The SCORE Baja races are some of the most difficult and most demanding on the planet, right up there with the likes of the Dakar and East African Safari Rally. Last weekend was the 48th running of the Baja 500. It was filled with all different types of off-road machines built to take on the rough terrain and extremely hot temperatures of the Mexican desert. While the geographic features of the race are extremely taxing on the cars and trucks, it is equally as taxing on the drivers and co-pilots competing.
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DirtFish has seen many of the competitors come through the school, taking everything from a 1 Day program all the way up to spending multiple days behind the wheel receiving one-on-one coaching from our professional instructors. One of those competitors is Dallas Luttrell from TSA Off Road Racing. Along with his teammate, co-pilot and Collins Motorsports owner, Billy Goerke, Dallas realized the benefit of training at DirtFish and the duo have been here multiple times attending our 3 Day program and even coming back for four days of private training.
Since attending DirtFish, Dallas and Billy have gone on to achieve 2nd in the 2016 MINT 400 back. Now they’ve won the even more difficult Baja 500!
Watching races on TV, or clips from social media of these cars and drivers tear across the desert doesn’t look that bad… That’s because they only really show you the fast sections where all the trucks and bikes are going flat-out, gliding over the bumps and dips of the desert with ease. But, that’s the easy part and only a small portion of the courses they are racing on. The rest of it is extremely difficult and bumpy with massive ruts and holes littering the roads and mountains.
Trust me when I say ruts and holes… I had the opportunity to take a ride with Dallas in the desert north of Las Vegas last November, and while his truck does absorb the bumps in the fast sections like a champ, the rest of the time requires an extremely methodical approach to get through the holes and ditches (when I say holes, I mean holes big enough to swallow up a crossover). The loop he took me on was amazingly fun, but also a bone jostling and jarring experience that left me sore the next day. I couldn’t imagine enduring that for 14 hours over 500 miles, but that’s what makes off-road racers like Dallas and Billy so hardcore!
Post by: Trevor Wert (DirtFish)
