The course was taking its toll:

• Curt LeDuc rolled himself out of contention.
• Robby Gordon ran out of spare transmissions.
• Carl Renzeder had gone "rubber up."
• The Terrible Trophy Truck of Ed Herbst was far, far behind.
• Only Dan Smith (now at the helm of the Duralast/Ford) was in the running.

THE PLOT THICKENS …

Between pit 7 and 8, Ivan reported a stuck throttle, definitely not a good thing between pits, in the dark, and with over 600 HP on tap. Again, Ragland closed the gap, as Stewart fought to control the Toyota by pulling up on the gas pedal with his toes, as it tried to stay locked in the "oh-my" position.

Once in the pits, it was determined that a throttle plate had worked loose, dropping into the manifold, and allowing the throttle shaft to back out. With no time, parts, or hope to fix it "right", the quick thinking PPI crew took a page from McGuyver, using bailing wire and bungie cords (literally) to secure the shaft into position. With over 16 hours behind the wheel and having fought a problematic truck for miles, Stewart was beginning to tire.

Without the "luxury" of a driver change, or co-driver, the miles were taking their toll. As repairs were completed, team owner Cal Wells leaned into the cab, having to yell to be heard over the 4-valve Lexus motor's din: "It's time to be the "Ironman" Ivan, now! Get your ass out there and win this thing!"

Just as Stewart prepared to pull out of his pit, Ragland entered his, topping off on fuel, and getting a four wheel tire change. Although the Chevy was missing some of its body work from it's close encounter with nature, "Arnold" was largely undamaged, with no major problems to hold it back.

With less than 200 miles to go, and mere moments between them, it was a toss-up as to who would emerge victorious.

As the race neared the end, the course brought the racers down a high speed section of highway, and was marked for a 90 degree left-hander 1/4 mile onto dirt from the finish line. The problem was that it was unlikely to be seen at 145 mph. Tom Morris of PPI sent a crew to the turn to direct Ivan down the proper course. Ragland was far too close behind to take any chances.

At the finish line, the Ivan’s lights could be seen far off in the distance, followed by the siren song of a 4-valve V8 at about 8600 RPM. Ivan came screaming down the highway up against the rev limiter, saw the "red shirts" of the Toyota/PPI crew, and with victory quite literally just around the corner, took home the trophy he'd been chasing for a quarter of a century.

Within minutes, Ragland's Chevy could be heard in the distance, and without guidance in the aforementioned turn, he blew by, loosing an additional two minutes. This error left him finishing over six minutes total behind El Hombre de Ferro.

Shortly thereafter, Dan Smith brought most of the Duralast Ford home for a third place finish and the season championship. It was the last hurrah for the 10-year-old former class 8, and with an all new truck looming on 99's horizon, who knows what next season will bring?

BY THE CLASSES

TROPHY TRUCK

Smith/Ashley

They may have lost the battle, but they certainly won the war. Dan Smith and Dave Ashley, of Rough Riders/Duralast fame, took home a third place finish in the 1998 running of the Baja 1000, and in so doing, won the season championship in off-road racing’s premiere class - Trophy Truck.

While it's not surprising that drivers of such caliber sit atop the food chain, it is surprising that a converted Class 8 truck, a 10-year-old converted class 8 truck, got them there. In today’s world of tube-framed, mega-travel dirt monsters, the Rough Rider Ford sports a standard frame, steel cab, and a "mere" 22 inches up front and 20 inches rear wheel travel.

Having started in the #2 slot, Smith/Ashley spent the majority of the race comfortably in the third place slot. "If we finish, we win the championship" said Dave Ashley. "We aren’t going to take many chances"

Sporting a shiny new "Off-Road.com" decal, the Duralast truck saw little traffic all day, with only one heated battle with Larry Ragland early in the race. A minor incident later on, left the big Ford missing a passenger door panel, but other than that, it remained intact.

CLASS 1 AND TROPHY TRUCK NOTES

Troy/Ed Herbst

The familiar "Shark" paint job was back on the red fiberglass of one of the most popular vehicles in desert racing today: the Truggy. With 22 Hella HID lights (at over $600 a piece) doing a pretty fair imitation of an alien landing, Troy Herbst fought transmission troubles (3 gallons of fluid taken on at pit 8), to bring home a third place finish, in a time of 19:46:35 at 54.104 mph., and the season championship in the reinvigorated Class 1 ranks.

Brother Ed fared worse, but still managed a sixth place finish in 30:58:21, at 34.546 mph. The Terrible Trophy Truck had considerable down time, but man aged to finish the event, being the last of the big iron across the finish line.

But what about Robby Gordon? When dawn broke, Rocket Robby was no where to be found. A last month thrash to build the all new Toyota Trophy Truck resulted in an unproven vehicle that was being worked on at the starting line. Gordon ended up starting at the end of the Class 1 cars, although his "official" time began in the midst of the TT ranks.

After several transmission failures, Robby and company packed it in at the Bay of L.A. What does the future hold for Robby as a privateer after a falling out with Cal Wells and PPI? No one knows, but the truck showed promise, with impressive handling and top speed. With Robby's "do or die" attitude, the‘98 1000 is far from the last we'll be seeing from the radical new Toyota.

Robby’s Dad, Bob Gordon, teamed up with Ryan Arciero, son of long time partner, Frank Arciero, to bring the "old" two seat Class 1 Chenowth into the winners circle one more time, Fighting horrible steering problems in the last leg of the race, (10 degrees of lock either way, thanks to spindle damage), the ever animated Gordon had nothing but praise for the young gun.

Gordon chose the old car over the single seat "Millenium" car he's raced throughout ‘98 as a safety/endurance feature. His reasoning? "Two heads are better than one".

Scott McMillin finished second in Class 1, on three tires and three and a half rims.

Carl Renezder destroyed the body of his beautiful Trophy Truck in very ugly roll-over.

CLASS 7

Anybody bet against Larry Roeseler in this class? Why does this surprise so few people? Former desert bike star Larry Roeseler and the MacPherson Chevy S-10 have dominated the Class 7 ranks to such a degree, it's become a no brainer. He either wins or he breaks. Roeseler fell back on "old" technology, using the old Class 7 after debuting the new "coil-over" truck at the Vegas to Reno BITD event.

Eli Yee took second, followed by Alejandro Abanoa, and A.J. DeNunzio in fourth. The last finisher in this class literally limped home. Ford to the core, Greg Foutz did seat time in the Class 7 Ranger of Bob Land, sharing driving duty with Mike Land. After being stuck in a silt bed for several hours, and loosing eight hours to a bad wheel bearing, Foutz pulled the Tecate/Ranger into La Paz with a time of 35:31:35 at 30.118 mph. Said Greg, "I can count about 10 to 11 hours down time for stupid stuff."

Gary Mecham burned his new coil-over Class 7 truck to the ground in a horrible fire. Witnesses described it as …"rivulets of melting aluminum running from the engine. The block melted and the truck was a total loss, with nothing salvageable."

CLASS 5

Mike Dondell won the race, cinched the championship, and gave Mike James another reason to lament selling his "prerunner."

George Seeley (known as Sofa Dude) took spot #2 for the Checkers. Hot on Dondell's heels at one point, engine problems cost him a lot of time, and perhaps the win.

CLASS 8

Perhaps avenging for Larry Ragland's second place finish, the White Lightning team member, Brian Collins, fought a pitched battle with Dave Westhem for the Baja title, with Collins taking the win, but Westhem taking the coveted Class 8 season championship.

Sporting a pair of prototype Sway-a-Way coil-over shocks, the Donahoe-prepped Krieger/Chevy muscled it's way to a fourth place finish. With entries in class 8 and Trophy Truck, Donahoe had his hands full before, during, and after the event. The‘98 1000 was a shakedown for the trucks, in preparation for a split SCORE/BITD ‘99 season.

CLASS 1/2-1600

Eyes have been on this fast lady, and savvy race watchers have said that it was only a matter of time before Bekki Freeman kicked butt. Girl Power! Many of us have been predicting a big win for the "First Lady" of the desert, and with the ‘98 1000, she got it in high style. One of the driving forces behind the rival "SNORE" Series, Bekki, and co-driver/engine builder, Adam Wik, opened an entire crate of "Whup Ass" on the competition in 1/2 1600, taking the win over second place, Steve Taylor, by a mere six minutes. Look for an interview with the elusive Miss Freeman as soon as we can track her down.

CLASS 3

Spencer Beal unseated Darren Skilton to win Class 3. Skilton normally doesn’t have much competition in this class, other than a crusty IH and a few old flat-side Broncos. Beal was the only finisher in the class

CLASS 5/1600

Victor Herrera won class 5/1600 with a bit of co-driving excellence from previous rival, Gerardo Iribe. The dynamic duo took the win in 25:11:40 at 42.469 mph, a blisteringly fast pace for a 5/1600 car, and over 30 minutes ahead of second place Edmundo Fernandez.

CLASS 7S

Joe Custer dominated the class, finishing in a time 25:46:14 at 41.520 mph, with second place, Marco Novelo, nearly five hours behind.

CLASS 9

A new / old face in the SCORE Ranks, Pancho Bio, edged out Mike Shatynski for the top slot. Bio, a former SCORE champ made his return to the winners circle in a big way, taking the top slot in a time of 25:33:56 at 41.853 mph.

CLASS 10

John Phillips, Sr. in the NGM Class 10 Jimco, took the win in 22:06:20 at

48.404 mph. With son Johnny stuck in the states, the elder Phillips carried

the NGM banner to its familiar place in the winners circle, while second place

Ben Schlimme cruised in over two hours later.

SCORE LITES

David Callaway put on a 24:58:42 at 42.837 mph performance to win the SCORE Lite division, just over a half-hour ahead of second place, Marty Fiolka. A big surprise came with the DNF of Bruce Penhall, one of the favorites for the win at the grueling point to point event.

CLASS 11

Eric Solorzano was the Last Man Standing, being the only finisher in the near stock VW Class 11, with a time of 39:31:23 at 27.072. Narrowly beating the clock, Solorzano locked up the season championship over past champ, Victor Barajas.

PROTRUCKS

Since his return to SCORE at the helm of the Red Bull/Ford F-I 50 Protruck, Steve Barlow has amassed an impressive string of victories. Finishing over an hour ahead of Jimmy Nuckles, Barlow blazed a trail to victory in a time of 23:26:34 at 45.643 mph.

This is the last official full season of the "Protruck Series" in SCORE (though they will continue running here). Look for a split between SCORE/BITD? To be announced in the near future Stadium races will be the new home of the Protrucks to complete the picture.

STOCK FULL-SIZED TRUCKS

Terry Henn Grasped victory from the Andataco team, finishing in 28:39:13 at 37.342 mph, a full three hours, 20 minutes ahead of class champ, Marc Stein. Stein, however, retained his Championship, which likely takes the sting out of the loss. Henn, it's heard, is still celebrating, and will continue to haunt Andataco's dreams throughout the ‘99 season.

STOCK MINI TRUCKS

In the circle of the Baja 1000, three men entered, but no men left. The punishing course took it's toll on the mini class, with no one around at the finish to pop the champagne corks.

SPORTSMAN TRUCKS

Two entries and no finishers. Like we said, it was a long, tough course.

SPORTSMAN BUGGY

John Becker Drove from Oklahoma to test his mettle against the sportsman buggy class, and went home a winner. With a time of 41:42:00 at 25.659 mph, Becker put the hurtin' on Baja 1000 fixture, Walter Prince, whose "Candy Cane" car came in with a time of 43:27:04 at 24.625.

BIKE/ATV STUFF

OPEN CLASS

1. Johnny Campbell/Jimmy Lewis – Honda XR-600, 18 hours, 58 minutes, 48 seconds, 56.38 miles per hour

2. Craig Smith/Greg Bringle – Honda XR-600, 19:57:39
3. Joel Tarquin/Eric Brown – Honda XR-600, 22:06:08

250 cc CLASS

1. Francisco Castro/Arturo Davila – Honda CR-125, 25:52:54
2. Tom Grisham – Honda XR-250,

RIDERS OF 30 YEARS OLD

1. Mike Barnhill – Honda XR, 22:31:52

RIDERS OVER 40 YEARS OLD

1. Gary Tepner/Ross Gregory – Honda XR-600, 24:10:43

RIDERS OVER 50 YEARS OLD

1. Bill Nichols/Steve Dutton – Honda XR-600, 26:53:11

OPEN CLASS ATVS

1. Dennis Cox/Denny Wolf – Honda 400, 23:59:33

250 CLASS ATVS

1. Gilberto Santana/Ruben Martin – Honda, 29:11:43

SPORTSMAN OPEN BIKES

1. Don Weyer

SPORTSMAN UNDER 250 BIKES

1. Enrique Legaspy

SPORTSMAN ATV

1. Mike Penland

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TV DATES FOR THE BAJA 1000 AND OTHER’98 RACES

• BITD 1998 VEGAS TO RENO

SPEEDVISION DECEMBER 18,19987:00 PM (PT)

• 1998 SCORE BAJA 500

SPEEDVISION DECEMBER 26,1998 11:00 AM (PT)

• 1998 SCORE BAJA 1000

SPEEDVISION DECEMBER 11,19986:00 PM (PT)

DECEMBER 12,1998 10:00AM (PT)

DECEMBER 14,1998 9:00 PM (PT)

DECEMBER 18,1998 12:00 NOON (PT)

DECEMBER 20,1998 11:00PM (PT)

DECEMBER 26,1998 12:00 NOON (PT)

• BITD 1998 TERRIBLE'S TOWN 250

SPEEDVISION JANUARY 1,19997:00 PM (PT)

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