Long Beach Racers overcome to finish third in the 2010 SCORE San Felipe 250

March 13th 2010:
It was a beautiful Baja morning and the little fishing village of San Felipe was being awakened by roaring of motors and the energy of another epic day of off road racing. With 70 degree weather and not a cloud in the sky, it was again time for the cowboys of the desert to take on the grueling 250 miles of the SCORE San Felipe 250 and the Long Beach Racers were ready to battle the conditions once again. This year Long Beach Racers were supporting 2 different race vehicles; Our Veteran Baja Champion 7SX Tacoma and the new Lexus LX570 of Cancer Survivor Joe Bacal.

The LBR 7SX Toyota was ready to run; Ted Moncure and Chris Livingston were piloting the truck for the first 95 miles of the race. They got off the start with no problems and charged the desert like warriors ready for battle. At race mile twenty the first damage from the angry desert fell upon the driving team. The radiator mount broke and after assessing the situation also sheared all the blades off the fan. The radiator was still in good shape so with the help of the skillful crew made up of Brian Connelly and Rob DeJong, the truck got back on course with tie down straps and bailing wire securing the radiator in place, but still devoid of a cooling fan. Following the mantra that LBR does not stop a running race truck, Moncure and Livingston continued to battle the 60 miles of brutal woops and soft silt.
Without a radiator fan it was imperative that the truck maintain speed to keep the water temperature down and the 3.4L Toyota V6 in one piece. Between RM 45 and 55 the silt got deep and the boys had to do everything they could to keep from getting stuck. Livingston watched the water temp as it went past numbers and pointed at the “T” in “WATER” on the bottom of the gauge. Determined not to give up, Moncure stayed in the throttle and the truck emerged on the other side of the silt in one piece and still running. They hit the Diablo Dry Lake and pushed the pedal to the metal, stretching the Toyota’s throttle cable as far as it would go. Temps started to fall as speeds climbed close to 100 MPH across the baked floor of the lake bed. At RM 70 the team got slightly stuck in more of the infamous Baja silt, but not wanting to pay the $100 fee locals were charging for pulling out the vehicle ahead, Moncure worked the controls furiously, got unstuck and stayed on it to bring the truck into the BFG Pit at RM 94 to do the welcomed driver change.

Doug Hood and Marco dos Santos took over for the exhausted Moncure/Livingston team and with fresh determination and vigor went after the finish line. The LBR crew had found a completely different type of fan setup in a junk yard and was now paralleling the race truck on an adjacent access road. They got on the radio and met up with the truck just past RM 112 to install it. With the makeshift fan on and wired in, they sent the truck on its way with the tightening of the radiator strap and a prayer. The truck powered through Matomi wash and hit the highway on the other side. One wash down, still two more to go; Holding the speed down to 60 MPH to avoid any penalties, they covered the short six miles to the next wash, the infamous Huatamote.

As night fell, the course turned to boulders at race mile 188. With two other vehicles trapped, dos Santos jumped out and helped guide; the truck rock crawled through the boulders leaving only a small dent in the rocker panel. Leaving that section behind them, the team got refocused and pressed on through the whoops, deep sand and countless silt beds. Running in intense dust at RM 196, they slid the truck into a right hand turn at full throttle; the front right tire grabbed a huge rut and tossed the truck up on two wheels. By the grace of God and some proficient driving Hood brought it back down with the shiny side up. After that bit of exhilaration, they continued on to RM 213 where they got a splash of fuel, the light bar adjusted and a few words of encouragement from the Long Beach Racers crew. Two down, one to go. With only 90 minutes left on the clock and 35 miles to go including the Chanate wash, the truck vanished into the darkness. With more deep sand, huge whoops and broken down race vehicles sprinkled along the last 30 miles like toppings on a sundae, the lights of San Felipe came into sight. At race mile 244, the course opened up into straight lines and smoothed out. Covering the last four miles at over 80 miles an hour and the entire LBR Team waiting for them at the Finish Line, Hood and Dos Santos took the checkered flag with 30 min to spare, coming in 3rd in class due to the down time for repairs.

The Lexus run was less eventful, but no less thrilling; Starting last in a field of 4 Joe put his driving skills, his co-driver Bob Ditners navigation skills, and the Big Lexus suspension components to the test. They passed everyone in their class by race mile 50 and cruised the rest of the way to the finish for their second consecutive SCORE win, the 3rd in 5 races.
The LBR boys have conquered Baja one again and lived to tell about it! Thank you to all the chase crews, people, and family members that made this possible. Without you we would not have made it!

-Chris Livingston