Locos Mocos San Felipe Race Report

Koenig Racing at SCORE San Felipe 250 contingency

Racing the San Felipe 250 was a blast. It was the first Baja race effort for Locos Mocos and Koenig Racing. In a four-truck field we got second in Class 6. Truck owner Mike Koenig and Locos Mocos Head Honcho Stu Klein started the race in the Toyota Tacoma. Locos Mocos guys Troy Robinson and Tim Schrader took over at about midway and brought it to the finish after a tough 7 hours and 4 minutes.

Koenig Racing in San Felipe at RM 23

Our fun started on Wednesday at the amazing beach-side San Felipe house owned by Locos Mocos brother Steve Brosz (thanks 3 Ball and Kenna!). After the 14-hour overnight drive from Norcal, we grabbed some much-needed rest and enjoyed a little beach time. On Thursday Mike went out early to prerun the northern section while Troy preran the southern section. As always our Total Chaos-equipped prerunners were more than up to the job. (thanks Total Choas!). We all met back later at the house and held a birthday bash for our gracious host.

On Friday contingency took up most of the day. And for us it was almost as much fun as the race. (Ask any one of us how the race truck made it through tech using some fish net we found on the beach. Locos Mocos can fix anything, anywhere!) While in line with the race truck, Mark Naugle (Locos Mocos “BCG 1”) asked a pretty San Felipe girl walking by if she would sit up on the nerf bar and pass out sponsor decals and she agreed! Man, did the truck get attention with that lovely hood ornament. Our sponsors got their money’s worth of attention. Handing out 400+ sponsor decals to race fans was a lot of fun, too.

Race morning started with last minute prep and rolling to the start line. Mike Koenig and Stu Klein we’re set to drive the first 122 miles then hand the truck off to Troy and Tim for the last 110 miles. Right from the start Mike knew it was going to be a long day for him. While the truck handles the rough very well it’s the spectators lining the course that make it slow and go. They stand on the course and wait until the last second to get out of the way. It was nuts. At one point Mike couldn’t even see the road ahead as the fans were waiting that long to move. Once he got further out of town Mike set into a comfortable pace and kept the truck moving problem-free. Then came race mile 109 and the silt. Deep silt. Trying to find the best line Mike got stuck and buried the rear axle. He tried to get the truck out by himself but it wasn’t happening. Then thankfully some locals showed up and eventually got him out. Didn’t get any names, but thanks guys.

Koenig Racing at Finish. Victory

Meanwhile up ahead at RM 122 where Troy and Tim were waiting to get into the truck, an out of control class 1 car missed the turn and struck a cameraman working for John Langley’s COPS TV series race effort. Locos Mocos guy Tim Schrader an ex-EMT used his training and assisted the other EMT/racers in helping the injured spectator. The Score helicopter was on the ground within 25 minutes of the accident where he was flown to San Felipe then immediately to San Diego for medical help. Fortunately there were no broken bones or other injuries to the cameraman and besides some bruising he will have a full recovery.

Once Mike and Stu pulled into the pit and exchanged drivers, Troy and Tim quickly went to work navigating the truck down the beautiful Matomi Wash. At this point they were in a solid 2nd place and decided to take it easy and make it to the finish line. Then, Bam! Near the end of Matomi the line they chose had wash machine size boulders on both sides of the track with another boulder just a little taller than the driveline in the middle. The impact broke the yoke on the driveline. In just under 10 minutes they changed out the driveline and were back under way. The only other problem they had was getting stuck on a sandy steep uphill. A quick call to the nearby Locos Mocos chase crew was made and BCG1 arrived in minutes with a tow strap.

Just before dark the team crossed the finish line with the checkers waved by none other than Troy’s dad, VORRA founder Ed Robinson. Ed was the official SCORE flagger for this race and really enjoyed waving in his son. Everyone on the team was thrilled to have finished their first race in Baja.

Koenig Racing wants to thank all of our race crew who helped out, these guys and gals did a great job making sure we would make the finish.

Koenig Racing at SCORE Baja 250 Finishline

And special thanks to our sponsors. Without them our first Baja race would not have happened. Baja Bound.com Mexican Insurance, Total Chaos Suspensions, ORW, Red Line Oil, Dezert People, BFGoodrich Tires and , FlameLab Sports Marketing.

– Troy “Boofay” Robinson