Craig Scanlon
The Baja 500 map has been released, how does this map compare to S.C.O.R.E. races from years past?
This year's course is brutal. The last time this route was raced it resulted in devastating losses to our sport and community with the passing of multiple competitors due to the treacherous terrain & unforgiving temperatures. The course runs up and over the summit & through the always dreaded Laguna Salada which has been on record to produce some of the hottest temperatures in all of North America. Think of it as the Death Valley of BAJA. As is the case with any BAJA, we always look forward to the challenge and it's the competitive adventure, amazing people, and beautiful country that keeps us coming back year after year. Not to mention, the BAJA 500 is the first place my team and I at Scanlon Motorsports Group, captured our first Pro UTV racing victory. So it holds special meaning and always provides us with an added level of excitement and motivation.
Walk us through your plan for the race?
Well, with the course just having been released the team is currently making adjustments and calculating strategies and options. You can't go to BAJA with just one plan. You have to prepare for many different scenarios to play out. Within these scenarios are adjustments to fuel & pit strategies, service or stop intervals to perform visual inspections, and of course our number one contingency in our plans is both racer and support team member safety.
The safest place in these races is always in the race car. I find myself much more worried about my team chasing on the highways through the long and hot day and well into the night then I do about Keith and I who are well protected in a durable and strong built race car heading down a hot course where the rules are loose but the understanding of racers is that which provides continuity to what you're doing. It's the highway where our team is traveling with thousands of other spectators, race teams, and just regular locals about their day that seems to consistently provide some of our most heartbreaking & always unfortunate circumstances. So with all of that in mind, we will be putting the final touches on our plans for best case scenario, altered course or potential start changes, as well as pit, chase, and fueling once we land at our base in Mexico. It's there that we will pull our final pieces to what I'll call a solid but still yet to be finalized series of plans. Anyone who tells you they have a 100% baked plan before arriving in country and actually seeing the course in-person isn't telling 100% of the truth as it always evolves, if not changes entirely once you're there and able to see even the slightest of differences from your last time racing the very same roads.
One firm detail that I will give you is that we will have an advantage in the form of safety coming from our new-for-2022 4 Wheel Parts-sponsored Helicopter operated by Optic Helicopters out of Lake Havasu City, AZ. We added the Heli into the program purely for safety purposes, and in a race like this one, it does bring an added level of confidence knowing you have a couple of close team members with eyes on you from above and able to provide support for us or anyone else in proximity should it be necessary. In the previously mentioned race that ran this course. Helicopters flown by the Menzies and 4WP teammates at McMillin Racing along with others, played crucial roles in helping save the lives of overheated motorcycle riders. So that added component is potentially the biggest piece to our plan which always prioritizes safety over everything.
Are you going to go prerunning? What's your prerunning strategy?
Of course! First, it's imperative in these races to do the recon & capture as much information on the course as possible. While we study the course, make notes into our navigation, and discuss options throughout the 500 mile race, our team does the same from the highway. They don't just drop us off and head to the predetermined meeting spot. While we are out doing our work on-course, they are investigating access roads, potential pit locations for quick and easy to find access points, and calculating time to travel from one pit to the next.
But secondly, I'd be lying if I denied the fact that the prerun isn't actually the best part of racing BAJA. It's a well known fact that the race sometimes gets in the way of the prerun. Before racing, we are foremost off road enthusiasts. So to be able to travel with 10-20 of your closest friends down to one of the most genuinely beautiful places in the world, and play with our Polaris RZRs & trucks in the dirt together, eat amazing food, and see things many will never get to see for themselves... well, there are few things we enjoy more.
For me, and I think many others in the sport. The pre run and race are the few times each year that we are able to clear our minds for a brief moment in our lives. These trips provide immense recharging to our high output and at times, stressful careers and lives at home. See, when you're driving flat out through unknown and at times evolving terrain, you have no choice but to apply all of your focus and sense into the car to ensure maximum control of the situation. One slip of mind or body and you put yourself and your navigator at risk of injury or worse. Not to mention, damage to your very important equipment. So it's in these moments of intense focus during driving off-road, that the things that apply pressure during the course of our daily lives are somewhat silenced.
Some would say that the consequence and danger may not be worth the risk or reward. But I would argue that it's more dangerous to not seek out whatever it may be (as long as it's healthy) that helps you recharge and recenter or refocus in your daily life. My personality requires a special type of activity to allow me to do this, it just happens to be in the form of adrenaline based therapy that racing brings to me and many others. I always come back re-energized and ready to compete in business and maintain the responsibilities that I have. And I credit fitness, friendships, and racing as key components to my ability to remain healthy in mind and body. It might sound a little overboard, but you'll be hard pressed to find any driver of motorsport who would argue what it is I'm saying. There are stretches of driving that almost feel like a dream or like you've traveled in time. The intense concentration and focus sustained over time puts you into a zone where nothing matters except for the road you're traversing and the dust you're chasing in the distance. All other things go silent for those moments and it's not until you come to a stop or get out that you feel your body almost take its own exhale, the adrenaline subside, and your mind start to reopen to the other things taking place.
The zone is a special place and in racing you find it at its most epic the longer you dance on the edge.
What's your favorite part of racing in Baja?
I think I expanded on it in the previous question. But it's by far the camaraderie that racing brings to a group of people. The best part is the time spent with those that I truly respect and care about. We have made and continue to make some of the funniest, most exciting, and at times frustrating memories. But there is a feeling you get leading up to the events and leaving them also that keeps you wanting to recapture the magic and impression they leave on you.
It's certainly not an equal comparison, but I have to think it's a little like what soldiers maybe feel before and after a battle. The nervous angst and excitement combined with the laughter and adventure, culminating into intense competition in which every person is crucial to the success of the effort. That brings a closeness and bond that makes the trips home bittersweet but that always leave you wanting more. So to summarize, I want to win. There is NOTHING better than winning a race like this one. But it's doing it with the people that matter most that truly make all of the work, funding, and efforts all worth it!
What's the toughest part of racing in Baja?
Without a doubt, the toughest part is always the course itself and adapting to the adversity that comes with the unknowns that always appear. We have a saying in BAJA that says to do all you can while in-country that can bring you good BAJA karma. Races are often won & lost based upon a team's luck, the unforgiving terrain, and how your vehicle responds to everything you and BAJA put it through. So the toughest part always starts with the dirt itself. It's because of that grouping of trails and roads we call a race course that then forces you to apply all the other elements that are within one's control which is a good team, a good plan, and a well prepped race car. After that, it's just you and your navigator relying upon your knowledge, skills, and hoping you've done enough while in-country to acquire as much BAJA karma as possible to pay the tolls to maintain good fortune & safety in a race that has no guarantees.