SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
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away. According to the team members, the pit stops had happened without any serious incidents and driver and co- driver swaps went as planned, as each team had ample support. But the SCORE Baja 1000 had taken a toll on these racers and they had all missed several official checkpoints. SUPPORT CREWS The support crews for these teams make all the difference in a long race like the SCORE Baja 1000. Hollenbeck's team of drivers and co-drivers included Dave Forrest, Kevin Schlecht and Canadians Kailen Hill and Paul Hartl, along with Armando Salazar and Roberto Tapiz from Ensenada. "My strategy was to rotate the teams together as driver and co-driver," said Hollenbeck. The RLM de Mexico team also had lots of support from Pastor Sergio Lopez, Cherokee Chase Communications of Ensenada, Andrew Penner, Tundra Chase, Mooch Racing of Canada, Logan Guthrie of Logan's Run Chase Truck from Murrieta, California. The chase crew was captained by Hollenbeck's wife Debbie and assisted by daughter Natalie, who just turned 16 years-old. Mario Sandez, Pam Schlecht, John and Christopher Vandenhaak pitched in where they could as Hollenbeck's second chase crew. For Neauleau's Team CBCFS, these were also an energized crew of friends and family, all eager to get the job done. It included drivers Nate Tennis, Ryan Crook and co-drivers David O'Neill and Alejandro Arballo Rosas. Nauleau's father Jean-Luc served as the team's chase crew with Roger Crook and Sandy Schwab. Together they were known as the "Frenchies". With such large teams and help, what was left of the Class 11 field had successfully finished the first half of the race. However, things never go as planned and turned into more disappointment soon afterward. According to Nauleau, his chase crew was on the way to a checkpoint when a rear wheel snapped off their support truck. As they desperately tried to fix it off the main highway, a drunk driver slammed into the back of their other chase vehicle that had shown up to assist them. To add injury to insult, someone ran away with the team's spare fuel can, and when they chased him down, the crew got splashed in fuel as the person ran away into the darkness. When the Mexican Federal Police arrived there was a lot of confusion. They nearly arrested Nauleau and his crew if not for the intervention of teammate Alejandro Arballo Rosas. "My Spanish is ok, but not as great as Alejandro's," Nauleau said. "It could have ended much worse. We could have been crushed by the drunk driver, and on fire or in jail," he added. "In the end, all we lost was time, some fuel and a decent chase truck." 072 SCORE JOURNAL THE '71 BEETLE BELONGING TO NAULEAU SPEEDS ACROSS A FLAT PORTION OF THE COURSE.