Estero Beach - Friday, November 9, 2001, 0130 Hours: Things were not looking good. We had just about 6 hours or so to get to the start line of our first race (which just happened to be the Baja 1000) in a new car with a new team, and our engine was not co-operating. We had just received the engine back from the builder 3 days before, so there had been no time for testing before we made the trip down to Ensenada.

Fortunately, we were staying at Estero beach, which just happens to have a short course located right next to it. So, after getting the car through tech on Thursday, we spent sometime on the short course breaking in the engine and getting the drivers accustomed to the new car. Unfortunately, after only a couple of laps the engine starting loading really bad, so we brought it in and started looking for the problem. Four very frustrating hours later, we had checked just about everything we could think of with no improvement. At around 2:00 am Friday morning, we finally located a small piece of what we think was Loctite in one of the main carburetor jets, and the engine seemed to be running better. However, there was no more time for testing (we had already kept our neighbors, most of whom were also racing, up for most of the night!) so we would just have to pray that it was fixed.

At Least That Was The Plan

So, 5 hours before the race started we were finally able to have our final team meeting. Our general plan for the race was to take it fairly easy and just finish. We knew we did not have the resources or experience yet to compete with the fastest teams- after all, we were racing against the likes of the Truggy, Doug Fortin, McMillin, etc. We were using three teams of drivers/co-drivers: Jeff Lothringer was going to take the first section from Ensenada to BFG pit #2 at Borrego, around race mile 220. Jeff's uncle Kent would take over from there, and drive the San Felipe loop and back over Mike's Sky ranch to the Pacific side to the San Telmo access road at race mile 420, where Will "Doc" Akrawi would take it to the finish (at least that was the plan!).

As far as the chase effort, we had five chase vehicles- three that would follow the course over Highway 3 to the San Felipe side, and two that would remain on the Pacific side. I would be following the course along Highway 3 in my 4-Runner, along with John Bartolotti in his F250 and Heather Wellborn in her F150. I planned to stay near the car through BFG pit #1 at race mile 104- after that, I had to take off to cover the south San Felipe loop and the Huatamote Wash area. The two Fords would remain near the car until BFG pit #2, where Kent and Kevin would get in and Jeff and Steve would take their place in John's truck. Once the car passed my location south of San Felipe, I was going to head back up to Highway 3 and out to Valle de Trinidad at race mile 480, and catch up with the others. When the car reached that point, the second driver's change would have been made and Doc and Austin would be driving. From Valle de Trinidad, the car would head back to the Pacific side, where Kent and Kevin would chase in Doc's Bronco along with Austin's father Shiloh in his Land Cruiser. Our three vehicles would not see the car again until it reached Ojos Negros, just 60 miles from the finish. We had planned the driver changes at very specific locations to ensure that there would be someone very familiar with the car (Jeff, Kent, or Kevin) with it at all times and on the correct side of the peninsula in case of any problems.

A Sympathetic Cop

At 7:30 am Friday, we took off to the start. I was following the car to the start line to top them off with fuel and get them off the line. The Bronco and the Land Cruiser were heading north to cover the Guadalupe Wash area and the two Fords were already heading out to Ojos Negros to wait for the car there. We pulled into Ensenada and started driving around looking for a parking space while Jeff got into the staging area. Thanks to a sympathetic cop and our pathetic begging, we were able to get past the barriers and park just 100 feet from the start line. We had about 20 minutes before the scheduled start of the Trophy Trucks, so we had plenty of time to make our way to our car and top it off with fuel. We spent a few minutes on a final check, and then it was just a matter of waiting. This was my first experience at the start line of a Baja 1000, and I was amazed at the number of people there. All of the Trophy trucks were getting mobbed by photographers and spectators looking for autographs, and the SCORE officials had to force a path through the crowds to get the vehicles into staging. At 8:00, the TT engines roared to life, and we made our way to the first turn just past the start line to watch.

The first truck off was Mark Post, and after 4-wheel drifting around the turn, took off down the course through the spectators lining both sides of the street. The rest of the TTs followed Post at 30-second intervals, with Robby Gordon taking the turn on only three wheels, and then it was time for class 1. We were #110, so five minutes later Jeff took the green flag and headed out on the course. After he took off down the street out of view, we jumped back in my truck and headed out towards Ojos Negros. We had radio contact with the car for only a short time before heading into the hills and losing them, but they had covered the first 10 miles with no problems. We reached Ojos around 30 minutes later and caught up with the two Fords. John had his large antenna up listening for the car, and we all settled down to watch the leaders come through.

They Flew Down the Road Through Ojos

About 25 minutes later, we saw the telltale helicopter and the first plumes of dust heading our way. The first TT through was still Mark Post, who headed down the highway at well over 100 mph, followed by the Duralast truck and a large pack of class 1 cars and more trucks. When cars #111 and #112 with no sign of our car, we started getting a little worried. After a few more class 1's came through and then the first class 10 car came through with no radio communication from our car, we feared the worst. Finally, around 35 minutes after we expected them, we heard on the radio that they were only a few miles out and heading our way. Jeff had hit a rock in a very tight area at race mile 15 or so and had been bounced of the course and slid halfway down a small cliff. After 30 minutes of trying to get back on the course, they were pulled back up by a passing 8 truck (thanks to whoever it was!). They flew down the road though Ojos and passed us, reporting no problems.

After passing through Ojos Negros, the next time we would see the car would be at the first BFG pit at race mile 104, so we packed up and headed east on Highway 3, followed a little while later by the two Fords. We underestimated the distance and the traffic on the road (the course crosses the road a few miles before the BFG pit, and the traffic was backed up a mile or more) so we reached the turn-off to the pit when the car was only a few miles out. There was no way for other two chase trucks to get out there in time, so I headed out towards the pit at top speed. We pulled up to the pit as the car was just 2 miles out, so we parked and ran up to let the pit know they were coming in.

Anything Other Than Gas

Jeff didn't need anything other than gas, so we let the BFG pit boss know and stood back to let them do their job. They dumped 15 gallons, and the car headed back out on the course. We headed back out to the highway and made our way down to BFG pit #2 at Borrego, race mile 220. Although we would not be able to wait for the car there, I was hoping to catch the leaders coming through before heading down to San Felipe. Our timing was perfect- just as we found a spot to park and got out, we heard the roar of drunken spectators as Mark Post came through still in the lead. He was followed a few minutes later by Doug Fortin and a couple of other class 1's. We were able to stay long enough to watch Robby Gordon and the Duralast truck come through, and then we had to leave the other two vehicles and head south while they waited for the car to come in for the driver change.

About 45 minutes later, just as we were heading into San Felipe, we heard that John was in contact with the car and they were 20 miles out from Borrego, about 1 hour down on the leaders. We expected to have about 2 hours to wait for the car once we got in position near the entrance to Huatamote Wash, so we had time to stop in San Felipe for some essentials to keep us nourished (i.e. a Ballena of Pacifico). We filled up and then headed south out of town. My co-driver/navigator, who had never been to San Felipe before, was studying the BFG book to find the best way to get out to the SCORE checkpoint at the entrance to the wash. I, on the other hand, have been down there dozens of times, but of course I didn't even bother to look at the map myself until we got about 30 miles south of town and I starting thinking that something wasn't quite right.

After studying the map, I realized that we had passed the turn-off about 20 miles back, so we turned around and started heading back north. We got about 2 miles before we passed a Baja Bug going the other direction that flagged us down and waved at us to follow him out a graded road. Figuring that he knew where he was going, we followed him out the access road. We caught up to him about 10 miles out when he stopped to use the "facilities", and we asked him how far the checkpoint was. His answer:"What checkpoint?" He was heading out to the course, but didn't know exactly where on the course he was going or exactly how to get there. I was familiar with the general area, so we headed off on our own. After making a few turns to keep us heading in the general direction we wanted, we finally started seeing some course markers from the San Felipe 250. I knew that course headed out of the Huatamote Wash, so if we went backwards we would eventually find the course. 10 miles of 3 ft whoops later, we finally hit the entrance of the wash, and sat down to wait for the car.

With our "slight" detour adding an hour to our trip, we only were there for about 30 minutes before we started getting radio contact with Kent and Kevin. They were just going through the checkpoint that we had been looking for and were about 5 miles out from us with no problems. They flew through our location just behind both Robby Gordon and the Collins truck, and headed out the wash. We stayed where we were until we lost radio contact as they went through the canyon, and then headed back towards San Felipe (taking the correct road this time). We headed north as the sun was setting, and then back west on Highway 3 towards Valle de Trinidad. We caught up with the two Fords while they had stopped for dinner, and pulled into Trinidad around 7:30 or so. The BFG pit is located about 4 miles out of town, and we headed out there to wait. We pulled in just after Doug Fortin, the first 4-wheel vehicle, had gone through. We expected to have 2-3 hours to wait, so we got the antenna up and tried to catch some sleep. This is where experience chasing during long races comes into play- I watched John and Jeff pull out cots and blankets and get comfortable. I then looked in sorrow at my normal sleeping location (the back of the 4-Runner, which was now full of spares, pit boxes, tools, etc) and realized I would be monitoring the radio while they slept.

Doc On The Radio. . .

As we waited, a few other cars came through the pit at 20-30 minute intervals, and more and more chase vehicles started arriving at the pit to wait for their vehicles. I was alternating between our race frequency and Weatherman, who was broadcasting the numbers of vehicles through various checkpoints. I heard our car had gotten through check #7 a couple of hours previously, but they had not updated to check #8 yet. I also heard that 20-30 vehicles were all stuck at race mile 395 or so, which was just past check #7. Because of the mountains between us and the car, we would not have radio contact with them until they were within 10 miles of the pit, so we had no idea if they were running, broken down, or stuck- this is the worst part of chasing. Unless you happen to have your own private helicopter, there are sections of the course where you are out of contact with the car, and have no idea what is going on. It can make you pull your hair out in frustration sometimes, but it is part of racing. The last time we had seen the car we were in 8th position in class 1 and 16th overall, so we were counting the vehicles coming through very carefully. Finally, at around 10:30, I heard Doc on the radio yelling for us to tell him where the pit was- he was only a mile or so out from the valley.

I jumped out of my truck, slapped the others on the top of their heads to wake them up, and got on John's radio to guide him in. During pre-running the BFG pit had not been set up yet, so in error he turned into another pit and they gave him directions to the BFG pit. While exiting that pit, he picked up a hitchhiker- about 30 yards of fenceposts connected by barbed wire that trailed behind him as he finally found us. The BFG crew whipped out some wire cutters and went to work removing the fence while they dumped more fuel, and they were on their way. They had left a pretty large pile of fence posts behind, and as it was getting pretty cold we thought about charging the pit for the firewood, but figured that would be in poor form….

Our next stop was back in Ojos Negros, as the course headed back to the Pacific side where the Bronco and Land Cruiser were chasing. We headed out of Valle de Trinidad, which was starting to fill up with the chasers of slower vehicles. We got back onto Highway 3 and headed west 60 miles to Ojos through very thick fog that must have been terrible in the racecars. Just as we left the valley, I heard on Weatherman that Doug Fortin had just finished as the first 4-wheel vehicle- we had just gone through mile 480 (still in 16th overall) and they were already done! An hour later we pulled into Ojos and found a spot next to the PCI/Off-Road.com ProTruck crew, who were only 20 minutes or so behind us on the course. They were locked up in a tight battle for the series championship with the Herzog truck, and Scott Steinburger borrowed John's radio to keep in touch with their truck, which was experiencing some brake problems and had been stuck behind the class 5-unlimited car of George Seeley for some time.

The Dust Just Hung in the Fog

With almost no wind out there, the dust just hung in the fog and made visibility next to nothing. Scott got Seeley's race frequency and asked him how far ahead he was in his class. He was 4 hours or so up on second place, so he very unselfishly pulled over to let them pass. Unknown to us at the time, Doc had been right behind Seeley for a long while as well, and as George pulled over it gave Doc a free and clear road all the way into Ojos.

They passed our position with only 60 miles to go at around 3:00 Saturday morning, and headed out on the last section into Ensenada. We waited about 15 minutes or so as the PCI truck came in and topped off with more brake fluid, and then took off followed by their chase vehicle, which would follow them to the finish to make sure there were no problems. We packed up and headed back down the mountains into Ensenada, and drove around half the city before we finally found the finish line. It was almost 4 am, but there was still a fairly good crowd of spectators waiting at the finish line. We parked and walked over to the finish line, where an exhausted Fidel Gonzales had been interviewing and snapping pictures of the racers for 20 straight hours. We were all wrecked as well, but ecstatic that would were actually going to finish our first Baja 1000. As we waited, Rob MacCachren finished what was an incredible performance in class ½-1600- in a "slower" vehicle he had gone faster than most of the field. Coming in after MacCachren were the class 12 winning Penhall car and third place in class 10, Steve Myers.

Big Bird . . . Told Us

We had gone through Ojos just ahead of those two vehicles, so we started getting a little worried. We heard from the Penhalls that they had passed our car about 15 miles out, and that it was stuck on the side of the course, partially blocking it. As they were in a tight race for the class 12 win, they could not stop to help and were barely able to squeeze by. We knew that the next vehicle through would be the PCI ProTruck, and that they would have to help us to get through the section. About 20 minutes later we could hear the roar of the truck coming though the finish line, and they let us know Doc had gone off the course with a flat but they had pulled them back on so they could get by. A few minutes later "Big Bird", their big yellow pre-runner, came through and told us our car was right behind them.

Sure enough, a few minutes later they came through the chicanes and crossed under the big Duralast arch. 20 hours, 10 minutes, and 5 seconds after we started, we had finished our first Baja 1000. Sal Fish was there as he always is to meet all of the finishers, and Doc got a congratulations from him as he sat in the driver's seat with a huge shit-eating grin on his face. It had been a rough first two years of racing for us, and this was a great moment, especially after we weren't even sure we would make it to the start just a few hours before the race. There is something about desert racing, especially down in Baja, that is like nothing else out there.

The Lack of Sleep Struck

While winning is obviously the ultimate goal, just finishing the Baja 1000 is an incredible accomplishment in itself. In how many other motorsports would a team be deliriously happy and feel a huge sense of accomplishment just to finish? That is what makes our sport so special- you don't have to win to have a great day. After hanging out at the finish for a few minutes, our lack of sleep over the previous week started to hit us and it was time to head back to the trailers for some much deserved rest.

We reached Estero Beach just as the sun was coming up, and as we pulled into the RV park we realized we were the first team staying there to finish the race. It was pretty cool sitting there kicking back and having some breakfast beer knowing that all the others from our camp were still out working their asses off on the course. We all passed out for a few hours before the sun and noise from returning teams woke us up. For the rest of the day we rested and swapped stories with the other racers, and they all had interesting ones to tell.

Mile 395: The Hill From Hel.

Most centered around the nightmare section at mile 395, where almost every vehicle had spent at least some time stuck in the silt, or the Summit section where the course was more suited to rock-crawlers than to desert racers. We realized we had been pretty fortunate compared to many of the other teams we talked to. We didn't really have any problems other than the two small incidents near the start and finish. The only other thing that happened was near San Telmo, where Kent and Kevin had a can of Coke thrown at them by a spectator, leaving them covered in sticky liquid that the dust soon turned into sludge.

All in all it was a great experience for us, and has left us excited about next year. Our original plan for this year had been to build a new class 10 car from the ground up to race the 2002 season, but this class 1 car sort of fell into our laps midway through the year. We still think that class 10 is the best class for us for the next couple of years- we can be competitive without investing the huge amount of money that class 1 would require, and allow us to build our team. So over the next couple of months we are going to swap out the engine and tranny and make a serious effort at the class 10 SCORE championship next year. See you in Laughlin!