race-dezert.com brings you highlights of the 2012 BITD Parker 425.

This video has been updated to show the Official top 10 results at the end of the video.

Riot Racing’s driver Marc Ewing returns to the ring to battle at the Best in the Desert championship race, the Henderson 250. Facing fire and ice in the winter mountains of Nevada, Josh Daniel’s #1598 car fails with one lap remaining. Riot’s hopes fall on Ewing’s #68 trophy truck to race for a podium finish.

Watch how the 2011 season culminates for Riot Racing.

RiotRacing.com
BITD.com
VitaBrevisFilms.com

race-dezert.com brings you highlights of the first HDRA race of 2012. Check out the race action and also see what the Ironman Ivan Stewart and Roger Norman have to say about the resurrected HDRA series.

Take a look back at some of my favorite moments from the SCORE Laughlin race back in 1997 to 2004. All footage was pulled from Dezert People 1-3.

Lobsam  Yee wins the last  Baja of 2011

The last great Baja race of the year was presented by RECORD celebrating the winter edition of the off road race Ensenada-San Felipe 250.  This race was conquered overall by Francisco Septien and Lobsam Yee.

A total of 201 entries from Mexico, U.S.A. and Germany (163 4-wheel vehicles and 38 motorcycles)

Took the green flag at Ojos Negros and lived an 185 mile adventure that ended in San Felipe.

It was a really cold 250, temperatures registered below -2 degress celcius at places like Ojos Negros, Heroes de Independencia, Santa Catarina, Valle de la Trinindad and San Matias.

The motorcycles started at 6:30 A.M. and the 4-wheel vehicles at 9:30.  It was a really difficult 250 for everybody, since they used many trails that were used at the 44^th edition of the Baja 1000.

The king of the motorcycles for this 250 was Francisco Septien.

Francisco Septien closed a great season by winning his class M/C Pro and also the overall with an official time of 4 hours, 3 minutes and 49 seconds, also capturing the 2011 championship in his class with this organization.

In the 4-wheel vehicles it was Lobsam Yee from Tijuana that demonstrated that in Baja you don’t need a big class vehicle to win, he drove his Barajas Buggy with great talent to overall victory and in Class 12.

Lobsam Yee wins the Overall the winter edition of Record's Ensenada-SanFelipe 250.

Yee is an experienced racer, by mile 70 he was well ahead of rivals like Jay Culbertson, Eric Chase, Carlos Ibarra and Jaime Huerta.

For this 250 a Gran Reto (shootout) was organized for the 5-1600, 7 Stock and 11 Classes, it was 50 dollars per racer and it was not mandatory.  The idea was to compensate with good prizes to the winners of those classes, like an advanced Christmas present.

A first class duel was experienced by Alonso Gonzalez, Miguel Sandoval and Pin Bernardino, they had a tremendous battle for victory to the end, at the finish line it was the 7Stock of Xalos Racing driven by Alonso Gonzalez the winner.

Cisco Bio was the best of the very demanding Class 11 at the last RECORD race of the year.

Class 11 was taken by Cisco Bio from the team Mastercraft/Impact Racing, he drove the 185 miles and beat Roberto Robles by only 2 minutes and Ramon Fernandez by 11 minutes.

Class 11 always has a great turnout at RECORD events and this race had 28 of them, including Klaus Rasch who debuted with this organization.  Unfortunately for this race he had to abandon early with transmission problems in his VW.

The Race Ready Ensenada-San Felipe 250 had its complicated moment at the goat trail coming down to Valley T, were Martin Aguirre’s Class 8 suffered steering problems, stopping at the narrow passage and plugging the race course for a couple of hours.

Many racers contemplated the idea of pushing Aguirre’s truck off the embankment to clear the course.  At the end it was decided to fix the unit in order to resume the competition, this incident affected more than 80 % of the competitors.

After the race resumed, Record’s president Ramon Castro opted to move everybody to San Matias and do a restart by class, even though the drivers that were not affected by this bottle neck incident were so far ahead on there way to the checkered flag at the San Felipe Arches.

This was the closing of Record’s season, this year brought many great drivers to five 1^st class events, there is great hope that in 2012 the level of competition will continue rising.

Pictures By Alejandro Soltero/www.fotosoolweb.com

Translation By Claudio Sarabia

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Winners Overall

M/C

Francisco Septién – M/C Pro 4 hours 3 minutes 49 seconds

4-Wheel Vehicles

Lobsam Yee – Class 12– 3 hours 46 minutes 12 seconds

Official Results

http://www.recordoffroad.com/tiemposFinales.aspx?Event=SF275

Spanish story:

Lobsam Yee gana la última Baja del 2011

Por Gabriel García

La última gran Baja del año corrió por cuenta de la organización Récord al celebrar la edición de invierno de la carrera fuera de camino Ensenada-San Felipe 250, misma que fue ganada en forma overall por Francisco Septién y Lobsam Yee.

Un total de 201 participantes de México, Estados Unidos y Alemania (163 carros y 38 motocicletas) tomaron el banderazo de arranque en Ojos Negros para vivir una aventura que finalizó 185 millas después en San Felipe.

Fue una 250 muy fría, al registrarse temperaturas por debajo de los -2 grados en puntos como Ojos Negros, Héroes de la Independencia, Santa Catarina, Valle de la Trinidad y San Matías.

Las motocicletas arrancaron a las 6:30 de la mañana y los carros a las 9:30 en lo que fue una 250 complicada para todos, al utilizar muchos de los caminos por donde pasó la edición 44 de la Baja 1000.

Francisco Septién cerró una gran temporada, al ganar la categoría Pro de motocicletas y el overall con un tiempo oficial de 4 horas, 3 minutos y 49 segundos, atrapando también el título 2011 de Récord en su clase.

En los autos el tijuanense Lobsam Yee demostró que en Baja no ocupas un carro muy grande para ganar, al manejar con gran precisión su Buggy Barajas hacia la victoria absoluta y en la Clase 12.

Yee es un piloto experimentado y en la milla 70 ya le sacaba buena ventaja a rivales como Jay Culbertson, Eric Chase, Carlos Ibarra y Jaime Huerta.

Para esta 250 se contó con el Gran Reto en las Clases 5-1600, 7 Stock y 11, que consistía en aportar 50 dólares por corredor, siendo esto no obligatorio, para darle un buen premio al vencedor de esas categorías, como si se tratara de un regalo adelantado de Navidad.

Un duelo de lujo vivieron Alonso González, Miguel Sandoval y Pin Bernardino, quienes lucharon con todo por la victoria hasta el final, siendo el triunfador de la 7 Stock, el primero y dueño del equipo Xalos Racing.

La Clase 11 fue ganada por Cisco Bio del equipo Mastercraft/Impact Racing, quien manejó las 185 millas para vencer por dos minutos a Roberto Robles y por 11 a Ramón Fernández.

Como es una costumbre en los eventos de Récord, la 11 contó con una gran respuesta de participación, al arrancar la 250 un total de 28 vehículos, entre ellos Klaus Rasch, quien hizo su debut en Récord, pero la mala suerte no estuvo de su lado al abandonar en forma temprana por problemas con la transmisión de su Volkswagen.

El atorón del Valle de la Trinidad

La Race Ready Ensenada-San Felipe 250 vivió su momento complicado en la bajada del Valle de la Trinidad, al detenerse en medio del camino el Clase 8 de Martín Aguirre, esto al tener fallas en la caja de la dirección y provocando un atorón que duró 2 horas.

Varios pilotos pensaron en la idea de aventar el Truck de Aguirre para abajo del camino de terracería, pero se decidió por arreglar la unidad para reanudar la competencia, algo que afectó a más del 80 por ciento de los competidores de carros.

Tras reanudar la carrera, el presidente de Récord, Ramón Castro eligió trasladar a todo el contingente a San Matías y arrancarlos de nuevo por categorías, aunque los pilotos que se salvaron del atorón ya les llevaban mucha ventaja para recibir la bandeara a cuadros en Los Arcos de San Felipe.

Este fue el cierre de la temporada en Récord, con un año que contó con grandes pilotos y cinco eventos de primera calidad, esperando que en el 2012 el nivel siga a la alza.

Fotos por Alejandro Soltero/www.fotosoolweb.com

Ganadores overall

Motos

Francisco Septién – Motos Pro – 4 horas, 3 minutos y 49 segundos

Carros

Lobsam Yee – Clase 12 – 3 horas, 46 minutos y 12 segundos

Resultados oficiales

http://www.recordoffroad.com/tiemposFinales.aspx?Event=SF275

First off I would like to thank SNORE for always putting on one of the best season closer to the 2012 desert racing season’s and getting the permit once again from BLM to cross the road and race the back section of Laughlin! Day one weather was super windy and cold but it made it nice for the racers on the track with the wind blowing the dust away. Now day two weather was great and warmed up to T-Shirt weather but the wind was at a stand still the last half of the day making it hard to see for the drivers. Especially the last race of the day, which also makes it super fun for photos when you can’t see the cars in the hanging dust.

Tony Murray #109, 1st place in class 1

As the 2012 SNORE season came to an end at RAGE @ THE RIVER, Laughlin NV. It was the Class 1 Unlimited’s who took the top 3 spots for Saturdays race. 1st place went to #109 Tony Murray running a smooth race just beating Adam Bosh #121 by 11seconds. Not a bad finish for Adam Bosh since his race car has not seen a race in 6 months. Taking 3rd was Terry Householder running his Trophy Truck with out the glass in  Class 1 Unlimited.

After the intense battle day 1 between Michael Lapaglia and Cody Freedman running his beam front in EcoTec in class 10, it was Lapaglia for the win day 1 and day 2 in class 10. But it was Cody Reed to watch out for in class 12. Reed took 1st place with a time 1:08:50.390 beating all the other class12′s, all the class 10′s, several Class 1 unlimited cars and all the Trophy Trucks except for Steve Olliges #28.

With 33 entries the 1450 class it’s always a fun race to watch because the 1450 racers seem to have the Robby Gordon mentality, “Win or Brake” no in between. Plus the 1450 racers love the camera/video guys and will show off just to get awsome Photos/Footage even if it means breaking!?!? That said only 18 of 33 finished Race Day One and 17 of the 33 racers finished Race Day Two. Congrats to Randy Shields taking 5th day 1 and 1st Place day 2.

Fernie Padilla, winner of day 2 in the 1600 class

Now one of the most competative classs, 1600′s. After the day one action it was hard to tell who was going to take day 2. Luke McMillin was in 1st followed by Class Champ Jason Colman in 2nd and Cody Robinson in 3rd race day 1. Race day 2 began and the tides did change. The top 3 finishers day one dropped back and it was #1632 Fernie Padilla in 1st, Cory Boyer 2nd and Blaine Conrad in 3rd place followed closely by Jason Colman in 4th, Luke McMillin in 6th and Cody Robinson dropping to 13th for race day 2.

Unofficial Race Day 2 Results, Click Link:  live.snoreracing.net
Check back soon at http://snoreracing.net/  for Combined Official Race Day 1 & 2 Results.

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Race-dezert.com brings you race highlights from the 2011 BITD Henderson 250.  Congrats to Adam Householder for winning the Trick Truck class and to BJ Baldwin for winning the 2011 BITD Trick Truck Championship.

San Vicente’s Miracle

This story almost did not make it to race-dezert.com.  At this race I lived one of the most incredible moments of my life.  God saved my life along with Alejandro Soltero (Fotosol) while we were covering RECORD’s San Vicente 200 race.

The morning of Saturday October 15 was very special, the motorcycles struggled a great deal with the early fog which limited their speed along the 46 mile race course.  Even that could not stop Francisco Septien from achieving victory with a time of 2 hours, 55 minutes and 7 seconds.

Overall winner at San Vicente 200 on the bikes was Francisco Septien.

Septien dedicated his victory to the memory of his fallen friend Jorge Hernandez who past away when he suffered an accident during the 2007 edition of this race.  Hernandez lost control of his bike when he hit a ravine, he lost his life due to the severe injuries.

Moment when Team Peninsulares Class 8 was about to roll over at San Vicente’s Silt Bed.

The real miracle of San Vicente took place at race mile 36 at the silt beds of Rancho Guadalupe.  Only two vehicles had gone trough, Martin Aguirre and Rick Sanchez, when Miguel Montoya’s Peninsulares Team Class 8 Ford F-150 driven by Miguel’s cousin Carlos showed up in the distance.  He was approaching the first silt bed zone at more than 80 MPH and to our bad luck Alejandro and myself chose a spot that was very close to the course.  The only thing I could remember was the truck losing control and flying over us making contact with Alejandro.

Thank God, RECORD’s Medical team and even the organizer Ramon Castro responded to our cry for help.  Alejandro was transported to the hospital with injuries to his chest, back and neck, luckily those were not life threatening injuries.

In my case, there were only minor cuts and bruises to arm, chest, back and head and I will be able to continue living Baja adventures but in a more prudent way.  It was our error by misjudging the danger of this occasion.

Viry Felix won class 14 driving on her property.  She was really familiar with the terrain since part of the race course goes trough her family’s ranch.  Viry is going for the season title.

Felix is currently preparing to race the Baja 1000 where she is planning on driving her solo.

Elias Hanna won his third race of the year in class 7S.

Elias Hanna maintained his winning streak by taking class 7S honors.  He won his third race of 2011 for HN Motorsports/Lucas Oil Team.

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Winners

Class – Driver – Time

Bikes

Pro – Francisco Septien – 2:55:07

Sportsman – Juan Gutierrez – 2:58:15

Safari – Deam Jonathan – 3:16:00

Atv Pro – Rafael Torres – 3:36:00

Atv Sportsman – Marcos Cousiño – 3:08:41

Cars

Open – Jason Whipple – DNF

½-1600 – Ray Files – 4:00:44

5-1600 – Miguel Rosales – 4:16:50

7 – Agustin Rasso – 4:57:11

7S – Elias Hanna – 4:34:30

8 – Martin Aguirre  – 4:18:25

9 – Jorge Samprieto – 5:35:04

10 – David Castelan  – DNF

12 – Matias Arjona – 4:13:38

14 – Viry Felix – 4:17:42

15 – Fabian Aros – 4:48:57

18 – Francisco Valdez – 3:39:44

Safari – Alejandro Medina – 3:46:22

Original spanish story:

El milagro de San Vicente

Por Gabriel García

Esta nota podría no ser parte de Race-Dezert si DIOS hubiera querido, ya que tocó vivir uno de los momentos más increíbles de mi vida, al salvar la vida, junto a Alejandro Soltero cuando estábamos cubriendo la carrera San Vicente 200, fecha oficial del campeonato 2011 de Record.

La mañana del sábado 15 de octubre fue una muy especial, con los motociclistas sufriendo demasiado con la brisa y limitando mucho la velocidad a lo largo de la ruta de 46 millas, algo que ni siquiera impidió que Francisco Septien conquistara la victoria con un tiempo de 2 horas, 55 minutos y 7 segundos.

Septien dedico la victoria a la memoria de su fallecido amigo Jorge Hernandez, quien partiera al cielo durante la edición 2007 de esta carrera, al perder el control de su motocicleta por una zanja, lo que le costó sufrir lesiones de gravedad que le costaron al vida.

El verdadero milagro de San Vicente se dio en la milla 36, a la altura de los talcos del rancho Rincón de Guadalupe, habían pasado solamente dos carros, Martin Aguirre y Rick Sanchez, cuando apareció a lo lejos el Clase 8 del equipo Peninsulares de Miguel Montoya, con su primo Carlos al volante del Ford F       -150 y alcanzando velocidades por encima de las 80 millas en la primera zona de talcos, para nuestra mala fortuna, elegimos Alejandro y yo, un sitio muy pegado a la vista y posteriormente solamente recuerdo como el vehículo se descontrolo, pasando volando por encima de mi, golpeando antes a Alejandro.

Gracias a DIOS el cuerpo médico de Récord y el mismo presidente de la organización, Ramón Castro acudieron al llamado de emergencia de nosotros para trasladar de emergencia a Alejandro, quien presento golpes en diferentes partes del pecho, espalda y cuello, aunque afortunadamente sin fracturas.

En mi caso, fueron cortadas y golpes menores en un brazo, pecho, espalda y cabeza, puedo seguir viviendo aventuras en Baja, pero de una forma prudente y dejando en claro que fue error de nosotros al no medir el peligro en esta ocasión.

Felix impone una vez más su poder femenino

Viry Felix ganó la Clase 14 al manejar en sus terrenos, ya que en una parte de la pista su familia tiene su rancho y enfila hacia el titulo de esta temporada.

Felix se encuentra trabajando en lo que será su participación en la Baja 1000 donde manejara sin un relevo al volante de su Buggy.

Elias Hanna mantuvo su inercia ganadora al imponerse en la 7 Stock, pensando en el bicampeonato de la clase y ganando su tercera carrera del 2011 para el equipo HN Motorsports/Lucas Oil.

Fotos por Alejandro Soltero y www.fotosolweb.com

Traducción por Claudio Sarabia

Solaiza conquers ESSOR’S La Montaña

Oscar Solaiza put in a great effort at ESSOR’S last race of the 2011 season, he came out with the overall and the class 7SX win at the “La Montaña 250” off road race that took place in Ojos Negros.

Oscar Solaiza flew through Ojos Negros’s Sky to victory at ESSOR’S last race

The Chacales Racing Team leader had no mercy on his rivals by winning the 2 heats of three 18 mile laps around Rancho Grijalva.

A total of 25 entries, 11 motorcycles and 14 four wheel vehicles took the green flag to start their race. The terrain had the best that Baja has to offer with jumps, silt, sand and mountain roads. It had a great diversity of obstacles to conquer.

ESSOR and its president Carlos Tapia continue to offer quality events at accessible prices, as well as prizes from their sponsors. In this occasion Solaiza won overall and also his class, and took home a total of $1100.00.

Oscar Arambula was the 1/2 -1600 class winner, since he had no in class rivals he aimed for the overall and came short with third place overall.

Oswaldo Moncada had a great battle with Emmanuel Verdugo and claimed the victory in the M/C Expert class by only 2 seconds.

Oswaldo Moncada from Ensenada won by just 2 seconds over Emannuel Verdugo.

Moncada had to come from behind on the second heat to get close to Verdugo, finishing the race in 1:30:39 VS a 1:30:41 of his opponent on corrected time.

Jonathan Bretado was the king of the Amateur ATV class finishing with an official time of 1:46:49 after completing the 108 mile race course.

This was the 5th and final event of ESSOR’S 2011 season that consisted of 4 races and a Family Poker Run.

Alejandro Cancino had so much fun at the off road race “La Montaña 250”

Carlos Tapia still has not provided a date for the championship banquet but it will be before the end of the year. They will also have the 2012 race calendar ready and will look to add more participants and prizes for the winners at the ESSOR events.

Results:

Motorcycles

Expert Class
1) Oswaldo Moncada
2) Emannuel Verdugo

Amateur Class
1) Julio Garcia
2) Luis Vazquez

Amateur ATV Class
1) Jonathan Bretado
2) Juan Avalos
3) Maximo Preciado

4 Wheel Vehicles

Class 1-2 1600
1) Oscar Arambula

Class 7SX
1) Oscar Solaiza
2) Alejandro Cancino

Class 15
1) Francisco Valdez
2) Abel Rodriguez
3) Armando Castro

Photos by Alejandro Soltero and Fotosol

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Original Spanish story:

Solaiza conquista la Montaña de Essor

Por Gabriel García

Fotos por Alejandro Soltero y www.fotosolweb.com

Traducción por Claudio Sarabia

Óscar Solaiza cerró con todo la temporada 2011 de Essor, al ganar en forma overall y la Clase 7SX en la última fecha, la carrera fuera de camino La Montaña 250 que se realizó en Ojos Negros.

El líder del equipo de los Chacales no tuvo piedad de sus rivales al ganar los dos heats de 3 vueltas que tuvo que darle a la pista de 18 millas que se ubicó en el rancho Grijalva.

Un total de 25 participantes (11 motocicletas y 14 carros) recibieron el banderazo de arranque en las 250 millas, evento que contó con un circuito con brincos largos, cortos, arenales y montaña, simple y sencillamente lo mejor de Baja en cuanto a obstáculos.

Essor y su presidente Carlos Tapia siguen buscando ofrecer eventos de calidad y a costos accesibles, así como premios por parte de sus patrocinadores, ya que en esta última fecha, Solaiza al ganar el overall y su categoría se llevó a casa un total de 1,100 dólares.

Óscar Arámbula fue el vencedor en la Clase ½-1600, aunque sin rivales de por medio, con lo que se enfocó en pelear por el liderato overall, misión en la que falló, pero amarró el tercer sitio general.

Moncada y una victoria de locura

Oswaldo Moncada libró un duelazo con Emmanuel Verdugo por la victoria en la categoría Expertos, al ganarle la victoria overall por solamente 2 segundos.

Moncada tuvo que venir de atrás en el segundo heat para acercarse a Verdugo, finalizando la carrera con un tiempo de 1 hora, 30 minutos y 39 segundos por 1:30:41 de su rival en la pista.

Jonathan Bretado fue el rey de los Atv´s Novatos en forma contundente, logrando un tiempo oficial de 1 hora, 46 minutos y 49 segundos tras completar las108 millas en las que consistió la competencia.

Esta fue la quinta fecha del campeonato 2011 de Essor, misma que consistió de 4 carreras y un Póker Run familiar.

Carlos Tapia todavía no da a conocer la fecha de su premiación anual, misma que sería antes de que finalizara el 2011 y pensando en ya tener listo su calendario para el próximo año, donde buscará aumentar el número de participantes y de premios para los ganadores en Essor.

This is the ultimate test: Desert, sand washes, silt, and whoops at a scorching 115 degrees.  It was the San Felipe SCORE Challenge of Champions.  Joey, owner of UTVunderground.com was aware of Bink Designs and High Rev Photography’s need to be able to access remote locations through challenging terrain. Joey thought the 6-seat Polaris Ranger would be a good choice to loan them to test over the race weekend.

He was right.  During race day, we soon realized the Polaris Ranger is definitely a workhorse machine.  The Ranger seats 6 people and with only 3 of us in it we all had plenty of room to breathe.  The suspension on the Ranger isn’t on the same level as the RZR’s so we weren’t expecting to be able to blast through the desert in it, but the ride was surprisingly nice over smaller whoops.  The extra weight of the Ranger helped keep the UTV low to the ground, which helped reduce any body roll.  Navigating through the rough, we found ourselves puckering up a few times due to the longer wheelbase, but overall, it was a smooth ride.

One thing that the Polaris doesn’t lack in is storage.  Underneath the front seat, it was able to store all of our camera bags, tools, tow strap, and other items we wanted to keep out of the dust or this compartment can be used as a large cooler.  The utility bed had plenty of room for a large cooler and a 5-gallon gas jug, with more room to spare.

The 4×4 was great to have and saved us a few times in soft areas near the course.  The option to have it in 4wd, 2wd locked, or 2wd one tire fire was also nice driving around town as it was easier to maneuver on pavement.  We were also able to drive up the Sand Dunes in San Felipe with one wheel drive!

“We always have safety in mind and this Polaris Ranger was able to get us through the desert safely.  Because of that, we were able to get some spectacular photos over the weekend!” stated Brian Binkert owner of Bink Designs.

If you are looking for a UTV to have fun flying around in the dunes or the desert, the Ranger might not be the choice for you.  What this UTV does well is get you, your friends, and a ton of gear from point A to B in a comfortable fashion.  It’s perfect for the pits, on the farm, or anywhere you need a reliable workhorse.

“The Polaris Ranger exceeded our expectations and proved to be reliable throughout our trip to Baja.” stated Jason Zindroski owner of High Rev Photography.

Thanks Joey for letting us borrow the beast in San Felipe!  Look forward to more adventures soon!

For more information on the Polaris Ranger and other UTVs, check out UTVUnderground.com

Photography by Brian Binkert
Bink Designs – www.binkdesigns.com

Photography by Jason Zindroski
High Rev Photo – www.highrevphoto.com

I have been using GoPro’s since the HD version of the camera was released late 2009.  I had heard of many different new HD cameras on the market but never came across one I wanted to try until my friend Mike Koenig (class 6 racer out of Sacramento) told me about the Drift Innovations HD170 Stealth.  He had been using them for a few races and said it was the best camera he has used.  Talking with Mike about it convinced me it was about time to try something new.

I spoke with Drift Innovations and they sent me a HD170 Stealth camera to try along with the optional suction cup mount.  The camera comes with a couple of flat and curved helmet mounts as well.  Next step was to buy a 32gb SDHC card and then I headed north to the VORRA MasterPull USA 500 race.  I mounted the camera in Rick Massie’s Trophy Truck for the first test of my new onboard camera.

Drift Innovations HD170 Stealth

The camera has a standard 1/4” mount on the base which makes it easy to install since there are so many different mounting options for 1/4” mounts.  I already had a good roll cage mount that I bought from ORW so it was easy to set up.  The built in LCD screen makes it really easy to get the perfect view that you want to film.  And to make it even easier the lens rotates so you can put the camera in any position and rotate the lens where you need it to be.

The camera gets over 2 hours of battery life on a full charge so I started the camera about 10 minutes before the start of the race.  As luck would have it (for me anyway) the truck had to stop for a flat about 100 yards before a jump I was filming at on the third lap.  This was my opportunity to grab my spare battery and SDHC card and I swapped them out before they finished changing the flat.

After the race was over the camera was still exactly where I mounted it. (not the case with some other cameras and mounts) But I did notice that the lens had been rotated and not level any more.  After watching the footage you could see when the co-driver wiped the lens it slightly rotated it each time.  After doing that many times throughout the race it had turned about 40 degrees.  He must have been pressing really hard when wiping it because there is allot of tension in the lens when you rotate it.  You can correct this in editing programs but you have to zoom in to crop out the black corners which lowers the resolution.

Drift HD170 Stealth at the VORRA USA 500

Next up was the SNORE Midnight race at Primm.  This was the perfect chance to test it out at night.  I set the camera to night mode and ran it in Wayne Lugo’s 1450 truck for a race.  The footage came out good overall.  The dash lights and GPS had a slight blur but the view through the windshield opening looked to be more in focus.  Overall it films good quality night footage with not much noise that you would see in other cameras at night.

The third time I got to use the camera was during a test with Jason Rodriguez and his new 7200 truck.  I mounted it in about 3 different suspension locations and got some great footage for Dezert People 9.  The LCD screen made a huge difference while setting up the perfect angle.

The Stealth HD170 also comes with a wireless remote that you can use to start and stop recording.  This is key for saving battery life and storage space.  My friend Mike uses the remote with two cameras at the same time on his truck and it makes for allot less footage to sit through at the end of a race.

You can also power the camera by the USB port to get longer record times.  The only limit is the 32gb SDHC card size.  You will also have to put a dust boot over the end of the camera and USB cable since the USB port is at the end of the camera where the back cover opens.

Note: While writing this review I just found out that Drift has a new Drift HD camera coming out this October.  It looks similar to the Stealth HD170 but it’s smaller with more features. I will list the upgraded features below.

Drift HD Available October 2011

Drift Innovations HD170 Stealth, Pros & Cons:

Pros:

• Price $269 ($30 cheaper than the GoPro HD but with more features. The new Drift HD will be $369 which is similar to the GoPro price with the add-on LCD screen)
• Easy to mount.
• Durable housing.
• Resolution up to 1080p HD.  720 has 60fps option.
• Mic input so you can record from an intercom.
• Remote control to start and stop, works with multiple cameras at the same time.
• 1.5” LCD screen makes changing settings and adjusting to the perfect angle a snap.

Cons:

• Lens rotated during the VORRA race from the co-driver wiping it clean. I think he was just pressing to hard causing it to rotate so I don’t see this as a big issue.  There is allot of tension on the lens and maybe someway to lock it down once you find the right angle would improve it in future models.
• The lens is not replaceable. (it is in the new Drift HD model)
• Does not come with a dust cover / case. They do offer an aftermarket cover.

Stealth HD170 Features:

• Maximum Video Resolution: 1080p High Definition
• SD Memory Capacity: up to 32GB
• 25 / 30 / 50 / 60fps in 720p or 25 / 30fps in 1080p
• Still Photo: 5 megapixel with Photoburst Mode
• Digital Zoom: Digital x4 (in 720p/30/60fps & WVGA mode)
• Lens Angle: 170° Fully Rotatable Wide Angle Lens
• LCD Screen: 1.5″ Colour TFT
• Water Resistant
• Remote Control: Wireless RF (5m range) Hands Free Video and Photo
• Mounts: Multiple Mounting Design
• Audio: Built-in Microphone & Speaker
• Menus: User Friendly Control Panel in 15 Languages

Tech Specs:

• Sensor type: CMOS
• Water Resistant
• Video resolution: 1080p, 720p & WVGA
• Video format: H.264
• File format: .MOV
• 25 / 30 / 50 / 60fps in 720p or 25 / 30fps in 1080p
• Video format: 16:9
• Lens Rotation: 300°
• Recording Angles: 127° in 1080p, 170° in 720p & WVGA
• White balance: Auto
• Exposure: Auto / Manual (advanced users)
• Zoom: Digital x4 (in 720p/30/60fps & WVGA mode)
• Remote range: 10 ft. range
• Built-in Microphone
• Inputs: Optional External Microphone
• AV Output: HDTV out (cable included)
• Battery: 1110mAh rechargeable lithium-ion/ Optional 1700 mAh Li-ion rechargeable.
• Power-Save option saves batteries by powering down the screen
• Built-in memory: 32 MB
• SD memory capacity: Supports memory cards up to 32 GB
• Photo resolution: 5 Megapixel
• LCD screen: 1.5″ colour TFT
• Lens focal range: 0.5m to infinity
• Dimensions: Camera – 133 (L) x 50 (D) x 33 (W) mm / Remote Control 52 (L) x 40 (W) x 13 (D) mm
• Power: Camera – DC 3.7V / Remote control: DC 3C, 1x CR2032 battery (included)
• RF: Receiver (Camera): 433.92MHz ISM band / Transmitter (Remote): 433.92MHz ISM band
• Weight: Camera – 138g / Remote control – 19g
• Operating Systems: Compatible with Windows 7, XP & Vista; Mac OS 10.2

The new Drift HD helmet mount

The new Drift HD camera specs (available October 2011)

• Full HD for creating crystal clear footage
• More compact housing, 4.1 inches and 4.23 oz., 25 percent smaller that its predecessor
• Replaceable lens
• Second rear cover to protect the camera when using an external mic or a USB charger
• A playback LCD screen for lining up shots and the ability to play back the footage right away
• Micro HDMI connector for HDTV playback
• A remote control to enable you to film what you want to record, not the boring stuff in between
• New goggle strap in addition to curved and flat adhesive mounts, paired with a universal clip for multiple mounting options
• Standard 1/4″ 20 mm thread for use with most tripods

If that isn′t enough the camera also has the following :

• A rotating lens so you can mount the camera at any angle and any position to get that shot you are looking for
• It can take 9 MP photos. Put it in the photo burst mode and you can take pictures every few seconds for as long as your memory card and battery lasts
• You can pair the remote control to your camera or any number of additional cameras.
• A digital zoom function so you can get even closer to the action or your friend in front
• A 2.5 microphone input for external microphones
• Night mode so you can record in darker and duskier conditions
• Waterproof case accessory offering
• External power pack accessory offering (20 hrs. record time)

Visit them on the web  www.driftinnovation.com

JD Films is proud to have Team Ford Las Vegas join us as the new title sponsor for the upcoming, action packed, Dezert People 9 film.  Team Ford, along with our other Dezert People 9 sponsors—VORRA, Fox Racing Shox, MasterCraft Safety, Total Chaos Fabrication, PCI Race Radios, Vision X, Azunia Tequila, Off Road Warehouse, Baja Junkies and HighRev Photography—are geared up and ready for the arrival of yet another thrilling release in the Dezert People saga.

This years DVD release features intense racing action from Baja, California, Nevada and Texas with more event coverage than ever before, including SCORE, BITD, VORRA, CODE, Baja Racing of Texas, King of the Hammers and much more…

The Team Ford, Dezert People 9 Premiere Tour

The Team Ford, Dezert People 9 Premiere Tour will kick off Friday, September 16, 2011 at the Atrium Hotel in Irvine, CA.  Come hang out poolside at this outdoor movie event and be the first to witness the action packed coverage of the past year in off-road racing. Just as the previous premiere held at the Atrium, JD Films will be once again giving 50% of each paid admission to Fast-Aid, who will also be present to raffle off some exciting prizes.  Ticket pre-ordering is now online at www.dezertpeople.com with an option to buy the DVD and get in free.

We also have many other exciting premieres planned.  Join us once again at Norman Motorsports on Saturday, September 17, 2011 that will be benefiting multiple charities, including Navy SEAL Foundation, Fast-Aid, Castro-Limon Foundation and Chaplain Steve Hanson who’s house and belongings were recently lost in a fire.  Enjoy a margarita sponsored by Azunia Tequila and some street tacos provided by Locos Mocos and Baja Pits who will be there to help raise money for the Castro-Limon Foundation. Admission is $30 at the door and includes a Dezert People 9 DVD, poster and drinks.

To close out the weekend, Dezert People combined efforts again with All German Motorsports to put together another K1 Speed event in Carlsbad, CA.  Come check out the many race vehicles and prerunners on display in between challenging your friends to some high-speed go-kart racing.  Fast-Aid will be there raffling off many high-end prizes, and Locos Mocos and Baja Pits will also be grilling up more street tacos to help raise money for Castro Limon. The Dezert People 9 showing will start at 7:00 pm after all go-kart races are finished.

If you can’t make it to one of our SoCal events, don’t worry because the fun doesn’t stop there. Dezert People will be making stops in Las Vegas, Arizona, Baja, Texas and NorCal. See the full schedule for the Team Ford, Dezert People 9 premiere tour below:

The Team Ford, Dezert People 9 Premiere Tour schedule:

• Sept. 16^th – Atrium Hotel, Irvine, CA
• Sept. 17^th – Norman Motorsports, El Cajon, CA
• Sept. 17^th – Angels Roadhouse 2, Apple Valley, CA
• Sept. 17^th – Clubhouse 56, Sacramento, CA
• Sept. 17^th – SamCo Fabrication, Reno, NV
• Sept. 18^th – K1 Speed, Carlsbad, CA
• Sept. 19^th – Sierra Gold Tavern and Pole Position, Las Vegas, NV
• Sept, 20^th – Farrelli’s Cinema, Scottsdale, AZ
• Sept. 21^st – Mexicali, Baja (combined event with CODE race drawing)
• Sept. 22^nd – Irish O’Sullivan’s, Fresno, CA
• Sept. 22^nd – Brewers Sports Bar, Yuma, AZ
• Sept. 24^th – Austin Speed Shop, Austin, TX
• Sept. 25^th – The Saddle Rack, Fremont, CA
• Sept. 30th – Brothers Leagues Club, Australia
• Oct. 7th – Bones Roadhouse, Gualala, CA
• TBA – Ensenada. Check our web site www.dezertpeople.com for updates and full details about each location.

Watch the trailer at www.youtube.com/jdfilms

Pre-order Dezert People 9 on the web here.

Dezert People is pleased to introduce our title sponsor Team Ford. www.teamford.com

Team Ford, which opened in May of 2000, is the newest and most modern Ford dealership in Nevada.

If you are already familiar with Team Ford, the Las Vegas based Ford and Lincoln dealer, then you know they specialize and understand the needs of Racers and Crews as well as offering the highest discounts on Race and Chase vehicles.

With a low key and friendly greeting approach, customers arrive knowing right off the bat that they will be well taken care and given the service they deserve without the hassle of a pushy sales person.

Different than any other dealer, Team Ford offers incentives such as “Team Air,” a program with which buyers receive a one-way airfare from anywhere in the country in order to purchase their vehicle with someone who specializes in their needs. They have also been known to deliver needed parts to racers while in Primm, Beatty, and even Tonopah.  It is no surprise that they are the #1 volume Ford Dealer in Las Vegas going on 4 years since their success is obviously a direct result of the loyalty of the racers and race crews.

The Team Ford Trophy Truck driven by Team Ford owner/president Steve Olliges and John Swift, is currently competing in BITD and SNORE with plans to race SCORE as well. The truck is sponsored by BFGoodrich, Mastercraft, Fox Shox, Trail Ready, KC, Impact, Marathon Sod and, of course, Ford and Team Ford.

Septien y Moncada, the new bosses of EL ALAMO

Francisco Septien could not have picked a better partner for the closing of the 2011 RECORD season.  He joined forces with Oswaldo Moncada, which turned out to be a great decision since they won the summer edition of the EL ALAMO 200.

In an unsuspected move, RECORD’s president and event organizer decided to move the race from Ojos Negros to Ejido Heroes De Independencia, in hopes of gathering more racers for the event. 80 teams showed up for the race.

A total of 22 motorcycles and 58 4 wheel vehicles went around the colorful 47.9 mile loop in more than one occasion.  All motorcycles and 4 wheel vehicles went for 4 laps with exception of the Safari class that were only required to finish 3 laps.

Francisco Septien took the overall in bikes at the RECORD El Alamo 200.

Septien’s victory started happening during lap one when he passed Ricardo Muñoz who started in the first position.  For the second lap he delivered the bike to Moncada with a great lead.  Moncada finished the last laps without any problems.

The duo from Ensenada reached the victory with an official time of 3 hours, 22 minutes and 20 seconds; with this result they have a great position for the 2011 title in the PRO category.

Cristian Vera came out with a real valuable win over Adolfo Arellano and Rafael Torres in the ATV Pro class.

Neri Sanchez pulled off the best performance of his career winning the Overall and the 1/2 1600 class by beating four rivals in his class.

Neri Sanchez pulled off the best performance of his career winning the Overall and the 1/2 1600 class by beating four rivals in his class.

Sanchez won by stopping the clock at 3 hours, 51 minutes and 41 seconds, this is his first complete season in RECORD in the 1600 class.

Victor Angel Valdez overcame a rollover on the first lap and won class 10 after he collided with another race vehicle from a different class that entered the race course in an illegal way.

The first win for Agustin Rasso and Piraton Racing Team came at El Alamo; they won class 7 by 23 minutes in front of Greg Garber who finish second.

Viry Felix set the bar high in class 14 aboard the buggy Baro and she came out with a 2nd Overall proving that women can also shine in Baja.

Viry Felix set the bar high in class 14 aboard the buggy Baro and she came out with a 2^nd Overall finish proving that women can also shine in Baja.

Felix is a Mexican Woman from Ensenada and she wants to not only beat Baja but also the men.  She finished her race in 3 hours, 55 minutes and 56 seconds.

In RECORD, class 11 is at its peak and Rene Rodriguez confirmed it after pulling a victory after a very close race with Ramon and Tomas Fernandez from Sombrerito Racing Team.

Elias Hanna is the new driver on the Lucas Oil stable and he gave his sponsor the victory in the 7S class.  With this win he has regain the point leadership for this championship.

Hanna drove the four laps on the 47.9 mile route aboard his Ford Ranger clearly showing that he is the King in the 7S class.  He put almost 30 minutes on the second place Francisco Huereca.

The next Race and second to last of the season is San Vicente 200 that will take place on October 14-16.  With this we are anticipating a very interesting closing of the championship.

Official Results

http://www.recordoffroad.com/tiemposfinales.aspx?Event=ON

Pictures courtesy of Fotosol www.fotosolweb.com

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Original Spanish version:

Septién y Moncada, los nuevos amos de El Álamo

Por Gabriel García

Francisco Septién no pudo elegir a un mejor coequipero para lo que será el cierre de la temporada 2011 de Récord, al unir fuerzas con Oswaldo Moncada y ya esa decisión le dio resultados, al ganar la edición de verano de El Álamo 200.

En forma inesperada el presidente de Récord, organizador del evento, decidió mover la sede de la carrera de Ojos Negros al ejido Héroes de la Independencia, buscando atraer con esto a más corredores, algo que finalmente no se pudo dar del todo, al contar con 80 equipos solamente.

Un total de 22 motocicletas 58 vehículos recorrieron en más de una ocasión la pintoresca ruta de 47.9 millas, en el caso de las motos tuvieron que dar 4 vueltas a la pista y en los carros, todos dieron 4 giros, a excepción de los Autos Safari que completaron 3.

La victoria de Septién se dio desde la primera vuelta, al superar a Ricardo Muñoz Junior quien arrancó primero, para dejarle en el segundo giro una buena ventaja a Moncada, quien cerró sin problemas en las dos últimas vueltas.

Los ensenadenses alcanzaron la victoria con un tiempo oficial de 3 horas, 22 minutos y 20 segundos, con lo que apuntan hacia el título 2011 de la categoría Pro.

Cristian Vera se apuntó un triunfo muy valioso, al imponerse a Adolfo Arellano y Rafael Torres en los Atv´s Pro.

Obtiene Neri su primera victoria overall en su carrera

Neri Sánchez logró su mejor actuación de su carrera, al ganar en forma overall y la Clase ½-1600, esto al vencer a 4 rivales en su categoría.

Sánchez ganó al detener el reloj en 3 horas, 51 minutos y 41 segundos, siendo esta su primera temporada completa de Récord en la 16.

Víctor Ángel Valdés se repuso a una volteada en el arranque de la competencia, esto por toparse con un carro de otra categoría que se metió en forma ilegal a la pista, para ganar la Clase 10.

El primer triunfo de Agustín Rasso y el equipo Piratón Racing en la Clase 7 se dio en El Álamo, al superar por 23 minutos de diferencia a Greg Garber, quien finalizó en la segunda posición.

Viry Félix impuso condiciones en la 14 a bordo de su buggy Baro y consiguió la segunda posición overall, demostrando que las mujeres también pueden brillar en Baja.

Félix es una de las mujeres mexicanas y de Ensenada que quieren vencer a la Baja y también a los hombres, logrando su triunfo con un tiempo de 3 horas, 55 minutos y 56 segundos.

En Récord la Clase 11 está en uno de sus mejores momentos y René Rodríguez confirmó eso, al quedarse con la victoria tras librar un duelo de primera con Ramón y Tomás Fernández del equipo Sombrerito Racing.

Hanna le da un triunfo de poder a Lucas Oil

El nuevo piloto de la escudería Lucas Oil, Elías Hanna, le dio a su patrocinador la victoria en la 7 Stock, con lo que recuperó el liderato en el campeonato.

Hanna manejó las 4 vueltas a la ruta de 47.9 millas a bordo de su Ford Ranger, dejando en claro que es el rey de la 7S, al sacarle casi 30 minutos a su más cercano perseguidor, Francisco Huereca.

La penúltima fecha del calendario 2011 de Récord es la San Vicente 200, que se llevará a cabo del 14 al 16 de octubre, con lo que el campeonato apunta para un cierre de locura.

Resultados oficiales

http://www.recordoffroad.com/tiemposfinales.aspx?Event=ON

Fotos por Fotosol

www.fotosolweb.com

THR KAWI’S ESPOSITO WINS ANOTHER V2R- Photos By Mark Kariya

Shane Esposito and teammate Chris Brown on the THR KAWI battled it out with David Pearson’s Honda all day in the hot desert of Nevada for the BITD TSCO Vegas to Reno, America’s longest off road race.

In the morning hours though, it was “Mad” Max Eddy Jr. who set an amazing pace out of the start of his noteworthy solo mission. As readers may recall, Mad Max went solo on this one in honor of his mother Dianna, who is succumbing to her battle with cancer. http://www.race-dezert.com/home/mad-max-to-solo-v2r-for-diannas-cure-21493.html

After a valiant and stoic effort, IRONMAX blew the motor

Text chatter from the desert had Max out in front of the other leaders be a wide margin but all of that stopped around 10 AM as Max got to a dry lake bed and there were missing markers and tire tracks leading in three directions. Apparently, Max chose the wrong one and went AWOL. When he got to checkpoint 6, race officials stopped him and held him. There was some talk that they might make him load up his bike and truck it back to pit 4, but that never happened. Instead they let him continue and decided that race organizers would asses whatever time penalty was warranted after the finish. Meanwhile back on the dry lakebed, about 40 riders were lost and off track. One of the smartest guys out there was Tim Morton. He went up on a mountain to see where everyone was going. This gave him the bird’s eye perspective of where he should go. It paid off and he won the over 40 pro class and came in at around 15^th OA.  But THE smartest guy out there was Esposito, who chose the right line and hauled ass outa there. I guess he’s the “smartest” because he won.

Later on in Max’s solo race, he blew the motor on his HONDA in the middle of the desert and started sending his distress signal with his SPOT tracker. Word is from other racers reporting at pits that Max was okay.

With Mad Max out of the picture, all eyes turned toward former teammates and longtime rivals Shane Esposito and David Pearson, both of whom were on the Bonanza Plumbing THR KTM in last years BAJA 1000. Both men spent weeks prepping in BAJA before their cursed KTM 530 failed only miles after Pearson mounted south of San Felipe.

PURVINES HONDA TEAM LEADER DAVID PEARSON

For the last half of the race, Espo led Pearson and was holding him off by 1.5 minutes on physical and less than that on time adjusted. As they came into Dayton for the finish, Espo, had won himself another V2R title. Good stuff for Shane, Chris and the THR stable. I’m sure you’ll see them in Ensenada this Nov.

Unofficial Bike Results (top 6)

Esposito/Brown  PRO

Pearson/Rob Phillips PRO

Carl Maassberg/ Justin Morrow EXPERT

David Fry / Jason Truby OVER

Ty Davis/ Nick Burson pro

Ryan Mcmanis 250

They have nothing to lose. After both Riot vehicles failed in Parker earlier this year, Riot Racing desperately needs a finish in the Best in the Desert series. The technical, mountainous course at the Silver State 300 pushes Marc Ewing and the #68 trophy truck to their breaking points. In this pivotal moment the team’s grit and determination is tested.

Watch the full-length episode to see if Riot Racing can pull together to reach the finish line in Alamo, Nevada.

RiotRacing.com
BITD.com
VitaBrevisFilms.com

Jesse Jones explains how the new Fox Racing Shox bypass cooling system reduces internal shock temperatures by over 100 degrees.

CODE NAME: Cactus Cooler – NEW External Cooling System from FOX Racing Shox

FOX Racing Shox has just released the “ECS” External Cooling System as an option on all new and existing FOX bypass shocks. The ECS is our latest development to come out of the Race Application Development program (RAD) that works with top motorsports athletes to devise and develop new technologies under the most extreme racing conditions.

FOX Racing Shox - Racing Applications Development - Cactus Cooler

The ECS cooling system, code name “cactus cooler”, effectively drops fluid temperatures up to 100 degrees. The ECS does not use any pumps or fans; it uses the normal motion of the shock piston as it cycles up and down to pump the fluid through fully adjustable, bypass check valves into a billet aluminum and stainless steel heat sink. After excessive heat is allowed to escape, the cooled fluid continues back to the shock completing the cycle. The faster the shock works, the more fluid is pumped through the cooling system.

The cactus cooler helped Trophy Truck Champion Jesse Jones put a ten minute lead on the rest of the field right off the start in this year’s SCORE, San Felipe 250 race. San Felipe is recognized as one of the most brutal race courses in existence due to the deep sand and relentless three to four foot deep whoops that stretch on for miles. The ECS system allowed Jones to stay on the gas where others had to back off in order to save their shocks. If not for getting stuck in the infamous Matomi wash Jones would have held a comfortable lead into the finish. As it was FOX Racing Shox racer and multi-time champion in his own right Rob MacCachren went on to take the win that day.

FOX Racing Shox - Racing Applications Development - Cactus Cooler

Regardless if you are in the heat of competition or pushing the limits for pure fun the extra cooling capacity of the ECS system will allow you nonstop performance. You’ll be able to outrun or outdistance anything in your path.

For more information check out foxshox.info/cooler or call 1.800.FOX.SHOX

COMPANY: For 35 years, FOX Racing Shox has been the industry leader in the design and development of high performance shock absorbers and racing suspension products for snowmobiles, mountain bikes, motorcycles, ATVs and off-road cars and trucks.

CONTACT:

FOX Racing Shox
619-768-1800
foxracingshox.com

Combined Results from Del Mar(Finishing order)

1st. Jeff Franklin: 64.64
2nd. Dan Vance: 66.07
3rd. Gordon Stiger: 66.18
4th. Jose Acuna: 67.18
5th. Mark McNeil: 68.22
6th. Perry McNeil Sr: 69.37
7th. Matt McNeil: 70.44
8.th Andy Ptak: 70.59
9th. Keith Hardwick: 70.91
10th. Aaron Van Velsir: 71.03
11th. Scott Mahony: 71.18
12th. Keith Siebeisthal: 71.97
13th. Tyler Buquet: 72.22
14th. Jeff Musgrave: 72.81
15th. Tomas Barber: 72.90
16th. Curtis Goodpaster: 73.41
17th. Robert Harry: 73.44
18th. Kevin Butts: 73.69
19th. Matthew Darby: 77.40
20th. Jacob Nieder: 78.03
21st. Alec Navarro: 82.44
22nd. Joseph Negri: 82.60
23rd. Justin Park: 85.96
24th. Ericc Perkett: 88.18
25th. Stanley: 88.81
26th. Justin Lowe: 91.07
27th. Chris Livingston: 40.63
28th. Brandon Wright: DNF
29th. Chris Kiesendahl: DNF
30th. Marc Mahony: DNF
31st. Spencer Smith: DNF
32nd. Brandon McNeil: DNF
33rd. Brandon Walsh: DNF
34th. Antone Lahr: DNF
35th. Lee Kalla: DNF
36th. Brandon Lobel: DNF
37th. Gilbert Moran: DNF
38th. Matt Torian: DNF
39th. Andy Fausto: DNF

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General Tire Presents: Onboard with General Tire at the 2011 SCORE Baja 500. The General Tire Off-Road Team was primed and ready to go for one of the roughest Baja races of the year. This year’s course was an insane combination of steep hill climbs and dusty open roads. Experience first-hand what it feels like to ride along with these insane drivers as they tear through the Baja desert and wreak havoc along the way!

Directed by The Martelli Brothers, Produced by Mad Media

General Tire Presents: Exclusive coverage of the 2011 SCORE Baja 500. The General Tire Off-Road Team was primed and ready to go for one of the roughest Baja races of the year. This year’s course was an insane combination of steep hill climbs and dusty open roads. Overall, the General Tire Team walked away with some great finishes. Congrats to Marc Burnett for winning Class 6 and Colton Udall for a 2nd place overall.

Directed by The Martelli Brothers, Produced by Mad Media

Race-dezert.com coverage of the 2011 VORRA Yerington 300 Memorial Day weekend.

Race-dezert.com was in full force covering this years 2011 Tecate SCORE Baja 500. In addition to the live start and finish line video, IRC tracking, leaderboard updates, race bulletins and the live Weatherman race radio channel, RDC was also out on course in multiple locations catching some great race action. In addition to the race action we included a few drivers talking about the race.

Race results update: After this video was released SCORE updated the results after penalties which changed the Trophy Truck top 5 we listed in the video. See official results here

Monster Energy presents: Onboard with Monster Energy at the 2011 SCORE Baja 500. The Monster Energy off-road team faced a challenging race in Baja this year and had its share of ups and downs. Experience first-hand what it feels like to ride along with these insane drivers as they tear through the Baja desert and wreak havoc along the way!

Directed by The Martelli Brothers, Produced by Mad Media

Music by Affiance “Dissent!” on Bullet Tooth Records

Monster Energy Presents: Exclusive coverage of the 2011 SCORE Baja 500. The Monster Energy Off-Road Team was out in full force for one of the roughest Baja races of the year. This year’s course was a gnarly combination of steep hill climbs and dusty open roads. While rough conditions took out a number of competitors, the Monster Energy Team walked away with some great finishes. Congrats to Marc Burnett for winning Class 6, Tim Herbst for a 2nd place physical finish and 6th place overall and the rest of the Monster Energy Team for persevering and finishing an incredibly tough race. Strap in and check out the insane desert racing action presented by Monster Energy.

Directed by The Martelli Brothers, Produced by Mad Media

Music by Affiance “For Power” on Bullet Tooth Records

The Baja 500 is the well-known little brother to the notorious Baja 1000. The race is a loop starting and ending out of Ensenada, Mexico. The course starts by racing through the famous wash surrounded by tens of thousands of spectators and rockets out to the giant rolling jumps at Ojos Negros. From there the racers battle against silt beds, rocky washes, high speed rally roads, massive whoop sections, and even have to climb over the summit of a mountain that’s over 12,000 feet. Just finishing the race is an accomplishment in itself.

The Monster Energy Off-Road Team lead by Trophy Truck Champion “Ballistic” BJ Baldwin mounted a full assault with seven vehicles in three different classes. The team consisted of “Ballistic” BJ Baldwin, Troy Herbst, Ryan Arciero, Tim Herbst, Larry Roesler, and Cameron Steele in Trophy Trucks. Representing Monster Energy in Class 1 was bike veteran Mikey Childress, and in Class 6 Mark Burnett and Heidi Steele.

The Trophy Trucks were first off the line thundering through the streets of Ensenada, followed by Class 1 and then Class 6 trucks. “Ballistic” BJ Baldwin lived up to his name passing over 14 vehicles and taking the lead on time in less than half of the race in the number 97 Monster Energy/General Tire Trophy Truck. The lead however was short lived, as an electrical issue would stop him. “We tried everything! We pretty much re-wired the car in the desert. It’s super frustrating! We spent a lot of time pre-running and even thought we had a bad start position I felt like we could win this one,” stated BJ.

The team of Troy Herbst and Ryan Arciero had a rough day when at race mile 70 they broke a rear coil spring sending them crashing into a concrete wall. The vehicle was so damaged at that point it was only a matter of time before the wounded number 49 Herbst/ Monster Energy Trophy Truck would break beyond repair. Troy pushed the vehicle to its absolute limit finishing it off near race mile 350.

The team of Tim Herbst and Larry Roesler in the number 19 Herbst/ Monster Energy Trophy Truck left the start 3rd off the line and drove strong all day until a overheating issue with the transmission slowed their pace. “We couldn’t push as hard as we wanted, but we managed to get it in to the finish,” stated Tim. Tim still managed to finish physically 2nd putting him 6th even after incurring a time penalty for missing a visual checkpoint. The finish is still in dispute with race officials.

Cameron Steele had drama from the outset losing his brakes shortly into the race; he had to stop to rebuild his brakes at race mile 80 prior to the upcoming technical section. Clearly out of contention for the win after being down for over an hour, Steele and his crew kept fighting to get the truck back on the course, tearing apart the entire breaking system. The effort continued for hours until the crew realized that the breaking system was beyond repair. “It was not our day. Without working breaks the summit section could have been deadly. Sometimes off-road racing sucks and sometimes it’s great! You have to take on both if you are going to be good at this!” stated Steele.

Mikey Childress in the THR Motorsports/Monster Energy Class 1 car started 13th in class and 42nd overall and charged hard trying to pass as many vehicles as possible before the treacherous summit where he knew things would back up. Childress took the lead in Class 1 at race mile 215 but the lead was short lived when he made a critical mistake blowing a corner. Childress was unable to restart his race vehicle and had to replace a starter. Knowing that he was out of range for the win Childress pushed on for a 5th place finish in Class 1. “I came here to win! I feel like we have the car to do it. I just made a mistake and it cost us the race.”

Heidi Steele quickly got to work in her Class 6 truck passing two competitors in 15 minutes of the race. After getting stuck and dealing with mechanical issues Heidi Steele managed to bring her truck into a hard fought 4th place finish. At the end of the long day of off-road battling, Mark Burnett would stand tall wining his class finishing ahead of Heidi. Burnett clipped a cow at the beginning of the race, but managed to keep it together. Later in the race Burnett fell victim to a booby trap the locals had created by digging a giant mud hole. He eventually paid a local $100 to tow him out. “Racing in Baja is crazy! You just got to go with it. We knew if we could get to the finish we would likely win,” stated Burnett.

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Photos by Vincent Knakal and Jason Zindroski of Mad Media

Behind the Iron Curtain of the “Hall of Fame” Legend

Johnny Campbell at the 2011 Rip To the Tip

Tonight in a sprawling rancho just outside Ensenada, BAJA California, Mexico the famed walls of the Mad Dog’s CarreraCantina will have an addition to the most celebrated and honored faces in the history of off road racing. Johnny “11-Time” Campbell will join the ranks of Ivan Stewart, Malcolm Smith, Walker Evans and the other rightful legends in the Baja Legacy Hall of Fame. “Simply put, it is the time for Johnny”, explained Todd Clement, owner of the Horsepower Ranch, “What Johnny has accomplished is unprecedented and his time to be honored is now. Just racing in the Baja 1000 is crazy enough, but to win 11 times at insane speeds on a bike is beyond explainable, Johnny is a living Baja Legend”.

There are two sides to Johnny Campbell: There is the Johnny “11-time Baja 1000 ‘True Champion’ Legend of Baja-JCR” Campbell, who’s depicted in the films “Dust to Glory” and his biography “True Champion”.

Then there is the other side of Johnny “John” Campbell, who is a deeply spiritual and private man routing the next phase of his life, which as we have learned, may have a much more lasting and meaningful effect on the people who adore him most, the citizens of Baja CA, the country where Campbell created and continues his legacy.

Here's a perfect example of how Johnny Campbell makes his difference in Baja

For those unfamiliar with Campbell’s resume and history, the films “Dust to Glory” and “True Champion” are a must to see. They accurately tell the story of the first side of Campbell, who at the age of 16 suddenly lost his father and best friend John Sr. while racing in Riverside. The story is direct and simple: He decided to be a champion for his late father and stopped at nothing short of letting any obstacle stand in the way of his simple (but not easy) goal. The story goes on to tell the tale of the most committed racer any of his peers will have ever seen. His commitment had never been questioned. Chuck Miller and, later, Bruce Ogilvie had groomed him, but Johnny put in all the effort through an unwavering and proven work ethic. That was a trait Campbell credits his late father for instilling in him. Johnny’s history and legacy is required knowledge for anyone racing in Baja and the story is widely told throughout all desert racing North America.

Johnny Travels with his Sharpie and a Stack of Steekers in Baja

There is an entire genre of off-road dirt biking dedicated to the immortal “King of Baja”, the HONDA XR650R, which Johnny and his long time partner Steve Hengeveld have made immortally eternal. It is still unchanged, yet out of production, after 11 years and considered by many to be the choice for riding proficiency up and down the legendary Baja Peninsula. Although the race bike of choice is the smaller displaced CRF450X.

“That bike (the XR650) was in development for quite a long time before hand and usually Bruce would bring me into the project pretty late in the game just because he knew I was racing. The first time I rode that thing, must’ve been 98-ish, R&D was working on it, I told Bruce, ‘If I had this motor, I’d win every race.’ The chassis went back a few times before they got it right so it came out a little later than they’d anticipated.” In 2008, HONDA stopped producing the XR650R. The bike was so perfectly suited for that era that not a single part had ever been changed during its 8 years off the assembly line. “The 650 was a purpose built machine that was built for one thing: Baja”

Currently, Johnny runs the race team that bears his name and continues to insulate his legacy through the grooming and development of his stable of new champions, Kendall Norman, Quinn Cody, Colton Udall and the late Jeff “Ox” Kargola.

He can ride Wheelies anywhere

The riders who make up the JCR roster are expected to live up to that same dedication and determination, which makes them JCR material to begin with. From there, Campbell let’s his riders write their own books from that initial foundation of excellence. JCR has been compared accurately to the New York Yankees of Baja due to their total and outright dominance of the record books for nearly 2 decades. Although they have the most resources in the their class, JCR HONDA is still somewhat limited and, as a manager, Campbell has to stretch the resources as JCR expands its revenue sources. “Selfless is part of the key of any team”. Johnny is not without challenge and dilemma on many scales, not the least of which is providing a proper lifestyle for his “best friend”, his wife Faye and their two young children. “There’s so many different directions we can take this thing that it’s just gonna come down to picking the one that makes the biggest impact for everyone.

But the private side of “John” is a story rarely seen and never before told to the media. RDC went behind the iron curtain of Johnny Campbell Racing’s impressive facility in San Clemente to delve into that “other side” of the “True Champion.” We were granted unlimited access to the world of JCR and let inside the heart and mind of this often times mysterious and misunderstood champion.

“I came out clean”, Campbell begins, “I figure I raced professionally for 17 years and I don’t have anything left to prove in that arena. I don’t have the desire to do that anymore. I’ve been knocked out in Baja, 3 broken collarbones, 5 concussions, a broken scapula; I’ve torn both knees and had multiple fractures in both ankles, wrists.” There was also the more recent broken back during testing for 2009 Baja 1000, which was successfully concealed from any media exposure. “We kept it pretty low-pro and out of the headlines.” Campbell is a man of very few words and takes time to carefully choose them. He cheated death for nearly 2 decades in Baja doing something that can cripple or kill you. He crossed his final finish line as rider of record in Ensenada in the early hours of a November morning in 2008.

VIDEO OF JOHNNY’S 11^th BAJA 1000 VICTORY IN 2008

Part 2:

He explains his spirituality and how he discovered his relationship with Christ on his own accord at summer camp in Vista CA before the age of 9. “I was really young. I had an acknowledgment like yea I know who Jesus is.” He explains that, “We never really get everything until…well you never really get everything, it isn’t until junior high where you’re really at that age to make the commitment. That’s been with me my whole life, even though you do some things you’ll regret.” Because they were off roaders at heart, they (The Campbell’s) never had a regimented weekly church schedule growing up but as Campbell explains it, “I’ve always had that foundation with different times and seasons of growth. Sometimes you go through a dry season”

Johnny Campbell - Near Mulage 2011

Johnny is at a cross roads in his life and in his career and he will no longer twist the throttle and risk all for additional championships. Although it is likely he will continue, as he has since his last overall victory in 2008, to suit up at each race for his JCR team. “Just like Bruce used to do for us, I’m signed up on the entry forms and arm banded to help out if one of the (JCR) bikes has trouble and need to get the bike to the next rider.”

Johnny Campbell in Santa Rita, Baja Sur 2011

The key for Johnny Campbell in the next phase of his life is to leverage his legacy for the better of all people, not just those of Baja. He is determined, as he was before, but this time he’s determined to not let his fame and notoriety fall into obscurity like so many others who’s names don’t even come to mind anymore. Instead, Johnny is thinking non-linear in terms of spreading his message throughout Baja and beyond. Johnny has a “dream board” in the boardroom at JCR, where he has simply thrown some ideas up on the wall. It’s not easy for him to pinpoint any one specific target yet because his message and story can go in so many different directions beyond any imminent ministry he’ll create, here or in Baja. “I don’t want to run this thing (JCR) as if it’s dependent on HONDA continuing the program. I’m running it to be able to run itself under any circumstance, so we are looking at all options into the future.”

There are opportunities for Johnny to speak to large audiences and spread his success story and the idea of “no obstacle too high” throughout high schools and even out into fortune 500 companies. We can picture Johnny Campbell on stage motivating an entire sales force to break through tough barriers and foster team building with his “True Champion” message of commitment, perseverance and passion. We can see Johnny making the key difference for a troubled teen or helping an aspiring champion see their own way to triumph. We can see Johnny giving someone hope where it would otherwise evade.

Johnny in Agua Verde, BAJA SUR

But foremost on his mind and in his heart is to continue sharing his bond with Jesus, and this is not even a question of if, but how? Anywhere he travels in Baja, he is instantly recognized, for one thing because off-road is Baja’s national sport and another is that Christianity flourishes there. Soccer and baseball are huge in Mexico, but off road is the national pastime of Baja and Johnny Campbell is the Michael Jordan of that country. When Johnny shows up, people of all ages approach him and he is ready with a Sharpie and stack of decals. He is not the type of person to seek this attention and notoriety, but he has no choice. It is an unintended consequence of being the most winning motorcycle racer in the history of off road.  Sometimes Johnny would rather have anonymity in Mexico, he admits, but he’ll always have a stack of stickers and a pen ready to go and won’t let his adoring fans be disappointed. He speaks very little Spanish but would seem likely to learn much more as he moves forward.

We listened to Johnny talk about the uncertainty of his future and witnessed the remarkable posture he has about the unknown, “I have just let it go and know that Jesus will guide me forward the same way he guided me here.” Johnny seems like he is at the helm of his ship and is at ease as he gets a better idea for the course he will sail. He sits casually at the head of the table in his board room, sure as can be, that he will not let his legacy fall by the wayside. He has been given this gift, an opportunity to create something for these people (of Baja) and to share his experiences beyond those borders with no limits.

“I want to experience more of that sharing, being used in that way makes you feel alive, really good. To me it’s like winning a race when you see a kid give his life to Christ.”

Johnny Campbell riding near Loreto

Johnny has some decisions to make and some choices on the path he’ll take in the seasons to come and he seems grounded and faithful in his future fate as though he is already on a course that has been laid out for him. There is no figurative “Pre-Run for the rest of his life. He is a champion in all respects but to those closest to him that call him a friend or family member, they will tell you that Johnny Campbell is a champion at being a human being before anything else. RDC will attest to this ultimate victory: Johnny Campbell is very “for real” as a man and that makes him the ideal role model for his peers, his riders and all of his adoring fans. That’s why they call him the “True Champion.”

“I try to look at things eternally more than I do in the present because life is so short and knowing that there is life after death, I’m comfortable that God has grace on us and that’s how I maintain my life. You gotta work hard and think beyond the 60 or 80 years we’re here and look at the impact we can have on peoples’ lives.

Johnny at Lover's Beach

We asked Johnny what would be the one thing he would do in Baja as a way to return the favor and the many blessings he’s received in there. He didn’t hesitate at all to describe his one big thing.

“While there’s multiple things we can do in Baja that are good, but the best thing is for Johnny Campbell to stay involved in Baja, not just in one thing, but to continue to support Baja through going down and being there, riding, touching the fans and giving the people hope.”

[Show as slideshow]

Go for a ride with off-road champion “Ballistic” BJ Baldwin as he prepares for the notorious Baja 500. Climb into the passenger seat of his 700 horsepower custom pre-runner as he shows you how pre-running is done. From course marking, to the beautiful scenery of Baja, to the best taco stands, BJ shows you how to pre-run in style.

Directed by The Martelli Brothers, Produced by Mad Media

The TCM Motorsports team conquered an overall win at the Rancho Las Herraduras 180, the third race in the Essor 2011 championship series promoted by Carlos Tapia, all thanks to the technical driving of Miguel Sandoval.

Miguel Sandoval won the class 7 stock class in the Essor Ranch Las Herraduras 180 race

Sandoval, who drove a Class 7 Stock, dominated the two heats throughout the 21 miles of racetrack and ended with a time of 4 hours and 41 seconds.

In the bikes, the victory fell in the hands of Oswaldo Moncada, who was the only finisher in the Expert category.

Oswaldo Moncada took the overall victory in the bikes

Spectators gathered in Rancho Las Herraduras, a part of Ojos Negros, to witness a highly technical off-road course, which was made up of both large and short jumps, as well as plenty of silt and streams.

In a Class 11 champions duel, Ramon Fernandez won the battle over Sergio “Coyote” Gutierrez, who had problems with his car previous to the star of the second heat.

Ramón Fernández won class 11 in this edition of the ESSOR race

The next date of the Essor Championship will be the Paseo Familiar that will take place Saturday July 30th.

Pictures by Alejandro Soltero and Jose Maraa Flores.

www.fotosolweb.com

[Show as slideshow]

Results

Motorcycles

Pro

1)  Oswaldo Moncada – 3 hours, 56 minutes, 4 seconds

2)  Alejandro Moreno – DNF

Sportsman bikes

1) Julio García – 4 hours, 6 minutes, 41 seconds

2) Issac Hernández – 4 hours, 12 minutes, 49 seconds

3) Ramón Murillo – 4 hours, 44 minutes, 56 seconds

Sportsman Atv

1) Miguel Oliva – 4 hours, 5 minutes, 22 seconds

2) Hiram Agúndez – 4 hours, 24 minutes, 32 seconds

3) Jonathan Bretado – DNF

Cars and trucks

Class 7 Stock

1)  Miguel Sandoval – 4 hours, 41 seconds

2)  Alejandro Cancino – 4 hours, 35 minutes, 48 seconds

3)  Óscar Solaiza – 4 hours, 59 minutes, 38 seconds

Class 11

1)  Ramón Fernández -  4 hours, 57 minutes, 58 seconds

2)  Sergio Gutiérrez – DNF

Class 14

1) Óscar Arámbula – 4 hours, 7 minutes, 13 seconds

Class 15

1)  Benjamín López – 4 hours, 50 minutes, 17 seconds

2)  Édgar Tiznado – 4 hours, 50 minutes, 25 seconds

3)  Refugio Ortiz – DNF

Class 18

1) Abel Rodríguez – 4 hours, 50 minutes, 58 seconds

2) Armando Castro – DNF

Class Safari

1)  Manuel Verjan – 4 hours, 51 minutes, 12 seconds

2)  Gabriel Padilla – 5 hours, 53 minutes, 23 seconds

3)  Simón Valdenea – DNF

Spanish version

Essor Rancho Las Herraduras 180

Por Gabriel García

El equipo TCM Motorsports conquistó en forma overall la tercera fecha del campeonato 2011 de Essor, la carrera Rancho Las Herraduras 180, gracias al manejo de Miguel Sandoval.

Sandoval conquistó la cima del evento promovido por Carlos Tapia y la Clase 7 Stock, al dominar los dos heats en la pista de 21 millas, logrando un tiempo de 4 horas y 41 segundos.

En las motocicletas la victoria quedó en poder de Oswaldo Moncada, quien no tuvo rivales en la categoría Expertos.

La competencia fuera de camino se llevó a cabo en el rancho Las Herraduras de Ojos Negros, en donde se reunieron diferentes espectadores a lo largo de la ruta que contó con rampas largas y cortas, así como arenales y arroyos.

En un duelo de campeones de la Clase 11, Ramón Fernández se impuso a Sergio “Coyote” Gutiérrez, ya que el segundo presentó fallas en su unidad previo al arranque del segundo heat.

La próxima fecha del campeonato Essor será el Paseo Familiar que se llevará a cabo el sábado 30 de julio.

Already in a deficit after not completing the first race of the year, Riot Racing is in a critical situation as they enter the Silver State 300. Marc Ewing and Josh Daniel must come out of Alamo, Nevada with a decent finish in each of their vehicles to remain in contention for the championship.

But the team becomes concerned when the race truck unexpectedly stops with only 60 miles to go. Riot calls out for Josh Daniel to take over in the #68 and help salvage this crucial race.

Watch how the race unfolds in the full length episode coming soon!

RiotRacing.com
BITD.com
VitaBrevisFilms.com