38th Tecate/SCORE Baja 1000

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mlittle
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38th Tecate/SCORE Baja 1000

Post by mlittle » Thu Nov 17, 2005 10:46 am

If there is one race that could be completely described as "being in a 24-hr plane crash", it would have to be the Tecate/SCORE Baja 1000. Every November for 38 yrs. now, drivers, celebrities, and a couple-hundred thousand spectators have traveled to Ensenanda, on the Baja Peninsula, for the annual desert race. This year's field of racers is as varied as the desert landscapes they'll be passing through. From the ranks of that "800-lb. gorilla" known as NASCAR come Boris Said, stock-car newcomer Michel Jourdain, Jr. and the racer known as "Baja's Prodigal Son", Robby Gordon(as racing commentator Paul Page put it in the film "Dust to Glory", "It's his world. It's not Indy or Daytona, it's the Baja desert." From the ranks of the IRL comes the 2004 Indy 500 winner, Buddy Rice, and from the rival ChampCar series comes Newman-Haas Racing's duo of Oriol Servia and Sebastien Bourdais. There are also some famous celebrities there, too. ESPN commentator Cameron Steele is an accomplished Trophy-Truck racer; famed bike-builder Jesse James is also entered, as is IRL team owner(and sports-car racer) Patrick Dempsey.

And what is the Baja 1000? It's 1000 miles of washouts, gullies, silt, rock-strewn roads, highways(which are all open to the public during the race!! :shock: :shock: :shock: ) and other desert obstacles. On Friday, Nov. 18th, over 350 entries, in Trophy-Trucks, ATVs', motorcycles, and pre-1982 VW Beetles, among others, will begin the race. The rules are simple.....you get 30 hrs. from the 6:30 AM PST start to finish the 1000-mile looping course. And, yes, it both starts in Ensenada and ends in Ensenada. In a sense, it's a cross btwn. the 24 Hrs. of LeMans, the Bathurst 1000, the Indy 500, and moto-cross racing, all rolled into a 1000-mile "insane-driven" desert course.
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The Wayward Tarheel I'm even in the blogosphere.... :shock:

mlittle
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Champions Repeat at the Baja 1000

Post by mlittle » Tue Nov 22, 2005 2:07 pm

For the ninth consecutive time, Honda motorcyclist Johnny Campbell won the Baja 1000, with teammates Steve Hegenveld and Mike Childress winning for the 6th and 1st time, respectively. The trio completed the 1000-mile race, which starts and ends in Ensenada, Baja Cal., Mexico, in 14 hrs., 20 mins, and 30 secs. on a Honda XR650R. Meanwhile, in the Class 1(4-wheel open-air ATVs'), Larry Rosleser and Troy Herbst, driving a Ford/Smithbuilt ATV, won in a time of 15 hrs., 1 mins., and 16 secs, while Bob Shepard and Rick Geisler won the Trophy-Truck Division and 7 of the top 10 4-wheel drives were from the TT division. An estimated 200,000 people lined the 1000-miles from Ensenada through places such as Valle de Trinidad, San Felipe and other small places in the Baja.

Unfortunately, there was a bit of tragedy following the race. News reports from Los Angeles are that off-road veteran Jason Baldwin, along with three others, were in a light plane flying out of Baja when the plane went down somewhere off the California coast, FAA and U.S. Coast Guard officials noted. Airport controllers reported that the plane spun and crashed into the ocean about three miles off of Dana Pt., Cal. The plane's wreckage is believed to have sunk to around 200 ft. Baldwin, along with friends Jeff TenEyke, Rick Olauson and pilot Don Newsome, are missing and presumed deceased. My sympathies go out to the families; Baldwin was a champion desert and off-road racer and he will be missed by the NA motorsports community. :(
The Sci-Fi Station Come by and visit when you get the chance. :)
The Wayward Tarheel I'm even in the blogosphere.... :shock:

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