Tuesday, November 13th, Race Day.
At this point we had been in Baja for two days, contingency and tech inspection were over, the vehicles were full of fuel and the drivers eager to get underway. We woke up early Tuesday morning and headed into town to see the trucks take the green flag. Our truck, the #763 Mitsubishi Raider Stock Mini was scheduled to be one of the last vehicles off the line, at about 12:30pm on the 13th, with the Trophy Truck class leading things off at about 10:30am (the motorcycles and quads had already left at 6:30am as to not interfere with the four wheeled classes).
12:30 came and the Raider left the line with Dan Fresh behind the wheel and Co-Driver Sean Douglas in the passenger seat. The race teams adventure had just begun, and so had ours. We had 12 short hours to travel down the coast of Baja to meet the race truck in Guayaquil, a small town just south of El Rosario, where I was to get into the race truck for the ride of my life.
As the four of us made our trek down the Baja peninsula we passed through many small towns and were greeted by the ever exuberant smiling faces of the children (and some adults) that lived in the towns that came out to the road just to get a glimpse of the race teams flying through as they chased their vehicles down the length of Baja. One of the greatest sights in Baja is the look on the children's faces when you give them a sticker or other trinket, it reminds us of the real reason we race in Baja. More about the local flavor later, time to get back to the race.
Luckily for us we made it through all the government and military checkpoints and got into the town of El Rosario with enough time to sit down to a good meal at a small restaurant called Mama Espinoza's where we met up with one of the DXR chase crews and got an update on the truck. The Raider was running strong but due to a couple of bottle necks on the course they were now about a half hour behind schedule. No worries though because the rest of the vehicles in the class had been held up by the same traffic. With the truck behind schedule and us ahead of schedule we took the opportunity to grab a quick shower and get some rest at the Baja Cactus motel before heading out to the El Rosario pit stop. The motel was awesome and a great way to break up the trip since at this point we had been on the road for over 12 hours and wouldn't arrive at the finish in Cabo for at least another 24 hours.
All rested and relaxed we checked out of the awesome digs at the Desert Cactus and headed out into the desert to wait for the truck to come into the El Rosario pit. With the Raider race truck making good time we only had a short wait for it to arrive at this pit stop. The truck arrived and the crew set to work checking over every part of the vehicle to be sure it was all still there and functioning properly (both good things to have in a race like this). A quick splash of gas, a bottle of water and a powerbar for the driver and co-driver and the truck was back off racing into the night, next stop Guayaquil.
As soon as the race truck left the pits, so did we. We had about a 60 kilometer driver to reach the next stop of Guayaquil and the race truck had about a two hour drive, it was going to be close. Luckily for me we arrived at the pit stop with just enough time for me to down another bottle of water (hydration is key in these types of events) and scarf down a Cliff Bar. Before I knew what hit me the race truck was in, the driver an co-driver were out, I was strapped in and we were off. I was now fulfilling a life long goal, to race in the Baja 1000.
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As was with contingency, before the race the big names posed for photos and autographs with the kids, here we see Alan Pflueger | 
Supercross legend and CORR Champion Ricky Johnson was a part of this years Baja 1000 | 
Can you spot the stars? I'll give you hint, there's Robby Gordon, Bill Weber, Kelli Stavast, and Sal Fish, to name a few, in this one photo. |
The side of the truck says it all... |  | 
Jesse James of West Coast Choppers fame has been running his Monster Garage built Trophy Truck for a few years now... good luck Jesse. |
One of the most famous buggies of all time isn't a buggy at all, but a truggy... the Land Shark |  | 
The Wash in Ensenada, the place where racers first touch dirt, about a half mile from the starting line. Always a fan favorite. |
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SCORE CEO Sal Fish makes it a point to shake the hand of every competitor before the leave the starting line, this is part of what makes him great. | 
Celebrities are drawn to this race more and more each year... can you name the celebrities in this photo? |
Once you leave the big city of Ensenada the countryside is littered with interesting sights, like this one. | 
...and beautiful sights like this one. | 
Military immigration checkpoints are everywhere in Baja, we didn't get hassled traveling south, but they were stopping every northbound vehicle. |
Baja is littered with interesting signs, like this one... | 
... and this one. | 
Remember what I said about the kids? Perfect example! It's an awesome sight, but you have to watch out for them at the same time, they don't look both ways like we do here in the US. |
People in Mexico seem to have a loose definition of what fits in a truck bed. | 
What do you do when you have too much money? Buy a chase rig like this. I'll give you one guess... his helicopter landed shortly after, presumably to refuel. | 
Some of the best food in Baja comes from stands just like this one... that is if you stomach can handle it. |
This is what a typical Baja pit looks like during the day, lots of people, lots of traffic, and fast moving race vehicles. | 
If you ever find yourself in El Rosario I highly recommend stopping and eating here. The food is awesome, but like everything in Baja you can't be in a hurry. | 
This place must be good, just look at who stopped in right before us.... thats right, the Ironman himself. |