Six-point Crow racing harnesses...
Six-point Crow racing harnesses will literally save your life. Bob Bower suggested, "Snug the lap belt down so your hips are down tight on the seat; adjust the shoulder straps so you can reach your instruments."
About 3 miles from the pavement, the front right bumper dropped to the ground as the sound of shredding fiberglass on a spinning tire shrieked from the passenger side. The lower control arm slammed into the dirt, shearing the ball joint and sending our tire, spindle, and halfshaft rolling off into the cactus. We stopped dead in the middle of the racetrack. Reverse did nothing but bury the rear tires. Do we get out or stay in the safety of a fully caged race car? The answer: get out, create a bypass, assess the problem, fix it, and keep rolling.
The damage: two sheared ball joints and a boogered-up axle and steering arm. The following four hours was spent sifting axle parts from the sand, removing the coilover shock, and patching the assembly back together with ratchet straps. We weren't going to finish the race that way. In fact, we weren't going to finish the race at all, but we were able to limp back to civilization.
Our race ended as it started: in a spray of dust in the Baja Desert. But that's the kind of stuff that happens when you play with the big boys. And that's racing.
Losing two shocks while driving "the shock guy's" truck begs the question, what happened? Talking with Kreg Donahoe after the race, he said, "We used some prototype reservoir cans. We tested the truck in Barstow, and after the test we thought, 'Seems to work - let's run it!' They didn't have a deep enough snap-ring groove. That was the failure. It was my choice to run them, my oversight."
On that note, and before Kreg beats himself up too badly, one thing Kreg didn't mention in his post-race comments is that everything Donahoe sells is tested on the race track long before the public ever sees it. We've worked with Donahoe and run Donahoe coilovers in the past, and present. What we like is that we know they have been put through the wringer before we mount 'em up. The Baja 1000 is the ideal place to work out the bugs. Sometimes they fly like an eagle; sometimes they blow up in your face. But as we said, that's racing!
 GPS systems have become invaluable...  GPS systems have become invaluable tools for today's racers. Prerunning and GPSing the course prior to the race allows teams to precisely track progress. With a good navigator dictating upcoming turns, straight-aways, and corkscrews, you can literally outdrive your field of vision. Bob Bower worked with the Donahoe team on prerunning, setting up GPS routing, and coaching us rookies on race protocol and survival. |  Shearing off several steering...  Shearing off several steering arm bolts, the front end hit the dirt and took out the lower ball joint. That sent the wheel, along with the rotor, spindle, and halfshaft, rolling off into the desert. Fortunately, we were only doing 20 mph. |  We said stuff happens, and...  We said stuff happens, and here it is. About 70 miles into the race, one of our rear shocks blew out the reservoir. At 71 miles, the other went south. |
 Sometimes, just getting home...  Sometimes, just getting home becomes the goal. After sifting through the sand for missing components, we removed the coilover shock and patched everything back together. We used a pair of ratchet straps to keep the sheared ball joints in their sockets. |  |  |
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