NORRA Mexican 1000

[House]

Glad everybody is safe!
Can't wait to see pics and stories!!! ;D

 

[Bukin 67]

We're just about home(49). We lost the motor on the 3rd leg n. of La Paz and decided to bead back to Loreto on Wed a d maybe get in some sport fishing. Had a lot of problems early on with the 9". The bearing retainers came loose letting the Axel slide out. We pounded it back on and tack welded it in BOLA.
What an adventure! It was awesome meeting all the EB guys. What a great group. Definitely one off the bucket list, and something I'd definitely do again and recommend.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 4

 

[coachbarnes]

We're just about home(49). We lost the motor on the 3rd leg n. of La Paz and decided to bead back to Loreto on Wed a d maybe get in some sport fishing. Had a lot of problems early on with the 9". The bearing retainers came loose letting the Axel slide out. We pounded it back on and tack welded it in BOLA.
What an adventure! It was awesome meeting all the EB guys. What a great group. Definitely one off the bucket list, and something I'd definitely do again and recommend.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 4

I was feelin' ya when I saw you were back in Loreto. Been there and it doesn't feel good! Our first yr doing the B1K, we got stuck in some little fishing village on the E. Coast for 2 days until our chase could find us! BUT -- you did an awesome job getting a 45 yr old vehicle in a position to even compete down there. Most folks don't understand how difficult the Baja is and all that is involved in just getting to the point that you got - especially with a 92" wheelbase box on wheels! And you've got stories that will last a lifetime! Great job! (how was the fishing?) Hope you made it home safely! Scott

 

[Bukin 67]

I was feelin' ya when I saw you were back in Loreto. Been there and it doesn't feel good! Our first yr doing the B1K, we got stuck in some little fishing village on the E. Coast for 2 days until our chase could find us! BUT -- you did an awesome job getting a 45 yr old vehicle in a position to even compete down there. Most folks don't understand how difficult the Baja is and all that is involved in just getting to the point that you got - especially with a 92" wheelbase box on wheels! And you've got stories that will last a lifetime! Great job! (how was the fishing?) Hope you made it home safely! Scott

Thanks Scott. We ended up just taking it easy the next day in Loreto. Had a great bfast at the Giggling Dolphin and left our autographs (see below, lol) then went to a great little beach called El Burro that had palapas to sleep under and more importantly, a great little restaurant/bar on the beach with a beautiful proprietor named Celia who made excellent margaritas! There was a full moon party that night on the beach, but my camp was out cold when I cam back from a round of fish tacos.
Small problems with the Bronco added to our adventure also, as gas consumption was more than anticipated. We bought 10 gal. about 1/2 way through the first special on the 2nd day from a rancher that didn't speak a lick of English. The local people along the way were all awesome.

Here's some pics:

 

[NGABronco]

Hey, as long as you all had fun!!!! Thanks for the stories and pics!!! Good luck next year!!;D;D

 

[NicksTrix]

I can think of much worse places than Loreto to be "stuck" at
glad you had a great adventure. that is what it is all about. the story will live for years

 

[BajaBronco]

I got home Saturday night at 1120pm, and while it felt good to be home, I am really missing Mexico, my team, and the race a lot! Huge thanks to Kaysinger Racing, TZ and our crew this year. It's a huge accomplishment to finish this race(especially THIS year), and awesome to podium, and even more awesome to come 2nd in a field of 5 Broncos that were all state of the art in terms of their build, when compared to our 'circa 70' build. So I'm super proud of all of our efforts.

This year the race was a lot rougher than previously, both for us and for everyone out there. Lots of breakage, rollovers, and DNFs. Pretty surprising as the terrain comes into view, but once you leave the start line, no matter what comes your way - you just try to power through it and or find a line.

Contingency was great fun, but really packed and slow moving through tech. We grabbed our maps and registration material and Todd and I found Bukin67 and introduced ourselves and checked out his immaculate yellow Bronco. Some tacos and Tecate, and more waiting and finally we were off to the drivers meeting, which also ran pretty late.

This year, instead of Todd starting out, my co-dog Jake and I started the race. We started first in our class this year, followed each minute by another Bronco. Directly behind us was Boyd Jaynes red/white Bronco, the previous years winner. Since I don't daily drive this racer, I take a few miles of "warm up" to get to speed. After several miles, and in an area of switchbacks, I caught a glimpse of the red and white Bronco a couple hills back and decided I'd better pick up my pace. I passed two buggies pretty quickly after that and was feeling pretty good, so continued to chase another dust trail up ahead. Meanwhile, I'm noting the course is pretty rough and challenging...and gaining on the Ranger pickup ahead of me. I caught him in a sandy section and soon realized he was trailing a Baja Bug. So we had a "train".... no fun. No one wanted to pull over to let anyone pass, and to make matters worse, a fast vw bug was gaining on me. First day red mist, kept me in the dust and on this Rangers bumper. Not able to see the terrain as well, I swung the left rear tire into something sharp and ended up with a flat. I let the bug by and pulled over to a safe place to change the tire. During that time we were passed by 66 (a bronco), and 332, Chris Sullivans Bronco. We were down about 25 minutes but got the tire done and were soon back on track and passing cars. Soon we caught a military Blazer and a Porsche 911. Neither wanted let us by so we ate their bumpers for a long time before getting creative and passing each. Since there's no nerfing (bumping to pass), you are typically supposed to move over and let faster cars by when it's safe. Maybe it was first day excitement, but it seemed none of the 6 cars we passed in that 40 mile stretch after the tire change wanted to give up their spot, tho they were clearly slower than we were. Something I hadn't experienced in previous NORRA events. We got caught in the silt during that stage but were only stuck about 8 minutes total. During our tire change I had expected Boyd Jaynes to pass us, but he never did, so I was wondering what had become of last years winning Bronco. He later told me that he had tried to catch us fast and early and had gone over a rough spot too quickly and broke his driveshaft and rearend yoke. That first-day red mist or impatience got both of us that first stage, me with my flat tire trying to rush the ranger for a pass.

After the first special stage Jake and I handed the Bronco over to TZ and Angelo and myself, enesset and crew rolled into Bahia de Los Angeles to wait for them to finish the day. That was day 1. Maybe Todd has some stories from his day 1 experience... Meanwhile here are some photos. More soon!

 

[andyp]

Great write up Andrew. Congrats to you, Todd and the team.

 

[Bajabrewer]

Awesome! Thanks for the write up - would love to do this someday.

 

[sprdv1]

After the first special stage Jake and I handed the Bronco over to TZ and Angelo and myself, enesset and crew rolled into Bahia de Los Angeles to wait for them to finish the day. That was day 1. Maybe Todd has some stories from his day 1 experience... Meanwhile here are some photos. More soon!

Great stuff man, Thanks for sharing all the details. I seen TZ's BIG O grin on his FB pics.. That says it all

Glad y'all did so well

 

[Bukin 67]

Nice to meet Andrew and TZ and the rest of the crew. Sorry I didn't have a 33" tire for you in BOLA. It was on the list because I've had it laying around, but we left without it.

Contingency went smooth but what a long day after partying half the night before! It was great to meet everyone and see the awesome Broncos in our class. #66 was a ragin machine with all kinds of tricked out HP and I believe a FG body. They were in front of us at the line up on the first day and had a very nervous co-driver I heard from the NORRA crew at the start. Apparently so nervous he had a hard time buckling in and needed help as we saw the NORRA crew scrambling to help. They got off good and settled in from there and took the podium. A definite congrats to their team and everyone else who finished.

From the start our story went a little different. While I was totally prepared as far as the body, frame, tires, lights and suspension, and my motor was running strong and had never before skipped a beat, minor trouble started about 30 miles after the start when I found out that the electric in-line fuel pump I installed as a back-up was restricting the gas flow when I needed it most. The next item came about 30 miles later with the axle retainer issue. Without a welder on the trail we took the safe route and trailered into BOLA where we tacked both sides on. We were able to give a water pump to someone (don't know the #) who had looked high and low. One of our crew just happened to overhear them. Right place at the right time for sure.

The 2nd day started off with fuel venting issues I didn't realize I had. When I went to fill up before the start, it would only take less than 3/4 of a tank. We were running fast, passing many cars, but we ended up having buying 10 gal. of gas from a rancher (83 octane, no less) which put us right in the back after dealing with that for an hour. Pretty comical pouring gas into a 5 gal bucket, putting the bucket on the roof of the Bronco and siphoning in from there, but hey, it's Baja! Because I would have never made the 175 miles of off road in the 2nd section with 15-18 gals of fuel to run on, after we finished the 1st off road portion and the 1st the transit I decided to go ahead and head down to Loreto. I was having such a blast driving it, and I had missed so much seat time, I drove it into Loreto rather than trailer it. With plenty of fuel stations on the highway I was in good shape.

The 3rd day we fixed the vent issue and were ready to finally get a full day of racing in! We ran strong the whole first off road section, then ran across a big name driver (can't remember who right now) in a class 1 that was stranded. They asked for a tow, so we towed them in the last 15 miles of sandy washy road. The transit went fine, then about 10 miles in the 2nd off road portion is when the old 302 gave in and I believe spun a bearing. I'm sure towing a 5000 lb class 1 for 15 miles on a sandy road didn't help it much.

When we got it on the trailer we had to decide whether to keep heading south or start heading north. We decided north and take it easy and give ourselves a couple extra days for the trip. Stop and smell the cactus, (or margaritas) so to speak

We missed the big party at the end, but all in all a great trip, and lots of memories. Now I've got plenty of work to do on the 'ol gal for sure.

Here's a couple shots from Playa El Burro and our start at Loreto, which is a little boring becuse it's un-edited and they took all the sound out after the intro song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w9jHa_tSNc

 

[garberz]

Nice write up Randy, hope to talk to you soon.

Mark

 

[BajaBronco]

Yeah Randy, that first night in BOLA I was looking around at all the repairs everyone was doing and was nervous I may need another tire. Luckily enesset found one during the transit the next day. We got one more flat during the race so I currently have that no name Mexican used 33 as our only spare. Awards dinner....you didn't miss much...it dragged on pretty long, and wore us out....except for a couple of our team who were out all night!

 

[enesset]

I'm still tired!

My only problem with the NORRA event is that my Bronco is not outfitted (nor will it ever be with a full cage, etc) and it seems like even 10 days on the team in Baja hasn't cured my Norra/Baja fever!

 

[Bukin 67]

That original Baja tire is a trophy in itself BB! Your teammates did good if they were able to hang all night. I've been to Cabo San Lucas but not the Cabo NORRA ended up at. It must have a pretty good night life.

I'm still hangin too, enesset. It's like a total Baja hangover. We're already talking about next year. I don't think I could do the 500 if they have one. I'm taking a Summer break at the lake from working on the Bronco. I haven't even cleaned it yet. I know we have like a week to send back the IRC units and mounts, so I need to do that.

In the mean time, my son 'graduates' or gets his promotion to high school from 8th grade tomorrow morning and my daughter's high school graduation is on Thurs. Friday we head to the lake after her grad night at Magic Mountain, so the Bronco will wait another week.

Just wondering, did everyone receive some kind of participation award, or how deep in the classes did they trophy?

 

[enesset]

Sam and I almost had another "baja trophy" when we came upon a rough part of construction (driving in the ditch) and some chase vehicle had lost a HUGE igloo cooler and we hopped out and helped ourselves. Had a few congradulatory gatorades and cold waters and then down the road at the next crossing the owner (cooler not marked in anyway) found us and called out correctly that it held more than a few Sierra pale ale's (two of which the owner ended up contributing for "ransom").

No participation awards and for that matter the Blue Torch is undoubtedly one of the most period correct rig's and somehow we did not get the truck division of "Spirit of Norra" which was a little odd.

As for the nightlife.....I normally just enjoy the closing awards ceremony but a few of the young guys needed a chaperone so I thought I'd better keep them out of trouble!

 

[baja535]

This is Chris Sullivan. Thanks for the updates. I unfortunately rolled the Bronco in Divisaderos and beat it up pretty good. Luckily the drive train was all good and I made it to the finish line (after it was closed) My navigator and I are fine due to the right cage and safety gear. Except maybe for a little damaged pride. I'm not sure #332 is going to make it back from this one.

Anyone need some real expensive parts for their EB build???

Day 2 and it looks like all 5 Early Broncos are still heading South! That's great news!!! You can track them at www.racetheworld.net

I'm pretty sure that these are all of our Vintage Bronco guys...

8 Andrew Norton
26 Boyd Jaynes
66 Don Hatch
49 Randy Ludwig
332 Chris Sullivan

 

[slablocal]

Hey guys, I'm John Evans, long time member of the board... But this is probably my first post as I usually just seek the great info you guys post. Myself and Andy Petersen were lucky enough to be chosen by Don Hatch to build #66 "the Unicorn" as it's been dubbed. With many Baja races under our belt, this was our first NORRA event, and we couldn't have had a greater experience. From the organization of the event, the layout of course routes and daily destinations, and the comradery of our fellow EB racers, this was one for the record books. If your considering entering, or have been on the fence, make it happen! Thanks fellow EB racers, and thank you classicbroncos.com for the wealth of information shared!

 

[toddz69]

Welcome aboard John! You and Andy built a great truck - really cool to check out all the beautiful fab work on it last week.

Todd Z.

 

[toddz69]

This is Chris Sullivan. Thanks for the updates. I unfortunately rolled the Bronco in Divisaderos and beat it up pretty good. Luckily the drive train was all good and I made it to the finish line (after it was closed) My navigator and I are fine due to the right cage and safety gear. Except maybe for a little damaged pride. I'm not sure #332 is going to make it back from this one.

Anyone need some real expensive parts for their EB build???

Damn, sorry to hear that the damage was so extensive, Chris. Sure am glad you guys are ok though and it was good to chat with you at the party.

Todd Z.