2009 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000
Story by Charlene Bower and Jeff Knoll
[ Sunday ] [ Monday ] [ Tuesday ] [Wednesday ]
[ Thursday ] [ Friday(Race Day) ] [ Wrap Up Story ]
[ PHOTO GALLERY ]
The Wrap Up
How am I supposed to recap 9 days of Baja? The race that so many dream to compete in. The experience that so many desire to be able to speak of in first person. The race on the other side of the border that so many fear. I didn't get kidnapped, raped, robbed, shot or experience Montezuma's revenge. So it was a great trip, right? Right! I had the most amazing experiences around every dirt or asphalt turn.
What made it a good trip?
- Taco Al Pastor at 2:00am and every night there after
- Visiting two famous ranches
- Mingling and interviewing Baja legends
- Pre-running the Baja 1000 course
- Testing a JK and counting "ARB bump stop" infractions
- Having Internet access in the middle of nowhere
- Dissecting and over analyzing old school rap songs
- Buying two turtles at the border
- Watching 17 individuals grow into one solid team
And that is the short list!
Team 1702
Here is my wrap up story. I'm sure it won't be short, so grab a Pacifico, a bowl of chips and salsa and get ready for the trip of a lifetime.
Saturday, November 14th, about 3 hours before I left my house, I looked at my pile of bags recounting and making sure that I had everything. Passport? Check. Just have to stop at Wal-Mart and walk down the drug aisle to pick up one of everything. Just in case.
Lance, Mike Shaffer, Steve and Josh had made the 12 hour drive from Nor Cal via Carson City, NV, with no issues and dropped in to pick up Jeff Knoll and I in Southern California. By 7pm Saturday night we had crossed the border into Baja and the adventure began. I will say, Lance and I had a little apprehension about going over the border after spending the previous 4 days trying to figure out what paperwork we needed to cross with the rooftop satellite. It's not like it wasn't visible or anything. The final word that I got from the customs agent was "just go for it, the worst that can happen is they will require paperwork, and you won't be able to cross until Tuesday because of a Monday holiday." So when we crossed the border, they never even looked up at it! Phew!
You Tube Border Crossing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXLOgdGM-P0
We drove through the slums of Tiajuana and headed south to the San Nicolas Hotel in Ensenada. The San Nicolas is a nice hotel with paper thin towels, brick walls and TVs pumping "Dust to Glory" and other off-road movies! Then it was off to the official Pirate4x4 Taco Cart. I looked skeptically at the meat hanging on the spit on a cart in the middle of the street. I watched "Taco Cart Man" cut it, slap in the cilantro and onions, toss on the salsa and I knew I had to try one. (I am craving one now!) They were amazing! There has been talk of capturing and smuggling the Taco Guy back to Pirate4x4's headquarters. I second that motion!
You Tube Pirate4x4 Taco Stand: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2swd2aSpTE
The entire Torchmate Racing crew at the official Pirate4x4 taco cart.
Camo and the MFS crew
There was never lack of action or steeker kids banging on the doors. We had almost 700 miles of pre-running to do and four days to do it in. By Sunday morning, Camo and Eric had made it into Baja with the MFS Buggy and went straight down to San Felipe to pre-run the bottom section of the course. Shaffer jumped into his JK and started pre-running his section on the east side of Baja, and Lance, Jeff, Josh and I took the Dodge (yes, with the satellite) pre-running on the west side of Baja popping out onto the coast.
Gettin' it in the big Dodge!
The ocean always brings a level of ease to the soul. The glowing colors of blue, the splashing sounds of water, the sand between your toes, but then add the Baja race course to get there and it changes your attentiveness. We were on the Baja 1000 race course. The course wound its way up, over and around the mountains where you can eventually see the Pacific Ocean in the distance. Soon enough we were there standing next to the water listening and feeling the waves crashing against the rocky shoreline that we walked out onto, trying not to step on too many fresh clams that were living in groves. We only stayed for a short while. We wished we had brought recliners and a cooler for an extended stay, but we had much more pre-running to do. We loaded back into the KORE equipped Dodge diesel, and then one question remained - where were we going to eat dinner?
You Tube Link to Ocean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zzkd3NV1Usc
It doesn't get any better than cruising along the coast!
One of Lance's favorite lunch stops... In the middle of nowhere!
Taco stands are on every corner in Baja, but you can't just stop anywhere. Thinking back, I will place a bet that Lance has a Taco Tracking system implanted in his belly that he's not telling anyone about. We ate, and we ate well! Every day we ended up at some little taco stand or some concrete building off the main road that had some of the best Mexican food that I have ever eaten. How, we asked ourselves, does Lance know where all of these places are? At night, we ate at restaurants that had huge burritos and steaks that you could cut with a fork. Of course it goes without saying that our "Pirate4x4 Taco Stand" did very well over the course of the week!
I can't put a "favorite day" into the record books, but one of the more historical days was Monday when we stopped by Horsepower Ranch and then ended up at Mike's Sky Ranch. Horsepower Ranch is down a 2 mile dirt road about 10 miles outside of Ensenada where you end up in a beautiful green oasis. As we walked into the amazing building we found Marty Fiolka tapping away on his laptop. He happily gave us a grand tour of the bar and some of his favorite photos. After a Pacifico, chips and homemade salsa, we loaded back up and headed out to Mike's Sky Ranch. This time we were actually pre-running part of Lance and Jeff's section. About an hour or so of bouncing took us up to almost 3,500 feet to one of the most historical stops in Baja for off-roaders. Completely generator operated, the facility was not a 5 star resort, it was better! It was homey, it was warm, it was accommodating and I can see how it is an off-roaders dream to experience this remote oasis. Alex and Fernando gave me the full tour so I could try and bring the essence back to you, but after watching the video, you just have to go, that's really all there is to it!
You Tube Horsepower Ranch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x47tk4EEiK8
Marty Fiolka and Charlene at Horsepower Ranch
You Tube Mike's Sky Ranch #1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vLGSLlz0Vc
You Tube Mike's Sky Ranch #2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq2IvFy08_o
You Tube Mike's Sky Ranch #3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqoLAJysg3w
BBQ Dinner at Mike's Sky Ranch
The 1702 crew hanging out at Mike's Sky Ranch
A very entertaining night at Mike's Sky Ranch launched us into a wild eleven hour day in the Shaffer's Offroad JK pre-running an insane section of the Baja 1000 which even made Jeff Knoll re-evaluate if King of the Hammers really was the toughest race. Luckily we had the addition of Animal Crackers to our previous evening which eliminated anyone winning the "who will puke first" bet. At what Lance called "half-race-speed" we took the JK up and down some true rock crawling areas. Shaffer had "installed" a special bump stop in the JK - the ARB Fridge in the back. If it became airborne, then we were going too fast. All I will say is we hit double digits, but Lance is protesting at least three of them (yea, whatever). He claimed something about lack of weight in the ARB towards the end of the day (uh huh).
You Tube JK Pre-Run Day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08cRAgX6cOI
Lance and Jeff Knoll pre running in the Shaffer JK
We didn't want to be out past dark, but we didn't even start the final section until it was dusk. Three hours to go. As it got dark, it got spooky as we found droopy trees in the Mexico desert. The Vision-X HID lights powered through the no moon darkness and Lance and Jeff got their eyes adjusted to running at night. They were to get in the race car around 3:00am in the morning and take it to the finish line. This section was supposed to be done at sunrise with the sun in their eyes. Little would they know that they would be doing it in the dark in the race as well!
You can't beat a Baja sunset...
Luckily Wednesday was a catch up day, well at least for most of us. Shaffer and Steve took the JK out for day 4 of pre-running. I will have to give the JK two thumbs up. It took a serious beating for 4 days and I doubt that it was built as a Baja pre-runner, but it sure did stand up as one. It was flogged for over 1,500 miles on this adventure alone. Very impressive!
Urapan = hell... 'Nuff said.
By Wednesday, the Torchmate/Pirate4x4/Shaffer's Offroad JeepSpeed team had all made it to Ensenada. Of the 17 person team, there were experienced Baja drivers, Baja chasers, mechanics, and a large group of rookies who declared their interest on the Pirate4x4.com bulletin board. When we all sat down on Wednesday night at the team meeting to sort out where the chase trucks were going to go, the team listened and worked together to put a solid plan on paper. The deal was sealed at dinner and the camaraderie was locked in.
1702 Team meeting
Was it dinner or at the meeting that it was formally announced that the first transfer case had a problem? Actually I think it was at the meeting, because Jeff Knoll already had Dustin Webster on call to have two spares delivered by the next day. The crew went from a scrumptious dinner to a very cold ground to start figuring out what was actually wrong, and what to do about it. They worked until 4:00am, got a couple hours of sleep and then continued working on it Thursday.
Preparing to rip out the transfer case the night before Contingency
Overnight the town of Ensenada went from a quiet town to a roaring racing epicenter. The streets were lined with vendors and all of the schools were closed for Contingency and Tech. Trucks, buggies, Jeeps, dirt bikes and more pushed their way through the crowds of people. The locals asked all the racers for autographs, steekers and interviews. I pushed through the massive crowds to get interviews with Baja legends, and not-so-well known names. The final interview of the day was with none other than 1702 JeepSpeed drivers Shaffer, Camo and Lance. The legends, the racers, the vehicles, and the rumble was enough to make a grown man drool.
You Tube Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYWKYIOvK0g
Many more interviews available at the end of RaceDay Friday Coverage Page.
Yes, Lance autographed the kid's forehead!
Have you ever wanted to be in a room that is full of off-road legends like Robby Gordon and Ivan Stewart? Sal Fish welcomed the packed room (where drivers and pit crews filled every seat and were standing 6 rows deep) to the 42nd Baja 1000. It was an early night...well, relatively. Everyone knew it would be an early morning and a long, long race ahead.
Driver's meeting with the biggest names in off-road
Are you tired of reading yet? Well, imagine how we felt! And now comes the grand finale...40+ hours of pure adrenaline. It's time for Race Day!
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