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Celebrities Drawn to
Through the years, there seems to have been a hidden desire for celebrities and other unique personalities to strap themselves into a dune buggy, truck or Jeep to face some challenges. In November, a few braved the wilds of Mexico to test newfound skills over demanding terrain charted for the 37th annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race. Fittingly, the race would be featured in three different special segments on CNBC.
Listed among the other entries are TV star and motorcycle builder Jesse James of “Monster Garage” fame, TV sportscasters Paul Page and Cameron Steele, as well as Chad McQueen, son of the late Hollywood actor. Even Bill France Jr., then president of NASCAR, found time to race a motorcycle in the granddaddy of off-road racing. It’s been going on since the first Baja 1000, when actors Steve McQueen and James Garner caught the Mexican race bug as well as the Las Vegas’ Mint 400. Each starred in terrific racing movies: McQueen in “LeMans” and Garner in “Grand Prix.” McQueen was pretty much a loner when he competed, while Garner begged off interviews, pointing to “the true drivers.” A few years later, he would drive the pace car at the start of the Indianapolis 500. There was musical conductor Ray Conniff, hydroplane racer Bill Muncey and Indy 500 winner Parnelli Jones with a powerhouse Bronco. Jones gave fellow Indy winners Bobby and Al Unser rides on practice runs. They told him, “Never again...that’s dangerous.” Since silent movies, actors have been drawn to speed ovals. Although they might have owned high-powered passenger cars, stringent studio contracts forbade racing. In an interview many years ago with veteran board track racer Joe Thomas, he remembered giving Charlie Chaplin and cowboy star Tom Mix a ride around the banked Beverly Hills track. “Charlie was petrified,” Joe said. “But Mix wanted more and often drove fast car models.” Studio restrictions, too, discouraged Mickey Rooney and Clark Gable, who both made movies about racing. Robert Wagner and Paul Newman made a 1966 movie about the Indianapolis Speedway and at a late age, Newman advanced to TransAm racing with great success. Newman, who turns 80 next year, still can be found in some Sports Car Club events. Studios no longer have stringent contracts. The Long Beach Grand Prix each April schedules a 10-lap celebrity/pro race, and the fields have included Gene Hackman, “Cracking Up” star Chris McDonald, “The Bachelor” star Andrew Firestone, “Access Hollywood” correspondent Tony Potts, Peter Reckell of NBC’s daytime drama “Days of Our Lives,” and Olympian Dara Torres.
Then For the Pros — A total of 284 racers, competing in 26 Pro and 5 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs started the granddaddy of all desert races and an event-record 198 finished the grueling 1,013.57-mile odyssey within the 40-hour time limit. The race was held Nov. 18-20. The motorcycle portion was won by the American Honda factory team of Steve Hengeveld, Oak Hills, Calif.; Johnny Camp-bell, San Clemente; and Kendall Norman, Santa Barbara. The 4-wheel vehicle class was won by Las Vegas’ Troy Herbst and Larry Roeseler, Hesperia, Calif., in the Terrible Herbst Motor-sports Smithbuilt-Ford Class 1 unlimited open-wheel desert race car. Perhaps this year’s event was best summed up by H2 co-rider, Thad Stump: “Overall, this turned out to be a very grueling event that is difficult to appreciate unless you have experienced it firsthand. All of the support crews were called to service at some point during the event and in some cases, multiple times. The dedication and teamwork was superb which is reflected in the race results.”
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