Baha Racing

OBFM Racing - BAJA 1000 Warmup

by Tom Dunbar

Publication Date: November 1997

OBFM RACING (Old Bald Fat Men) was formed in early 1997 by Tom Dunbar, Bill Dunbar, and Duane Parker of Louisville, Kentucky. Subsequent to that time two new members have joined the partnership - Whit Courtenay and Tracy Axton. The team owns and operates an off-road race car based around a modified Volkswagen engine that runs on 110 octane gasoline (similar to jet fuel). The frame and suspension are beefed up to allow for racing across extreme terrain. The class of car is the 1/2=1600 class and is raced with a driver and passenger throughout the race. Top speed is around 85-90 mph with the average speed in a race only around 30-35 mph due to the extreme race conditions.

The first race the OBFM team entered was the PRIMM 300. This race involves three grueling laps around a 90 mile course in Primm, Nevada. It is a true test of man and machine as over a third of the vehicles breakdown from the abuse. Bill Dunbar started the race as driver and promptly rolled the car at 35-45 mph, scaring both Tom Dunbar and himself, but at the same time showing everyone that the car really is fairly safe. Tom piloted the car during the second lap and Duane Parker was the next victim as passenger. Tom did a great job and we had a relatively uneventful second lap (I won't tell about us getting stuck in the sand - since it was due to the phantom truck that I saw which was not really there).

For the third lap, Duane (that's me), was the pilot with our fearless crew chief Jimmy Wietzel being pressed into service as rider. The rider does get beat up a bit more, simply because he never really knows what the idiot in charge is going to do - turn the car over, hit the large boulder, run into trees, etc. I managed to get the car around the third lap and actually pass four or five cars and trucks in the process. Passing is really fun. If they don't let you pass when you come up behind them, the rules allow for a little love tap known as "nerfing," something I know most everyone has wanted to do on the highway at one time or another. Well just as I'm coming down the backstretch, I am flying along a dirt road at approximately 85 mph or so and the car is swapping ends (a phenomena where the back-end of the car bounces from side-to-side, sometimes severely). Well, the back of the car starts to come around and doesn't stop until luckily a small bush whacks the car and straightens it back out on its course. From there, I brought it to the end of the course, only to bicycle it (get it up on two wheels) just before the finish line. No problem, though, the car stayed right-side-up and we finished our first race!!!

Our second race event was a doozy...We went to Ensenada, Mexico and attempted the BAJA 500. It is a great race, which goes for 500 miles around the mountains and through the desert in the BAJA Peninsula, starting and ending in Ensenada. To the city of Ensenada, this event is like the Derby festival, 4th of July, and New Orleans Jazzfest all rolled into one big event. Tom, Bill and I enlisted the next two victims (actually they enlisted of their own free volition), Whit and Tracy. The race is very long and we had broken it up into three sections for three teams to cover. The first team was Tom and Duane, the second would be made up of Bill and Tracy, with the third team to be Whit and our crew chief Jimmy.

We started the race first in the amateur class (3 in the class) behind 24 professionals (as is the custom with S.C.O.R.E. - the originator that puts on the series involving the BAJA races). The beginning was exciting as we raced down the streets of Ensenada for a couple of miles and then dropped down into a dry river bed, where we then proceeded out of town. Tom and I made GOOD time and had passed many racers in the first 180 miles, to find ourselves behind only one professional car in our type of vehicle. Then we had the problem of switching off with the second team of drivers. Due to an unfortunate mishap, we wasted approximately an hour or so making the switch, which allowed many cars to pass us. The swap was made and the second team of Bill and Tracy took off with Bill intent upon making up ground. However, the second team had some problems with a flat and radio communication that caused us to abort the race after their section, as we would not have been able to finish the race in under the time limit imposed by the race officials. The last leg would have been run for naught and over some very dangerous sections of the course. We felt they didn't need to take that risk.

This brings us to our third race of 1997. As is the custom in our group, if you miss out on a ride in one race, you have the option to start the next race. This is what Whit and Jimmy did at the VEGAS to RENO - Best in the Desert 560 Mile Race. Whit started driving and drove through what was known as the rock garden - 100 miles of boulders and rocks. He did great, though he might have shaken Jimmy's fillings out. Whit "Iron Mother" drove for approximately 130 miles and then turned the car over to Jimmy who drove until he couldn't drive any further due to a stomach problem. Then, I took over driving with Tom as rider. It was dark at this time and we had the light-bar on with all our lights blazing! I drove like a madman for approximately 70 or so miles managing to pass another racer and only driving off the course once or twice when the radio stopped transmitting, the intercom started popping, the lights started dimming, and BOOM...the engine died! OK, maybe it didn't go boom, but the effect was the same. We were stuck in the desert at about 9:00 PM, miles from nowhere, and had only a fellow racer stop to take a note from us to the next pit to tell them we were broken down and out of the race. We lost the alternator and as a result, the battery went dead along with the engine. We managed to be "rescued" by a race official at about 1:00 AM after four cold hours on the rocks staring up at the stars and thinking about rattlesnakes, etc. Anyway, all's-well-that-ends-well, and we are now thinking about our next race...the BIG ONE...the BAJA 1000.

Our next and final race for this year certainly is the Granddaddy...The BAJA 1000. This being an odd year, it's only 1000 kilometers rather than miles in the even years. However, 650 miles is nothing to yawn at. It will take a total of almost 24 hours for us. We will have three or four teams and two chase vehicles like the 500, and at least one will have full darkness for the entire run. We will do everything we can think of to make the lighting as good as possible.

For further information regarding OBFM Racing Team, contact Tom Dunbar at (502 897-7733. For information regarding the BAJA off-road race series, contact S.C.O.R.E. International at (818) 225-8402, or SCORE-international.com website.