LA PAZ, MEXICO - On November 16, 2006, three Stock Full class race trucks flying the KORE logo left the starting line to take on the notorious SCORE Baja 1000. KORE's '06 Team Desert Assault consisted of truck No. 865 from RPM Off-Road in Bristol, Tennessee; No. 866 from Worthington Racing in Los Angeles; and No. 867 from Team Canada Racing in Alberta. Each team drove identically equipped Cummins diesel-powered Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 pickups.
Building Cummins Race TrucksKORE has been doing this for so long now that it's got the whole event down to a science. Prerunning and racing are standard Baja; you prepare the best you can, but anything can happen. By using proven, off-the-shelf parts, we eliminate a lot of variables and increase our chances of success. This not only makes building the race trucks easier but also facilitates our logistical support because each truck uses common parts.
Team Desert Assault Wouldn't Have It EasyParticipating in the '06 Baja 1000 off-road race meant 1,047.8 miles of whoops, silt beds, exposed rocks, and standing water from recent hurricanes, making the course particularly challenging (it claimed 146 of the 283 four-wheel-class vehicles that started the race). In other words, 52 percent of the vehicles that started the race weren't able to drive the entire course.
"Our truck was running strong on the biodiesel we made at our shop," said Loren Worthington, owner of truck No. 866. SaraMae Kroeker, navigating for Loren, said, "I couldn't smell the tempura oil during the race because we were going so fast."
"We had passed everyone in our class within the first 50 miles, but then we broke the sector shaft in our steering box," Loren said. "We were right in the middle of the race course, which made changing out the box dangerous, awkward, and time-consuming. We barely made it to checkpoint number two on the course without timing out."
Meanwhile, the rookie Canadian drivers, Kevin Ostlund and Richard Thomas, made no errors and drove truck No. 867 consistently, maintaining a solid Second Place behind Team Hummer's Josh Hall. KORE team members at Pit 4 (550 miles into the race) in San Ignacio changed out a broken front axleshaft in record time, then John Zambie and Mike Sedway took over driving duties. But luck was not on their side; it was all over for truck No. 867 by mile 650.
"When the turbo came apart, it sounded like a 35,000-rpm calliope thrown down a sewer pipe. I've destroyed a lot of parts, but I've never heard anything like that," John said.
Truck No. 865 was plagued with mysterious electrical problems, causing RPM Off-Road to withdraw the Dodge early in the game. "It was very disappointing to come all the way across the country only to DNF. It wasn't what we were expecting after a near flawless prerun of the race course during practice," said RPM's Justin Matney, "but racing the Baja 1000 was one of the greatest things I've ever done. Baja is in our blood now, so we'll be back next year for sure with two race trucks and more people."