Editor's Note
The Baja 1000 is world's most famous off-road race. It's held every year in Mexico on the Baja peninsula, just south of San Diego, California. It's a race that started as a bet between some friends more than 40 years ago. And it's evolved into a motorsport that takes hundreds of drivers, thousands of mechanics, and millions of dollars of race vehicles over some of the worst "roads" in North America. The Baja 1000 is the ultimate test of man and his machine, and the kind of experience you just can't believe until you see it for yourself.
At a race like the Baja 1000, many of the true tales can sound stranger than fiction. And only a storyteller, like our man Bob Bower, could even come close to capturing the adventure we had as it unfolded last November- David Kennedy
Truck #862 Baja 1000 Race Report
No successful race ever starts at the green flag. That said, the stock fullsize Ford Super Duty race truck of Team Donahoe/Banks delivered more success than non-success in its first diesel-powered Baja 1000 assault. Of course, we wanted to get across that finish line and see that checkered flag in the allotted time, but this year it was not to be. But, for every loss and every victory at the Baja 1000, there is a story to be told. This year, our tale began with more than 40 people, 12 chase vehicles, and a race truck that runs on Number 2 diesel.
A quick profile of our race machine is in order. It's a 6.0L diesel Ford F-250 Super Duty. It weighs more than 8,000 pounds. It has a chrome-moly safety cage, an on-board navigation system, a breathing apparatus, the toughest tires you can buy, and the biggest shocks you've ever seen. And it seats three.
Our strategy would be simple. Gale Banks-yup, that Gale Banks-would take the truck off the starting line and run the F-250 for the first 70 miles of the Baja 1000 out of Ensenada. Having enough power was not a question. We were competing in a racing class full of "stock" pickup trucks, yet we had more torque than the gasoline vehicles running in the unlimited classes. We weren't cheating. It just felt like we were.