Baja 1000 is always an unforgettable story. I was honored to be invited to drive with such a great Team Of drivers, Boris Said and Glen Plake. The BC (Baja Challenge) class was full of compition with the likes of Todd Clement, Nick Johnson, the Baldwin Team, Christian, PJ Jones and several others.

In the first section from Ensenada to Borreggo Boris Said found his way through the pack and got our car/BC-5 into the lead coming into Borrego. That’s when I jumped in the driver seat and took the car from the pit stop through the Borrego loop and into the night. We fought 4 foot deep whoops for 100 miles, silt, traffic and the darkness of night. With only one flat tire we kept a good pace.

Glen, with all his pre-running experience was an amazing co pilot and a second pair of eyes which is very much needed in this race. A couple sections we had to stop, have a good look at what was a head and let the silt settle so we could find our way threw some tricky and dangerous areas where several trucks and buggies were stuck….its always a good feeling when you can keep it running threw danger zones where there’s a lot of fallen soldiers down and now digging there way out. Just keep it running was all I thought as we drove threw the cold night and rough almost scary terrain, Keep it running because when your down, IT SUCKS BAD!!!  For me personally, coming in to borego in my section still leading the race was an amazing feeling and I knew I did my job and I was happy with the job I did. We lead 2/3rds of the race and All together Glen and I were in the car for about 500 miles near 17 hours.

In Glen’s section we had one little bobble where we got stuck behind some traffic and the 2nd place car that was only about 3 miles behind us the hole race had now passed us and just barely slipped threw a water crossing called Simpsons just before the race came to a complete stop for near 2 hours. A truck was stuck in the deep trenches of the water there and there was no way around him so we waited. It was amazing to watch how many people it took and how they got the truck out of this huge water ditch at about 1 am. In the middle of the desert these are the times when you just figure out how to make the impossible possible.   Eventually we got running again and back in the race, back to the cold blowing at you as you’re going 80 mph and back to the night.  At one point I fell asleep for 20 minutes while glen was driving but once the sun started to rise and I saw that we were following the coastline/ocean…I was wide awake again.  Leading the race for as long as we did and coming in second behind Nick Baldwin was/is amazing!!!

I have a lot of awards but this 2nd place takes the cake…or at least its right up there with a few others.  My thanks go to the team Glen Boris and Kelly, the Entire Wide Open Team and all those who built our Baja Challenge Buggy BC-5, BFG Tires, KMC wheels, SCORE Racing, SOS Communications, Sessions, Vans, Alpinestar, Asterisks, Go Pro, Sean, Nick Rosa and Rich Van Every for contributing there great Images and finally Jim Hancock, my friends and Family….thanks Mom cause I know what I do sometimes leaves you with sleepless nights but I know you know I wouldn’t have my life any other way.

Saturday morning Tara Dakides and Glen Plake rolled across the finish line around 11:00am in Ensenada Mexico, pulling in second, a little over an hour behind the first place team BC99. While Tara’s team (Plake, Boris Said, Kellie Stavast) held first place for 2/3 of the race, there was a critical point that caused an hour delay and then jam of trucks that further pushed BC5 back into second.
Few people know how involved in racing Tara is. She raced Baja 1000 in 2005 and 2007 and can be seen in the world class movie Dust to Glory, a documentary about the Baja 1000 that was filmed in 2005. Dakides has been involved in road racing, attended the Skip Barber Race School and Jim Russell Race school. She recently took 3rd out of 250 cars at the charity event Powder Puff race for Breast Cancer in Barstow California.

With this sweet 2nd place finish at the baja 1000 2009, a feat few driver reach, she’s poised and ready to move forward in her race career.
We’ll have video from the event loaded this week so stay tuned!

A few photos of Tara and team rolling across the finish line. Don’t mind the ones where Tara and Glen look a bit worked. It was one serious ride and a lot of sitting over 23 hours.

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.

Contingency was quick. We were one of the first classes through. I got mobbed by local kids for stickers. Fed a couple of starving dogs. Bought a six dollar necklace from a five year old kid. Had a Starbuck’s in the afternoon. God you can find Starbuck’s anywhere. Got the phone call I was waiting for while I was sipping my latte. And the phone call said we are waiting for you we are going to pre-run the start and finish. Get yer ass down here.

So I walked a couple of blocks to downtown Ensenada and jumped in a pre runner with Brent Fletcher and Jasper and we were on the course. Went through a couple of police barricades and literally jumped on to the course and went in 42 miles. Words can’t really describe what that was about. I was in a trophy truck and it was such a good ride that the co-pilot puked his brains out. I am really glad I got on the course cause now I feel like I got a chance to introduce myself to it and get a feel for what I am going to drive. Now I am going to get some good rest and wake up in the morning to a line of cars in the parking lot at the hotel we are staying at.

Everyone’s going to have their game face on tomorrow. All the jokes and tricks aside. It’s game time. We have a police escort down to the start. Spent a lot of time with Glen and Boris today going over all the details in the course. And we got the best team out there in the BC class. It’s going to be a good race. Stay tuned.

12:38am and somewhere on the edge of Ensenada. We’ve been driving since about 9 with a little stop along the way to meet up with Josh and Jim from Wide Open. We are caravanning down to the ranch with the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack and Queen blasting. We’re in Tara’s 1994 Itasca Sunrise. Pretty rad RV but not exactly a slick road machine. Tara’s handling it like a champ as we grip the road precariously tottering dangerously close to the abrupt edges, the road suddenly jogging left due to construction, then cruising right less then a mile later.

We got word a little earlier that Glen Plake is already down south waiting for us. Our crew currently consists of Tara, Andy, Chef John, our new addition to the film crew – Nick and Josh, Melissa and Jim.
Ahead of us are Tara Bell and Brendon McQueen, two other members of our film crew. They are with Gustavo Vildosa’s team who is driving a Red Bull trophy truck. They hooked up with Tavo this morning in the desert and witnessed a little trophy truck training first hand. This entailed driving 120 miles an hour through the desert in hot pursuit of Tavo.

As we creep closer to the Ranch the music gets louder, the adrenaline is coursing in spite of the fact that we’re all a little tired. Andy just made a scary joke. “You can call us Samosonite cause we have such a good handle on things.” Oy vey. I don’t want to laugh but I am so tired I can’t help but laugh a little.

Baja feels very different then California yet we are only about 3 hours from Oceanside. The air is dirtier. You can smell burning trash and bad sewers everywhere. On one hand we’re excited to be here, but the intensity of it all was felt from the moment we crossed the border and the tall imposing walls lined the side of the road. You can’t help but notice that you feel like you are on the wrong side of the wall. The poverty of TJ seems to get worse and worse every time I travel south and all of the negative news about the druglords running Mexico isn’t helping the economy. Between Swine Flu and the Drug cartel it’s no wonder American’s are so freaked about traveling south. According to Jim two days before we headed into Mexico the US government added Mexico to the list as one of the most dangerous places to travel to right now.  But here we are anyway. The Ranch is just a few miles in front of us and the first day of our journey has begun…

It’s winter time and usually this is the time of year when Tara would be hitting the snow somewhere around the country. This year her focus is the Baja 1000 though. However, she hasn’t forgotten about snowboarding. Here’s a little teaser from a film she was in called La La Land to show you her other side…

ENSENADA, Mexico—Colorful pre-race festivities begin Wednesday for the 42^nd Anniversary celebration of the legendary Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 race, but when the green flag drops on Friday morning in Ensenada, Baja California, the racing will be as intense as it gets with 2009 SCORE Desert Series season point championships on the line.

With racers competing in 30 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs, the legendary race will be held Wednesday through Sunday in Ensenada, Mexico. Sal Fish’s SCORE International is completing its 36^th year as the World’s foremost desert racing sanctioning body and the event is the finale of the five-race 2009 SCORE Desert Series. To date, 338 adventurers and the world’s best desert racers have come from 39 U.S. States and 14 countries to gather on the majestic Baja California peninsula. Among the entries are 24 class winners from last year’s race. Late entries will be accepted up until race morning.

This year’s 672.85-mile race will start for the 35^th time and finish for the 20^th time in Ensenada.  The motorcycle and ATV classes will start their journey at 6:30 a.m. PST next Friday, with the car and truck classes starting at approximately 10:30 a.m., or three hours after the last ATV leaves the line. Vehicles will leave in 30-second intervals in the elapsed-time race and while the fastest finishers are expected to complete the course in approximately 14 hours. All vehicles will have a 31-hour time limit to become official finishers in the legendary adventure.

The race will start and finish on Boulevard Costero adjacent to the picturesque Bahia de Todos Santos in front of the historical Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in the heart of Ensenada.

It’s the oldest and most well known of all desert races, and it remains as the single most appealing accomplishment to a racer. Since 1967, the Granddaddy of all desert races has been run over the mysterious Baja California peninsula. This year’s course will be run totally in the Northern part of the peninsula…

Stay tuned for more!

Tara Dakides’ car has a number now attached to it so you will be able to follow her live on the site during the race on friday. Tara is in the BC class, and her number is BC5. This is the site for tracking all of the cars: Tracking International.

The other driver in the car right now is NBC’s Kellie Stavast.

This is year three for Tara Dakides in the Baja 1000 and she’s back with Wide Open Adventures. She sent us a few photos to throw together a photo gallery of past years. Looks like past years were fun, but this is bound to be one of the best yet.