After dinner, we finished wiring up our roofmounted Holder LED lights while Jeff picked up the tab for the meal. To show you just how random and unpredictable baja can be, we ran into Diesel Power's old Web site producer Jason Gonderman, who was down there racing a Mitsubishi Raider.
CITY IN THE DESERT
This year's racecourse jumped up on to Highway 1 at race mile 400, and the race vehicles had to share the pavement with local traffic for 41 miles. We got there around 8:30 p.m. Just as the trophy trucks were coming through. As we arrived, the scene looked like the city of Las Vegas had sprouted up in the middle of the Mexican desert. Hundreds of race teams had chosen that road crossing as a pit stop. There were tractor- trailers, chase vehicles, box trucks, halogen lights, and more Honda generators running to power the place than you could imagine. The size and scope of the mega pit would have rivaled the infield at the Indy 500.
We spent a few hours there watching the race trucks go by. We ended up working out a trade with the locals for some food and drinks in exchange for some posters and stickers we brought down with us. We even ended up talking with the helicopter pilot from nascar driver Robby Gordon's trophy truck team who had to land on the side of the course because helicopters aren't allowed to fly at night in baja.