SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/997748
there is a cost for emergency pitting. BFGoodrich Tires as an example, handles emergency pitting differently than most. "I don't know what others do, but we will have two or three lanes to fuel and service all of them," said DeAngelo. "By mid-day, we are down to two lanes, and then near the end, we might have just one lane. We ask everybody to register first if they plan to stop, or if they might stop. But if you're running our tires, usually we can make accommodations for you in an emergency." One of those teams that sign up for emergency pit support from Baja Pits and BFGoodrich is RPM Off-Road. "We've been signing up for their services for a long time," said Matney. "I can't tell you how many times I needed just a few more gallons of fuel and come across a Baja Pits. We log all the pits throughout the course and all of our teams have these pit packets." According to race director Hill of Mag 7, they see a lot of the big names in racing making emergency pitting arrangements with them prior to the event. Aside from the 60 racers, they pitted at last year's SCORE Baja 1000, they also see their share of smaller Sportsman type teams that don't have chase trucks to get fuel or tires out to them in remote locations. "We get MacCachren's team, the Wilsons, and the McMillen's that signed up for emergency service. It's such a cheap insurance policy for the teams in case they break and we're nearby we can keep them in the race," he said. "We get a lot of Europeans and Japanese racers that use our emergency service. We had one motorcycle rider from Japan that was totally gassed, he didn't speak any English and wanted to get off the bike. We gave him a sandwich, he took a bite and it was like the most amazing thing he'd ever eaten in his life. He just went through 400 miles of dirt and he couldn't believe this sandwich. It was memorable to see his face. It's those experiences that are really fun for the pit crews." Mag 7 is also prepared for staggering the teams pitting just like BFGoodrich Tires and leaves it up to each pit captain to find a location where multiple vehicles can pit without much effort. As off-road desert racing continues to grow, the advancements of fueling equipment, tire mounting, and communications will likely benefit desert racers in a positive way. But behind those advancements are the people, who make it happen, in any weather, in any location. They are fundamentally everything that is good about a sport that has more than half a century of history behind it and counting. SJ PIT CREWS FOR BFGOODRICH HAVE SPECIALIZED SKILLS FROM WELDING TO FUELING. PIT CREWS : THE UNTOLD STORY SCORE JOURNAL 134