Baja 1000 2007

[Junk Yard Dog]

My friends had a truck entered in the Baja 1000 this year. My
buddy Keith & I were coordinating the support efforts for the truck.
We chased & pitted for the truck for the 1st leg before the driver
change @ mile 180 in Santo Domingo when all hell broke loose. The 2nd
driver ended up rolling it 7 miles out of the pit & returned to the
pit where the type A personalities of the "Alpha Males" suffering from
sleep deprivation got the best of them. I'm glad Keith & I weren't
there yet to witness the butting of heads. We were still driving 8
hours till 3 AM to get to check point 3 outside of El Rosario to setup
another pit near check point 3, which they never made it to. Mark,
driver 2, was freaked out by the roll so the team leader, Brett, took
over at the wheel. At about mile 240 he came around a corner at night
where a car was blocking the course teetering on the edge of a ravine.
He tried to avoid it but clipped the bumper which threw him sideways &
over the edge. They cartwheeled down into the ravine about 600'. The
driver, Brett, had to be heli-vaced to San Quintine to be stabilized
before air lifting him to UCSD Med Ctr. The co-driver, Mike, was ok.
The 1st driver, Kevin, took one of our slightly modified trucks &
drove another 6 hours to retrieve Mike as the chopper would only take
the injured driver. This all happened in the wee hours of the morning
so they had to wait till dawn for the choppers to be able to fly.
Brett is ok now & recovering from a concussion & bruised ribs. The
truck is still at the bottom of the ravine where it has probably been
stripped clean of anything useful by now.
All kinds of crazy shit happened down there this time. I think this
may be my last trip south of the border until things get things under
control down there.
You may heard about the helicopter crash during the race. Have you
heard the details of the drug lord killed in the crash & his henchmen
stealing his body in Ensenada killing 2 cops & kidnapping 2 forensic
experts in the process? Now, Sal Fish, the CEO of Score International,
is up on charges for murder 2. Plus, Sal telling the gov. of San
Felipe where he could stick it isn't going to get him any Brownie
points w/the feds either. Nasty business.
http://www.nowpublic.com/sports/helicopter-crash-baja
Then there was the McMillin team that got robbed of everything & were
facing death from their assailants.
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=28119 This is the story
that scared the hell out of me & made me decide NOT to venture south
of the border for awhile. It's really too bad. I love the Baja & the
Mexican people so much & have never had a problem during the 20 years
I've been traveling in the Baja. But, things are getting worse every
year down there. The Mexican police are no help what so ever & the US
Border Patrols response is, "You shouldn't go down there anyway." I
think we have quite enough crime here to deal with. I don't need to
leave the country to find more.

So, does anyone want to buy my built 96 XJ?
--
Mark Johnston
Wedding & Event Designers, Inc.
2525 Garnet Ave.
San Diego, CA 92109
www.rosecreekcottage.net/offroad

 

[xDUMPTRUCKx]

damn, that was crazy, i used to pretty much live in mexico for the summer as a kid and i got into my fair share of trouble but damn thats crazy.

 

[djblade311]

Mark, I'm glad to hear you guys are safe and I know things are bad in Baja but man....thats an understatement now. I read a story about a group of older surfers that have been going down for something like 25 years and had the same problem and now never going back. I lived in Mexico for a few months and loved it...its a shame to see it go to hell.

sucks to see you sell your rig. is this cuz you are moving back east? I'd post up specs, pics, and price in the for sale thread

 

[KRAKER]

Amen. I swore off Mexico years ago after three progressively (sp?) worse trips.

 

[tgregg]

The wife and I were planning a driving trip to La Paz but have canceled after hearing from people who had serious problems during the Baja Mil. I too have spent a lot of time in Baja and the mainland state of Sonora but it seems the drug situation is really getting crazy. I have friends who live there and are saying just stay out at least for a while. If what I'm hearing is true, SCORE might well be done in Mexico. We will be following MDR as informal chase Jeeps for '08.
I have 2 friends who run that series. I wish JeepSpeed ran all the MDR races as they are so close to my home: Lucerne, Barstow and one in Ridgecrest. All on good old USA soil.

 

[djblade311]

Imagine if SCORE was done with Mexico... that would devistate the economy in Ensenada. Of course the druglords dont think about that crap nor do they care. "way to f** it up for everyone else".

I would feel bad for the good people down there like CoCo.

 

[Junk Yard Dog]

This could very well be the last Baja race for Score. The end of a era.
Coco's was great this year. He spent 3 weeks decorating for the event. Check point 4 was located there. He put up at least a dozen wooden arches over the road all strung w/lights & of course, beer cans. Only blue Pacifico cans mind you. He's so funny. He says, "Most beautiful check point in all Baja!" I would have liked to have seen it at night. He says he will erect 100 arches next year.
While at Coco's we had a beer w/ Ron Bishop. This was his 40th consecutive year racing motorcycle in the Baja. He's the only man that has raced motorcycle in EVERY Baja race since the 1st one in 1967. This dude is 65 years old!!! HE PLACED 17TH IN cLASS 22. GO RON!!
JYD

 

[IslanderOffRoad]

yikes.

you guys have me reconsidering my driving trip down to puerto penasco next year.