BAJA 1000 "The Most Famous Race that No One Has Ever Seen"

750 horsepower trophy truck of Bob Shepard kicks up dust as it passes through Independencia.

by Jim Evans

It may not be the sport of kings in the traditional sense, but the "jockeys" and "steeds" in the recent 2003 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 Desert Race — arguably the world’s most famous off-road desert race — were represented by more than 270 riders from 28 states and 10 countries.

These participants competed in 24 pro and 5 sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motor-cycles and ATVs in an event worthy of any king.

Celebrating its 36th anniversary, the race was the final event of the six-race 2003 SCORE Desert Series and the granddaddy of them all. Starting and finishing in Ensenada, the race has been run over the Baja California peninsula every year since 1967 — except 1974 when it was cancelled because of the international fuel crisis.

Race day, Friday morning, McMillian crew makes last minute checks and adjustments.

Lending his legendary persona to the event’s already-legendary reputation was motorsports legend Mario Andretti, who served as grand marshal for this year’s race, and a host of celebrity drivers and other well-known drivers added to the race’s distinction.

Sponsored by SCORE International Off-Road Racing, the rugged 805-mile desert race is a magnet for racers from all over the world, with a legion of riders who return year after year to challenge the mighty Baja.

Dana Reed, 46, a mortgage broker from Rescue, Calif., is typical of the many "weekend warriors" who participate in the adventure of the Baja 1000.

"I’ve been racing dirt bikes for the past 25 years, and I’ve raced the Baja 1000 four times and the Baja 500 seven or eight times," Reed said. "I plan on racing every 500 and 1000 until I can’t get on a bike anymore.

Dana Reed

"Believe me, it gets in your blood, and you can’t stop."

Reed competed as part of the Mitch Sanchez team, which placed third in the sportsman class after leading for much of the race.

How and why does someone get started in racing?

"I had been riding dirt bikes for fun, when a friend encouraged me to enter a cross country race," Reed said. "He said just to enter it and see if I could even finish. I ended up doing pretty well in my class, so I tried it again and got hooked. Soon I started doing well and eventually started winning. I eventually made it to the expert class and now ride the over-40 expert class.

Brian Ickler of Poway was third overall in 2003 SCORE points, winning five of six races in his class, and was SCORE Lite champion for 2003.

"The team concept is really fun, too. You are rooting on your teammates as well as trying to do your best for the team. Half of the fun is getting to the next rider exchange before the bike. And the remoteness of Mexico, the flavor of Mexico, the danger aspect — it’s all part of what makes the race so exciting. The locals turn out by the thousands, and you can be in the middle of nowhere and come across Mexicans cheering you on."

"I suppose speed was the initial attraction for me," said Poway’s Brian Ickler, who started racing at 14. Now 18, Ickler became the youngest winner in SCORE history when he captured the SCORE lite class and was honored as point champion and rookie-of-the-year. He hopes to compete in the Unlimited Buggy class next year.

Ickler and his good friend Andy McMillin — both seniors at Poway High School — are part of a growing number of young drivers making their mark at an early age. Andy, 17, shared the driving with his father, Scott, in the Class 1 category as part of McMillin Racing, which established McMillin as the first three-generation team to ever compete in the event. Andy’s uncle Mark McMillin was the defending overall champion, and his grand-father Corky has been a successful driver of record for many years.

Local rider Rodd Fantelli of Ramona has been racing since 1989.

Getting close to the action.

"It does get in your blood," he said, agreeing with Reed. "When I was growing up in Ohio, I used to see films of the Baja 1000 all the time, and I couldn’t wait to see the real thing because we didn’t have races like that in the Midwest."

The "real" thing happened in 1989 when Fantelli entered his first race after moving to California and was hooked on racing forever.

"It’s a clean sport — very family-oriented — and my wife and I have enjoyed some wonderful times on the Baja circuit over the years," said Fantelli, who races Class 8 trucks averaging about 47 miles per hour. "It doesn’t seem very fast until you try it for 23 hours straight on winding curves, dirt roads, and rugged terrain — then you realize that it’s plenty fast, and you have even greater respect for the pro racers."

Road racing is not without its risks.

"I’ve broken a few bones over the years," Reed said, "but it just goes with the territory. Of course, we are more vulnerable to injury on a bike. There are sections of the course where we are going more than 100 miles per hour, and that’s fast — and dangerous — on remote dirt roads with bumps and sharp turns along the way. And we have to be especially careful on a motorcycle because we are sharing the road with much larger vehicles."

But even the larger four-wheeled vehicles are subject to accidents.

"We went off the road in our truck in just a split second, and we were stuck sideways in a rut until some other riders came along to help us," Fantelli said. "It could have been worse because we could have easily tipped over. There is the possibility of an accident in almost every race, so we have to be careful all the time because of the rough terrain."

All the racers are quick to point out that their success is based on a team effort.

"Without our chase crews, we could never finish," Ickler said. "We depend on them for everything to keep us in the race. They coordinate our fuel management, tire changes, mechanical adjustments — everything."

Dust and sand are just a few of the challenges of off-road racing.

"Silt beds are sometimes as much as 3 feet deep and can have a major effect on your engine and can clog your air filter — especially a motorcycle," Reed said. "We have to have spare parts and equipment at every pit stop."

For the first time, the 2003 Baja 1000 finished inside a baseball stadium — the Deportivo Antonio Palacios stadium — with live bands, refreshments, giant screen, and more.

Ramona Home Journal readers will be able to see the race in all its glory in the upcoming documentary film "Dust to Glory" filmed by critically acclaimed director Dana Brown, scheduled for release in June 2004. The film will feature rare historic footage from the inaugural Baja 1000, featuring Steve McQueen and James Garner.

"We are doing everything to bring this indescribable experience to life," Brown said.

Released on the same day as "Dust to Glory" will be "1000 Miles to Glory," a SCORE Baja 1000 coffee-table history book by off-road PR veteran Marty Fiolka (SCORE International Off-Road Racing, Nov. 20, 2003).

The Baja 1000 –– the longest point-to-point race in the world — may indeed be "the most famous race that no one has ever seen," but that is about to change.