Marty Fiolka

A lifelong enthusiast of off-road motorsports, Marty Fiolka raced his first SCORE Baja 1000 in 1992. A graduate of the California University at Long Beach, he formed the Rennsport Marketing Group in 1995 and executed public relations programs for Nissan, Infiniti, Exxon, Mitsubishi, and SCORE International. Now an eight-time Baja 1000 competitor and desert racing veteran, Fiolka is the associate producer of Dana Brown's Baja documentary, Dust to Glory, the author of the recently released coffee-table Baja 1000 history book 1000 Miles to Glory.

Dirt Sports awards it 2008 Driver of the Year honor to Heidi Steele, whose team won two championships last year.

We go big with a plug 'n' play 402

As we so eloquently pointed out in the last issue of Dirt Sports (if we can be so bold), veteran racers know that if it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would get done. And while we aren't exactly at the "last minute" in terms of racing time, with just a little under two months left on the countdown to the Baja 2008 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, the pressure of completing our new Project Plug 'n' Play Alumi Craft is now being felt by everyone involved in making it all come together.

When off-road racing legend Larry "L.R." Roeseler crawls out from beneath the used-up white pre-runner he's working on, the first thing crossing your mind is not that you're looking at a guy who has mastered the art of off-road racing longer than anyone else around.

If anything, nobody in the off-road or publishing world can accuse us of being lazy, short sighted or unwilling to take on the big challenges. And, there is no other testament to this magazine's spirit than the absolutely incredible Ford Bronco pre-runner you see before you.

With the hot, humid nights and blazingly sticky weekends of August quickly becoming a dwindling commodity, the harsh realities of Project Plug 'n' Play Alumi Craft are becoming clear in the haze of yet another smog-filled summer in Southern California. Trying to make our deadline of completing our car in time to pre-run the 2008 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 is going to be very tight indeed.

Just like every other form of human activity, God has staked his place in off-road racing.

At some point in any automotive project, there comes a time when the endless planning, the online research and the endless daydreaming come to a halt. Nothing gets built without putting the Coors Light-flavored BS aside and getting down to work.

Set against the soothing stillness of yet another idyllic morning at Ensenada's Horsepower Ranch, even the chaotic, disheveled aftermath left behind by the prior evening's Baja Legacy party can't dilute this new day's significance for Vic Wilson. And how could it, especially considering that hours earlier hundreds of event attendees helped Wilson celebrate his very deserving induction to the ranch's ever-expanding Hall of Fame? In 2008, it was an honor he shared with Robby Gordon, Bruce Ogilvie and Bruce Brown.