baja 1000 2010

[Phoenix0783]

I don't know if that's John (mracer) in the Kia at that point, but that's one of his chase trucks.

[yogib]

Quite likely it was John.I was working today with Dave W. on Troys Pro-truck and he said John ran the last leg in it.Before it gave up.Only had like 20 miles to go bummer.

[bajascott]

I don't know if that's John (mracer) in the Kia at that point, but that's one of his chase trucks.

hey did you see Loyds baja in the first vid? mr tom kruise

[Phoenix0783]

hey did you see Loyds baja in the first vid? mr tom kruise

Good eye! I didn't see it at first, guess I blinked.

[PBR]

Awesome pics Ollie, shame the ambulance tranny died so early.
Is that the San Javier Mission you hear so much about? Beautiful!!
Love baja more everytime I go!

yes that is the san javier mission about 45 minutes west of loreto.

and just like you, i love baja more everytime i go!

[yikes]

Gunit at 6:20

[gunit]

Here is a shot of the car at rm 1039, lost the front wheel at about 50 mph and found a ditch.

DSCF0052.JPG (110.81 KiB) Viewed 1385 times

Pulled out of the ditch working to get the wheel back on

IMG_1518.jpg (112.43 KiB) Viewed 1385 times

Finally at the finish, 45 minutes too late

IMG_1347.jpg (125.99 KiB) Viewed 1385 times

[Silverslk]

Ouch!! That looked like an abrupt stop. Finishing is finishing....more than many can say. Nice Pics!!!

[yikes]

Ouch!! That looked like an abrupt stop. Finishing is finishing....more than many can say. Nice Pics!!!

Uuch is right! Any bruises from the harnesses? Wow! Really makes the finish something commendable.

[yikes]

Here's Don Moss' write-up from Class3racing.com ...you've got to read it. Good stuff!



Moss Brothers Racing 2010 Baja 1000 Recap

The 2010 version of the Baja 1000 was 1061 miles all the way from Ensenada to La Paz. We had a crew of 22 to cover the race, with 4 people in the states watching their computers and sending updates, 6 people and 3 trucks covering the San Felipe side, and 12 people and 3 trucks covering the Pacific side all the way to La Paz. I can’t say enough how much everyone’s hard work and experience made this race successful. This was our 7th Baja 1000 win, wrapping up our 8th SCORE Class 3 Championship.

We started the race second off the line behind the brand new Trophy Bronco owned by Dave Moore. The Kia that beat us in 2000 is now owned by Bob Morton and started right behind us. The first 35 miles of the course was the only part that Rick and I had pre-run the day before, so we took full advantage of it and caught and passed the T Bronco on the last part of the pavement leaving Ensenada. We still managed to miss a couple of turns in this section, as the spectators are numerous and tend to remove and change course markers while they are taking a break from building booby traps or jumps. We started much further up in the starting order than we have in years past, so we were running with faster entries and there were not as many other cars to pass right off the bat. The other major advantage was that there was little dust to contend with. Our first stop came quickly in Ojos Negros. I had to get out and get in a chase truck that would have to return to Ensenada before heading south to intersect the course. Rick continued on to the San Felipe side. We were able to complete the change before the T Bronco came through. Those on the San Felipe side are trapped by the course and can’t catch up with the racer once it passes through their area. Ken took over the driving of the Bronco with Dan as co-driver. They located a sharp rock somewhere around race mile 135 and destroyed a tire. Fortunately the chase crew was on the highway right next to the course, and they were able to get the tire changed and fresh spare mounted in just a few minutes. The T Bronco got by them here and they exchanged the lead all the way through the area up to the BFG pit 2. The new T Bronco was clearly better in the nasty whoops section even after our shock tuning that took place prior to the Primm race in September. It had become dark by the time they reached San Felipe. Meanwhile, we were having a race of our own on the highway just trying to make it to the next stop at RM 350 at El Crucero. The Mexican government has decided to do a little stimulus program of their own and has numerous massive road construction projects going all along Highway 1 in Baja, one of the largest being just south of Ensenada. We got through with minimal problems, but just the extra miles and speed that the Bronco was covering the race course made it close. We did make it, and Gary and I climbed in the Bronco for the run through Bahia de Los Angeles (BOLA). All was well going into the BFG pit 3 at BOLA, with a slight vibration noted while running 60 mph on the pavement. The road south of BOLA is a very fast and mostly straight run if you don’t have dust. 10 miles south of the pit, I realized that the vibration I was feeling in the truck was not the washboard but something else. We stopped and jumped out and found that the pin for the CV joint on the front driveshaft had either broken or worn out and was allowing it to wobble wildly. I also noted that there was oil present in the area, but assumed it was related to the transfer case somehow. We got the driveshaft out and realized the oil was coming from the transmission and not the transfer case. The combination of tail shaft housing, C6 transmission and 205 transfer case that we are using puts the front driveshaft right against the transmission, and in fact we have to modify the CV joint and the pan rail to make it work. The CV had knocked a hole in the transmission case the size of a small finger, and while it was above the operating level of the oil in the pan, it would surely bounce oil out or run oil out when climbing a hill. We inventoried the oil available on the truck, and found only 2 quarts of transmission fluid! In our position, we were over 100 miles from the next access point available to our crew, and only 10 miles from the BFG pit we had just left. We notified our crew via satellite phone, and made our way back towards the nearer help using parallel roads and open desert. The thing we were not sure of was how to negotiate the official SCORE check point that was between us and the pit. About a mile from that point, we encountered a Mag 7 pit. Mag 7 is a group that sets up an independent pit support network for those that sign up and pay a fee for the use of their services. We had of course done neither ahead of time, but that did not matter to them as they made every resource they had available to us. It takes several hours to change a transmission on this truck, even if you are in a shop with a good jack. The parts are very heavy and awkward, so changing it was the very last choice in my mind. The Mag 7 guys let us dig through their pit boxes, and at the very bottom of one of the boxes was a package of JB Weld 5 minute epoxy! On the down side, they only had 3 quarts of transmission oil. Our crew estimated that they were about 1.5 hours out, as they had gone quite a ways south on the highway to make it to our next pit. I finally had the bright idea to contact the BFG pit via radio and see if they could do anything to help us with the oil. It turned out that the Greer Trophy Truck was sitting in their pit at the time and heard our call. They said that could do the delivery, and sure enough, a few minutes later, their truck roars up and the co-driver throws a case of oil out the front window of the truck! It is fantastic when a plan comes together! Meanwhile, I had drained the transmission to get the oil away from the hole, cleaned it and applied some of the epoxy. The problem was I needed something to fill the hole. I searched through the Mag 7 stuff unable to find anything the right size. With my hand in the pocket of my race suit, I realized I had what I needed and pulled out a Mexican coin I had in change when we topped off the gas in Ensenada. It fit perfectly and I applied another layer of JB Weld over the top of everything. We jumped to the top of the truck now to fill the trans with oil, and realized that somewhere in the radio translation with BFG that they had misunderstood, and had delivered a case of very expensive synthetic 15-50W racing ENGINE oil! Well, by then, our crew was only a few minutes away. We topped off the transmission and loaded ALL of the spare oil into the Bronco. We were also amazed to note there was not even a drip from the transmission! We have never had a front driveshaft problem with this truck, and don’t even carry a spare on the chase trucks. This meant that we would not have 4 wheel drive for the next 600 or so miles.

As we had spent 2.5 hours or so south of Bay of LA, dozens of cars had gone by, including the T Bronco. The Kia had trouble with a failed starter before they got to El Crucero, but since they have a manual transmission, they had gotten going again with a pull from a spectator. We did what we could and ran as fast as we could south, making our driver/rider change prior to San Ignacio. Gary and I dealt with some extreme fog on the course while the crew did the same on the highway. The fog condenses on the big overhead lights and then drips down into the cab. The worst part is it gets into the intercom system and causes it to stop working with an ear piercing squeal. Ken and Craig were able to negotiate the beach and silt sections without any major incidents, and in fact gone back into the lead before the sun came up. We talked to the T Bronco crew and found out that they had also lost 4-wheel-drive when they broke an axle, but they were still moving and very close to us. We did our driver/rider change north of Loreto, and Cliff and I headed south. Within a couple of miles I noticed that the engine oil pressure was fluctuating wildly, especially going over rough terrain. We had not noticed any leakage back at the pit, and in the 16 years (not a typo) I have raced this engine, it has never used any oil. Something was wrong, and I began to radio the crew to meet me. We ended up driving out to the highway and sure enough, there was not even anything on the end of the dipstick. 5 quarts later, we had it topped off. I don’t have a clue where it went, it should have been smoking like a freight train if it was burning it. We went on, traveling through the goat trails and spectator-placed boulders near Loreto, going up over the mountains and down through San Javier. The roads open up and get faster as you descend and approach Insurgentes, and this is where we had our “incident”. A cow, deer or donkey had been hit by something in the night, and was lying on the side of the road. The turkey vultures are the most common and visible animal I know in Baja, and there was a large flock of them going to work on this carcass. They always keep an eye out for approaching vehicles and fly off when it gets close. Most of them make their departure at right angles to traffic, but one in particular on this day decided to make what we assume was a career ending decision to make a south bound departure in front of a very rapidly motivating Bronco also moving in a southerly direction. As they say, it’s not the speed that kills, but the DIFFERENCE in speeds between two objects. This fellow caught the front of the truck, rolled back on the hood, through the opening that used to be for a windshield, and into my lap! I was already busy with the steering part of this whole adventure, but did take one hand off the wheel and handed our new passenger to Cliff. We all know the hot potato game, but out of the corner of my eye this was by far the hottest version I had ever seen while Cliff pushed our friend back out through the windshield opening in the 90 mph breeze.

On to Insurgentes and the BFG pit there where Cliff got out and Dave got in. We were concerned with reports of extreme silt in the area we were approaching, but with some thought on the line and a very heavy right foot we were able to pass through without a problem. There were some very fast sections now for many miles that threaded-the-needle of cactus and brush. We commented on how well the suspension was working through an intermittent intercom, and then Dave reminded me that we had not reached the famous section of southern whoops. He was not wrong at all, and we had nothing for them as they beat us for probably 30 miles, knocking the air out of you on every hit. Through a coincidence, our tracking crews back home had to attend to some real world business at this time, so we were not sure where our competitors were, and did not know how hard to push. It turns out, the Kia had been hung up back by Loreto, and the T Bronco had been stopped near Insurgentes. The broken axle and its removal had allowed dirt to enter the hubs and it was now eating wheel bearings on a regular basis.
We continued on, with Ken and Dennis getting in for the last section to the finish. We had a time of a little over 28 hours, for an average around 37 mph. Both the Kia and the T Bronco eventually timed out of the race, even though they had covered more than 1000 miles.

We ended up with two different hotel locations for the crew once we reached La Paz, but it worked out beautifully. The old RV park we used to use has been converted to a private residence. The next day most of the crew loaded up and set sail north for Buena Ventura, just south of Mulege. The guys had stopped in and made reservations on the way south for space to camp on the beach and use of one of the houses. The house came with a bonus of a rattle snake and a scorpion. I had reports of the “bonfire” seen on the beach by other racers on the highway that saw our guys there. Ken, Cliff and I stayed for the awards ceremony in La Paz, which was highlighted by the overall win by the Vildosola team, the first by a Mexican national team, and the bi-centennial celebration of the Mexican Revolution. The celebration included a parade several hours long that included every school child in La Paz. Turns out they are required to participate, what better way to learn and understand history? An hour or so through the awards ceremony it was announced that the “official” results had been posted, and there were a number of changes in the outcome of some classes. Some surprises, some disappointments. Otherwise it was a typical event that you will only see in a race event held in Mexico, complete with friendly Tecate and Coca-Cola girls.

This was BF Goodrich’s 35th anniversary at the Baja 1000, and they had used our Bronco in their anniversary logo. It was used on shirts, stickers and posters. They supported us with some very tough tires and dumped a lot of gas at the 7 pits they had set up on the course. We also had John from West Coast Broncos and his nephew Blake along for their first trip to Baja. Our rear axle housing from RuffStuff Specialties worked perfectly, and the gears front and rear had been checked over by Sean at River City Differentials. We almost take for granted the lighting provide by the KC HiLites HID lights, they are working so well. We also had a new tow strap holder supplied by Four Treks, maker of some very cool roll cage mounted devices. John from Autofab was part of the San Felipe crew and supplied the fiberglass hood that we have used since 2000. He has also set us up with the very first set of 1978-79 fiberglass rear fenders that we will be mounting up soon. Thanks again to PowderCoat-It.com, Sunoco, Slime, King, Deaver, Mid State Barriers, and Inquipco for all their help throughout the year.

Finally, a huge thanks to Pete in Iowa who stayed up all night for the race and sent text message updates to our chase crews. Since we all have to have tracking devices, we set someone up to follow us and our competitors and they keep us informed. Pete has been a part of the Baja crew for several years now but was unable to make it to the race this year. He did a fantastic job, thanks again Pete!

[yikes]

Here's the link to the official results: http://www.score-international.com/488/ ... _1000.aspx



Look where Moss would have placed in other classes:

Class 1: 10th
Class 1/2-1600: 5th
Class 4: Win
Class 5: 3rd
Class 5-1600: 2nd
Class 6: 4th
Class 7: 2nd
Class 7-2: 2nd
Class 7sx: Win
Class 8: 2nd
Protruck: Win
Class 10: 4th
Score lites: 4th

[philofab]

Wow, that is really impressive! That thing really would hold it's own in other classes. Why aren't people racing in class 3 again?

[tcm glx]

Wow!! Hats off to the moss brothers for a very cool race, race report, and of course the win!!

We hung out with your chase crew in San Felipe, and the stories there were great, right up until the reports of the tranny going south.

[hobbyturnedobsession]

Way to go Moss Bros! Great to hear that you guys have done it again. And to Gun-It racing and that new Bronco, there is now some competition in class 3! Way to go for your first time out there with the bronco.

[BLACKMARKETBRYAN]

Ouch!! That looked like an abrupt stop. Finishing is finishing....more than many can say. Nice Pics!!!

Uuch is right! Any bruises from the harnesses? Wow! Really makes the finish something commendable.

[300]

When one of those front wheels comes off, it is amazing how fast the truck tries to find the center of the earth. Stops real fast, too. That was a poorly placed ditch for that to happen next to. You guys did a heroic job putting the pieces back together and getting it to the line.