Tara Dakides and Glen Plake have just jumped into their car and sped off into the desert at mile 206. We are sitting here watching them via Tracking International and also watching other cars, trucks and dirt bikes roll into the pits. It’s insane here.
To paint picture imagine at least 10,000 people as the sun sets and darkness falls, no wind, still air, cars charging in and out at full speed, dust covering everything. The smell of sage is thick from bonfires as people stay warm. Fireworks are blowing off. We are in the middle of nowhere and it’s like a little city of organized chaos.
We just got word that Tara stopped for a bit but is moving again at mile marker 280. BC99 is hot on her trail. She was stuck for a bit and we’re thinking either she went off the road or got stuck or had a flat, BUT she’s moving again and in the lead.
BC1 is stuck and hasn’t moved in a few hours, so we’re not sure what’s happening to that car. They are stopped in the worst place possible. BC4 dropped their transmission and got towed in and is charging hard again. It took them 45 minutes to change their transmission and they rolled in missing part of their bumper and hood was gone.
Kelli Stavast and Boris Said killed it out there. Boris learned a lesson this time which was to stop, look at the silt pit in front of you and then figure out how to go around it. He did this and said this might make the difference for his team. The key to winning according to Jim Hancock (our film crew’s awesome host and guide and the man who put Tara in the car!) everyone who has ever won says that you have to stop a lot while racing, evaluate and then think about the choice you are making.
We’ll try and update you with photos in a few hours here. We are shooting tons of footage and excited to see what’s next. It’s going to be a tight race. BC5 (Tara and Glen’s car) is leading by 2 miles over BC99.
