Tools and equipment are equally important to the race as the race vehicle itself. For instance, without a welder ready to repair a broken shock mount, the race vehicle is forced to travel at a slower rate of speed until it can reach one. Therefore it is essential to have plenty of tools and equipment on hand during the race effort. As a rule of thumb, it's a good idea to have enough equipment to rebuild any one specific part or component of the race vehicle at each and every pit. For many teams, this is simply too expensive. So chase crews are required to leap-frog their way down the peninsula as the effort progresses.
Each pit area should have a director or pit boss who is responsible for each crew member at his or her pit. It is essential that the pit be well organized and clearly visible to the incoming racer. At night, this means having some type of lighted sign or flashing light to draw attention to the pit area. The pit boss is also in charge of each crew member's safety. He or she should conduct meetings prior to go-time to delegate pit responsibilities and make sure everybody understands what their particular job is during the pit. Drinking alcohol is never a good idea in the pits. At this year's 1000, I witnessed a leading Trophy Truck pit from start to finish. It was a complete joke watching the inexperienced, drunk, and otherwise unprofessional volunteers attempt to add fuel, change a lightbar, and replace two rear tires. At two separate instances, pit personnel were almost run over and/or dragged off unintentionally. Pitting is a serious responsibility that requires the utmost concern for safety.
I highly recommend prerunning the entire course before running any Baja race. Prerunning gives you an opportunity to strategize and map out exactly which areas are critical during race time. A low-lying area where mud puddles collect during the prerun will likely become a bottomless silt bed once 200 vehicles have passed through it. There is no substitute to actually running the course beforehand and programming dangerous obstacles into the GPS. In many cases, a given section will change so much that it doesn't even look anything like you remembered it. The GPS will save your bacon in these scenarios. All professional race teams prerun before racing. Without doing so, you might as well forget finishing because you're relying solely on reaction time and luck. In my opinion, prerunning is the most fun part of the racing experience. The stress is low, the pace is easy-going, and if you want to stop and get a taco, you can. Not to mention, prerunners are typically a lot nicer to drive than race vehicles.
When it comes to funding a race effort, there are two simple things to remember. Racing on someone else's money means you pretty much can't screw up if you plan to keep the sponsorship going. Sponsors usually want a return on their investment, and therefore require additional information such as post-race reports, budget projections, itemized expenditures, and copies of media materials featuring the sponsored team. In short, sponsorships carry with them a debt of responsibility in place of personal fiscal outlay. Self-funded race efforts are usually less stressful and require less accountability, but very few can afford to race without some type of sponsorship. Team Worthington/KORE had sponsors this year, which included KORE LLC, Toyo Tires, Baja Designs, Weld Racing, DTT transmissions, Mobil Radio Communications, Big Power Diesel, and Chassis Fab. The name of the game with sponsorships is to attract as much media attention as possible. I'd recommend inviting a journalist on your prerun. If all goes well, and you gain the confidence of someone connected to a print, television, or Internet media outlet, you might have a decent chance of keeping sponsors happy, assuming you actually run a decent race. If you're really lucky, you might even get a media person with valuable Baja experience.
The SCORE racing organization is operated by Sal Fish in Calabasas, California. The official rules and regulations governing each individual class can be found in the official SCORE Off-Road Racing rule book available online at www.score-international.com. Once you determine which class your vehicle fits into, it is necessary to perform a series of SCORE-mandated safety modifications to ensure occupant safety. In most cases, this means installing a rollcage, fuel cell, safety nets, number plates, and amber indicator lamps. Some classes, however, require much, much more. Before each race, you are required to set up an official vehicle tech inspection to ensure all the appropriate rules and regulations have been met.
If you've never traveled south of the border before, consider joining a Baja Travel Club such as Discover Baja (www.discoverbaja.com). These agencies charge an annual membership fee in exchange for simplifying the process of getting Mexican auto insurance, tourist visas, maps, and satellite phone rental, along with offering valuable discounts on restaurants, hotels, camping, and sport fishing. Be sure to carry a passport along with at least one other form of government-issued identification. Cash is always a good thing to keep on hand as ATMs are few and far between. Guns are illegal in Mexico, so don't bring them, and if you have access to a Spanish-speaker, insist that they tag along; much of the larger populated areas have English-speakers around, but out in the middle of nowhere ... good luck. Contrary to popular belief, the gasoline sold in Baja is of decent quality and the diesel fuel is even better. Drinking water, however, is one item we recommend travelers take extra precaution. Nothing is worse than heading back to the United States with diarrhea.
We fell for the whole "green racing" idea hook, line, and sinker. Nothing stands out more in our minds regarding the fight to keep trails open than reducing emissions and conserving fuel.
Biodiesel is produced from renewable sources such as soybean oil, and it meets the critical specifications set forth by the federal government. Biodiesel is typically produced by a reaction of a vegetable oil or animal fat with an alcohol, such as methanol or ethanol, acting as a catalyst to yield mono-alkyl esters and glycerin, which is then removed. Loren Worthington of Team Worthington/KORE makes biodiesel in his garage. The only tricky part of running the stuff in Baja was getting it across the border. For some odd reason, Mexico's border inspection agents don't like seeing 55-gallon drums of fuel coming in from the U.S. So our team had to be stealthy about how our race B-100 fuel was transported. We used a 100-gallon transfer tank equipped with a pump, similar to what you might see at a construction site with heavy equipment. The setup worked perfectly as our team was able to fill quick-dump jugs directly from the tank.