I got home last night and promptly crashed after an intense week. Yes, our Rod Hall Racing teams captured both Stock class wins at the 2009 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. Chad Hall ran a brilliant race and I raced the Stock Mini class with Rod Hall and Mike Winkel in the H3 i5. I got in the truck at Pit 2 - Race Mile 206 - after our truck had experienced two major steering setbacks and was 101 miles down from the Honda Ridgeline and over 70 down from the factory Toyota team. I started driving after midnight - but just earlier as I was trying to rest up - I didn’t think I would even see the truck. However, Rod has taught me that we must do whatever we can to finish and it’s not over til it’s over. Well, of course, the master was right.
I had the San Felipe loop - a counterclockwise slice of hell - and what my navigator Sam calls “the Mesopotamia of Whoops.” Honestly, after pre-running most of the entire course, I don’t think my section was that bad at all. So I downed a 5 Hour Energy and a caffeinated Clif Shot and off we went into the cold night. I had a great, smooth run. However, the pressure was on since we were out of steering racks and still leaking steering fluid. I knew my job was to go as fast as I could but without damaging or using up the truck. It was important I hand off the H3 to Winkel in the kind of condition that he could race it to the finish - and there were 270 brutal miles left to go once I got out.
One key thing helped in this section and that was spending extra time at a silt bed around race mile 260 during the pre-run. Rod is the best at identifying the trouble areas of the course and we spent time driving and walking around the area looking for just the right line and backup options in case of possible log jams. When we approached the area we could tell there was some chaos. Lights were glowing and flashing in the overhanging dust - so I pulled up, stopped, scouted my line and hit the chosen spot and were safe on the other side. We passed up several stuck trucks pointing in all different directions. I heard the Toyota got caught there for some time. Thanks to Rod for his experience and coaching - it paid off!
The sun was coming up as we approached the last section of whoops and the sky was an incredible red over the Sea of Cortez. My navigator Sam was awesome - calling corners and dangers after he had been awake a full 24 hours and in the car for 18 which included changing two steering racks. He was with me at Vegas to Reno and I feel very responsible for our win. He’s taught me alot!
When we pulled into Pit 4 where I would hand the car off, we passed the Toyota which had sheered off the shock mounts. Shortly after Winkel sped off, I heard the Honda Ridgeline was having problems just down the road. Josh Hall sent me a text to tell me we were still in the race. Amazing.
Winkel is a great driver - trained by Rod and the Halls as well. He is focused and an intense competitor. I was glad he had that section of course - it was grueling and technical. By Pit 5, the Honda, Toyota and H3 were all bunched up and racing hard to the beach on the Pacific side. Ivan “Ironman” Stewart was now driving and Mike had an epic race on his hands. Just near the finish, Ivan got stuck and Mike passed him - beating him to the finish by a little over eight minutes. What an opportunity to race the Baja legend - and win! Congrats to Mike - it was an honor to be his teammate.
Baja is the ultimate competitor for teams - the terrain, the unexpected. However, Rod and his sons are very in tune with Baja. It’s as if they have an alliance with her - their experience makes them in touch, in sync with this magical place. It’s like they have some sort of abstract automotive Tai Chi with Baja - it pushes and they pull…and together they win. Thanks to them all for sharing it with me.
