4 WHEEL PARTS TAKES ON THE BAJA
The 4 Wheel Parts Motorsports team headed south in early Nov. 2006 to take on the biggest desert race of them all, the Baja 1000.
Every other year this race runs the entire length of the Baja peninsula from north to south, and 2006 was one of those years. Starting in the city of Ensenada and finishing near the peninsula’s tip in La Paz, this point to point type of course makes it very challenging to set up logistics for getting a race truck from one end of Baja to the other. Luckily the 4 Wheel Parts Motorsports team was up to the task.
Our Class 8 race truck is based upon a 2 wheel drive production vehicle, but extensive modifications, allowed by the SCORE rule book, bring it closer to an unlimited Trophy Truck. Much like these all out, no rule limiting vehicles, our Class 8 has a 700 horsepower engine, a high dollar trans, and sports a very serious 9” Ford rear end. All this is wrapped around a tube chassis and big, bad, racing shocks. This truck was built from the ground up by Mike Schwellinger, a three time Baja Champion, whose love for racing the desert was second to none. Sadly, Mike passed away before this year’s Baja 1000, which was going to be his final race. It was up to the 4WP team and me to run the Baja in our good friend’s memory!
Racing action near San Felipe.
The Baja 1000 is desert racing’s version of the Daytona 500 and the Indy 500. The crowds were lined up for the start and the 4WP team was ready. This years’ race had record entries, and our Class had 12 competitors. The green flag dropped with me (Greg Adler, President and CEO of 4 Wheel Parts) behind the wheel and Erick Tucker, a longtime race team member, riding shotgun. Erick’s navigation position requires reading the GPS, and keeping the driver and truck on course. He did a great job! The plan was for us to get the truck to the half way point, 500 miles down the peninsula to a small town called San Ignacio. This would take us about 10 hours if we could average our goal of 50 mph. That’s a long day in the office, testing all the great products we sell, (BFGoodrich tires, Pro-Comp Wheels and HID lights, K&N Filters, MSD Ignitions, Mastercraft seats and belts, and Milemarker Winches) but its pretty hard to complain about it!
All those parts were getting abused from mile 1 as we raced out of Ensenada. Erick and I battled through some rough terrain and heavy silt to get to our first BFGoodrich Pit stop (race mile 122). BFG runs pits all the way down the race course for teams who race on their tires. I can tell you that our race would not have been possible without their pit support. After a brief stop for fuel and a new tire (we had one flat the whole race), we were on our way to San Felipe and holding down 5th place. The coarse to San Felipe includes crossing the El Diablo dry lake at speeds exceeding 120 mph. That’s fast in a truck with no windshield, not to mention the thick dust clouds! Our next pit stop was in the fishing village of Puertocitos (race mile 275). There was no time for fish tacos, but a cold red bull hit the spot! By this time the sun was going down and we flipped on our new Pro-Comp Motorsports HID lights. Those suckers lit up the night like a ballpark and kept us on a strong pace. We blew by Coco’s corner and into the next pit stop at Bay of Los Angeles (race mile 377). At this point we had passed several more competitors and were in second place! We motored on without incident to San Ignacio (race mile 500) and turned the truck over to Eric Heiden and Josh Reiter. We were still in second and feeling pretty good about our chances for a win.
Race truck leaving the starting line in Ensenada.
The next half of the race was the rougher section this year because the southern part of Baja had been torn up by recent hurricanes (of course that’s why I chose to drive the fast half)! Eric and Josh took off into the night to battle some muddy conditions. After a few minor midnight repairs to a leaky axle seal, the duo was on their way to Loreto (race mile 750) when they got stuck in some soft sand. They lost a few hours before our chase team (Kevin Bidenkap and Art Klein) could get them out. By now the truck had lost second gear and the rear shocks were fading. The run to the BFG Pit at Cuidad de Constituion (race mile 865) went smooth, but soon afterwards our luck would turn on us.
After leaving the Constituion pit the truck got stuck in heavy silt. The lack of 2nd gear and the fading rear suspension were taking their toll. Once it was pulled clear of the silt, the truck began to suffer electrical problems. Unfortunately it took 3-4 hours for the team to diagnose the problem and make the correct fixes. Shortly thereafter the truck was stuck again in heavy silt and cacti (meaning lots and lots of cactus)! After finally getting it free, the exhausted team realized the goal of making it to La Paz before the maximum time limit of 40 hours was not within reach.
The team having a well deserved meal in Loreto.
Locals helping sort out the electrical problems.
We headed back to Loreto with the truck on the trailer for some cold cervezas and much needed rest. The team was disappointed with not finishing this Baja 1000, but it was not from the lack of effort. The 4 Wheel Parts Motorsports team would like to thank all our sponsors for their support (BFGoodrich Tires, Pro-Comp Wheels, Pro-Comp HID Lights, MileMarker Winches, MSD Ignition, NEO Oil and Mastercraft Seats). The team will be back to battle the 2007 Baja 1000 which will again run the entire peninsula to celebrate the 40th anniversary of this event. Come on out and cheer us on this November, or at any other SCORE or CORR Off-Road race!
I would personally like to thank my crew for their hard work and dedication (Erick Tucker, Kenny Reitan, Eric Heiden, Josh Reiter, Stacy Wood, Kevin Bidenkap, Art Klein, Bob Beyer, Gina Whisner, Tom Weller, Todd Weller, Marc Heiden and Aaron Mundaine. I couldn’t do it without you guys!
The team after 40 hours non-stop.