2012 SCORE Baja 1000

[ChaseTruck754]

Added headlight fluid. He was clearly low! LEDs broke & it all leaked out I guess.

[robertcrav]

Added headlight fluid. He was clearly low! LEDs broke & it all leaked out I guess.

HAHAHAHA.....

Hard to tell exactly, but if he lost his front clip and had loose wires, I could see clipping wires or getting them taped up so they don't short...but that would still be against race rules right? Pits need to be off course, and truck needs to be stopped...?

[ChaseTruck754]

Technically - yes. It'll be interesting to see if Sal does anything with this.

[AussieRod]

And here is the video....

BUSTED! I call that cheating, and highly dangerous. If Sal had any credibility, he would act on that.

[ESHALLBETTER]

If your not cheating, your not racing!

[robertcrav]

Here's the vid of Arceiro refueling during the 2004 mil....

Nuts!

[AussieRod]

If your not cheating, your not racing!

Well, I guess if you can sleep at night, know you cheated to win, rather than win on your merits, good for you.

[Agui-E7TE]

It almost looks like they were trying to bend the lightbar to point forward but either way that is a seriously stupid move. This could have gone really bad in a split second so hopefully they get chewed out for this so nobody tries it in the future.

[ESHALLBETTER]

If your not cheating, your not racing!

Well, I guess if you can sleep at night, know you cheated to win, rather than win on your merits, good for you.

I suppose making light of the situation that is clearly dangerous was sort of irresponsible on my part. Apologies.

[Agui-E7TE]

If your not cheating, your not racing!

Well, I guess if you can sleep at night, know you cheated to win, rather than win on your merits, good for you.

I suppose making light of the situation that is clearly dangerous was sort of irresponsible on my part. Apologies.

Ha, making LIGHT of the situation... that's pretty clever.

[AussieRod]

If your not cheating, your not racing!

Well, I guess if you can sleep at night, know you cheated to win, rather than win on your merits, good for you.

I suppose making light of the situation that is clearly dangerous was sort of irresponsible on my part. Apologies.

My apologies, I wasn't actually making reference directly at you, I should have worded that better. It's just that I've always wondered how people who cheat (intentionaly or otherwise) can figure that they've won anything other than a hollow victory.

[Agui-E7TE]

My apologies, I wasn't actually making reference directly at you, I should have worded that better. It's just that I've always wondered how people who cheat (intentionaly or otherwise) can figure that they've won anything other than a hollow victory.

Cheaters never win.. unless the first rule is Cheating is allowed. I cheated in an all scooter demolition derby and unfortuneately my little Honda XL70 dirt bike didn't stand a chance against a mighty 150 cc scooter with a square tube nerf bars. The only thing I got was bruised shins in the end

[300]

The whole, uncut version:

Moss Brothers Racing 2012 Baja 1000 Race Report

This year was the 45th anniversary of the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, and to commemorate the event, it was 1122 miles long, starting in Ensenada and finishing in La Paz. They added nearly 100 miles to the race in addition to what we normally run in what we call a “Peninsula Run” when it is not a loop a race. “Only” a hundred extra miles!

The race would start on Thursday, November 15, with Contingency on Wednesday the 14th. Of course the preparation starts many weeks prior to this right up to the minute the truck rolls toward the starting line. Many thanks to the crew members that pitched in on the weekends to get all that needed to be done taken care of. We did have a huge gap between the Baja 500 and the Baja 1000 this year since the Primm 300 race has been eliminated. For a race like this, special attention is paid to the drive train, and many thanks to River City Differentials for going through the gears and Driveline Service of West Sacramento for the drivelines, these parts were flawless.

This year I had the honor of being invited to the SCORE press conference that is held during contingency. We get a chance to talk a little about our race plans and to thank our sponsors. I was able to say some good things about BF Goodrich since they provide our tires and primary pit services, as well as KC HiLites for providing some outstanding lighting. Sal Fish just kind of chuckled when I mentioned that we already knew and were planning to need our KC’s for one entire night and most of a second!

Following the press conference I hurried back to contingency where I get to talk to our sponsors. Joe and Mary at the Slime tire sealant booth always treat me very well, and their product has become a key element to saving our tires and getting us to the finish line first. This race we also had some new Raceline aluminum wheels. The crew was a little shocked to see polished wheels after having those black ones for so many years. I briefly talked to Billy Bunch who had strategically entered the Jeep late as they just trailed us in points. I also talked to Bob Morton and Ralph Pickering with the Kia, who it turns out were our neighbor in Punta Banda. By the time I caught up with the Bronco, it was already through contingency and tech and the crew was eating tacos. From there, Craig and I did the only pre-running of the course we did from the start to Ojos Negros, about 40 miles. There was only one slight change from the Baja 500 route leaving town and the truck ran perfectly.

Race day was overcast, and just as we left the house in Punta Banda for the starting line, it began to spit rain. Rain may seem like something to freak out about, but how can something like a little rain bother you in a race that already has 10,000 variables, each of which can potentially end your day? As we roll into town, we find out there is a fourth vehicle entered in our class by an apparent local team and now we have a decent showing, all except we don’t see the fourth entry. The start is routine, Joe from Slime has coached an entire group of locals to cheer for his entries as we pull onto the mound of dirt that they bring in the night before just before the start line. There is a 1600 class entry that apparently died only a few feet before the start line that is jammed against the Red Bull inflatable starting arch, their crew madly trying to get it running. We start first in class and immediately I notice the light rain has made the pavement treacherous, so I take it very easy. The wash on the other hand is drier than it normally is, there were no mysterious “pipe breaks” the night before that floods it, but it is still slick as we begin to head out of town.

Most of our crew and three of 4 trucks have left hours before to get to their appointed locations to avoid the traffic jams. Dave and his crew stay behind to make sure we get topped off with fuel and to make sure there are no last second issues. At race mile 10 we come upon on the Class 2 entry that had started in front of us stopped in the middle of the course. A Class 1 car co-driven by one of the Cal Poly quad riders from years ago was stuck on some concrete debris but off to the side. For some reason, there was a Ford Expedition attempting to pull the Class 1 car out, and they were stalled and blocking the course. Of course the Bunch Jeep was right on top of us already as entries piled up behind. I “suggested” to the little Class 2 truck in front of us that something needed to happen with both the horn and the front bumper. Whatever was going on with the Expedition, it apparently could not move under its own power, so the locals suggested it be pushed. The Class 2 was not quite enough, so the addition of a full-size 4-wheel-drive Bronco to the mix was able to get it done. Unfortunately the dash cam we had running had a big glob of mud on the lens, but I still have a clear picture in my mind of that Good Samaritan’s tail gate completely caved in. We find out later that the Class 1 car ended its day there with broken suspension. A few turns later and we had to dispatch the Class 2 that was apparently piloted by an inexperienced driver. With a turbocharged V6 and unlimited suspension, they should have been miles ahead of us.

The rain helped but did not completely eliminate the dust. It did make it very difficult to see as it formed mud on the face shield. I went ahead and let the Jeep go by at RM 30, remember this is an 1122 mile race, and we had a driver change scheduled at RM 40. When the race course goes through San Felipe like this, it strands the crew that is over there to the north. You can make it from Ojos Negros back around through Ensenada and south, but not from San Felipe. We had Brian Meadows as well as John from Autofab to cover that side however we did not have an entire spare parts inventory. In addition, this year Sal decided to use the entire San Felipe whoops section in reverse as part of the course, some of that added 100 miles mentioned above. Ken and Dan had climbed in the truck at RM 40 and actually caught the Jeep and ran with them for many miles nose to tail. Craig and I climbed into chase 1 with Cliff and Krystian to head around the horn and south. Cliff is normally one of our co-riders and has been my crew for more than 20 years all the way back to the circle track days, but he had just had both knees replaced 8 weeks prior. I have to say he held in there very well and we were glad to have him along.

Since we are required to use the IRC tracking devices, we have a number of individuals that are able to watch a computer and send us updates. This year our primary tracker was Iowa Pete, thanks Pete! Many miles and many hours south of Ensenada we get word that the Bronco is north of San Felipe and not moving. About that time, the satellite phone also rings and it is Dan telling us that a spindle has broken on the Bronco! I talk to Ken a little bit and fortunately we began to carry a spare after we broke a spindle at the Primm race several years ago. Of course when it breaks, it tears up a lot of other parts. Brian and John were on the scene immediately and they were all able to get the Bronco rolling again but there were no brakes on the left front and no 4-wheel-drive. John hustled into San Felipe, located another set of brake pads somehow at an all-night parts store, and met the Bronco again south of San Felipe. Meanwhile Brian had been battling some bad salsa or something since before we left Ensenada and finally pulled the plug and crashed at John’s house in San Felipe. John went on to shadow the Bronco all the way to Puertocitos. We can’t say enough about the parts, use of the house, the Iguana, help and support that John and Autofab have given us this year, thanks again John!

Meanwhile, the 3 support trucks on the south end put together a plan to get the Bronco fully repaired at Coco’s Corner. It is necessary to get the truck to 100% at this point because the next section is affectionately known as Frog Canyon to some, Calamuje wash to others, and the end of the race to the unlucky. After hundreds of miles of bone dry desert, this little canyon is sandy, wet and swampy with big mounds of grass. We did not want to go in there without 4-wheel-drive. The only down side to this plan is the 13 miles of what at one time was a graded road that separates Coco’s from the highway. Some day this will probably be paved, but for now it is just pure hell for an overloaded one-ton chase truck with the tires at 80 psi. We do however get out there and locate a spot to work. Coco is a real person as well as a real character and legend who built a surreal compound at this crossroads many miles from nowhere. He has both legs amputated but he gets around on a small quad and is in the middle of everything going on even though it is 11 at night and race cars and motorcycles have already been coming through his compound for more than 12 hours already. We strip the parts needed from the spare axle that we bring and go to work when the Bronco arrives. There are a few work-a rounds required as the race axle and spare are not exactly the same but we get through it and Gary and I strap in to do the next section. The wash goes by without incident and we have a chance to say hi to Tom at the Bay of LA BFG 3 stop. September and October are hurricane season in Baja, and hurricane Paul hit this area hard this year. We had warnings that the Bay of LA section south had un-marked washouts, and they were there as advertised. We hit one pretty hard and stood the truck up on the nose a little bit, but in general we covered the sections pretty quickly.

In previous years, we would arrive at the highway in Vizcaino, get on it and drive south to San Ignacio. This year SCORE located some additional desert west of the highway to use instead of the pavement. This was the rest of the 100 miles that were added. Gary had gotten out at BFG 4, RM 531 at Vizcaino and Dennis had gotten in with me. Of course this new section contained some really nasty silt sections and even with 4-wheel-drive I was having some difficulty. The trick is to maintain momentum which involves picking a good line and a lot of right foot while the silt is splashing over the truck like water and you can’t see a thing. Even with the full face helmet and pumper system, the stuff still sprinkles through into my eyes when it is really thick. There was one area where the ruts were just too deep and long and we nearly stopped moving. At the last second I was able to crank the steering wheel hard to the left, the tires bridged the rut and we climbed right out! On another though we hit hard in a hole and the next time I used the brakes, the pedal went to the floor. I knew this wasn’t a good sign, but with the split system I knew I would have a little bit of braking at one end or the other. I also knew that San Ignacio and the crew were coming up, but what my turned-to-Jell-O mind could not comprehend was that was many, many miles away. We continued on as the truck began to act less and less normal. We had gotten off the course a ways back to avoid some silt and we had gone through a cactus garden. I thought maybe we had a flat tire. It was taking a lot of throttle to maintain speed, and finally at RM 549 the right front tire went “Boom” and the truck immediately turned right out into the desert. We jumped out and realized that the right front spindle had broken and that it had finally torn a chunk out of the tire to stop us! Fortunately Dave’s truck was not far away, the sun was just coming up, and we were able to able to replace all the broken parts in about an hour. What is all a little disappointing is that these spindles were brand new this year. We have had better service and longer life with 30+ year old parts. You can bet I will check into that.

Dennis and I went on after the repairs. Ken and Craig got in at RM 616, BFG 5, at San Ignacio. Prior to the pit, the new race course drove along the canyon for miles that leads to San Ignacio. The canyon has water and palm trees just like in town however there are no people or structures out there. Quite spectacular! I don’t recall that Ken and Craig had any problems in this section that heads back to the west coast of Baja through San Jaunico, Scorpion Bay and La Purisima. Ken did get stuck in the silt somewhere, but that may have been up in the San Felipe area. Rick and I got back in north of Loreto after I had a chance to get a little nap. Rick has always been stuck in San Felipe in years past, and this year announced early on that he would be going all the way to La Paz. He set up his Super Duty for the occasion with a camper shell and a big Transfer Flow fuel tank. He towed the trailer down and the truck performed without a single hiccup. We had seen signs of some pretty severe washouts south of Mulege on the highway, and the Loreto area was hit hard. There was still running water and water falls in the wash west of town even though the storm had been through more than a month before. There were some huge chunks of pavement missing on the road over the top of the mountain to San Javier. It was fortunate that it was daylight so we could see the obstacles as well as the lush green color and thick bushes that the rain had brought to this spectacular mountain area and finally the mission in San Javier.

Oh yeah, there is a race going on! The Jeep had begun to have problems south of San Felipe and we heard that they needed a rear axle. If they made it through Frog Canyon with only front wheel drive, that must have been a heck of a ride! We passed them immediately after we made repairs at Coco’s. I am not sure where the Kia was at that point but they were certainly ahead of us at somewhere. I believe that they began to have transmission problems south of San Felipe and were stuck in the silt south of Vizcaino and that the combination eventually put them out of the race. We heard that the fourth entry was a Bronco, but it arrived at the start late, was the very last entry to leave the line, but was continuing to move steadily.

Rick and I roll into BFG 7, Insurgentes, RM 899 with the lights on. We have already raced for more than 24 hours, run through all the daylight hours on the second day, it’s now dark, and we still have more than 200 miles to go! Rick and I get out and Dave and Dennis get in. Crew chief Dave gets a shot at driving on these long races and he does a very fine job at it. Somewhere many miles back we had noticed that the leaf spring on one side had a broken the main leaf behind the axle. This is a pretty common occurrence with this spring setup and even though it’s noisy, we have won many races with this condition. Well, the rest of the leaves in the pack could not take the stress and apparently all broke behind the axle somewhere in their section. They were able to nurse it to a road crossing and Dave’s chase truck and crew went to work on the spring change. The one detail we forgot was that we had the nitrogen bottle for charging the shock in chase truck 1. They struggled a bit getting it all back together but somehow figured it out. This crew has been together so long and knows that truck so well, they can figure out a way to get it going with whatever combination of people and parts we throw at them. That’s what makes us champions! Dennis and Dave finished out the section that includes another endless 30 miles of nasty whoops and Rick and I got back in at BFG 8 at RM 1022. With the exception of the section they call “The Steps” where we smacked the entire rear of the truck (spring hangers, bumper, spare tire carrier) on solid rock that is like driving off the side of a dining room table, the last 100 miles was fun. We had the lights of La Paz below in the distance along with some very enthusiastic and pleasant fans still cheering us on. Rick remarked that instead of building booby traps and sending the racers into box canyons, the fans down here near La Paz actually put up course markings and point out the course!

For the last hour, we had heard the crew on the radio trying to find their way to the parking area at the finish line and of course locating some celebratory Tecate beer. We arrived with the Bronco well after midnight, and it was all over. We had taken just a little over 36 hours to finish, averaged somewhere around 31 mph, and the lone SCORE official left at the finish line was Oscar to congratulate us. I always read about the teams that arrive while the Dusty Times newspaper crew was asleep, and this time we were one of those teams! We even missed our BFG Winners hats. The Jeep arrived nearly 8 hours later and I believe the mystery Bronco also got to the finish line but was over the 45 hour time limit. Moss Brothers Racing finishes the year with 5 wins, our 10th SCORE Class 3 Championship and our fourth Toyota Milestone award for finishing every mile of every race for the year. As I write this over the Thanksgiving holiday with family on the Oregon coast, I have a lot to be thankful for, mostly for a fantastic team that all made it home safely. My heart goes out to the Nunley team that had a chase truck involved in an accident on the highway and not all of the team or family members were as fortunate.

I also have a long list of sponsors that I haven’t mentioned yet that make it possible to finish and win an 1122 mile race through the desert in another country. This year I am proud to have added Steve’s Auto and Truck Parts to the side of the Bronco. I have been buying parts from Steve’s for more than 40 years and he supplied parts for my very first race car when I was 16. This year Steve’s became a Napa distributor and we use an extensive amount of Napa parts on the Bronco. We would also like to thank RuffStuff Specialties for all of their support and most of all for a fantastic rear axle housing that has been flawless since installed several years ago. Thanks also to Transfer Flow, they provided the oversized fuel tanks in Rick and my Super Duties so we can safely carry the fuel needed to traverse the hundreds of miles between fuel stops in Baja. Many of the parts on the Bronco have been treated by Powdercoat-it.com and Mike was able to come along again this year and was another important part of the chase crew. Mike also supplied the commemorative Moss Brothers Racing “steekers” that we passed out throughout Baja! They were shaped a little like throwing stars, and the crew surprised at least one road grader driver by striking him in the chest with one as they drove by. Thanks to Sunoco and the Rodriguez family for delivering our fuel to the 8 BFG pits to get that thirsty Bronco all the way to La Paz. Thanks again to River City Differentials, Autofab, BF Goodrich, KC HiLites, Drive Line Service, West Coast Broncos, King Shocks, Deaver Springs and Slime. Thanks to Carlos that sets us up with a fine house for our race compound on the beach near Ensenada, and thanks to the hotel and crew in La Paz that treated us so well and where Roberto continues his fine artwork. It was good to see Olivia and Mark at Playa Buena Ventura as they set us up with dinner and a house on the Sea of Cortez beach for the night on the way back. A huge thanks to Graciela and crew at Danny’s for feeding us numerous times and especially for staying open late Sunday night to feed us on the way back. Finally, thanks to all of the crew members and their families that support us and make it possible for us to successfully cover all of those thousands of miles through the desert every year and all of those thousands of miles to get to and from those races, it really could not be done without you!

Don

[yikes]

Don Hemingway. Wow! I'll read this before I hit the sack tonight.

[tcm glx]

Awesome recap Don, congrats on the win/championship

[ESHALLBETTER]

"For some reason, there was a Ford Expedition attempting to pull the Class 1 car out, and they were stalled and blocking the course. Of course the Bunch Jeep was right on top of us already as entries piled up behind. I “suggested” to the little Class 2 truck in front of us that something needed to happen with both the horn and the front bumper. Whatever was going on with the Expedition, it apparently could not move under its own power, so the locals suggested it be pushed. The Class 2 was not quite enough, so the addition of a full-size 4-wheel-drive Bronco to the mix was able to get it done. Unfortunately the dash cam we had running had a big glob of mud on the lens, but I still have a clear picture in my mind of that Good Samaritan’s tail gate completely caved in. We find out later that the Class 1 car ended its day there with broken suspension. A few turns later and we had to dispatch the Class 2 that was apparently piloted by an inexperienced driver. With a turbocharged V6 and unlimited suspension, they should have been miles ahead of us"

Awesome write up Don. One quick correction though!

We were the class 1 (we ar actually class 10) that was broke at race mile 10, and I have never raced quads or gone to Cal Poly! Haha! A rain rut took out the heim on the rear trailing arm, and then the carnage snowballed from there. We had dragged the car off to to the side of the course as far as we could but it was hardly enough, there was nothing we could do but wait for our crew to show up. As we were waiting, a local backed down and offered to drag the car out of the way of race traffic... Well, the expedition died backing down the hill right about the same time you guys showed up. Thanks for the help getting the mess cleared! The tail lights and whole back hatch were all pushed in on the back of that truck. After about 20 minutes the driver came walking back to our car to tell us he had got the expedition running again, and asked if we wanted a tow!! Unfortunately the parts we needed to get running were in BOLA and with the unfortunate accident, there was no way we could get the car to the first check point in time.

[SteveG]

Erik, That shock angle is way off!!!

[SteveG]

Great write up, Don! Congrats to the whole Moss crew. You guys rock!

What is all a little disappointing is that these spindles were brand new this year. We have had better service and longer life with 30+ year old parts. You can bet I will check into that.

It's a bummer, but the old stuff, even when it's already been in service for decades, is often better than the new stuff. You already know that, though.

[300]

"For some reason, there was a Ford Expedition attempting to pull the Class 1 car out, and they were stalled and blocking the course. Of course the Bunch Jeep was right on top of us already as entries piled up behind. I “suggested” to the little Class 2 truck in front of us that something needed to happen with both the horn and the front bumper. Whatever was going on with the Expedition, it apparently could not move under its own power, so the locals suggested it be pushed. The Class 2 was not quite enough, so the addition of a full-size 4-wheel-drive Bronco to the mix was able to get it done. Unfortunately the dash cam we had running had a big glob of mud on the lens, but I still have a clear picture in my mind of that Good Samaritan’s tail gate completely caved in. We find out later that the Class 1 car ended its day there with broken suspension. A few turns later and we had to dispatch the Class 2 that was apparently piloted by an inexperienced driver. With a turbocharged V6 and unlimited suspension, they should have been miles ahead of us"

Awesome write up Don. One quick correction though!

We were the class 1 (we ar actually class 10) that was broke at race mile 10, and I have never raced quads or gone to Cal Poly! Haha! A rain rut took out the heim on the rear trailing arm, and then the carnage snowballed from there. We had dragged the car off to to the side of the course as far as we could but it was hardly enough, there was nothing we could do but wait for our crew to show up. As we were waiting, a local backed down and offered to drag the car out of the way of race traffic... Well, the expedition died backing down the hill right about the same time you guys showed up. Thanks for the help getting the mess cleared! The tail lights and whole back hatch were all pushed in on the back of that truck. After about 20 minutes the driver came walking back to our car to tell us he had got the expedition running again, and asked if we wanted a tow!! Unfortunately the parts we needed to get running were in BOLA and with the unfortunate accident, there was no way we could get the car to the first check point in time.

Yep, I got my dead cars mixed up, sorry your day ended there. The other car I was thinking of was #114 and they also had problems in the first couple hundred miles. Felt bad for the guy with the Expedition, he was just trying to help. Amazed that he wanted to take another crack at it. Within a few minutes most of the race traffic should have been through there. We were very, very fortunate because most of our parts were also on the way to BOLA. I would have had to have sent another truck from Sacramento to completely outfit a chase truck for the San Felipe side, we were just crossing our fingers like most teams were.

[PBR]

check these out from the mil:

Etter crash in wash:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSnfy6oXS9g

Cops converter fire:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABJ4a364lNQ



Pit Fire:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... jEvDU6j48g#!