I got the chance to live out one of my biggest dreams at the San Felipe 250 the other weekend. It all started when my buddy, Craig Christy, called me about a month ago. He asked if I would like to drive his new Trophy Truck Spec in the upcoming San Felipe 250 race. I was like, are you joking??? I have always wanted to drive a truck in Baja and now I had someone calling to see if I wanted to. I told him, “Hell yeah I want to drive your truck!” When I hung up the phone I was so excited about what just happened. I started calling all my friends like a high school girl that just got on the varsity cheer squad. It’s funny, because almost everyone that I told was like, ‘man that’s awesome’ and then they would say ‘Have you ever driven a truck like that?’ My answer was, “It can’t be that hard.”
Well, I was wrong about that, for sure. Two weeks before the race, Sammy, my co-driver and I went out to the desert with Craig to test the truck. When we showed up I asked Craig if he wanted to take me for a ride and show me what it can and can’t do and he just said, “Nope…just get in and go.” Now I was thinking, ‘Oh great! Here I am going to get in Craig’s brand new $250k truck with no experience at all. I felt like I was at my first job interview when I was sixteen. I was trying to act confident, but the nervousness was seeping out of my pores. I jumped in, got strapped down, and then had this dumb look on my face when I asked him, “How do you start it?” He just smiled and showed me the process. That dumb look on my face turned into a shit-eating grin when the truck roared to life.
Sammy and I headed out on our test loop and I soon realized that this was going to be challenging. The speed that this truck could handle was way different than what I was used to. I drove the truck for about an hour and that was all I was going to get for seat time. The next time I would drive would be at the race.
Kristen, Sammy, and I headed down to San Felipe late Wednesday night so Sammy and I could prerun our section on Thursday. Craig wanted me to start the race and drive to mile 110. Sammy and I preran in my Polaris RZR XP4 Turbo car and had a blast. We did the first 50 miles and decided to get out and look over the car. As we were looking over the car a Hummer pulled up next to us in the middle of nowhere and they all got out. They were dressed in full camo, had bullet proof vests on, and were carrying automatic rifles. They started looking over the RZR and asked me if I was racing. I told them I was and then jokingly asked the guy that was looking in the car if he wanted a ride. He looked up with a big smile and said, “Yes!!!” He started taking off his bullet proof vest and climbed in the car. Sammy and I were laughing as I got in to give this guy a ride. As I fired up the RZR Turbo all of the other guys put their guns down and got out their camera phones to take video. I ripped around the desert with this guy in the passenger seat. He loved it. We pulled back up and his buddies were cheering and laughing like it was the coolest thing they’ve ever seen. We said our good-byes and headed down the course to finish our prerun while talking about another horrible Baja experience we had just had.
The next day was contingency/tech inspection as well as the day I was going to get a little more seat time in the truck. After tech was over Craig wanted me to take, Steve, his co-driver/mechanic with me to run the first 23 miles of the course at speed. Steve had ridden in trucks like this before, so I wanted him to tell me if I could go faster or slower in order to help me get the feel of the speed I needed to go on race day. When we first got going, I was very timid and nervous about hurting the truck before the stat of the race. I got going pretty good, but was just not comfortable yet.
The next day was race day and I felt like I wanted to scream out loud all morning long. I have never been that nervous before and I had so many things going through my head. First, I did not want to wad up Craig’s new truck and second, I did not want to suck at it. I was so unsure of the pace I needed to go and my butterflies in stomach were starting to turn into pterodactyls. When the time came to head to the starting line, I had calmed myself down a bit and was beginning to get my mind in the game.
Kristen, Josh, and Dani Caster came to the start to take photos and say good luck. As I watched them drive off to get to our first pit, I knew it was go time and there was nothing left to over think or worry about. As the clock counted down the 30 seconds from the truck that had just took off in front of me, my mind calmed and the fears went away. The light turned green, I hit the throttle, the truck roared to life and we were off. Now this is the part where I was living my dream! I just started a Baja race driving a bad ass truck. I have started a ton of races in Baja over the last 17 years, but nothing like this. As we headed off the pavement onto the dirt, I was just thinking to myself…I can’t believe this is happening…followed by…don’t screw up or it will be the last time! I was still gun-shy of the truck and told myself to just take it easy until you get the hang of it. About 5 miles in we started catching the trucks in front of us. I knew if I was catching them, then we were doing well. We had started 13th in our class out of 14 trucks. I started getting comfortable and started pushing harder as the miles ticked away. Sammy and I were doing good and getting the hang of this truck thing. We passed by mile 46 and Kristen told us on the radio that we had gone from 13th to 6th and we were in 2nd place on adjusted time. After hearing that, I picked it up a little more as I was really getting comfortable with the speed and the truck. We started picking more guys off. I was having a blast and the truck was taking a beating and liking it. The faster and harder I pushed it, the better it worked. We were getting close to mile 110 and I was supper happy; not because I was getting out, but because Craig would get a turn to drive his truck. When we pulled into the pit, Craig was smiling ear to ear. I asked him how we were doing and he said we were physically 2nd and we were running 1st on adjusted time. I was so relieved that I was able to get us in the lead. Now the truck was in Craig’s hands and Sammy and I had to play the waiting game until he came through the next pit where we were.
As the saying goes…It’s not IF something happens in Baja but WHEN. Craig got two flat tires and had some major problems with the jack mount after getting hit from behind. In the end, Craig finished the race in a very respectable 3rd place. To go out and race a truck for the very first time and end up on the podium is a huge deal for me.
I want to thank Craig for giving me the chance to do something that I had thought would always remain a dream of mine. I am so grateful to share these moments in my life with my wife, family, and friends. This opportunity would not have been possible without them.
Well, I was wrong about that, for sure. Two weeks before the race, Sammy, my co-driver and I went out to the desert with Craig to test the truck. When we showed up I asked Craig if he wanted to take me for a ride and show me what it can and can’t do and he just said, “Nope…just get in and go.” Now I was thinking, ‘Oh great! Here I am going to get in Craig’s brand new $250k truck with no experience at all. I felt like I was at my first job interview when I was sixteen. I was trying to act confident, but the nervousness was seeping out of my pores. I jumped in, got strapped down, and then had this dumb look on my face when I asked him, “How do you start it?” He just smiled and showed me the process. That dumb look on my face turned into a shit-eating grin when the truck roared to life.
Sammy and I headed out on our test loop and I soon realized that this was going to be challenging. The speed that this truck could handle was way different than what I was used to. I drove the truck for about an hour and that was all I was going to get for seat time. The next time I would drive would be at the race.
Kristen, Sammy, and I headed down to San Felipe late Wednesday night so Sammy and I could prerun our section on Thursday. Craig wanted me to start the race and drive to mile 110. Sammy and I preran in my Polaris RZR XP4 Turbo car and had a blast. We did the first 50 miles and decided to get out and look over the car. As we were looking over the car a Hummer pulled up next to us in the middle of nowhere and they all got out. They were dressed in full camo, had bullet proof vests on, and were carrying automatic rifles. They started looking over the RZR and asked me if I was racing. I told them I was and then jokingly asked the guy that was looking in the car if he wanted a ride. He looked up with a big smile and said, “Yes!!!” He started taking off his bullet proof vest and climbed in the car. Sammy and I were laughing as I got in to give this guy a ride. As I fired up the RZR Turbo all of the other guys put their guns down and got out their camera phones to take video. I ripped around the desert with this guy in the passenger seat. He loved it. We pulled back up and his buddies were cheering and laughing like it was the coolest thing they’ve ever seen. We said our good-byes and headed down the course to finish our prerun while talking about another horrible Baja experience we had just had.
The next day was contingency/tech inspection as well as the day I was going to get a little more seat time in the truck. After tech was over Craig wanted me to take, Steve, his co-driver/mechanic with me to run the first 23 miles of the course at speed. Steve had ridden in trucks like this before, so I wanted him to tell me if I could go faster or slower in order to help me get the feel of the speed I needed to go on race day. When we first got going, I was very timid and nervous about hurting the truck before the stat of the race. I got going pretty good, but was just not comfortable yet.
The next day was race day and I felt like I wanted to scream out loud all morning long. I have never been that nervous before and I had so many things going through my head. First, I did not want to wad up Craig’s new truck and second, I did not want to suck at it. I was so unsure of the pace I needed to go and my butterflies in stomach were starting to turn into pterodactyls. When the time came to head to the starting line, I had calmed myself down a bit and was beginning to get my mind in the game.
Kristen, Josh, and Dani Caster came to the start to take photos and say good luck. As I watched them drive off to get to our first pit, I knew it was go time and there was nothing left to over think or worry about. As the clock counted down the 30 seconds from the truck that had just took off in front of me, my mind calmed and the fears went away. The light turned green, I hit the throttle, the truck roared to life and we were off. Now this is the part where I was living my dream! I just started a Baja race driving a bad ass truck. I have started a ton of races in Baja over the last 17 years, but nothing like this. As we headed off the pavement onto the dirt, I was just thinking to myself…I can’t believe this is happening…followed by…don’t screw up or it will be the last time! I was still gun-shy of the truck and told myself to just take it easy until you get the hang of it. About 5 miles in we started catching the trucks in front of us. I knew if I was catching them, then we were doing well. We had started 13th in our class out of 14 trucks. I started getting comfortable and started pushing harder as the miles ticked away. Sammy and I were doing good and getting the hang of this truck thing. We passed by mile 46 and Kristen told us on the radio that we had gone from 13th to 6th and we were in 2nd place on adjusted time. After hearing that, I picked it up a little more as I was really getting comfortable with the speed and the truck. We started picking more guys off. I was having a blast and the truck was taking a beating and liking it. The faster and harder I pushed it, the better it worked. We were getting close to mile 110 and I was supper happy; not because I was getting out, but because Craig would get a turn to drive his truck. When we pulled into the pit, Craig was smiling ear to ear. I asked him how we were doing and he said we were physically 2nd and we were running 1st on adjusted time. I was so relieved that I was able to get us in the lead. Now the truck was in Craig’s hands and Sammy and I had to play the waiting game until he came through the next pit where we were.
As the saying goes…It’s not IF something happens in Baja but WHEN. Craig got two flat tires and had some major problems with the jack mount after getting hit from behind. In the end, Craig finished the race in a very respectable 3rd place. To go out and race a truck for the very first time and end up on the podium is a huge deal for me.
I want to thank Craig for giving me the chance to do something that I had thought would always remain a dream of mine. I am so grateful to share these moments in my life with my wife, family, and friends. This opportunity would not have been possible without them.
