Sheila’s post race notes–2011 Baja 1000

Guest post from Sheila …

The documentation of our adventure is priceless to me. I hope that friends and family are enjoying it, but for the team it is a recording of what’s fresh in our minds now and will fade over time. Writing it down takes time, but it’s worth it.

Flashback to the beginning of 2011. I hear rumblings from Tim and Tom that we are going again. Really? Can’t be. Just ignore….this too shall pass. 2009 was a busy year, as are all in the Smith household, and the task of creating a team to tackle Baja and to trudge through the paperwork involved was daunting. But I realize now, that is just because it was unchartered waters. In 2011, when I finally chose to no longer be in denial that we were going to try this crazy thing again, I must admit it was easier. We already had a team and they were willing to try again. And although I had less time to handle things (since I didn’t accept that we were going until about 5 weeks before we left), it wasn’t as time consuming, as I had all of 2009’s paperwork to remind and guide me.

After our disappointing trip in 2009, my hopes for this trip were smaller. Be sure somebody gets in besides Tim and me. Make it to Borrego at least (race mile 200ish). That’s as far as I let my mind go. Tim has been with teams who prepared for months/years and never made it to the start line.

Every trip to Baja builds knowledge and experience. That showed in the first days in Mexico. Arrival, recon of the course, pretech inspection, race registration, IRC check-in, Sunoco fuel check-in, BFG meeting, contingency, rider’s meeting…..all smooth as silk….so much easier when it is not your first time.

Race day…..ugh. Being so prepared had its negatives. Mainly, Tim had more time to worry. We had plenty of time to pack the race jeep and chase vehicles, slowly and thoughtfully, all while Tim’s stomach is in knots. When others weren’t around, he would say to me, “I just really want this to go well.” It is a funny thing, owning the vehicle and creating the team. Yes, you are providing team members with a potential opportunity, but they are giving up time out of their lives to support you on a venture that could be incredible or could go nowhere. Baja is anything but certain, no matter how well prepared.

So, at 10am, it was finally time to head to staging. Should be off the line by noon. Not. Ended up 2:30pm because of problems with the start of the trophy trucks. That was another 4½ hours of worry we didn’t really need. Lots of time in staging for people to exaggerate the worst parts of the course….lovely….then you get the wise and quiet Don Moss. We knew that info was the real deal. Well, shit, that scared us, too.

Having been in the navigator seat for the first (and only L) 58 miles in 2009, I knew I was going to have a blast for the 30 miles I would be in this time….my worries were beyond my short leg. The start itself didn’t have the same surreal feel of 2009….nothing will match that. And the 30 miles on the course were similar to those of 2009. The wash had a little extra excitement with the mud….the spectators loved it….the less traction you had, the louder they roared. I think the first 30 miles or so are designed to spread out the field, if not thin out the field. It is fairly tough with steep hills, tight turns and plenty of rocks and deep ruts. Nothing impassible, but not much at all where you can carry much speed. We only got off course once and Tim had to put it in 4 wheel drive to get us out, but I wasn’t concerned, other than if we were blocking someone else’s way. Tim told me later I would have been more worried if I could’ve seen the view from his side. Glad I didn’t.

We made it to race mile 30 for the driver switch. I was thrilled just to make this milestone that we hadn’t in 2009. Yes!…..Tom is in!….someone else is going to get to share in the fun. Michelle interviewed me at this point and I hope I never see that video…..was a little bit of spaz, I think.

Then at race mile 80ish, Tim and Tom get to BFG Pit/Fuel 1. Yes! Fuel stops are made by real race teams. Are we for real? Are we legit? Perhaps yes. Feeling good now.

Okay, reality says we are in the race, but that we have a new challenge. We won’t make any of the distances between the fuel stops without splashes. No problem…gives purpose to the chase team. Out with the maps. We will have to head to Borrego, then east and north to try to get to a potential fueling stop before the race jeep gets there. Brooke and Sheila’s mini adventure in “1502 Chase 2” begins. A few hours on the highway to Borrego, which feels more dangerous then the race course with the crazy American chase crews acting like they are on the race course. A rock flies up and puts a small dent in the windshield. Two thoughts….crap, sorry Tom…..and, okay, this feels normal as we had done the same thing, in the same spot on a jeep from the same rental company in 2009. Weird. Our Baja mark. After a quick stop in Borrego to check out our future “resting spot”, we depart from Chase 1 here and get back on the highway, heading east. Soon we will be out of radio contact with Chase 1 and it will be hours before we have contact with Tim and Tom. Through a military check point with just a wave….excellent…these can take time…..and north to Mexicali. With the BFG chase notes in hand, we easily find the access road and bump along this road for the next hour. We arrive at the proposed splash point and try to reach the race jeep by radio. Perhaps they are in range now. They are and are, in fact, just a few miles out. Perfect. As if planned that way. Too perfect. In the next minute, we seem to lose contact. Turns out they were stuck in the silt and would be for the next 45 minutes. But they eventually get there and the splash is made. Excellent. Another milestone. A driver switch, a BFG fuel/pit stop, a successful splash and the race jeep is in one piece and only 40 or so race miles to Borrego. Tim and Tom have conquered the summit at night, which people love to say can’t be done, and have survived the silt with one minor setback. We are in this thing!

The race jeep beats us to Borrego, but we get there within a few minutes. Mark and Dennis are in and will soon be headed west and south for the dreaded San Felipe loop. What? We made it to Borrego! Mark and Dennis are in! We won’t go home without all drivers and navigators getting to participate. I move past my original hopes. Maybe we will complete the San Felipe loop. Well, here is where it all gets foggy. It is about 3am and we’ve been up since 6am the day before. Spent about 3 hours in Chase 2 (a very small rental jeep) trying to sleep in the front seat. Slept on and off, while listening to Chase 1 and the race truck try to find each other to make another splash about 40 miles south of Borrego. I am glad that Tim and Tom are sleeping/resting in cots just outside the rental jeep and are not hearing this on the radio. We can’t help….just have to hope they find each other. We wake at 6am and for the next, oh I don’t know, say 7 or 8 hours, we are out of radio contact with the race jeep. Over this period of time, it seems that at least twice, we have BFG relay contact us to say our race jeep is going 0 miles per hour and do we know what’s up. And later, BFG saying that they are moving again. The emotional roller coaster of being out of radio contact. Many times while Mark and Dennis were completing the San Felipe loop, we thought our race might be over. Every time that proved to be wrong, the chase crew had new life! Who needs sleep? We are passed the half way point and all indications are that we’ll keep chugging along. Is it possible we’ll finish? For the first time, I start to consider it……

Contact from BFG indicates the race jeep needs a spare….that explains one of the mysterious stops. Chase 1 and 2 are together at this point. We have refueled our spare cans and our own vehicles and have placed ourselves at our 3^rd splash location. Here, we will put Tim and Tom back in (earlier than planned, but we know Mark and Dennis have been through a lot) and will give them the spare, fuel them up and send them on their way.

At this point, we have done the math. We are almost ¾ of the way through and know that it will be near impossible to complete the race in 32 hours. But we are still kicking and there is no reason to stop. Let’s see how far we can get. Tim and Tom get in and I’m so impressed that Mark and Dennis persevered to get us to this point. They were both pretty beat up and looked like hell, but I know that they will be happy later, when they have some time to reflect. Dennis says never again, but I don’t believe him. Mark is very matter of fact, as he tends to be. Yes, it was more than a bear, but it is Baja and we didn’t expect any of it to be easy.

The chase crew starts to head north. There are several places where the highway parallels the race course. We stay with them as much as possible. Lots of photos and videos taken and once we actually get out and stand right by the course like the crazy locals do, hootin’ and hollerin’ as 1502 passes. Brooke decides to really play the crazy local and builds a “ramp” to challenge our race truck. Well, it was only about 4 inches tall, but it was symbolic. “Take that, Timothy Scot!”, says Brooke. Must be settling some score between cousins from childhood. We are sleep deprived and beat, but suddenly having a little fun.

We are at an interesting crossroads at this point. We all know the clock has beaten us….but so many of the challenges of Baja haven’t beaten us. The race jeep has not been beaten by the terrain of Baja. There is probably nothing we will see in the remainder of the course that we haven’t already and the jeep is still kicking and for the most part in great shape. Our drivers have prevailed over the summit, the silt, the rocks, the whoops……27 hours of this, no less. Many experienced racers are saying this is one of the toughest courses in recent history. So many racers have given up at this point…..many of them several hours before….and of those still on the course, most are giving up now. You have to realize that this course is designed to challenge the best of the best….the Robbie Gordon’s of the off-road world, with $200k+ race vehicles and chase crews with helicopters. And we are still in the race. How do you give up?

The chase crew has new life. We know we will time out, but don’t want to give up. We start strategizing how to keep 1502 fueled to the end. With BFG still staying out on the course, we can make the splashes, although it would involve the race jeep waiting on us. But it would be a finish to us. Again, how do you give up?

Well, I’ll tell you….3 things happen at once. The first is that BFG starts to hint that they don’t want to wait for us. They want to pack it up and go home. We are their customer and we run their tires. They won’t leave unless we tell them to, but are hinting heavily that they want us to. The second is that night falls. Another night in the desert, even if all goes well from here, and none of us has had more than 3 hours sleep in a day and a half. The third is that the motor of 1502 is sending us a message. Something is amiss. We make it a goal to at least reach race mile 500, which we do and the next access point for race and chase to meet up is race mile 503, so this is where our story ends. Any further west than race mile 511, we put ourselves in danger of a problem with the jeep and no easy access to help. With BFG and Score wanting to clear the course for safety reasons (and because they are exhausted), we have to be smart and call it quits. Yuck.

A finish will have to wait for another year. A finish in the sportsman truck class is no easy thing. Many teams are 5 times + before they get a finish. Many teams never do. And in our class, finishes are often a win. It is our 2^nd time and we came close. We should be proud, but it is hard to feel anything but disappointment.

And here’s the crazy thing about Baja. Now, we have more knowledge and more experience. We know we could shave time, with a few changes. We now know it’s doable (weren’t sure before), but also know many, many, many things have to go right. We leave Baja in 2011 with knowledge and experience that would increase the chances of them going right…..will we use it?

***A big thanks to Team Vintage Florida! We gave it a great effort. We pulled together as a team and hung in for 28 hours. Every person on this team brings something different to the table and together we proved to be strong. John and Juan, I can’t thank you enough for the haul. This trip is simply not possible for us without you. Michelle, thank you for getting me home! Saturday night spent in the police station in Ensenada to report the break-in of our condo added to my sleep deprivation and Michelle had to do the thinking for me to get me home to Florida J.