Chasing the 50th Baja 1000

So I'm leaving today for 2 weeks of prerunning and racing in Baja. This year is special as it is the 50th running of the Baja 1000. This year it is also a peninsula run with the start in Ensenada and the finish in La Paz, B.C.S. (Baja Sur)

I'm chasing and pitting for a team out of Long Beach racing two Class 1 cars, Wilson Motorsports. In 2013 we won the race with a smaller Class 10 car (unlimited suspension, limited motor size, open wheel buggy). Last year we won it in Class 1 (Unlimited open wheel buggy).



But this is a Tundra website right? So I'm taking my stock 2016 Tundra (other than lighting) throwing a tire rack on it, loading it with tools, coolers, GPS, race radio and other gear and heading south for tacos and dirt. I'll be towing one of the 3 prerunners on occasion as well. It'll also be the only Toyota out of the 20'ish chase trucks we're using.

So the idea of this thread is to give you folks a day by day update, wifi connection permitting, of how everything goes and how much effort it takes for just one team out of 350+ entires to compete in the toughest offroad race in North America.

Updates and pics to come.






TL;DR version: Me go Baja.

 

Awesome!! I'm looking forward to the updates; thanks for bringing us along. Have fun and stay safe.

 

Good luck out there. Hopefully you won't need the spare wheel and tire I gave you. Have fun

 

Super dope!!!

 

I sure hope not. Thanks again!!

 

Loading up the rack, coolers and tools. And beer. Lots of beer.

 

Cool as hell. 50yrs already? Sheesh..

 

Ensenada to La Paz? Rad. If there's ever a chance of tagging along in some way, I'd love an opportunity to talk with you about it.

Stay safe. Go fast. Keep the shiny side up.

Looking forward to hearing about it when you get back.

 

The food and beer....Oh...I'm jealous.

 

sweet ! cant wait for pictures and reports

 

At the shop now. Won’t see these two for another week and a half.

 

Be safe, I've heard that it can get super crazy.

 

If you’ve never seen it, give Dust To Glory a watch.

 

LOL, I can see it on my shelf from where I'm sitting...

 

It’s calmed down since 2003 when that was filmed. Dust2Glory 2 is coming out very soon and it follows all four races of the 2016 season.

Chillin’ at our usual motel in Ensenada, the Colon Motel. Yes you read that correctly. The Colon.

Went next door to Broncos steakhouse for a couple margaritas and quesadillas. Shared stories and caught up with each other.

Gotta go. 4:30 wake up call. Our drivers have Home work to do.

 

All the best, Be safe!!

 

[QUOTE="Baja Mike, post: 408550, member: Loading up the rack, coolers and tools. And beer. Lots of beer.[/QUOTE]
I've often wondered if this would work. Are you using the Lowrance for a graph and plotting the race?

 

This would be a blast.

 

I've often wondered if this would work. Are you using the Lowrance for a graph and plotting the race?[/QUOTE]
Yes. We download the map from SCORE and put it on the gps. We have them in chase trucks because the BFG map has all the pit access points for teams running BFG tires.

 

Ok so I’m in San Ignacio at Rice And Beans and have WiFi in one hand and a Margarita in the other. The guys started prerunning today and they had zero issues. LOTS of silt. For us in the chase trucks it was another issue. The “highway” which is a single lane going south a single lane going north is full of potholes. Big ones. It killed one of the trailers. It broke the leaf hangers and shackles on it. But we got really lucky when we stopped for gas and found out about it. Across the street was a repair shop and an orange trailer being fixed. So 2 hours and $100 later we were fixed and back on the road. Actual tree Shade mechanics. The welder was just a buzz box stick welder with a set of vice grips holding the wires together.

Viva Baja.

For some reason I can’t upload pics right now. I’m doing this all on my phone.

 

My “Fundra” is getting 15.7 mpg. We’re cruising. My Baja Designs lights are fucking awesome. Almost 20,000 lumens with the bar and fogs alone.

 

Awesome, that would be a blast. What engine are you running in the cars and what's temps like down there?

 

Chevy LSX motors that have been massaged by Wiks Racing Engines in Las Vegas. Pushing close to 650 hp.


So BJ Baldwin was here last night. His prerunner Tundra was in the parking lot. Only thing Toyota about that truck is the cab. It’s got an LS motor in. Pictures are taking a very long time to load where I’m at. I’ll do a pic dump when I’m stateside.

 

Explains why it’s on a trailer

 

Blue will you explain the point of your video...

 

It’s from the movie “Hot Rod”. There is no point to it.

 

Must be a dumb movie

 

In Loreto right now. It is hot and humid. All the humidity I think.

We had no issues at all today. Just slight hangovers.

 

Alright. So this isn’t going exactly as I hoped it would, update wise. Whenever I get the WiFi there’s already a bunch of people sucking it down and that makes it really slow here.


One thing I’ve noticed is that there a lot of Tundras down here. 2nd and 3rd gen. The Tundra is popular amongst the Moto/bike guys but also some car guys. Which is surprising because most teams have diesel trucks.

It’s currently 2:30am on the sea of Cortez and 71*.

10 minutes of trying to load a picture.