Category: Baja 1000 2014

$3,565 later, we are officially entered in the 2014 Baja 1000 in Class 11.

2.5 weeks to go and a lot is in the offing.

Watch this space….

Thomas Gallahue contemplates all that remains to be done.

We’re three weeks out from the Baja 1000 and finally turned the corner for “working on the car” to “buttoning up the car.” There’s still a ton to do (like register for the race), but it’s really going to happen.

The crew from Rugged Radios also came by on their way back the Ultra 4 Nationals to tune up the radio and install one of their just released MAC 4.2 Dual Air Pumper systems. Twice as much flow through as the old Parker Pumper we’d been running.

We also watched our three seconds of fame in the recently released Dezert People 11 DVD.

It was nice weather so a lot of the cars at Wallentine Motorsports were out in the parking lot. Here’s a gallery.

A quick update from a weekend of work by Crusty, Gil, Brian and Toby:

Starting Saturday, we upgraded the torsion bars , fabricated new rear bump stops and shock tower supports and welded them in place. On Sunday we removed, inspected, repacked and re-installed the CVs. Pulled the spare engine, removed the pressure plate and removed and inspected the the flywheel (all good). We also got the alternator light working again, wired the night lights into the new gauges, wired in the winch, and cleaned/rewired the headlight harness (including the markers). We also I spent some time replacing funky looking connections and other janky things, but this is an ongoing process.

And, earlier today, I drove seven hours and delivered our spare transmission to Scott Sebastian of MetalCraft for a refresh.

Much more to come…

One of the cool things about being a Silicon Valley-based race team is that we’re a lot more open to testing new technologies – many of which haven’t been used previously in off road racing.

As I like to say, “We’re slow, but we’ve got all the cool toys.” We were the very first off road racing team to roll out a mobile app (which now has 55,000 downloads. We were the first to film video with drones (thanks Ziv!):

Desert Dingo Racing from ZM Interactive on Vimeo.

This year we’re one of a handful of teams that will be beta-testing GPS navigation software from the Virginia-based company LeadNav Systems.

Current GPS systems are bulky, hardware-intense and take up a good chunk of real estate in the car. This new system runs on iPads and iPhones and is software-focused. The LeadNav team is fantastic to work with and we can’t wait to put it through its paces.

September 25, 2014, Felton, Calif. — Desert Dingo Racing announced today that Mad Media has signed on to sponsor the team’s fifth run at the Baja 1000, which takes place November 12-16 in Baja California, Mexico.

Mad Media first sponsored the Dingos for the 2014 Mint 400 – also known as “The Great American Off-Road Race”. The team was on its final lap when the car was sideswiped by a passing race truck and blew a transmission. Their effort did result in an appearance on the two-hour race recap on NBC Sports.

“The Baja 1000 is a the grandaddy of off road races and we started this team back in 2007 specifically to win this race,” said team co-founder Jim Graham. “Mad Media’s been tremendously supportive of our race program and we’re looking forward to bringing back a win this year.”

The Baja 1000 draws more than 100,000 spectators to Ensenada on the Baja Peninsula for Race Week, which culminates with the estimated 300+ teams pushing their race rigs through downtown streets for a daylong tech and contingency parade. This year’s point-to-point course is a 1,130 mile peninsula run from Ensenada to La Paz.

“We love the underdogs and the Desert Dingo Racing team has raced some of the toughest courses in off road racing,” said Mad Media co-founder Joshua Martelli. “We also respect their work supporting diabetes outreach and education and working with underprivileged kids.”

Desert Dingo Racing campaigns a 1969 Volkswagen Beetle in off road races in the U.S. and Mexico. The team is the official World Diabetes Day off road race team and works with the International Diabetes Federation to raise money for diabetes education and awareness programs. The team makes the car available for public events and distributes thousands of hero cards with the warning signs of diabetes printed on the back in English and Spanish.

About Desert Dingo Racing
Desert Dingo Racing is based in Northern California and campaigns a 1969 VW Beetle in off road races in the U.S. and Mexico. They are the official World Diabetes Day off road race car and the team raises money for diabetes education and awareness programs sponsored by the International Diabetes Federation. To learn more visit www.desertdingo.com .

About Mad Media
2014 marked the fifth year that Mad Media returned as the exclusive marketing group and television production team for The Mint 400. Mad Media was hand picked by General Tire to cover the 2010 Mint 400, and has produced uninterrupted national television coverage – and accompanying DVD and digital programming via iTunes, for the past five years. Mad Media has expanded the reach of the historic Mint 400 race to a global audience. The Mint 400 aired on NBC as part of the Red Bull Signature Series, the most progressive action sports property in the world. For more info, visit http://www.madmedia.com .