April 25, 2017 (Agua Dulce, Calif.): Day 2 of the NORRA Mexican 1000 had both the bikes and the cars running south along the coast all the way to El Huerfanito before turning southwest towards highway one at Chapala. They run a transit stage down the highway until El Crucerito and the Mag 7 pit. The shared course then heads farther west in the dirt until it makes a split. The bikes continue southwest until they reach the Pacific coast. From there they head south until another splash of fuel in the Mag 7 pit on the highway. With still more miles to go, they make their way to the finish in Guerrero Negro. The day 2 total mileage for bikes was 270.80 miles.

At the course split, the cars turn north before heading east to El Yuguay.  From there they transit into Bay Of Los Angeles. Total miles for the cars and trucks; 221. There was plenty of tough terrain on course today but day 3 will be even tougher with bikes running 328 miles and the four-wheeled competitors traveling 396.70 miles.

Competitors got day one out of the way with some having better luck than others. Those who had an easy day partied in San Felipe while others shagged parts or worked on their cars. The Mexican 1000 is not a punishing run down the Peninsula, but it does include strategy, speed, and the most coveted, luck. Even when your luck runs out, you can still limp it into the finish, make repairs and continue having fun the next day. Luck ran out for the Wilsons today when they ended up on their lid in the Ford Ranger. A heavily experienced team, they trailered the truck to Bay of LA for repairs. The Rippin Rooster 57 Chevy of Jim Riley broke the steering. They hooked up with their chase crew and went looking for a welder. Once repaired, they took off for the next check point but timed out. We saw last year, this team never gives up. They will make it to Cabo if they have to push the car the whole way.

Day 1 Recap Video:

As each day goes by, the camaraderie grows. Every competitor pitches in to help get everyone to Cabo. Today was no exception. When a car pushed their distress signal today complaining of dehydration north of Punta Prieta, 1206 Chris Burnett, 28 John Swift, and 216 Bobby PeCoy, all stopped to render aid. The driver was taken to the hospital to get checked out and later released. Baja is about being prepared but also being able to adapt. Sweep team 4 got a report that the diesel power wagon did not have fuel and their chase truck was broken down at Coco’s corner. They just so happened to have 10 gallons of diesel on board so they took off to track them down. They caught up to them and gave them enough fuel to get to the next pit. After having done their good deed for the day, they just so happened to be right in front of a taco stand. That is Baja luck!

After two full days of racing, there are some familiar names leading the different eras but we learned last year, it usually comes down to the final day to determine the winners. Tomorrow’s stage to Loreto will be a tough one, and provide many stories at the end of the day. Be sure to follow the tracking and live feed so you can be a part of the action. You can find the live feed here: www.norra.com/live There will also be daily race reports that include personal quotes from competitors and insider information from people on the ground. The nightly race report, and additional information about NORRA, can be found here: www.norra.com/mexican1000.

Results After Day 2
Bikes Top 10
1. Steve Hengeveld
2. Mark Samuels
3. Steve Grieb
4. Thomas Harris
5. Paul Tschida
6. Bing Satre
7. Jeffery Alter
8. Scott Burch
9. Kevin Busch
10. Tim May

Car Top 10
1. Cameron Steele
2. Mark Post
3. Greg DiStefano
4. Gary Smith
5. Zak Langley
6. Adam Ramirez
7. Troy Johnson
8. Butch Jensen
9. JC Cornia
10. Walker Evans