Desert Dingo Racing

To Be Called “Racer”: It’s the highest honor, and the Baja 1000 finds them.
ESPN Magazine online, November 25, 2008
In motorsports, there is one word above all others that exemplifies what our twisted metal, burning rubber, death-defying pursuit is all about. The term is never used lightly and bestowed upon only those have earned the right to wear it.

Racer.

Folks are starting to post videos of this year’s Baja 1000. Fans are sure obsessed with Fast. Just about the time I said "enough with the trophy trucks," here comes 1102 up the hill (screenshot above, embedded video below). You’ll need to exercise patience. Desert Dingos show up six minutes into the video, but man, the engine sounds good!

I kissed a lot of frogs, so to speak, before stumbling across that video. Here are a couple at the starting gate. You’ll be amazed at how close vehicles soar by the onlookers, and even more amazed that people actually cross the road at this time. Note: there’s a 30 second interval between each start. WARNING: The video quality is crappy, but the audio is worse. I recommend reducing your audio settings by 50%.

This is the view on the other side of the Arch. Baby’s got air!

. . . on Unlimited Dirt. Click the thumbnail to view the full-sized photo.

When the team returns, we’ll have photos and likely video from the car, but for now, here’s a taste of this year’s Baja from others who’ve already posted on the Internets.

First, another video of Contingency Row:

Racers faced two major challenges in the first leg of this year’s course, the silt beds (here’s video of a hummer hitting the silt) and the “goat trail” at Rumorosa. Here’s a clip of bikers pre-running that area.

Yesterday evening, one of the chase vehicles called and said, “It’s dark out here. I mean, Really Dark.” This is for you city dwellers who don’t know the difference between “dark” and “Really Dark.”

That’s why Everyone is a Winner.

Chris Juedemann @ glasskitchen.com was among the loyal followers who tracked Desert Dingo Racing during the 2008 Baja 1000. He sent a link to this pic. Chris, thank you for the link and your messages of encouragement throughout the race!

1102 was towed to Ensenada. Team members in the chase vehicles and drivers on that stretch slept in back of trucks. RV will meet up them in Ensenada today and they’ll be heading stateside Sunday morning. If they can find an open internet cafe, we may have new photos later today.

1100 and 1101 are separated by about 15RM, with Ramon Fernandez in the lead as they approach Checkpoint 6, the final CP before heading into Ensenada. Twice in the last 5 miniutes, Eric’s stopped. Currently he’s sitting at RM560……still sitting….crawling at 3mph…ok, back up to race speed.

Roxanne here again. I set the alarm, ready to take over for Shawn, who’s gone to bed long ago, since 1102 is officially “done” as they say on Weatherman channel. I let the news sink in, cried some and then texted Jim, who surprised me by texting back. I thought they’d be snoring, but they’re headed to basecamp in Ensenada where they’ll catch some zzzzzzz’s and meet up with the RV.

Let’s take a quick look at irtrax.net to see how the other Class 11 cars are faring.

1100 is at RM450, wowow
1102 @ RM430
1149 just passed Checkpoint 2 and RM350
1103 is totally off course @ zero mph. They were standing still when I went to bed, so I’m thinking they’re done too. Sorry about that.

Will let y’all know when the team safely arrives in Ensenada.

I chatted with crew; transmission is traveling to Baja Pit 4 where they’ll do best to change it out.

Meanwhile, i’m going to take a catnap. For the next few hours, Shawn will be your tour guide.

1102 being towed to Baja Pit 4, updates as they occur.