The 500 Experience

"We were there!" Really? When we hear that phrase, we can't help but think of all the possibilities that "there" could mean. While moviegoers are unanimous in watching the same film as everyone else in the theater, racers and racing fans can be in the same place on the same weekend and have experiences that are poles apart - especially if that place is Baja. Team OFF-ROAD packed its bags and pointed its grilles south for the SCORE Baja 500. With cameras, food, bottled drinking water, and a stash of "steekers," we were ready to cross the border and absorb as much of the Baja 500 as we could. We were also lucky enough to need a driving suit and a helmet as well (see "Never Say Die," Dec. '05).

While the Baja 500 is considered the little brother to the marquee Baja 1000, it is still a race to be reckoned with. Baja's character of rugged terrain, unpredictable course conditions, and antics-prone fans means an adventure of some sort awaits everyone who shows up. As it turned out, most racing teams got more adventure than they bargained for.If anyone had an inkling of what lay ahead on race weekend it was Sal Fish. Sal is the persona of SCORE and undertakes the course layout as part of his duties. Each year, he faces the challenge of local government demands, racer concerns, and plotting a course that's different from the previous years' but still challenging and fun. It's a delicate balancing act that few can perform successfully.

In the weeks prior to race weekend, prerunning officially opened, and teams ventured into Baja, official maps in hand. The course used routes largely familiar, but with a twist: Two of the steepest hills from yesteryears were being used, but this time, gravity was not on the racers' sides. One hill was near Race Mile 205, known as Simpson's, and the other lay just before Mike's Sky Ranch near Race Mile 230. Racers were now climbing what they'd previously descended. "So what?" you say, "race trucks and buggies are more capable than ever, so a little hill or two shouldn't be a problem." True, but when multiple vehicles are battling the same slope and one of them loses, trucks and buggies begin to stack up behind the stuck vehicle. So it was.For the fortunate ones who got through the pack early in the race, the tightest, steepest sections of the course lay wide open, allowing the lucky ones to combat the terrain alone without sparring with race traffic as well. Unfortunates had to frustratingly wait their turn at the bottom of the climbs or in mid-slope, mired in the powdery silt of Baja. In the end, more than 40 vehicles and their occupants spent the night on the course. That was their experience.

Others' experiences ranged from watching the racers blister the pavement at the starting line to chase crews whose job it was to find every access road along the course and be ready when their team's vehicle went by. Still others spent the weekend in an alcoholic haze - body present, brain absent.As for us at Team OFF-ROAD, we snapped as many photos as we could, walked around at contingency, rode in a race truck for 80 miles, and listened to the tales trickle in from the rest of the racing field about the brutality of the course.

Did we experience the Baja 500? Yes, parts of it. We weren't stuck on the Simpson's hill all night. We didn't get to experience crossing the finish line strapped into a racing seat with five-point harnesses. We got a taste of the 500, and the only way to slake the ensuing thirst is to go back again. What about you? Were you there? Do you know someone who was? Are you going back again? Are you good with a camera, or a keyboard? If your answer to one or more of these questions is yes, then contact us! We'd like to include your stories here in our pages. We'll all get to experience what "being there" is all about.