2012 Mexican 1000 – race day minus 2

April 27, 2012

My dad had a tradition of driving his race car to the starting line in Ensenada, running the race, and driving the car back home from La Paz.  This year I decided I should do the same.  It’s a little more challenging when you live on the northern edge of Los Angeles.  Rather than a 99 mile trip to Ensenada, I had a 291 mile trip to Mexicali. 

Friday was 182 miles from Santa Clarita to my folks’ in Jamul.

We needed to pick up my sister Mary who along with my wife and kids would be our chase crew.  On the way we picked up my co-driver, Rhonda, and had lunch.  Otherwise the trip was almost uneventful. 

Well, except for accidently turning on the lower spot lights and melting their covers.  The car ran great and cruised at about 62mph on the freeway

We rolled into my folks house in the early after noon. After debating on chase vehicles we wound up going with my mom’s old Lexus RX300.  Mary’s Tundra was tempting but the back seats are so cramped we figured we’d have whining kids the whole trip.

Here’s what I tried to pack in the cars

2 Spare Tires

4 cans of fix a flat

a floor jack

4 Shocks

2 U-joints

Wheel bearings

U Bolts

Fan Belt

Power Steering Belt

2 front spindles

Extra Brake Lines

Big bag of tools

Zip ties, duct tape and bailing wire

Little electrical repair bag (with voltmeter)

Welder, Drill, Grinder – (we ended up leaving these in Jamul, realizing (correctly) that it would be easier to find a mechanic than a free outlet)

Packing for people, we didn’t quite do as well but it was bearable.

the story continues here