The Megacable Grand Prix

We went to the 'new' racetrack just past San Pedro on the way to La Paz today to see the Megacable Grand Prix.  Donna's son Pat Ryan has a class 1 car and raced so we naturally had to go check it out. We've been to several races and in fact before I met Donna, I had gone to the track in Santa Anita a couple of times with friends.

The track at San Pedro is NICE.  Not a bad seat in the house. We could see most of the track apart from 2 curves. In the trophy truck race, the cars that came in 2nd and 3rd exchanged the lead 3 times. One car rolled but landed upright and continued to race.

If you've never gone to an off road track race, let me give you some pointers:
>Parking is generally chaotic.  Find a place that you can't be blocked in.  The best is to park as close to the entrance as possible and walk in to the track.  Then when there is a mile long line trying to leave, you walk past them, get in your car and bully your way into the line only meters from the highway.
>Don't assume there will be shade. take an umbrella or something suitable. At today's race, there were a BUNCH of shade kiosks set up and if you knew about them early, you could rent one. We had one and there was room for 30 people under it and it came with chairs!  Good thing since a whole bunch of friends showed up and joined us....
>Take coolers with drinks and food. There are always food booths but don't be caught short.
>Be careful where you decide to watch the race. Figure out if loose pieces of car or a runaway tire could be thrown into your midst. Standing close to the track on the outside of a curve for instance.

Todos Santos Dessert Challenge Off Road Race

We went to the races last weekend over at Todos Santos. The race is the Wide Open Dessert Challenge. Fun race; 2 laps of about 70 kilometers each. Donna's son Pat and his copiloto Keith raced Pat's Class One car the "Warlock." Here are a few photos. Click here to see some short videos including Steve Berry's unscheduled pit stop to fix a flat.

East Cape 250 Off Road Race

Yesterday was a big day in San Jose.  The East Cape 250 started and finished just outside of town in Guaymitas. We drove down too late to watch Pat Ryan roar by but went to the finish line to congratulate he and copilot Kyle Maisner. They drove their class 1 Chevy powered car to a 6th place finish.  The key word being "finish." These races are tough on every car no matter how well it's built. Every race, many cars fail on the course because of metal fatigue, flat tires and numerous other maladies due to the conditions of off-road racing. Congratulations Pat and Kyle. Well done.