Watched the #400 Bronco pass the Scout. Appears they are broken and waved the Bronco by. They have beeen stationary on the map for quite a while.
Back to Baja: The NORRA Mexican 1000 Live Update Log
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See what I mean! Never make a man with a thick Stache drive, they are un reliable. Get a fully bearded or clean shaven guy to drive. He probably went to give double thumbs up again.
They got going again. Looks like they are skipping parts of the stage as it's fully dark now.
APRIL 30, 2025
STAGE 4:
LORETO TO LA PAZ
MILES: 336.9
It’s going to be a long day.” Every morning, Sean Barber delivers a sermon of sorts. And today, those are the first words out of his mouth. If desert racing were a religion, Baja would be the Mecca.
336.9 miles. It’s hard to put that into perspective—especially given Baja’s unruly terrain. It’s a long day on paper. It’s even harder to imagine how much time it will take to complete. For some frame of reference, the last stage tonight will close at 12 a.m. They’re giving racers every possible minute available to accomplish today’s course.
But first, coffee. Even in Baja, we have a morning routine. Today, we decide to walk to a local coffee shop and see the town. The last thing Owen asked before leaving Ventura was whether or not there was room in the chase truck for his skateboard. There was, so in it went. Now his morning routine includes pushing and carving around the old towns.
“Today’s going to be a challenge,” Sean says to the team, nine espressos—one in front of each of us. All the unknown variables for today just mean we’ll have to be prepared for anything and everything. Sean, Owen, and Chris Hunt review the maps and plan points for the race truck and support trucks to meet. “I’m thinking about those cliffs today…” another thought out loud about the terrain ahead from Sean. There’s probably a lot else on their minds, too.
10:01 a.m. is our start time this morning, earlier than previous days. Hopefully, we can use this extra hour to our advantage, as we’re imagining needing every second. We’re heading from Loreto to La Paz today. The starting line is beautiful this morning. The green flag waves, and we peel down the ocean avenue, flying by palm trees with the blue sky and turquoise ocean to our side.
We strategize a bit and decide to start with less than a full tank of gas. It’ll save us some weight and work in our favor against the elements. From Loreto, we head west, now turning our backs to the sea. Sean and Owen pick up the pace as they stare at the inland mountains head-on.
The Race Terra isn’t seen again until 1:19 p.m. The first section of the day is behind them. Like clockwork, Sean and Owen exit the truck. Dan and Larry go through the mid-race pit checks. “Worst silt yet,” Sean says, helmet still on, now standing beside the truck, in between handfuls of trail mix. “Oh man, we came around a blind corner and there were seven, maybe eight trucks stuck. It was hairy.”
You never know what’s waiting around the next turn. The digital road book that Owen uses to navigate does its best to call out any known hazards on the course. But by the time dozens of trucks have gone through, everything could be different. Ten gallons of race gas go in the Scout. Dan and Larry roll out from beneath the truck—everything looks good. “We’ve been doing a lot of rapid-deploy four-wheel drive, it’s working great.” Our repairs from previous days seem to be holding well, so off we go.
The Race Terra zig-zags further down the peninsula, and the chase trucks coast down the highway from Ciudad Constitución to Comondú. Another race report from Sean amidst a quick stop: “Pretty bumpy, we took a big hit on something. But Owen checked it out—everything looks and feels good. Man, we’ve still got that rocky hill climb ahead of us, huh? I don’t want to do that in the dark.”
It’s now 3:37 p.m. They still have well over 150 miles left to go for the day. Their pace isn’t ideal; however, there’s not much they can do about it. They’re fighting one of the toughest topographies in the world, and their weapon of choice is a 50-year-old truck. They’re going as fast as they’re comfortable with—not as fast as possible. Like Sean said a few days ago, “medium and steady.”
The support trucks are now stationed in Las Pocitas, following the Scout on GPS, waiting for it to arrive. It’s well past 5 p.m. when the GPS rings with the message: “Issues, troubleshooting, send both trucks and trailer.”
Instant heartache. Our stomachs are in our chests. We pack up the trucks and turn around, heading back toward their direction. We all remain silent. So many questions, but we don’t ask. We do what we’re told.
It’s late enough in the evening, and so few vehicles are still racing, that we’re able to drive our trucks onto the course for a recovery mission. Sean and Owen are about 15 miles ahead on this dirt road. We have to remember that the course is still hot, as we are soon met with two race trucks barreling toward us. The trail of dust in the distance is a good indication of what’s ahead, so we make sure to pull over and give way.
At sunset, the desert is a painting. The dust-filled sky glows purples, yellows, reds, and blues. Cacti are silhouetted against the evening sky for miles and miles. The chase trucks eventually spot the Race Terra on the horizon.
The mood is tense. Larry runs up as Sean and Owen run through everything they’ve troubleshot. It’s seemingly an electrical issue. Dan has a test light in one hand and a voltmeter in the other. The truck is cranking, but no spark. Sean replaced the coil on the trail, but to no avail. Dan gives us two options: “We can try and fix it here, or we can put it on the trailer and fix it at camp.” It’s nearly dark now, and the Race Terra is loaded up.
The first chase truck goes ahead, while the second slowly and carefully tows the Scout 15 miles back down the dirt road toward the main highway. The truck ahead makes its way into La Paz just before the auto parts store closes for the evening. We have a list of parts and the translation app open on our phone to communicate with the employees. We grab a new coil, among other things, and quickly head out of town to meet everyone back at camp.
It’s 10:30 p.m. when our work lights go up over the Race Terra. It’s late. We’re all exhausted. We have a list of action items. We’re on a mission, and there’s no time for anything else but to try and fix the truck. Tomorrow is the last day of the race.
Last year, on the last day of the race, we had the unimaginable happen. One small move sent Sean and Owen tumbling 300 feet down a canyon—just 30 miles short of the finish line. But we’re not even thinking about that now. We just need to fix the truck.
Dan, Larry, Sean, and Owen continue troubleshooting. A table is set up next to the Scout, covered in new and old parts, tools, and tacos. They try one thing, crank it—still no spark. They try another—same result. They start thinking backwards. Could it be two things at once? Was the original issue a red herring?
Sean soon realizes the coil he replaced on the trail is rated for the wrong ohms. Visually, it’s identical, but it’s designed for a V8. We’re running the 196ci 4-cylinder. The coil we picked up in town, however, has the correct ohms for a 4-cylinder. We swap that in and install a new old stock distributor cap. It’s period-correct for 1976 and just so happens to be an International Harvester OEM part. It needs to be shaved down a bit—it’s hitting our custom intake manifold. We make some clearance and squeeze it in.
At 11:45 p.m., the engine roars to life. Sean, mouth full of tacos, turns to the race team and says, “That’s good news, boys. I’m so happy.”
We all were.
The full story with larger photos is now live HERE.
Good work all around. Here's to a better day tomorrow. GO TEAM GO !!!!!
Today marked the end of the NORRA 1000, official scoring occurs tomorrow.
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