Champion Rockcrawlers to Race in Baja 1000

[J.J.]

Contact: Brett Turner, 864-272-3014
brett.turner@jdmotorsports.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Forget Walking; These Krawlers Are Ready to Run
Rockcrawling Team Set to Tackle SCORE Baja 1000;
Donahoe Racing to Use Baja 1000 to Launch & Test Toyota FJ Cruiser Racing Program


OREM, UTAH (October 25, 2006) – Four of the world’s best rockcrawlers have joined with Donahoe Racing to use the world’s toughest and most prestigious off-road race – The Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 – to launch and test its Toyota FJ Cruiser race program.
Shannon Campbell, John ‘Johnny G.’ Gilleland and brothers John and Nate Williams, all regulars on the UROC rockcrawling circuit, will take turns behind the wheel of the Donahoe Racing Toyota FJ Cruiser as they compete in Class 3 at this year’s event. The four racers have combined for more than 10 championships, 20+ wins and more than 40 top-10 finishes in professional rockcrawling.
Rockcrawling is described as having the sight, smell and sound of stock car racing, the vertical element of Supercross and the adrenalin rush of bull riding.
The 39th annual SCORE Baja 1000, the Super Bowl of off-road racing, will begin in Ensenada, Baja California and finish in La Paz, Baja California, Sur. This year’s grueling adventure will cover approximately 1,052 miles of the rugged and tortuous Baja California peninsula, starting on the Pacific Ocean side in Ensenada, and stretching across and down the majestic peninsula to the Sea of Cortez side, back to the Pacific before winding back again to the Sea of Cortez and to the finish line in La Paz.
"I couldn’t think of a better way to launch our new Toyota FJ Cruiser race program than with the best rockcrawlers in the world tackling the toughest off-road race in the world,” said Kreg Donahoe, president of Donahoe Racing. “Toyota has built an all-purpose off-road vehicle in the FJ Cruiser and Team Donahoe is looking forward to putting it through its paces. There isn’t a better way to learn than through trial and error in the grueling desert. We are all very excited."
"SCORE always welcomes racers from different forms of motorsports and we are pleased to be hosting our first UROC team in this year's Tecate SCORE Baja 1000,” said Sal Fish, SCORE president and CEO. “Toyota builds tremendous vehicles and this new model will be severely tested with two entries in this year's grueling odyssey down Mexico's Baja California peninsula, but we know the Donahoe Racing Team will provide the prep work and support needed to help make the UROC team successful in their maiden voyage."


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“Desert racing, short track racing and rockcrawling are all highly competitive off-road motorsports, and we feel that giving proper support to each other is crucial,” said Ranch Pratt, president and CEO of UROC. “There are some SCORE racers that compete on the UROC circuit, and we are excited to see our drivers compete in the most prestigious off-road race in the world.”
“So many people have paid the price to make the Baja 1000 such a prestigious event,” said Gilleland, arguably the biggest name in rockcrawling. “This is a childhood dream come true for me. I am humbled and honored to compete in it. Growing up in the Rocky Mountains led me to rockcrawling, but I have always had the desire to go fast.”
“This is the chance of a lifetime and an entirely new opportunity,” John Williams, 29, the older Williams brother, said. “We are really grateful that Kreg was able to pull everyone together. Our driving skills will be used, but it is a big difference from rockcrawling. One thing that all motorsports teach you is to drive smart. I think we will have an advantage in the booby-traps and technical sections of the course. The night racing and the feel of the truck and course are going to be areas where we don’t have the experience that others have.”
“Both require making split-second decisions,” Gilleland said. “Whether going slow and vertical, or blasting through a wash in Baja, learning vehicle limits is always useful. The great thing about Baja is that it is non-stop action.”
Team Donahoe already has a strategy for the race. Campbell, who has never competed in Baja, will begin the race with Nate Williams and Gilleland taking over driving duties in the middle portion of the event. John Williams will bring the FJ Cruiser across the finish line. Gilleland and the Williams’ brothers raced a Trophy Truck in last year’s Baja 1000, but didn’t finish.
“I am excited as hell,” Campbell said. “This is something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time. My dad raced the Baja 1000 back in the 70s and I did a little off-road racing in local races in Arizona in Class 3 and Class 8. We have a good team. We are all smart and know what we’re doing. We think we can win the class.”
Nate Williams, 26, the younger of the Williams’ brothers, simplified it even more.
“You tend to do well in the Baja 1000 if you just finish the race,” he said. “If we run a smart race and can finish, then we can win. Anyone who can finish the Baja 1000 has a shot at winning.”
Tom Geviss, a veteran SCORE desert racer who has competed in more than 45 Baja races, and compiled five wins and three class championships, also has more than 15 UROC events under his belt. He didn’t know what to think at first about rockcrawlers being successful in Baja until he learned the four racers that would be competing.
“All four of those guys are smart and great racers,” Geviss said. “They can win Class 3 if they take it easy and don’t overdrive. All of the little stuff, they can fix themselves because they are all experienced. Plus, they have an advantage of knowing how to get around all the big and nasty stuff. It’s the big stuff that does you in and will come up and bite you. They also won’t have the experience of racing at night.”

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Geviss offered some advice to his fellow rockcrawlers.
“Make sure and have good lights,” he said. “The mud can dim the lights and they won’t be as powerful. Then the turns and bumps start creeping up on you and the cacti start looking like people. That’s when it gets scary.”
Gilleland, who is the father of five and owns his own construction company, isn’t too concerned because he won’t be racing in the dark.
“I’m going to love the speed,” he said. “When I was 12 years old I used to come home and watch The Dukes of Hazzard and then go out on the country roads sliding the corners in my mother’s Datsun hatchback. I’m looking forward to being a kid again.”
The motorcycle and ATV classes will start their journey at 6:30 a.m., Thursday, November 16, with the car and truck classes starting at approximately 10:30 a.m., or three hours after the last ATV leaves the line. Vehicles will leave in 30-second intervals in the elapsed-time race and while the fastest finishers are expected to complete the course in approximately 16 hours. More than 300,000 fans are expected to be spread out along the point-to-point racecourse. This year’s race will be televised on a delayed basis as a one-hour NBC Sports special for the third consecutive year, airing at 2:30 p.m., EST on Sunday, December 10. It will also air on a delayed basis outside of the U.S. on ESPN International.
Founded in 1999, The United Rockcrawling and Off-Road Challenge – or UROC (pronounced You-Rock) – is the leading sanctioning body in professional rockcrawling. UROC (www.uroc.com) features the best rockcrawling teams from around the country, competing for top dollar purses and contingency money.
SCORE International, founded in 1973 by the late Mickey Thompson and headed by Sal Fish since 1974, continues today as the premier sanctioning body in the sport of desert racing. SCORE races feature 17 Pro and two Sportsman classes for cars and trucks in the U.S. with seven additional Pro and three more Sportsman classes for motorcycles and ATVs competing in the races in Mexico. SCORE races in the U.S. average 200 entries while the average in Mexico, with motorcycle and ATV classes running as well as the cars and trucks is 300. For more information, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters 818.225.8402 or visit its official website at www.score-international.com.


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[TotalImmortal]

sooo they're driving a rock racer? can you say O-U-C-H?

[Lance]

Damn, maybe we shouldn't have changed from class 3 to class 17. That way we could have whooped up on our rock crawling brothers.

Damn, there's going to be a lot of us in this race!

[diefree]

I thought DAKAR was the worlds toughest and most prestigious off-road race. www.dakar.com

[GoodTimes]

Originally Posted by diefree

I thought DAKAR was the worlds toughest and most prestigious off-road race. www.dakar.com

It's arguably the toughest. Baja dosn't give you time to sleep and repair.

[diefree]

Originally Posted by GoodTimes

It's arguably the toughest. Baja dosn't give you time to sleep and repair.

that is true.i agree.17 days 6500 miles it is what it is.

[GoodTimes]

Originally Posted by diefree

that is true.i agree.17 days 6500 miles it is what it is.

That's only 380 miles a day. With warm weather. Piece of cake.

[Jeff Knoll]

Originally Posted by GoodTimes

That's only 380 miles a day. With warm weather. Piece of cake.

Heck you guys are planning on running that on a months notice right?

[diefree]

Originally Posted by GoodTimes

That's only 380 miles a day. With warm weather. Piece of cake.

Ditto!!!

[GoodTimes]

Originally Posted by Jeff Knoll

Heck you guys are planning on running that on a months notice right?

Yeah. Probably should get working on that.

[raceanything]

So what's "the spread" between class 3 and Jeepspeed? I think we got some wagering to do.
I got $20 on Shannon beating the poor Toyota up in the first leg and the other guys never seeing it.

[Lance]

Originally Posted by raceanything

So what's "the spread" between class 3 and Jeepspeed? I think we got some wagering to do.
I got $20 on Shannon beating the poor Toyota up in the first leg and the other guys never seeing it.

[MIKE S]

Originally Posted by raceanything

So what's "the spread" between class 3 and Jeepspeed? I think we got some wagering to do.
I got $20 on Shannon beating the poor Toyota up in the first leg and the other guys never seeing it.

START TIMES & START ORDER FOR BAJA 1000
43 Hour Time Limit For All Classes
* Four Wheel will start at approximately 10:30AM. One every 30 seconds in the following order:
TT, 1, 10, 8, PT, SL, 1/2-16, 5, 7, BC, 5-16, 7S, 7SX, SF, SM, 9, 3, 17, SptTrk, SptBug, 11, SptUTV.

CLASS 3: 5
301 ED GRIFFIN
302 SCOTT BARNES
*300 DONALD MOSS
304 Chris Raffo
349 CHUCK ATKINSON

CLASS 17: 2
1701 Mike Shaffer
1702 Fat City?

I think they will start last in Class 3 if so this could be fun

GAME ON

[MIKE S]

So do we try to chase them down or do we keep are pace and wait There rig should be very fast, But it would be fun to chase

[Jeff Knoll]

Originally Posted by MIKE S

So do we try to chase them down or do we keep are pace and wait There rig should be very fast, But it would be fun to chase

I'd give em a love tap. Champ on Champ

[Whitewater]

Keep your pace. In doing this, you can pass them when they are sitting on the side of the track broken and give em a nice roost as you pass by.

[Racing Ron]

Originally Posted by MIKE S

So do we try to chase them down or do we keep are pace and wait There rig should be very fast, But it would be fun to chase

You should chase 'em Mike...