Ensenada, Baja California - ORC staffers have arrived to the seaside town of Ensenada late this week and reports in the local papers were Mark Miller Racing had withdrawn from the Baja 500 race. ORC shot a telephone call into Mark Miller Racing headquarters to confirm the rumors and discovered that it was indeed correct information.

As in professional motorsports organizations from around the world, sponsor commitment is paramount towards capturing a win let alone participate in a race. As the defending SCORE International 2003 Baja 500 & Baja 1000 Trophy Truck champion, Mark Miller Racing has devoted everything they have into these two huge wins in 2003.

In what has been described as some of the most intense off-road racing in the world, Mark Miller and Ryan Arciero combined to capture wins in the toughest off-road racing in the world. After capturing the Baja 1000, Mark Miller headed for the African continent where he ran in the famed Dakar Rally before suffering mechanical problems on the European prepped truck that took him out of the competition. Visit www.MarkMillerRacing.com for the complete story about the 2004 Dakar Rally.

More importantly, the fact that Mark Miller Racing will not be at the starting line located at Riviera del Pacifico Convention Center in downtown Ensenada is a big statement to the world of off-road desert racing.

You have to wonder what corporate America is thinking when they cannot see the opportunities in sponsoring the reigning champion of the two most prestigious off-road races in the world. Coming off a dynamic 2003 season where everything went right, Miller and Arciero were poised to make a run for the win at the 2004 Baja 500.

We understand that Mark Miller Racing came up tens of thousands of dollars short in sponsorship funding for them to make a competitive run towards winning yet another Baja 500.

That amount of cashola to an associate sponsor of a race program might be a big number, but to corporate America and the powers to be, it's a drop in the bucket for the return on investment they receive for a big win like this.

And it's no lack of determined hard work by the entire supporting team at Mark Miller Racing. From the front office to the last guy in the shop every night it's a team effort to win.

As of recent, the Mark Miller Racing team have done everything possible, specifically at General Motors and Chevrolet, and received a stern NO INTEREST in your race team, Baja Racing and/or Off-Road Racing.

No doubt, Mark Miller Racing could foot yet another bill for this race, but someone at sometime has to make a stand in efforts to fund championship winning programs without doling cash from his own pocket.

When does desert racing motorsports make the turn from the self-funding hobbiest bad-ass racer to serious corporate sponsored racer teams?

Who wins and who loses?

Desert Racing at this level is pure business. Yep, some teams look at it as a hobby, but the true grit champions run their teams as a business and they make the wins happen time and time again.

The fans lose out. The chase crews and support teams that wait all year long lose out. And championship winning race teams lose out.

Sure, chase crews and team volunteers can help out other teams to get their Baja off-road racing fix, but there is nothing like standing on the carpet at Ojos Negros when your team Trophy Truck is approaching the pit at over 100 mph. The radio crackles as the co-driver puts out some intstructions and you know this pit stop is huge as the race is tight with only some 60 miles to go...but the truck needsa splash of fuel and a spare tire in the rack. Hearts are pumping as the glitter of the truck fades off the moonlight and the HID's illuminate the Baja Desert.

Not this Baja 500, for determined race team volunteers associated with Mark Miller Racing because this race isn't happening for them.

Mark Miller Racing will continue to work non-stop on sponsor procurement as they rally to put together the greatest program ever seen for American participation in Dakar and Baja at the Baja 1000.

Look for Mark Miller and Ryan Arciero to be racing towards the finish line in La Paz at the Baja 1000. You may visit the Mark Miller Racing Team at www.MarkMillerRacing.com for the latest efforts towards the Baja 1000 and the 2005 Dakar Rally.

Much thanks to MarkMillerRacing for their candor when we called to ask tough questions about a championship winning program.