scheduled to start third,
but the Rover that was supposed to start first did not
show up, so we started second in a class of 4 entries.
At the last minute, SCORE moved our class up to start
just behind the 5/1600 Baja bug class, ahead of the
Stock Full Size truck class and Class 9 buggies, which
was great. We usually have to fight our way through
the slower entries in those classes right off the
start, so this was a huge improvement. We were
catching the slower 5/1600's instead. We passed the
Cancino Explorer that started 30 seconds ahead of us
in the first 10 miles when they got stuck in a creek
crossing. Myself and Dan Thunborg, in his first race
as a rider, started the race and were scheduled to run
down to the first BFG pit near Erindira at approximate
race mile 110. We had a lead of around 30 minutes by
the time we arrived at that pit. There were a couple
of times that we got hung up behind small traffic jams
waiting for a stuck car to be cleared from the course.
Dave Grundman got in as rider at BFG pit 1 at about
race mile 110 and we took off with a full tank of fuel
for a run down along beach on the Pacific side. At
about race mile 119 on a nice flat section of course,
the engine just stopped running. We pulled over and
immediately started looking for the problem. That
engine has run without a flaw for thousands of miles
so we were very puzzled. We initially concentrated on
the fuel cell since we had just finished fueling at
the pit and the fuel filler hose was still completely
full of fuel. As soon as we opened the fuel cap the
fuel drained out of the filler, so we thought it was
some type of venting problem. We spent some time on
that, and then finally pulled off the air cleaner
intake hose and realized the carb had plenty of fuel.
We moved to the igition system and determined that we
had power to the ignition, but still no spark. Spent
some more time on that, and then Dave finally said
"Well is the distributor even turning?" NO, it
wasn't, duh! We pulled the distributor out and sure
enough the shear pin was broken. After spending a
little more time using what we had to work with, but
anything but the right tool for the job, we took the
pin out of the retaining collar on the distributor and
moved it to the distributor drive. We stuck what was
left of the broken pin into the collar and jammed the
distributor back in. We missed the timing by a tooth,
and just rotated the distributor until it would start,
and that's where it remained for the rest of the race.
By that time, Dan, Eric and Robert had located us and
they helped us clean up the tools. We strapped back
in and got back ont the course after losing an hour
and watching the other three entries go by. Dave
started reading off the GPS and I concentrated on the
course and we put the gas peddle down.
We caught the Skilton Jeep Cherokee entry at about
race mile 160, and the Explorer was in the pit when we
arrived at BFG pit 2 at approximate race mile 170. We
kind of suprised Ken and Dennis who were supposed to
get in, but they quickly strapped in and got on the
road. We threw the timing light into the tool box on
the Bronco, but decided not to time it since it seemed
to be running OK. I have to take credit for leaving
the spare ditributor somewhere in Sacramento. The
Cherokee had gone by again, but they caught them again
quickly.
The section between BFG pit 2 and 3 had been rumored
to be extremely rough. This area covers Simpson
Ranch, Coyote, and Mike's Sky Ranch. The Bronco was
in good condition and we were confident that it would
be fine. We had discussed the strategy for this
section, and that we would concentrate only on
surviving this section, and racing later to the
finish. Ken and Dennis left at about 4:50 pm, and the
next time we were able to contact them was about 8 or
9 pm, and they were at mile 210! The had only gone
about 40 miles in 4 hours! It turns out there had
been a bad section at about race mile 190, and there
was maybe a dozen vehicles stuck and blocking the
course ahead of them. The Leavit Bronco that had
started right behind us, and was 30 minutes ahead at
BFG pit 2, was only several vehicles in front of Ken
and Dennis. Ken and Dennis helped coordinate the
removal of the stuck vehicles and pushed a few either
up or out of the way to get going again. They quickly
caught the other Bronco and remained on their tail
through Checkpoint 4. We heard later on the radio
that the Cancino Explorer rolled into a ravine in this
section of the course.
When Dennis and Ken got to race mile 240, there was a
traffic jam with 40 or 50 cars in it waiting to get up
a really nasty, long hill. They again helped
coordinate the cars that were being sent up one at a
time. It is amazing that most of the entries that
come up on these jams just sit in their cars or climb
out, take off their helmets and sit on the car, no
effort to help or get the mess cleared.
After about a 4 hour delay, Ken and Dennis got going
again, right on the tail of the other Bronco. They
remained that way until Valle de Trinidad, when the
other Bronco pulled off to pit. Ken and Dennis
continued on to the BFG pit at race mile 288, arriving
after 2 am, requiring more than 9 hours to cover 110
miles. They had also hit a rock 2 miles earlier,
flattening a tire. That's 2 tires for two races with
Ken driving (but I'm not counting, right?) And by the
way there were 4 brand new tires on the Bronco for
this race courtesy of BFG.
Now the problem was that there was a 17 hour time
limit for the race. With all the problems in the
lower loop of the course, SCORE had extended the time
limit to 19 hours and added 2 hours to the closing
times of all the checkpoints still open. Unfortunatly
they had closed the checkpoint at mile 307 at 2 am.
This team never gives up however, and insisted on
continuing to the finish, even though I voted to park
it. The other factor that was new at this race was
the use of Rally Loggers, which record the route and
speed of the vehicle through GPS technology. We
reasoned that if SCORE was using the Rally Logger to
show that we stayed on the course, then the
checkpoints wouldn't matter.
Chris Reilly and myself climbed in at BFG pit 3 and
headed out, with 3 hours to cover about 130 miles.
The left side front axle shaft and u-joint had been
shattered some time in Ken and Dennis' section,
probably at the same time they hit the rock, but we
considered this not to be a big factor from here to
the finish, and in fact it was not. We continued on,
pushing as hard as we could, but it soon became
obvious that we could not maintain more than a 40 mph
average to the finish, it was just too rough. We went
through two closed checkpoints, but the last one was
still open, with two minutes to spare. We arrived at
the finish in Ensenada with an almost exact 20 hour
elapsed time, one hour over the limit. Sal Fish was
still there, and they did check our checkpoint stubs
and remove the Rally Logger. In fact two more
vehicles came in after we did, including a class 11
stock VW bug! The Leavitt Bronco never went back on
to the course after Valle de Trinidad, and went
straight back to Ensenada. By the time we got back to
the beach house, ate some breakfast and got cleaned
up, there wasn't much interest in returning to town
for the awards meeting. I am sure there was much
discussion of what happened there, but at this point
we only listed as a DNF on the standings. We don't
know if anyone was declared a winner in the class
based on who made it to the last open checkpoint
(checkpoint 4), or who made it to the last open
checkpoint (checkpoint 7). They may not even declare
anyone a winner, and roll the money over to the end of
year points. There is no way to know if we hadn't had
the mechanical problem that cost us an hour, if that
would have put us far enough up in the lines of stuck
vehicles to have made it on time. We just ran out of
time based on factors that we couldn't control. By
the way, there were no other routes through those bad
sections, and there were some vehicles that tried. If
they had found one, they would have been disqualified
for leaving the course, since the Rally Logger traced
their route.
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surfer jim
Super Nomad
Posts: 1891
Registered: 8-29-2003
Location: high desert
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Good stories...since I didn't get to prerun I never got to see these parts of the course but get the idea ....
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bajalou
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4459
Registered: 3-11-2004
Location: South of the broder
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Great reports - Thanks
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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TMW
Select Nomad
Posts: 10659
Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Bakersfield, CA
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Three more race reports.
From RPS:
Baja 500 Press Release
RPS entered the 2005 SCORE Tecate Baja 500 with 4 vehicles. Mark Miller and Ryan Arciero had the Trophy Truck ready to go. Cam Thieriot had his Class
One, Mark Weger was chomping at the bit with his RPS TEN car and Kory Scheeler was prepared with the Truggy.
With unfavorable starting positions for all RPS prepared vehicles we knew it would be tough going for the first hundred miles or so. Mark, with
co-driver Wade Weaver started in 21st position in the Trophy Trucks, Cam and Bravo started 8th in Class One, Kory Scheeler started 14th in Class One
and Mark Weger, with his co-driver Mark Newton, started in the 13th spot in Class Ten.
At Erindira Mark was running in 8th position in Trophy Truck. Kory Scheeler had hit a large rain rut and sheered a tie rod bolt off causing the
spindle to bend and prevent the team from going any further. Cam had positioned himself in 7th position in Class One and was running strong. Mark
Weger, first time racing the Baja 500, had moved up to 8th position in Class Ten.
At Trinidad there were only two RPS prepared vehicles still running. Mark Miller and Cam Thieriot. Miller had posted the fastest time from Erindira to
Trinidad. Miller had averaged 47.807 MPH during that section. He was gaining ground and was only 8:50 behind Robby and in 3rd place in Trophy Truck.
Cam was running in 6th position in Class One. At this time Malcolm Smith got into Cam?s Race car and drove it to Glenn Harris at RM 270. Malcolm was
really excited to be back in a race car for this race and looks forward to more racing in the future with Cam and RPS.
Ryan Arciero and RPS? Barry Beacham got into the #81 Trophy Truck at Rancho Melling RM 234. The truck was in 3rd position and running strong. At RM
291 on a hard right turn the truck missed the turn and Ryan got on the gas to save the vehicle and stuffed it into the upside of a hill. After 20
seconds or so Bob Shepard came along and ran into the rear drivers side of the truck. Bob?s front bumper ended up about a foot from Ryan?s head. The
back of #81 had sustained considerable damage and was unable to continue. Both Ryan and Barry left the accident with sore muscles and some deep
bruises. Bob appeared to be okay as he finished the race. Really no blame on this one. There was nothing Shepard could have done to avoid them.
Glenn Harris, now driving Cam?s car, had a slight CV boot problem and suffered some down time. He got the car to the finish and the Lucky Sperm Team
ended up in 12th position in Class One and 30th Overall.
Although the results were not what RPS had hoped for, we all came back safe, which is the most important thing. We can?t wait to try it again at the
SCORE Tecate Baja 1000 in November.
From Solar Racing:
Mark Handley / Solar Racing take on toughest Baja Course in years!
Saturday June 4th, 2005
Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
Mark Handley and Solar Racing Team headed south to Mexico to defend their last year's class win in the 37th running of the Baja 500.
The Solar Racing F-150 started 5th in class with Mark Handley and Dan Candler doing the starting duties. With some smooth, fast driving along with a
little luck, the #879 Stock Full was first on course by the 1st road section at mile 14. The lead would continue through the farmlands of Ojos
Negros, the high desert of Tres Hermanos, and the rocky, rutty, mountains of Uruapan.
A broken shaft on one of the rear shocks put a hole in rear differential cover, which in turn caused fluid loss. A quick pit stop at mile 75 in the
historic wine valley of Santo Tomas repaired the rear end but cost a position of course.
Despite numerous backups along the course, the Solar Racing F-150 was charging back and working its way through the variety of fellow competitors. A
failed transmission cooler fan required another quick pit stop along the Pacific coast south of Erindira. Guaranteed: No other race course in the
world boast such a spectacular pit location!
Now up and running cool and with a fresh tank full of F&L Racing fuel, the F-150 was enroute to Valley de Trinidad when the rear end suffered
catastrophic failure at mile 155. The chase crew of ACE Motorsports, led by Mike McComas made quick change of the complete rear end and the truck
powered on.
Travis Walser took over driving duties to go from race mile 175 to 277. A hundred plus miles that will not be forgotten any time soon by any of the
competitors. Complete backups at several impassable locations stranded race vehicles for 5 plus hours!
9 hours after leaving Valle de Trinidad, the Solar Racing F-150 appeared in excellent shape with partially frozen drivers. It was 3:30 am and finish
line would close at 6am. 150 miles to go with 2.5 hours to do it in. Not possible!
Solar Racing went to race Baja and that's exactly what happened. Although race coordinators were no longer monitoring checkpoints, and said the
finish line would close at 6:00am, the Team continued on!
Iggy Sanchez and Lorne Jercha took over the truck in Valle de Trinidad, went up the Goat Trail, thru the pine forests north of Santa Catarina, then
back across the high deserts of Tres Hermanos, back to the finish line. They unfortunately suffered the only flat the entire race with less than 20
miles to go.
Although according to race officials Mark Handley/Solar Racing took 2nd place via a DNF due to timing out, and everyone else in the class DNF'd also,
including the 1st place Griffin H-1, the mighty Solar Racing F-150 was the only vehicle in the class to cover the entire Baja 500 course!
The 740 Truck Report:
2005 SCORE Baja 500, Class 7SX
#740 Flamingo Racing, Rich Severson
This is the big race for our team again this season. Here to defend our 2004 victory. I?ll run the first 271 miles with 2 different riders and then
turn the wheel over to my co-driver to close the deal.
Our class takes off from Ensenada around 10:30 am. It?s always great to sleep in vs. those bike guys that are off at the first sign of light. The
wash is packed with spectators as we head for the suburbs. We get up and over the silt hills and through the water crossing. 745 tags us and I let
him by only to find him on his side 2 turns later. I should have tagged him back just to make a statement.
We follow the Land 7S truck and can?t get by him in the dust. He sticks it in the silt around rm20 and we take out his L/rear corner and join him in
the silt. He gets tugged, and then we get tugged out. Off and running again. A quick stop at Checker Pit 1 finds no damage after the landmine
incident.
All clear through Tres Hermanos, Uruapan and on to Checker Pit 2 for a gas-n-go.
At rm111, 745 has gotten around us and is now buried in the silt blocking the coarse along with a chase truck. He?s got no tow strap or shovel.
Racers get out and push stuck buggies out of the way enough to squeeze by the truck. I pull out fence posts and kick back trees to make the path
wider. Off we go using his fender for traction.
Checker Pit 3 at rm142 is a gas-n-go. We gotta be somewhere near the front of the pack. The road to Trinidad was a welcome break and a chance to
relax. Got behind the 860 Hummer for quite a while and slowed us a bit.
BFG Pit at rm171, I toss out PatN and bring PatS on board. His very first time in a race truck. Hope I don?t kill him right away.
We head for Simpson?s hill rm202 and pass our competitors along the trail to put us in first place. Our blazing pace is short lived as we stop at the
base of the hill and hear of the carnage blocking the way. After a long wait the Hummer (back ahead of us) moves up and shoves a car out of the way
to clear a narrow path. Unfortunately, 574, the guy in front of me, smokes his clutch on the trail and won't get out of the way. After firing several
warning shots, I shove him off the track with my truck. Crowd applauds, damn offroad.com staffer was holding up the whole hill. The ol? Ranger was
off like a mountain goat. I just kept the R?s up and we scooted up the hill. At the top we meet BFG Aggy & Milo of 759 fame going down to clear
the trail. Milo yells ?get outta the way Stretch, I'm going after my boy Jeff." This closes down the hill again and gives us a head start on the
pack.
Our windshield wipers have quit working and the dust and mud is killing us as we look directly into the sunset. We venture upon an older Mexican guy
riding a beat up motorcycle downs the course. We stop and ask him to clean the window. I swear it takes longer for him to put down the kickstand than
it did to wipe the window, but it?s clean. Lo siento, no propina hoy.
Checker Pit 4 is a gas-n-go still in the lead. Ah, but our good fortune is short lived. At rm240 the Hummer is once again stopped along the trail. He
motions for us to take a break. The time is 8:30pm. PatS runs up the trail to check out the trouble. Turns out we are vehicle number 29 behind a
blocked racecourse and another long steep hill. We visit with other drivers, share food, water and clothing. Someone starts a small fire for light
and warmth. The night?s sky and stars are beautiful. We watch as about every 10-15 minutes someone assaults the hill and works their up, one way or
another. We talk on the radio to 759 who arrives about 11pm and is somewhere back in the pack. 745, 741 & 758 arrive together about midnight. At
1:15am we head up the hill. I power out squeaking by a broken car. PatS jumps out to guide me back down the hill for another run. I take off before
PatS jumps back in and leave him in dust. Before I can stop on level and wide ground it?s gotta be a half mile. PatS runs up the hill in the dark
and avoids being run over by others coming along. He looks like he just ran a marathon. Bad move, me leaving him, but he?s safe back onboard. We
play the start-n-stop game for several more miles before we get back to rac?n. We go past Mike?s and miss a turn at the water crossing nearly getting
stuck in the sandy bank. Down the tight rocky hills and finally on the graded road.
We hit Checker Pit 5 at rm270 about 3am. Eddie Everett gets in to drive with original co-pilot PatN back in and watching the GPS trail. I was in
that stinking truck for 17 hours. Now we?ve got 150 miles to go with a great lead. The truck is running great; we?ve had no problems all day. Get
the truck to the finish and we?ll argue the time delays with SCORE later. We all head up the road through the nighttime fog. PatN wiggles the wiper
switch and they begin working again. That?s why he?s an ASI master mechanic. The Ranger climbs the Goat Trail and back into the dirt. The joy of a
well running truck is short lived as I get a call from BFG relay they need parts on the trail at rm315. I head back to Independencia and out to the
course. It?s nearly dawn as I arrive and I can tell immediately it?s fatal. They hit a very deep wash out along the edge of the road. We?re toast.
PatN puts on a new steering box and tire, and makes the truck drivable. We backtrack on the course and head to Ensenada on the highway.
Once in town we run over to the San Nicholas Hotel to discuss the horrible conditions with SCORE but they are busy with M/C protests. We find 741
has been given a finish and first place. NO WAY he got by us. Can?t find anyone to resolve the issue and as I?ve been up for 26 hours I?m kind of
needing sleep. We?ll resolve this later.
Sunday pm, 759 crew can?t believe the finish either. They?ll call SCORE Monday also. On my way home Monday 745 calls and explains how he, 741 and 759
went backwards on the course, around the traffic jam, re-entered the Mike?s road and came down to Highway 3. He put his truck on trailer but other two
guys motored on. Rumor has it 741 stayed on the highway into the finish line at 6:11am. The guy even had the huevos to pick up the check at Sunday?s
awards. SCORE cancelled the check Monday and is downloading the rallytrackers and checkpoint times to determine the class placement for all the non
finishers. At this point in time there are no official standings for our class but I feel we will end up in first, with 759 second and 745 third.
It was an extremely tough race and my co-riders and the Flamingo Racing support team went way beyond the normal call of duty chasing for this event.
Thanks to the Checkers for pitting us and to everyone for hanging in there with me on this very long race.
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