With American style off-road racing in Mexico
largely consumed by the SCORE Desert Racing Series, it's almost
strange to think of another promoter hosting events south of the
border. But every year the diverse little village of Puerto Penasco
quietly plays host to the Whiplash Motorsports "Rocky Point". Oddly
enough, between the growing success of the Whiplash organization
and the increasing popularity of the Rocky Point event, "quiet"
isn't likely a word we'll be using for long.
Looking east across
Cholla Bay and Rockypoint with the "competition hill" dune face in
the middle.
Puerto Penasco Travel Log
As a hosting venue, Penasco has a lot to offer the race fan, racer,
and general tourist alike. An easy border crossing begins the
journey to a picturesque village whose growing economy is built
largely around the fishing industry, tourist attractions, and a
booming real estate market. While many will draw comparisons
between Puerto Penasco and San Felipe, Penasco has a more developed
"feel", with many shops and services dedicated to visitor and
ex-patriot services.
A quick tour of the town reveals a significant number of
restaurants, shops featuring local arts and crafts, markets, hotels
and more. Town fathers and residents alike display a unique pride
in their town as evidenced by clean streets, up-kept buildings, and
a laid back, friendly atmosphere.
Far from an adversarial relationship, the village of Puerto Penasco
has embraced the yearly Whiplash race, virtually guaranteeing the
success of the venue on a long term basis. The OHV-friendly town
features tons of recreational off-roading in the surrounding areas,
top quality ATV rentals and hundreds of miles of explorable dirt
roads to keep the action level high for just about everyone.
One of the main attractions of the Mexico races has always been a
chance to "let your hair down", and enjoy a wild, carefree weekend
of excess - after the racing is over of course! Here's yet another
area where Penasco will not disappoint. Whereas Felipe and Ensanada
have recently developed a reputation for the "Gang types" virtually
taking over the bars on race weekends, the town fathers and local
police have worked together to keep the criminal element "outa'
Dodge." By and large they have seen great success.
While we'd be pretty uncomfortable walking the Malecon of San
Felipe after the bars close, we had no such reservations here. The
Mexican authorities are working hard to keep the bad boys in line,
and that commitment to community is just another part of the pride
one can sense from the people here. Better yet, when trouble
strikes, the Police aren't sitting idly by. As you'll see later,
they are quite active, and generally quite efficient in their
duties.
You've got several options available for a night out in Penasco
beginning with the Cholla Bay Cantina. A regular stop for the
gringos, the Cholla Bay Cantina caters to a broad age group, and is
very accommodating to the racers. Highly recommended. (ORC's Bar
Critic gives it "5 Beers" ;-)
Next, you've got "Margaritaville" Oddly enough, this "college
crowd" hang out closes pretty early (1 AM) but even the older
fossils in our group didn't feel out of place.
Of the more popular drinking establishments in Penasco, you might
think twice about the "Pink Cadillac". Catering to a younger crowd,
the uniform of the day tends toward "gang style" and, believe it or
not, eco-nazi. We witnessed, and were propositioned by several
Birkenstock/hippie types, and open drug sales were a common
occurrence. Definitely not on our list of "must see" places..
There are many,
Cabo-quality resorts and residential areas in Puerto penasco. Plaza
Las Glorias is highly recommended.
Trouble in Paradise?
As we said earlier, the Police in Penasco take their job seriously.
We learned just how seriously when racer Scooby Maloney told us
about his off-course adventure…
"There I was....
Saturday night after JJ's, after Manny's, after the Pink Cadillac,
about 2-ish in the morning, two of my crew and I head back to the
truck to go home. Where I had parked was quite busy when I parked,
but by the time we got ready to leave, the truck was all alone in
the dark.
As we neared the truck we noticed a Mexican teenager meandering
about just up the street, we didn't think anything of it. Got to
the truck and my large (6 drawer) toolbox full of tools, ice chest,
and two water jugs were missing. My first thought was, damn!,
stupid of me to park here, my stuff is gone.
A local
vendor and his wares outside JJ's Cantina.
As we get into the truck to leave I remembered the kid up the
street and said to the other guys, "you know that kid was kinda'
suspicious", so I started to turn the truck around quickly, when I
did, the kid started running, the co-driver was spotting him while
I hauled ass up the street after him. We catch him and start asking
questions about where my stuff is. By the look on his face he has
got full adrenaline going.
He tried to play the "don't understand English" game first until my
buddies started talking to him in broken Spanish. He was still
denying everything, when I told the other guys loud enough for him
to hear that "we should kick his ass until he tells us where the
stuff went", to which he replied "why?", and of course looked a
little more scared,
Fishing is seasonal
and still a big part of the local economy. Here, part of the fleet
rests for "better fishing days".
I got my phone out and acted like we were going to
call the police, he was still laying it on, "go ahead call", but I
didn't know what number to dial. We convinced him that we didn't
know where the police station was and to ride with us to show us
where it was. He wouldn't get in the cab (I wouldn't have either),
so he gets in the back of the truck with one of my crew. We get to
the police station and tell them our story.
They take him to the back room where the cells are and talk to him
for a while, make him sit a while. They bring him back up front in
hand cuffs after we help with the police report, hand written in a
green log book. They take him in the front of their police pick-up
and we jump in the back to return to the scene of the crime. I
point out where the truck was parked and where he was standing.
I'm trying to distinguish foot prints in the sand and the policeman
says "let's go, he's done". So on the way back to the station we
see the two policemen giving him words from both directions (he was
in the middle). When we arrive at the station the policeman says,
"wait here, he just gave up his amigos", they take him back to the
cell area again, then talk to the Commandant, who in turn assured
me that they want to do everything they can to help. We were very
patient and thankful.
The deckhands were
overhauling the winches on every boat in the harbor.
At first they said we would have to come back at 10:00am to give
them time to "investigate", then they said wait here for a moment.
About an hour later a Policia P/U shows up with my toolbox and my
water jugs. Apparently the house that the kid took them to was full
of stolen goods. Pretty freaking amazing, I don't think US cops
would have been that efficient, all this took about 2 hours. The
Policia were extremely helpful. I have a completely new perspective
now. I always believed that if you weren't an asshole the Policia
wouldn't bother you, but I didn't expect this.
Scott "Scooby" Maloney "
Quotable Quotes and Notes to Note
Behind the wheel of "Arnold", his multi-Baja 1000 winning Chevy
Trophy Truck, Larry Ragland set up his corners in a textbook manner
on Lap 1. Taking over for Lap 2, Chad Ragland set up one particular
corner at a railroad crossing good enough to nail a fence post made
of a railroad tie. It wasn't pretty.
Dan Winters from
Whiplash Motorsports says this is the best Hot Dog stand in the
world.
324X - I crashed hard, and my throttle's totally
hosed." Dejected, he shook his head.
814X - "Choke it off, choke it off!" said the rider. "Yea, just
don't choke it off in the desert. Why are are there so many twigs
stuck in the bike?" asked the pit crew? "I like to ride the bush"
Replied the rider.
1003 - We were close all day and didn't miss a beat. They just
outran us. We just got by at Uncle Bucks. There were four stuck
vehicles out there.
"Scooby" of Shepard Pro Truck fame - "We pulled off the perfect
pit. If we would have stopped off at the last pit, we would have
caught the train. We nearly got stuck on the wrong side of the
tracks!"
837 - Got a bad case of "Sonoran Silt." How did they get out? "Dig
baby, dig! It's not really fair for the fast guys to come in here,
GP finish it, and leave us with one lap", he said sarcastically.
"Let's bring the fastest guys in the world in here (Referring to
Larry Ragland and "Arnold"), make Jay some money, and screw all of
us slow guys".
Without a doubt! The
best Carne Asada is at Manny's Beach Club. Yes, that's smoke in the
air. Thick smoke from the grilles. The cook at Manny's, serves up
the masterpiece for Jay (Whiplash) and Fidel (ORC).
Mark Otisburg/Class 8 - "It's the third race on the new truck. It's
an old CORR truck that's been rebuilt by Jeff Ferguson out of
Phoenix. We redid everything front to back.. Currently we're
working with Jones Motorsports.
Camera-copter had to "cut the course" to catch the speedy Larry
Ragland. Remembered old high school lesson about the shortest
distance being a straight line. He flew radically and was fun to
watch!
Course Description
Starting and finishing a few miles outside of Puerto Penasco at the
Oasis RV Park, the Rocky Point course featured more than it's fair
share of sand and silt. With the "Grand Prix" style rules in place
(where the first finisher ends the race for all)the Pro 4-wheel
vehicles were scheduled for two 100 mile laps, while the
motorcycles were constrained to a single lap on the course.
Looking northwest up
the Malecon.
While the 100-mile loop proved generally flat,
there were exceptions. After the first few "whooped out" miles, the
course became very silty. Mile 35 through about 60 proved to be
rough as the course wound it's way through the hills of Uncle
Buck's Pass. The next great obstacle proved to be the railroad,
where several racers were forced into an unplanned stop to watch
the trains run slowly by. Once the trains had passed, it was on
through farm country where several dead cows and some stripped and
abandoned vehicles (bearing California and Arizona plates)
decorated the roadside. Lastly it was back to the Oasis RV Park and
either the finish line, or the start of Lap two - depending.
We Have A Winner!
Unlimited Truck -
The father and son team of Larry and Chad Ragland teamed up for yet
another event in the Whiplash series, and this time they took
"Arnold" across the finish line a winner. In a time of 3:24:00, the
pair put down 2nd place finisher Bob Shepard Jr, whose 3:38:05 time
proved somewhat off the pace.
The Rock, from the
Malecon
After taking some time off from his career in a Porsche-powered
Class 1, Ragland the younger has made his return to the world of
desert racing at the helm of the big iron. While some may look on
this as a "changing of the guard", and others as a passing of the
torch from father to son, it's more likely that "old" Lightning
Larry will be around for some time to come, and that Chad will
blaze his own trails to victory.
Pro 1-2 -
Cesar Fuentes ruled the school in the 8-car field, finishing the 2
100-mile loops in a time of 3:29:29. Further back, Ruben Wood in
the Wood Bros. Class 1 took 2nd with a time of 3:40:56, followed by
3rd place finisher Jeff Darland, who rounded off the class with a
3:01:49 performance.
The Saturday night
crowd at Manny's Beach Club crosses many age groups. It's not just
a place for the Spring Break people.
Pro 10 -
The 7-car Pro 10 field saw Steve Melton take the ride to the
winners circle, turning two "very" consistent laps. With only 2
seconds separating his lap 1/lap 2 performances, Melton combined
for a total time of 3:53:26. Close behind, Ron Dalke turned in a
3:54:41 performance, far surpassing the 3rd place 6:45:25 of Jarret
Lemley.
Pro 8 -
With 11 trucks in the class, competition was fierce, but not fierce
enough to keep the OT Racing Team out of the top spot. Turning in a
flat 4:05 time, the OT boys put a solid 10 minutes on 2nd place
Dave Raimonde, whose 4:16:05 was in turn, good enough to the
4:53:51 of Bucky Strunk. Larry Vanderway and Tom Swanson nailed
down 4th and 5th respectively to finish 5 of the 11 trucks in
class.
Pro 1/2-1600 -
The 1604 car of Hector Garcia led the VW-powered pack to victory in
a time of 4:33:35, significantly ahead of 2nd place Erik Jones. 3rd
place went to the Brewer/B&K racing Team with a time of
4:44:17.
Pro 5/1600 -
Don Johnson had his fill of "Baja Vice", winning the 5/1600 class
in 5:45:27. Lady racer Samantha Sanders captured a distant 2nd with
a time of 6:45:37 and proved to be the final finisher in
class.
Even on Thursday
night, Margaritaville was packed.
Pro Challenger - Class 9
Class 9 cowboy Joe Sheeble worked his winning ways, spurring his
Challenger to the win with a time of 5:32:19. Competition from the
Hayosh/Dyer entry was close, but not close enough with a
5:36:03.
We Have Even More Winners!
Sportsman - Unlimited - Mark Brownell
Sportsman - Sport Truck - John Moreno
ATV 0 - Chad Prull 2:02:48
ATV S - Kirk Schreier - 2:08:14
ATV 1 - Tony Pedotto - 2:14:25
ATV 2 - William Esquerra - 2:28:09
ATV 3 - Rick Demming - 2:30:46
ATV 9 - Davis Rodriguez - 2:23:45
MC S - Eric Brown - 1:54:39
MC 0 - Todd Johnson - 1:45:12
MC M - Gwinn Vaughn - 1:59:01
MC 1 - Jason Keys - 2:03:58
MC 2 - Chronerberry - 2:03:15
MC 3 - Jeff Sims - 2:11:57
MC 6 - John Stokes - 2:07:58
MC 7 - John Middleton - 2:17:01
MC 8 - Olen Webb - 2:29:25
MC 4 - Scott Young - 2:19:36
MC 5 - Butch Garza - 2:29:39
MC 9 - Fred Smack - 2:32:26
JJ's Cantina at
Cholla Bay held the Whiplash off-road race awards party. JJ's has
been in business for 30+ years. I wonder how many cervezas have
crossed their many bars in that time?
That's a Wrap!
Overall, we were very impressed with the Whiplash/Rocky Point race,
the village of Puerto Penasco, and, well, just about everything we
experienced over the weekend. Race by race Whiplash Motorsports
continues to grow, it's reputation spreads, and more fans and
racers come out to do it in the dirt.
Currently, plans are underway between the Whiplash Motorsports
group and the Nevada based SNORE to hold a combined event at some
point in the near future. While we are unable to verify the where's
and the when's at this time, it'll surely be an event to mark on
the calendar.
Bit by bit, piece by piece, desert racing is entering a second
round of "glory years". It didn't start with a bang, but it's
progressively getting there. Looking back years from now, who
knows? We might just say "We were there all along!"
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