2006 39th Tecate
SCORE Baja 1000
November 15-18, 2006
Will McCampbells' Baja 1000 Adventure
Townsend, TN (12/5/06) – As
Mark Twain said: “The Rumor Of My Demise Has
Been Greatly Exaggerated.”
Hey everyone, I thought I would share some details
of my experiences in the 2006 Baja 1000 in Mexico. The
race began in Ensenada, Mexico and traveled south 1045
miles over the entire Baja peninsula to the finish line
in LaPaz, Mexico.
As some of you know I was invited to ride in one of
the world’s toughest race by the Mike Penland
Can Am ATV team. Mike’s team had won 5 of the
last 11 races in the Sportsman division, so this was
a great honor.
On Friday the 10th, Jimmy Odell, (a BRP Inc. representative)
of Maryville, who was also asked to ride on the Penland
team and myself, flew out of McGee Tyson Airport headed
for the sunny skies of San Diego. There we met the rest
of the team that consisted of: Mike Penland from Rabun
Gap, Georgia, Hoyt Penland (Mike’s son), Gerald
Dowden of Shreveport, LA, Jason Vinson (our team mechanic)
from Longview, TX and Jeremy Reach of Duraham town GA.
We spent the first few days getting the race bike ready
and loading the 3 trucks that would carry the backup
bikes and our gear between legs of the race. On Wednesday,
November 15th which was the day before the race, everyone
attended the “Racers for Christ” church
service. While we were inside, the rental truck that
Jimmy, Jeremy and I were driving was being stolen along
with my clothes (except for my racing gear, which was
in another truck), and my cell phone along with Jimmy
Odell’s clothes and cell phone, Mike Penland's
suitcase, Jeremy Reach’s clothes, and Hoyt Penland's
clothes and riding gear. Our biggest loss was one of
Mike's Outlander 800 chase quads (fastened in the truck).
Also inside the truck, were some very expensive equipment
for the bikes and some hidden cash for gas money. Gerald
Dowden decided to drive his personal truck into Mexico
so we could continue the race.
On Thursday, November 16, we began our great adventure;
Mike Penland rode the first leg which consisted of 122
miles. Jimmy Odell rode the second leg that was 206
miles long. Gerald Dowden rode the 3rd leg to mile marker
553 where my leg was to begin. By this time it was dark
and the Trophy Trucks had caught up with us.
I need to explain that the Baja is run by all classes
being on the course at the same time. The classes are
made up trucks, dune buggies, ATVs, motorcycles and
every type of imaginable race machine. The Trophy Trucks
are the largest and fastest machine on the course. They
are able to obtain speeds of 140 to 160 mph. The race
officials start the slowest class first and the fastest
class last. This shortens the scoring time at the finish
line, but makes the race more dangerous. The faster
machines overtake and pass the slower machines, this
makes for some very exciting racing.
I started my leg in the dark among the Trophy Trucks.
I had only been racing for 10 to 15 minutes, when I
came upon a Trophy Truck that had its headlights flickering.
The headlights went completely out, so it pulled over
and I passed it. The last thing I remember about the
race is coming to a rough spot and slowing down. My
next, memory is waking up in the ambulance. Apparently
the Trophy Truck was using my lights to see the trail,
so when I slowed down it ran over me.
Gerald told me he was still at the check point when
the ambulance tore out with its lights and siren going.
He said his first thought was “I hope it’s
not Will”. They brought the 4-wheeler out first
in the back of a truck Gerald recognized it as ours,
so he flagged down the ambulance and jumped in with
me. He said that I thought I was in a helicopter. The
ambulance drivers told Gerald, that when they got there
I was trying to start the 4-wheeler but was obliviously
incoherent. They loaded me into the ambulance and headed
out.
I began to get my memory back as we arrived at the
hospital about 1 hour later. I called home and told
everyone I was ok, but apparently they knew something
was wrong because I kept repeating myself (I was unaware
of this) and my tongue was so swollen from where I had
bit it that I could not pronounce my words correctly.
It was a good thing I called home because they were
seeing some reports on the internet that I had been
killed in the accident. My teammates, who were over
a hundred miles away, were also told of my death. The
little Mexican clinic x-rayed my neck and said it was
not broken, but that I needed a CAT scan because of
my erratic behavior and my pupils were dilated. The
race officials would not land a helicopter at night.
Gerald said I was still repeating myself and acting
strangely, so he called Jimmy Odell and said the Mexican
hospital could not do anything else for me.
They decided to take me to the states ASAP for a CAT
scan. We traveled for what seem forever (almost a thousand
miles) throughout the night and into the day to get
to the border. I was lying in the back moaning (just
a little acting) so they flagged us straight through
without a secondary inspection, which would have taken
several more hours. We finally arrived at a hospital
in Chula Vista, CA where I had a CAT scan. They looked
at the scan and said I had a brain bleed and would probably
need to have my head drilled to relieve the pressure.
They loaded me in an ambulance, which went racing over
100mph to the University of California San Diego Hospital
trauma unit. When the specialist examined the CAT scan,
he said I did not have a bleed, but a serious concussion.
I spent 24 hours in the hospital for observation and
was released Saturday afternoon. My injuries include:
a concussion (still with some minor memory loss), black
eye, torn muscles around my left rotator cuff, a bitten
and swollen tongue, and a swelled and bruised left knee.
The top of the line racing helmet I was wearing was
destroyed and my chest protector was busted in the back
from the collision.
During all this, Jerald and Jimmy stood by me. Jimmy
took me under his wing and made sure I got home. In
my foggy condition, due to the concussion, I don’t
think I could have made it without him.
I just read an e-mail from Jimmy
Odell. He included in it his diary of the race. Our
recalled experiences are amazingly similar. The next
2 paragraphs are from his diary.
"When
Mike, Jason Vinson (our team mechanic from Longview
Cycles in Longview, TX) and I got to the quad
it was a mess (enough to make a grown man cry).
Both the rear Bilstein shocks were destroyed,
the one-of-a-kind rear alloy auxiliary fuel tank
was crushed and spewing high-octane Klotz race
gas everywhere, the rear rack, plastic and sub
frame were crushed and broken, along with a flat
left rear tire. The race quad's custom-made and
very powerful three bulb headlights mounted to
the modified front rack were bent skyward towards
the moon.
With our limited spares (since our spare race
shocks were stolen with our truck) we had only
1 - stock front shock and 1 - stock rear shock
to put on the back, so that's what we installed!
We removed the rear rack, plastic and sub frame
and used 2 bungee cords to hold the seat on! The
completed quad looked in far worse condition than
any of the hillbilly machines I've seen at my
local riding areas. Seemingly unshaken, Mike Penland
boldly climbed back on the whipped machine and
soldiered on in effort to salvage a finish for
the team. I said a short prayer for Mike as he
rode by and off into the darkness with both floorboards
flapping in the wind. I called ahead on the satellite
phone to our next pit where Mike's son Hoyt Penland
was impatiently waiting "on deck" as
the next rider to exchange with his father. Hoyt
would ride, then he would hand-off to Jeremy Reach
from Durhamtown, GA, and then Mike would climb
back on for the finish in LaPaz. We lost contact
with the team after my last call, but later I
spoke by satellite phone, with Mike's son Hoyt
and gave him and the others an update on Will,
while he exchanged information on how our team
finished.
Official
results reported: Our team, the Mike Penland #96A
Can-Am Outlander 800 finished the 2006 Baja 1000
Sportsman ATV class in 2nd Place! We completed
the 1047 miles in 31 hours and 45 minutes." |
As you can read, I have a lot to be thankful for this
Thanksgiving. Thanks for all your prayers. God was definitely
with me on this journey.
-Will McCampbell
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