TMW
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A Line in the Sand
https://www.pressreader.com/usa/cycle-world/20180101/2819817...
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DanO
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Very cool, thanks.
\"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.\" -- Frank Zappa
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thebajarunner
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Yeah, great memories
And, as noted in the final paragraph, it was not the "Baja 1000" from the beginning,
My second place truck class trophy from 1972 clearly is engraved "Mexican1000"
The June race was always the "Baja 500"
I am remembering that NORRA refused to give up the name "Mexican 1000" so SCORE just gave it a new name tag.
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David K
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Before SCORE, the group of Mexican businessmen and politicians thought they could do better than NORRA and keep more money in Mexico replaced NORRA in
mid-1973, just after the last NORRA Baja 500.
The Mexicans formed the Baja Sports Committee (BSC) and renamed the race Baja Mil (Baja 1000) for November 1973.
They goofed up real bad, the finishers didn't get their prize money in La Paz, and after a feeble attempt to run the Baja 500 in June 1974 (virtually
nobody showed up), BSC was out of business.
Scrambling to resurrect off-road racing in Baja, which floods the local economy with wealth and is hugely popular with most Mexicans, Baja Norte
government officials came to Mickey Thompson who recently started SCORE (for Short Course Off Road Events) and talked him into producing a Baja
race... and he did... The July 1974 Baja Internacional, a 400-mile loop race in the north with a 1-hour downtime at Mike's Sky Rancho.
It was a huge success and Mickey was awarded a contract to operate all off-road races in Baja (norte) for a period of years. NORRA fought for the
rights to the name 'Baja 500' for many years until finally allowing SCORE to use it. There was not enough time to prepare for a 1000 race in 1974,
Mickey said, so that has been the only year without a 1000 since 1967!
In 1979, Score and Baja Sur officials worked out the details so the 1000 race could return to running to La Paz, once again. It has run the race to La
Paz or Cabo on alternating years since 1979. In 2000, the race was called the Baja 2000 and was over 1,700 miles long.
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chuckie
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We actually were in Baja in June 74, with a ready to go race car...Changed our minds and partied instead....
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David K
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Quote: Originally posted by chuckie  | | We actually were in Baja in June 74, with a ready to go race car...Changed our minds and partied instead.... |
Cool!
I know that NORRA was pretty upset and put on a race in Arizona the same week as the BSC 500 race... and most went to NORRA. That was maybe the Parker
Dam 500?
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chuckie
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I think so...We had dropped off the race cars and stuff in Ensenada and gone to my place in Mulege a week or so early...On the way back up someone?
told us the race had been cancelled so we went back to Mulege. We had a Trailer/shop in the trailer park behind the sardine factory in Ensenada
.....Stinked pretty good when the wind was blowing from the east....
[Edited on 3-23-2018 by chuckie]
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thebajarunner
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We finally got paid about 9 months after the event.
I seem to remember that it was $1000 for fourth but I could be not remembering quite well.
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chuckie
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Does get foggy, doesn't it..???
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chuckie
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Geezo..That was 44 years ago...
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David K
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| Quote: Originally posted by thebajarunner | We finally got paid about 9 months after the event.
I seem to remember that it was $1000 for fourth but I could be not remembering quite well. |
As I recall, the Baja Norte governor (or Mickey Thompson) had to come up with the money to entice the ripped off racers to return to Baja racing in
1974?
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thebajarunner
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When you cannot remember where you stashed the trophies so you can remember how you finished..... well, like they say,
"Oldtimers ain't so bad- you meet new people all the time"
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basautter
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Awesome Baja off-road racing history! Thanks for sharing 
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