Photography courtesy of Score International, Craig Scanlon, Luke McMillin and Dan McMillin
Racing down in Baja has a very unique vibe to it. If you’ve ever specated in person, you get it. If you’ve only had a chance to spectate virtually, it still comes across pretty clear that there’s something magical, almost mystical about that peninsula.
We’re only days away from the 54th running of the Baja 500, and it’s bound to be a technical race course.
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.
Luke McMillin
The Baja 500 map has been released, how does this map compare to S.C.O.R.E. races from years past?
It’s going to be a hot but fun course. The start and first 80 miles are pretty traditional, headed out to Ojos and headed to K77. From there we are doing something we haven’t done in a while for the Baja 500 which is going over the summit and dropping into the desert. It’s not the traditional summit that we have been running since the 70’s but instead a newer summit we call “Tres Pinos”, we’ve run it a couple times the other direction at the 2019 and 2020 Baja 1000. But we haven’t run it this direction since 2013. That summit is extremely narrow and treacherous, there’s absolutely no room for mistakes since we are running along some giant cliffs… After that it’s going to be a really hot next 100 miles through the desert, staying on the El Chinero side all the way down to Highway 3. It’s going to be hot and rough. This is a section with a lot of line choices to pass people, but with the heat, attrition will also play a big factor.
From there we head North and run a small Mike’s Sky Ranch section. Typically at the Baja 500 this is a much longer section that crosses over to highway 1 and then up the coast, but not this year. Since we make-up the miles in the desert, the Mike’s Loop is somewhat short, although still very rocky and technical. I think the shorter loop will make for a little bit “easier” of a Baja 500. After the Mike’s loop, we head up the goat trail on some pretty familiar roads. It would seem like an easy 100 miles in from here, but S.C.O.R.E. added in a new section that takes us nearly all the way to highway 1 to Uruapan, does a u turn and then heads back to Ojos. I think this section is going to really drag out for a lot of racers.
Once you’re headed up the goat trail, mentally you think you’re almost to the finish but the last 100 miles are super technical and will take some time. That will be tough after being in the heat of the desert all day. From here we get back to Ojos and head to the finish. 460 miles is a little bit short for Baja 500, but I think the heat and technical course will make up for that.
Walk us through your plan for the race?
Race day will be a unique one for me since we will be the 1st 4-wheeled vehicle off the line, which is a first for me. I think the most important key to any Baja race is to never stop moving. No flat tires and no issues will be key.
Are you going to go prerunning? What’s your prerunning strategy?
Yes, we are headed down prerunning and hope to get about 6 days of prerunning in. We try to go down as close to the race as possible since the track changes so much. We will aim to get over all our sections 3-4 times.
The first lap is a recon lap where we look at all the different line options and pick our lines, the 2nd lap is to make more notes of the course on the GPS since we’ve picked which line we are going to use and then the 3rd lap should be a faster pace where we can actually practice the notes and refine them as needed.
The last couple days of prerunning will be making small loops around sections we feel we need to spend more time learning, since some other sections we have seen so many times over the years 2-3 times over those is enough. The final 2 days of pre running will be focused on the start and finish section of the course. By the time we are done prerunning we hope to have the course memorized and make everything flow soothly on race day with no surprises.
What’s your favorite part of racing in Baja?
Race Day! I really enjoy the competition of racing in Baja and the excitement pre running brings about finding new lines and hoping your competitor doesn’t have them or even hiding them! We go down to Baja to win and that’s really the fun part for me.
What’s the toughest part of racing in Baja?
The toughest part is really the unknown of what’s going to happen. It is mentally driving knowing the course so well and putting in so much preparation / effort and the smallest thing can go wrong and end your day. On Race day I want to push and go fast but not make mistakes. Competitors behind you know that and will want to put pressure on you. So the toughest part is to stay in it mentally, think positive and make race day just flow.
Dan McMillin
The Baja 500 map has been released, how does this map compare to S.C.O.R.E. races from years past?
The course this year is very technical with only a small amount of open desert to take advantage of slower trucks and make up time. In years past we hit the beach at some point and a little bit of desert. This year is almost the opposite; no beach with a good amount of desert and mostly technical. We are going down a summit called Los Pinos which is very tricky. Luke raced down it in 2015 when we both raced together along with Chuck Hovey. This will be my first time going down it. We went up it in 2019 and 2020.
Walk us through your plan for the race?
My plan is to stay in line and not make mistakes. I start somewhere in the 20th position and with a lot of technical driving I have to be patient. The AWD will be quick in the tight stuff so as long as I hit my marks and get by guys who don’t, we can have a good run.
Are you going to go prerunning? What’s your prerunning strategy?
I leave for prerunning on Thursday May 26th and will stay until the race. My strategy is like always, get from VCP to VCP as fast as possible no matter how challenging it may be. Making lines and being creative is one of the many reasons I love racing in Baja.
What’s your favorite part of racing in Baja?
Pre-Running! We don’t get to do it in the States and the people of Baja appreciate us down there. Most of them at least. The food is an obvious reason why people love Mexico, but in terms of racing, it’s the pre-running.
What’s the toughest part of racing in Baja?
Sadly, cell phones. Because people can access the course anywhere and there are no restrictions for spectators, one small mistake might get caught on camera and cost you the race. Or sometimes things are not caught that should result in a penalty. It’s a roll of the dice on what people choose to share on social media or don’t. We’ve told ALL our chase teams to be smart on the highways because there’s a good chance it’s being recorded. My brother won the 2021 Baja 500, and because of a mistake that spectators made, the title was taken from him.
The best way to follow the 2022 Baja 500 is through our good friend Fishgistics, give him a follow on Instagram and Facebook.
Score International does a great job live-streaming as well, make sure to subscribe to their YouTube channel and turn on notifications so you’re up to date when they’re live!
On behalf of 4 Wheel Parts we wish all the racers good luck and stay safe!
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