Baja 1000- Marlin Crawler "prototype" Transmission

[CruzrDave]

Bad news, everybody. You'll notice the truck is South of Ensenada if you check the sat tracking:

http://irctracking.com/2007/baja1000/North/

Unfortunately, it's not on course. The freshly rebuilt engine blew 10 miles into the race. Sounds like a thrown rod. In any case, the race is over for the Fireguys.

More news when I have some,
Patrick
Fireguys Racing

Man that sucks! Desert racing is brutal.

Glad it wasn't the transmission
Hey,somebody had to say it. Everybody at the shop was starting to get sick when they stopped moving.

Its just one race. We'll be watching for them in BITD 2008

[79coyotefrg]

man  that blows, LITERALLY

so,  who did the engine 

[Runnerguy]

Well just talked to Jason, and as you already know the motor let go. at about mile 6 he heard a noise, not wanting to believe what he knew was wrong, he kept going. Turned a corner at about mile 7, they lost power, and that was it. It seems there is something in the bottom end that is DONE. Spirits are low for them at this moment to say the least. They were all diving into there prerunners, and heading down south. They were going to chase for the Monqures (sp). They have already rented a beach house, and a few hotel rooms that they might as well use.. Sorry guys! I was hoping for the best!! BTW seems the tranny held up fine!!

[BigMike]

What the heck.....

[BigMike]

What happened to truck 744? Team Edro Racing? Are they also out of the race.......

[79coyotefrg]

What happened to truck 744? Team Edro Racing? Are they also out of the race.......

maybe he plans on being "fashionably"  late 

[CruzrDave]

Alright, since the Fire Guys are out I have decided to follow the Long Beach Racers http://www.longbeachracers.com/. These guys have a 01 Taco and I really want to see 7SX win go to Toyota guys, I'm pulling for them. If the Fire Guys are chasing for them then they must be a good group. Go LBR


I've been sitting here think about how Jason and Paul put so much time into making this happen. I talked with Randy (Runnerguy) about them on Friday; he told me how they would drive like 2 hours one way to their shop to work on the truck. He said they would do this 2 or 3 times a week. 1 year worth of planning was gone in 10 minutes, 1290 miles from the finish line. I wouldn't think anything different if they went back to the beach house and partied the night away, they deserve it. But for then to load up the chase trucks and support a competitor tells a great deal about how much these guys love racing and what kind of guys they really are. I'm proud we had the opportunity to be involved with the Fire Guys (even in the smallest way) for the Baja 1000, I'm looking forward to working with them in the new season. Our shop was so pumped about them; I had people popping in my office every few minute to see what was happening. I have not seen the shop this excited in a long time. Thanks Fire Guys!

[79coyotefrg]

Alright, since the Fire Guys are out I have decided to follow the Long Beach Racers http://www.longbeachracers.com/. These guys have a 01 Taco and I really want to see 7SX win go to Toyota guys, I'm pulling for them. If the Fire Guys are chasing for them then they must be a good group. Go LBR

what number  are they ??

edit,  NEVER MIND    758 

[79coyotefrg]

mm 215   10mph 

[79coyotefrg]

   is  there a  shortcut 

[CruzrDave]

 

It looks like #758 is on the hwy had north back home.

[crazywb]

I told you to let me inter my turbo truck

[FireGuysRacing]

Well........ as all of you know we had motor problems at about RM 7 that ended our hopes of making it to Cabo.  I can say that I got a very sick feeling in my stomach when I first heard a sound and seemed to not have the power I should have on a small silty hill just before it was really obvious.  I dropped down the other side into a wash and got on the gas again and the knocking and loss of power was very obvious at this point.  We pulled over and were immediately surrounded by all the locals.  While my brother was working on communications to get one of our chase crews to us, I was under the hood looking for any large holes in the block or something.  The last time I heard those noises we had ventilated both sides of the block!  A few minutes into all this I heard a wratchet noise towards the rear of our truck and realized that the locals were beginning to strip the truck of tools, spare parts, really anything they could get there hands on.  My dad pulled up about this time and I pointed out a couple of kids that were messing with their back pack and he grabbed him and put him against the truck and opened his pack to find some of our tools.  My dad got really loud and told everyone to get away from the truck and they understood the tone of his voice not what he said.  I stopped trying to work on anything else at this point and we towed it out of there.  We got it back to the house my parents had rented just south of Ensenada and put it in a safe place and took off to help our friends Ted Moncure and team.  I knew they had a plan to change drivers in Santo Domingo so we headed there to catch up with them and help them get to Cabo.  Well....... we got to Santo Domingo and it was a complete zoo!  We went up one of three chase roads and walked all over to find them and couldn't.  We drove around for awhile and didn't find anyone we knew so I decided to go to the next BFG pit to catch them there because I knew they were using them as well as we were.  I found Ted's father and found out they had worse luck than we did.  They made it to around 200+ miles and in that time they lost the power steering rack and replaced it off of one of their chase trucks.  They had two fires they were able to put out but were being caused by tranny problems which I think they finally lost the tranny as well, and to top it all off they rolled it somewhere as well.  Everyone was ok and they ended their race early as well!  We continued on down the Peninsula gathering our crew all the way down.  Some have headed north and are back at this time and a few of us have come down to Todos Santos where we have a house for three nights before heading back north.  It was a very sobering drive down here.  More and more news will be out in the days to come but we have seen multiple accidents with chase vehicles that people have been hurt and or lost their lives in.....  Our thoughts are with all involved in all these accidents.  We will keep an eye on here when we can on the way home and write more when we are back.  We have a bad ass truck prepped and ready to go when we sort out the engine!  So watch for us soon!!!

Jason and Paul
Fire Guys Racing

P.S.  We really appreciate everyone tracking and trying to keep an eye on us!  Thanks!

[79coyotefrg]

so  maybe  you came out  on the good end after all

let us all know  when the next race  you compete in

[BigMike]

Jason,

Sorry, I've not followed Baja very closely, but is this just another day in the life of the sport?

I understand the beating and constant pounding the machines take is brutal, but I am wondering, roughly speaking, what percentage of vehicles who leave the start line actually make it to the finish line?

[stoken82]

man I never thought about the fact that you would have to protect yourself from looting too...      as its not bad enough your truck is broke but if not careful the tools will be gone too. thats so 

well hopefully it will go better next time and we are all thinking of the chase vehicle and their occupants.

[FireGuysRacing]

Hey BigMike, here is something I got off of an email from SCORE:

40th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000

Final Round of six-race 2007 SCORE Desert Series

Nov. 11-16  -- 1,296.39 miles

Ensenada, Baja California to Cabo San Lucas , Baja California Sur , Mexico

TOTAL STARTERS: 424   TOTAL FINISHERS: 239 (56.4 Percent)

That was for all starters and finishers for this year, in our class there were 11 starters and 3 finishers and I think that possibly 2 vehicles in our class had a shorter race than we did.  I passed by two trucks in our class pulled over before we had our problem.  I'll have to check our gps but on the way out of Ensenada I looked over and am pretty sure I saw 93mph on an uphill paved road and I had almost made up the 30 second gap on the truck in front of me in about 2-3 miles.  When we hit the dust I backed off as to stick to our game plan of finishing all 1300 miles, no need to crash in the first couple of miles, I had plenty more miles to show the others in our class our capabilities!  As far as the motor goes you are obviously upset when it happens especially that soon in a race, but we are not pointing any fingers or saying anything about it until we pull the motor and find out the actual problem.  I'm sure it will be delt with in a professional manner when we get to that point.

Jason

[Runnerguy]

http://www.highrevphoto.com/photos/index.php?do=photocart&viewImage=26332 is a nice photo, you can even see the turtle!!

[FireGuysRacing]

Hey everyone, thanks again for your support in our Baja 1000 effort.  Just wanted to let you know that Cyl. #3 rod bearing failure was the problem.  We are working on getting the motor problem taken care of and possibly racing the SNORE battle at Primm, NV and then the SNORE Mint 400 in Vegas and go from there.  Thanks again, Jason & Paul

[MiniSimp]

Right on guys! Get back out there!

[BigMike]

http://www.highrevphoto.com/photos/index.php?do=photocart&viewImage=26332 is a nice photo, you can even see the turtle!!

NICE!!

[94MtnYote]

Wow,  the Fire Guys team and truck are awesome, I look forward to following future races!! 

[Runnerguy]

If anyone feels like a trip to Wendover the first weekend in May, The "guys" should be there. All the help that shows up would be great!! More info at www.boreracing.net There will be a few other toys there, and a ton of toy people to hang out with! The coarse is open, and you can get almost anyplace on fireroads with plenty to see!! It's a great time!! Afterwords, the casinos and bars are close!! Racing is on Saturday, but all day Friday the coarse is open to pre-run, and play around.. I'll be there fo-sho!!

[BigMike]

Randy,

I told Dave I want to attend the races this spring, but the 1st weekend of May is Cruise Moab! I'll be in Utah wheeling!

[Runnerguy]

Btw Mike.. I dig the Avitar!! Any Idea who it is? I do.. Ahhh, the good old days

[Snowrunner]

When do we get to find out what kind of good stuff is on the inside of this tranny?

[THK Matt]

When do we get to find out what kind of good stuff is on the inside of this tranny?

X2

and any update on when the "the guys" race next?

[Runnerguy]

The next race for the Fire Guys is the 2-3 of May in Wendover NV. a full schedule at www.boreracing.net

X2

and any update on when the "the guys" race next?

[THK Matt]

The next race for the Fire Guys is the 2-3 of May in Wendover NV. a full schedule at www.boreracing.net

thanks man, hows the truck doing?

[Runnerguy]

thanks man, hows the truck doing?

I talked to Jason the other day, it seems there are still collecting parts and spening money. They should have eveything in one place, ready to assemble within a week. They better get moving though.. The first race is a month away!