Official 2014 Baja 1000 thread

Bajaxp · Oct 8, 2014

Heard that there might be some course changes, due to the recent weather.

badassmav · Oct 8, 2014

Bajaxp said:
Heard that there might be some course changes, due to the recent weather.

NONE PLANNED AS OF LAST NIGHT

JoeyD23 · Oct 11, 2014

I'm wondering who is actually going to pre run. And not just for the race course side but for logistics???

badassmav · Oct 12, 2014

JoeyD23 said:
I'm wondering who is actually going to pre run. And not just for the race course side but for logistics???

Marc always preruns extensively in Mexico. With the points title at stake, expect him to know a fresh version of the course, all of the way down to La Paz. We have been discussing logistics now for weeks. He will include those considerations, and document fuel availability, etc. while pre running.

NIKAL · Oct 29, 2014

So the other day I was sitting around the table with some veterans of our sport. They have all retired from racing, but some continue to do fun trips in Baja. This year’s Baja 1000 came up and how long it was, and what would we do if we were going to race it. Now understand these guys were racing Baja before most of you have heard of Baja. So the classes they raced are class 11, 9, 5/1600, 1600 & 7s. Three of the four veterans raced multiple classes including the 7s truck. All of these classes were very competitive back then and had 20-30 entries in a Baja 1000. Right off the bat they all said they would not race 7s again. A course the 7’s are now 7sx and the rules have changed so much over the years that a 7sx is what a 7 open truck was back in the day, so unless they drove a current 7sx its really hard to say if they would choose that or not. But I think we all agree a 7 truck in big silt beds sucks! Like watching class 11’s pass you in the silt beds while you dig for hours kind of Suck!

Because these guys don’t know much if anything about the UTV class it was not added to the list of possible class options. The class they chose to run would be a 1600 car or as they called it a 2/1600. For those who did not know the 1600 classes used to be split, single seaters & two seaters. The reason they chose 1600 was because of wheelbase, better brakes, power steering and overall speed. Several like the class 11 for the Baja 1000 as the class 11 does really well in Baja, it’s affordable and you can easily seal up the cab for comfort. One year they actually put the windshield & roll up door windows back in for the Baja 1000. It was a point to point races and the weather was expected to be cold & wet.

Some of the unique things talked about adding to the 2/1600 car for our "Fictitious" Baja 1000.
1) A removable windshield & frame, with wiper that can be Dzus tabbed on. You would put this on for the cold nights or if you knew you were going to run a wet section. They all agreed the biggest challenge was keeping dry & warm. They said once you are wet, your mind focuses on being cold and just getting to the next driver change, and not on racing at 100%. We all agreed racing Baja is as much “mind over matter” as it is having top notch equipment.
2) Electric winch mounted behind the front skid plate. This would be especially helpful if you were is a single seater.
3) Seat warmers built into the seats. Once again it was a comfort thing and making the drivers comfortable keeps their focus on racing, and not just surviving.
4) Make the spare tire mount & strap accommodate double stacking a front & rear tire for those remote sections where you know you can’t get crews into and multiple flats are a real possibility.

One other thing that was mentioned that I'm sure one on here has probably heard of before. Rolls of Carpet. Before those plastic sand ramps many carry, we used to cut strips of carpet about 15 inches wide, and a few feet long. you would roll these up and stash them in the car, or in a pit prior to entering a silty area your crew would bungee or zip tie them on the car. The carpet acts as a sand ramp as you can shove them under the tires in a silt bed for traction. Old Skool!

Besides the seat warmers these are all things these guys had done in the past, that you don’t see done anymore. But I think several of these ideas would be great for a long peninsula run like this year’s Baja 1000+ race. It was also a 100% unanimous that trying to Solo or “Ironmaning” for the Win is not the way to go. A race of this size would be ideal to have 3 drivers, each with their own co-rider. You can’t keep your equipment fresh, but a fresh driver will not make mistakes at tired driver will, and will manage a tired race car better.

It is interesting to hear the prospective from older experienced off-road veterans. Even though times have changed many things have not and something that worked back then will still apply to today.

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badassmav · Oct 29, 2014

NIKAL said:
So the other day I was sitting around the table with some veterans of our sport. They have all retired from racing, but some continue to do fun trips in Baja. This yearâ€™s Baja 1000 came up and how long it was, and what would we do if we were going to race it. Now understand these guys were racing Baja before most of you have heard of Baja. So the classes they raced are class 11, 9, 5/1600, 1600 & 7s. Three of the four veterans raced multiple classes including the 7s truck. All of these classes were very competitive back then and had 20-30 entries in a Baja 1000. Right off the bat they all said they would not race 7s again. A course the 7â€™s are now 7sx and the rules have changed so much over the years that a 7sx is what a 7 open truck was back in the day, so unless they drove a current 7sx its really hard to say if they would choose that or not. But I think we all agree a 7 truck in big silt beds sucks! Like watching class 11â€™s pass you in the silt beds while you dig for hours kind of Suck!

Because these guys donâ€™t know much if anything about the UTV class it was not added to the list of possible class options. The class they chose to run would be a 1600 car or as they called it a 2/1600. For those who did not know the 1600 classes used to be split, single seaters & two seaters. The reason they chose 1600 was because of wheelbase, better brakes, power steering and overall speed. Several like the class 11 for the Baja 1000 as the class 11 does really well in Baja, itâ€™s affordable and you can easily seal up the cab for comfort. One year they actually put the windshield & roll up door windows back in for the Baja 1000. It was a point to point races and the weather was expected to be cold & wet.

Some of the unique things talked about adding to the 2/1600 car for our "Fictitious" Baja 1000.
1) A removable windshield & frame, with wiper that can be Dzus tabbed on. You would put this on for the cold nights or if you knew you were going to run a wet section. They all agreed the biggest challenge was keeping dry & warm. They said once you are wet, your mind focuses on being cold and just getting to the next driver change, and not on racing at 100%. We all agreed racing Baja is as much â€œmind over matterâ€ as it is having top notch equipment.
2) Electric winch mounted behind the front skid plate. This would be especially helpful if you were is a single seater.
3) Seat warmers built into the seats. Once again it was a comfort thing and making the drivers comfortable keeps their focus on racing, and not just surviving.
4) Make the spare tire mount & strap accommodate double stacking a front & rear tire for those remote sections where you know you canâ€™t get crews into and multiple flats are a real possibility.

One other thing that was mentioned that I'm sure one on here has probably heard of before. Rolls of Carpet. Before those plastic sand ramps many carry, we used to cut strips of carpet about 15 inches wide, and a few feet long. you would roll these up and stash them in the car, or in a pit prior to entering a silty area your crew would bungee or zip tie them on the car. The carpet acts as a sand ramp as you can shove them under the tires in a silt bed for traction. Old Skool!

Besides the seat warmers these are all things these guys had done in the past, that you donâ€™t see done anymore. But I think several of these ideas would be great for a long peninsula run like this yearâ€™s Baja 1000+ race. It was also a 100% unanimous that trying to Solo or â€œIronmaningâ€ for the Win is not the way to go. A race of this size would be ideal to have 3 drivers, each with their own co-rider. You canâ€™t keep your equipment fresh, but a fresh driver will not make mistakes at tired driver will, and will manage a tired race car better.

It is interesting to hear the prospective from older experienced off-road veterans. Even though times have changed many things have not and something that worked back then will still apply to today.

C'mon Todd, do some name droppin'.

Bajaxp · Oct 29, 2014

Great post

NIKAL said:
So the other day I was sitting around the table with some veterans of our sport. They have all retired from racing, but some continue to do fun trips in Baja. This yearâ€™s Baja 1000 came up and how long it was, and what would we do if we were going to race it. Now understand these guys were racing Baja before most of you have heard of Baja. So the classes they raced are class 11, 9, 5/1600, 1600 & 7s. Three of the four veterans raced multiple classes including the 7s truck. All of these classes were very competitive back then and had 20-30 entries in a Baja 1000. Right off the bat they all said they would not race 7s again. A course the 7â€™s are now 7sx and the rules have changed so much over the years that a 7sx is what a 7 open truck was back in the day, so unless they drove a current 7sx its really hard to say if they would choose that or not. But I think we all agree a 7 truck in big silt beds sucks! Like watching class 11â€™s pass you in the silt beds while you dig for hours kind of Suck!

Because these guys donâ€™t know much if anything about the UTV class it was not added to the list of possible class options. The class they chose to run would be a 1600 car or as they called it a 2/1600. For those who did not know the 1600 classes used to be split, single seaters & two seaters. The reason they chose 1600 was because of wheelbase, better brakes, power steering and overall speed. Several like the class 11 for the Baja 1000 as the class 11 does really well in Baja, itâ€™s affordable and you can easily seal up the cab for comfort. One year they actually put the windshield & roll up door windows back in for the Baja 1000. It was a point to point races and the weather was expected to be cold & wet.

Some of the unique things talked about adding to the 2/1600 car for our "Fictitious" Baja 1000.
1) A removable windshield & frame, with wiper that can be Dzus tabbed on. You would put this on for the cold nights or if you knew you were going to run a wet section. They all agreed the biggest challenge was keeping dry & warm. They said once you are wet, your mind focuses on being cold and just getting to the next driver change, and not on racing at 100%. We all agreed racing Baja is as much â€œmind over matterâ€ as it is having top notch equipment.
2) Electric winch mounted behind the front skid plate. This would be especially helpful if you were is a single seater.
3) Seat warmers built into the seats. Once again it was a comfort thing and making the drivers comfortable keeps their focus on racing, and not just surviving.
4) Make the spare tire mount & strap accommodate double stacking a front & rear tire for those remote sections where you know you canâ€™t get crews into and multiple flats are a real possibility.

One other thing that was mentioned that I'm sure one on here has probably heard of before. Rolls of Carpet. Before those plastic sand ramps many carry, we used to cut strips of carpet about 15 inches wide, and a few feet long. you would roll these up and stash them in the car, or in a pit prior to entering a silty area your crew would bungee or zip tie them on the car. The carpet acts as a sand ramp as you can shove them under the tires in a silt bed for traction. Old Skool!

Besides the seat warmers these are all things these guys had done in the past, that you donâ€™t see done anymore. But I think several of these ideas would be great for a long peninsula run like this yearâ€™s Baja 1000+ race. It was also a 100% unanimous that trying to Solo or â€œIronmaningâ€ for the Win is not the way to go. A race of this size would be ideal to have 3 drivers, each with their own co-rider. You canâ€™t keep your equipment fresh, but a fresh driver will not make mistakes at tired driver will, and will manage a tired race car better.

It is interesting to hear the prospective from older experienced off-road veterans. Even though times have changed many things have not and something that worked back then will still apply to today.

badassmav · Oct 29, 2014

I always had 3 or 4 rolls of carpet when I would pre run. I remember the '84 Mint 400 that ran 4-100 mile loops north of Vegas. It was the "Maroon" themed year, and the silt was gnarly bad. I'll jusy say that carpet rolls were the shit back then. Only problem when using them to get out of a 1/2 mile long deeep silt bed, is when you get going, there's no stopping, and the magic carpet gets left behind. Or, you walk back 1/2 mile through the silt and retrieve it. Still dying to know who. Early-mid 80's racers? Scott Douglas? Animal Steve Lakin? Spencer? The Klauwitters? C'mon, I gotta get back to work! For sure Johnny Johnson. That guy drank like I do now, 30 years ago!

NIKAL · Oct 29, 2014

badassmav said:
I always had 3 or 4 rolls of carpet when I would pre run. I remember the '84 Mint 400 that ran 4-100 mile loops north of Vegas. It was the "Maroon" themed year, and the silt was gnarly bad. I'll jusy say that carpet rolls were the shit back then. Only problem when using them to get out of a 1/2 mile long deeep silt bed, is when you get going, there's no stopping, and the magic carpet gets left behind. Or, you walk back 1/2 mile through the silt and retrieve it. Still dying to know who. Early-mid 80's racers? Scott Douglas? Animal Steve Lakin? Spencer? The Klauwitters? C'mon, I gotta get back to work! For sure Johnny Johnson. That guy drank like I do now, 30 years ago!

I was using carpet in 2003, never needed it, but we carried it at both the 500 & 1000. I also used a rubber bed mat that I kept in the back of my Ranger while prerunning. I didn't do this, but guys like Terry Lottus told me about cutting a hole in the carpet and tying a rope threw it. Then you attach the rope to the rear bumper, when you drive way, you will be dragging the carpet behind you, so you dont have to dig it out. Once your tired co-rider who was digging, pushing and now running to catch up, he just untied the rope or tossed the carpet in the back window or over the spare tire, so its ready for the next stuck! Just watch out for those thorns! Carpet loves to grab thorns!

The guys I was sitting and talking with were not famous, just guys like Terry Lottus, his son in law, my grandfather, one of Terry's friends who raced and helped McMillin's back in the day, and I was talking to Animal on the speaker. All guys who started racing when CB radio's were the shit, there was no Weatherman, Stub cans & Stuck stubs were used, and when you saw a broke down or crashed race car you stopped & helped. When factories were involved and sponsoring mini & full size trucks, thus how we ended up in a 7's truck. Reid you remember the 2nd truck, that R&R re-did parts of.

Trivia Question: Does anyone know how & why the Trophy Truck class started? And what it took to race a TT?

I saw Scott Douglas year or so ago at Tim Lawrence's shop. I ran into Johnny Johnson a few years ago. He was living down in Baja at the time and he was still drinking like the old Johnny we all knew.

RuggedRadios · Nov 4, 2014

We're starting to get prepped for our trip down south of the border. This is a race where you'll definitely want to be sure all of your communications are working flawlessly, so stop by our trailer for free tech support. Also let me know if there's anything special you'd like us to bring down for you. See you in Ensenada!

badassmav · Nov 5, 2014

That's pretty funny Rusty. I wonder what it would be like to build a Polaris anyhow?

Hmmmmmm...

Bajaxp · Nov 5, 2014

Can't wait for the race!

badassmav · Nov 5, 2014

I can. I am, so not ready. Marc's flying out with RG from Vegas on Friday for some high speed pre running. I know he'll be ready.

Hey, wait a minute

! Didn't they (and who is "they" anyhow?) just recently set the clocks back a week

? MB Motorsports and UTV Inc. are already racing. Racing to get our cars finished in time.

ALBANATE · Nov 5, 2014

It is with a heavy heart that I say that for this first time in several years Tom Graves and our 1915 team will not be making the start of a SCORE race... unfortunately, a family emergency has come up that will keep us from completing our car. Will see you all at the start line to wish you all good luck.

Nate
Alba Racing

Bajaxp · Nov 5, 2014

ALBANATE said:
It is with a heavy heart that I say that for this first time in several years Tom Graves and our 1915 team will not be making the start of a SCORE race... unfortunately, a family emergency has come up that will keep us from completing our car. Will see you all at the start line to wish you all good luck.

Nate
Alba Racing

Sorry you are going to miss the race Nate. It is going to be epic. This will be the longest non-stop UTV race in the history of the blue planet earth.

Think of doing Vegas to Reno...then Reno to Vegas...then doing a San Felipe 250 all in one race. 1275 miles!

The team is excited to get down there. Woot...woot!

ALBANATE · Nov 5, 2014

Bajaxp said:
Sorry you are going to miss the race Nate. It is going to be epic. This will be the longest non-stop UTV race in the history of the blue planet earth.

Think of doing Vegas to Reno...then Reno to Vegas...then doing a San Felipe 250 all in one race. 1275 miles!

The team is excited to get down there. Woot...woot!

Oh, trust me I know. We finished the 1000 in 2012 with the Rhino, and I was really looking forward to the trip back down to La Paz. We will be ready for San Felipe and hopefully have a better season than this year...

Nate
Alba Racing

Rusty5150 · Nov 5, 2014

I will also be missing this race. I will be keeping our crew up to speed with everyone's location. I am bummed but I can't do them all. Best of luck to everyone.

GOLF CART DORK.

Bajaxp · Nov 5, 2014

Rusty5150 said:
I will also be missing this race. I will be keeping our crew up to speed with everyone's location. I am bummed but I can't do them all. Best of luck to everyone.

GOLF CART DORK.

RB...can you message me your cell?

Johnny · Nov 5, 2014

Sorry to hear you guys wont be racing Nate .. most likely this will be my 1st and last attempt at the Baja 1000 so im really excited but kinda bummed .. the money to do a season of Score would make me homeless ... I was ordering fuel yesterday and the Lady told me of Truck teams shelling out 20 plus grand for race fuel

badassmav · Nov 5, 2014

Johnny said:
Sorry to hear you guys wont be racing Nate .. most likely this will be my 1st and last attempt at the Baja 1000 so im really excited but kinda bummed .. the money to do a season of Score would make me homeless ... I was ordering fuel yesterday and the Lady told me of Truck teams shelling out 20 plus grand for race fuel

I believe Marc said the fuel cost for just the Mav is around 2,500 bucks.

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