Day 1: Ensenada to somewhere we didn't make it to...


What a crazy, amazing, scary, adventurous day! We started the #norra1000 in Ensenada, Baja California full of energy and anticipation. The first Transit and Special stages went great with the team executing an effective pitstop and getting in to the rhythm of a chase race (which is relatively new to us). During the day, the ESAB Welding & Cutting Products #4493 got in front of the chase team, while the chase team thought they were in front. The result? We lost our race car. :-/ While we were trying to get any team on the radio to find out where Andrew and Matt were located, we heard on Weatherman that "the Arizona Team has totaled their car and are out of the race..." Well, totaled to US meant something like the Big Ugly crash at KOH and Crew Chief, Jason, and I were really stressing that something bad had happened and/or there was an injury. We finally were able to connect with race ops and find out where the #4493 was and created a recovery plan.

After backtracking 70 miles, we turned down the race course road to go find our boys. It was getting dark FAST, but the SPYDER AUTO lights we had on the chase truck lit up the night like daytime and were perfect for navigation. We were all relieved and thankful to find Andrew and Matt were not only healthy, but had made a new friend in the form of a rancher who had taken a liking to Andrew... to hear Andrew tell it is different than to hear Matt tell it, so get the story from Matt. We suspect it is much more accurate. Anyway, there were stallions and well groomed ranchers involved...

With the relief of finding our guys safe and sound (although more than a little disappointed), we loaded the buggy on the trailer and worked our way back to the actual highway. We were fully recovered by 2 AM, but still 3 hours away from where the main race teams had stopped for the night. We found a local hotel that was amazing (wonderful breakfast, too, by the way) and simply passed out from stress and exhaustion. In the morning we met to formulate a plan for the rest of the race.... read more about that plan in the Day 2 album!































LetzRoll Offroad Racing FB page (full photo deck): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.537430756367315.1073741888.156455707798157&type=3

Willo's Off-road Media FB page (full photo deck): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1436404633277520.1073741834.1416125735305410&type=3

The LetzRoll page is mostly just our team with some other cool things.
The Willo's Off-rad Media page is more of full team / Ultra4 view of thing.

Day 2: Middle of Nowhere to Loredo.

The morning started with a team meeting about our next step: Repair or give up? The damage was pretty severe. The conditions were terrible. We were literally staying in a town with no electricity (the hotel ran on a generator) and they were selling bootleg fuel out of 55 gallon drums on the side of the road. Well... there is NO QUIT in this team. We unanimously voted to do whatever it takes to finish this race, so we then crafted a plan. Andrew is a MASTER at motivational planning and he laid it out clearly and concisely: Today's goals: 1. Find beer and ice. 2. Find parts to repair the car. 3. Find our friends. In that order.

We unloaded the buggy and repositioned it better on the trailer (there is only so much you can do on a racecourse recovery after midnight...) We repacked the bags and set out in search of achieving our goals for the day. We stopped at every single junk yard we could find, heading south towards the next stage stop of the race. At one stop we found a guy who was welding with his ESAB Welding & Cutting Products hood and he was THRILLED to see the ESAB race car. He wanted us to take his picture by the car with his hood and of course, we obliged! Super nice people, but no parts that would work. We did find out where big rigs go to die, though.

We ate fish tacos and accomplished goal #1 of finding beer and ice. Matt helped another race team with their GPS and course map, and we discovered a parts store that had EVERYTHING... well, everything except a kingpin that would work. What they did do, however, was take Andrew around to junk yards in town to help him find a kingpin. We were still striking out when he saw a tow truck in the corner at one yard. He got really excited when he found out the axle had kingpin that would work. The only problem? It was a fully functional tow truck that ran and was the tow truck for the guys business!!! The owner insisted Andrew take the part to fix his race car. Andrew tried to pay him for it, but he said no... instead, he told Andrew he needed it back, so we are stopping on Friday on our way home back to the States to pull the kingpin and put it back on his tow truck! How cool is that!!!!!!

While this was going on, Crew Chief and Jay pulled the bent ARTEC Industries high steer arm and started solving that issue. When trying to bend it back into a usable shape, the arm snapped. Crew Chief found an old welder in the back room of the parts house and worked some Crew Chief magic! He was literally in a small, smokey back room in Mexico welding race car parts... With a kingpin and a welded up high steer arm (thus accomplishing goal #2 for the day), we moved on to goal #3 which was to find out friends. We drove all through the night down some of the scariest mouton passes on narrow roads but made it. On a side note: if you see a double tanker gas truck barreling down the mountain... MOVE! Big rig drivers are insane on these roads down here, but this guy took the cake. Totally sketch move.

Dave Cole has rooms for us and we joined up with the rest of the Ultra4 Racing teams, but we were so tired we opted to simply crash. We would NOT set a clock and we would make a new 3 goal plan and install the repaired parts on the morning. More on that in our Day 3 update!































LetzRoll Offroad Racing FB page (full Day 2 photo deck): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.537438546366536.1073741889.156455707798157&type=1

Willo's Off-road Media FB page (full Day 2 photo deck): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1436410169943633.1073741835.1416125735305410&type=3

The LetzRoll page is mostly just our team with some other cool things.
The Willo's Off-rad Media page is more of full team / Ultra4 view of thing.

Day 3: Loredo to La Paz

Day 3's Goals: 1. Find more beer and ice. 2. Repair the race car. 3. Meet our friends in La Paz. Goals accomplished! We decided that we needed rest so desperately that we didn't set a clock, we woke up when we were rested, and we started on the car. Crew Chief and Jay worked their tailed off on getting the car back together. Even back together, the decision was made to add some additional steel to the high steer arm to help support it. We made new friends and helped the other Ultra4 Racing teams with car repairs. We also were finally far enough south to get Pacifico's. I will be working on getting an additional team sponsor. Like all of our partners, we use what we believe in and trust... and we believe in Pacifico's. I've already started on the marketing photos...

Goals 1, 2, and 3 were accomplished on this day

When the day got too hot, we moved over to a huge covered basketball court for shade. Many of the local kids came to see the excitement. They LOVED getting to sit in the race car. Andrew was awesome and got a big kick out of the reactions as they would push the horn and siren. Evidently, stickers (ANY type of race sticker) is HUGE. We were told to bring a big bag and they weren't kidding. Any time we stopped we got asked for "Stickers? Stickers?" There was one young man who very much wanted to be a part of our race team, so he took his ESAB Welding & Cutting Products sticker and had Andrew put it on the back of his shirt! He then strutted around a little bit and acted like he was a member of our race team. It was so cool. I am telling you, the people are wonder and amazing and were a BIG part of why we are enjoying this race and this trip so much.

On the way out of town we ran into road construction... and by road construction I mean blasting away a cliff into the road, then pushing the rocks into the ocean. What do we do? Fire up a car and run over the rocks! The road crew loved it. They even let me ride the heavy equipment and help clear the road. Afterwards, they gave me the flag and let me direct traffic through the construction site. I am now an honorary member of the Baja Road Construction Crew. After that, we used an ambulance as a pace car and took off down to La Paz.

At La Paz we knocked out the final welding and prepped the car for Day 4 and the final stage of the race. We had overcome all the challenges and were prepared to race again!































LetzRoll Offroad Racing FB page (full Day 3 photo deck): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.537454623031595.1073741890.156455707798157&type=3

Willo's Off-road Media FB page (full Day 3 photo deck): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1436418009942849.1073741836.1416125735305410&type=3

The LetzRoll page is mostly just our team with some other cool things.
The Willo's Off-rad Media page is more of full team / Ultra4 view of thing.

- - - Updated - - -

Day 4: La Paz to Cabo

Day 4! Final stage of the #norra1000 and the day that all of our hard work paid off! After adding additional plating to the steering arm the night before, we felt comfortable racing the last stage. The car was fueled and prepped and we headed to the starting line... MAN did it feel great to be back in the race!

Temps heated up, Crew Chief too a siesta to get into the local rhythm, and the team did a co-driver change before the last Special Stage so that Jason Hurst - who spends so much time and heart on this car - could get into the buggy and bring it across the finish line with Andrew. So very cool. Joe got a little slap happy everyone took the time to enjoy Cabo!

The big blue #73 rig? Let me tell you, these guys are AWESOME and legendary! They have a four seater that they race together as buddies every year. They are there to have fun and pack a cooler full of beer for each day. During the race, they pass out out beer to any team that is broken. We thought they were only a myth, but on Day 1 when Andrew wrecked the car, who should come along but these cool dude! Tunes cranked up, they slowed down, look at the car, and said "Dude. You need two." LOL. We are forever indebted.

The post party at the finish line was part exhaustion, part relieve, part exhilaration, and part adrenaline! Big arch, huge crowd, and everyone cheering. It's hard to put into words, actually, how special that moment was. The ESAB Welding & Cutting Products #4493 had finished the NORRA 1000! We didn't know it at the time, but by fixing the car and finishing, we were able to land 29th place overall in Evolution class and 5th (out of 10) in the Ultra4x4 class. While incredible to finish top 30 in our first race, it was more about what we did as a team and getting to see the car across the line under its own power that was so special.

The crowd LOVED that the Ultra4 cars did a wheel stack. No one else is 4x4, so we were the only ones who could do it! We were kinda like rock stars for a minute there. They kept lining up to take their pictures in front of the cars. Little kids would just stare and people literally put their babies into the car for pictures. Simply unbelievable reception. Everyone was hungry and thirst, so we went to Molly's for fish tacos and Pacifico's (again... working on that team sponsorship by testing their products!).

Speaking of receptions, the official awards ceremony was at the Grand Mayan Resort here in Cabo. We had killer fireworks right there on the beach (the good, probably illegal in the States kind...) and a *little* bit of tequila. The fuzzy pictures at the end? …just trying to give you and idea of how we were seeing the world after it was all over. Is that Jay in a Sombrero? Why yes. I think it is. Glad he still has his pants on at this point.

We ended up back at our hotel (which is right on the beach) and CRASHED. What an incredible week. Today the boys are in Cabo San Lucas and I am here at the computer with internet connectivity. All is right with the world… Now, about those Pacifico’s… I believe it’s time for some more market research. Thanks for sharing in our adventure with us.

Team LetzRoll Offroad Racing.































LetzRoll Offroad Racing FB page (full Day 4 photo deck): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.537480423029015.1073741891.156455707798157&type=3

Willo's Off-road Media FB page (full Day 4 photo deck): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1436427336608583.1073741837.1416125735305410&type=3

The LetzRoll page is mostly just our team with some other cool things.
The Willo's Off-rad Media page is more of full team / Ultra4 view of thing.

Love Love Love this. So cool!

howd he roll?

Man that's a lot of story for one trip!
We'll have to hear more about our international boys at the face time I keep hearing so much about.

Skatchkins wrote:Man that's a lot of story for one trip!
We'll have to hear more about our international boys at the face time I keep hearing so much about.

THIS! ^^^^^


Chris - taking a corner too hot, bicycled it, hit a ditch, pitched it, broke the kingpin, and then all hell broke loose. :-(