Desert Dingo Racing

Tag: Skid

  • Mikeapalooza! Dec. 29 in San Jose

    Skid taking charge of something like he always does

    This is a benefit concert will be held @ Britannia Arms, Almaden, to assist Mike “Skid” Aquino with his medical expenses. With your help we can continue Skid’s COBRA payments, so he can continue to receive the medical attention his so urgently needs.

    Here is Mike’s story in his own words.

    “Magic Wanda” will hit the stage at about 9:15 with The Public Reunion of “3 Dicks and a Jane” to follow. We will ask a $10 donation @ the door. This is a bar so nobody under 21 please! The Britt is also a great place to eat so come early and keep your table for the show!

    Jill & Tom have set up a ‘Mike Aquino COBRA’ fund (The MAC Fund) to collect other donations, For PayPal: Send money to; mikeapalooza@gmail.com as Services/Other. To send a check, Contact Tom at 408-828-2133 .

    Click here for all the details.

    Britannia Arms, Almaden
    5027 Almaden Expressway
    San Jose, CA 95118 US

  • Skid needs a kidney transplant

    Our friend and teammate Mike “Skid” Aquino needs a kidney transplant. He is currently in the hospital due to kidney failure, likely a complication of his diabetes. If you have Type O blood, please consider being a live donor.

    Currently, the wait time for a donor is 3-6 years, depending on blood type. Until a compatible donor is found, Skid will need to undergo dialysis three times a week.

    This from the UCSF website: “Most kidneys for transplant are from people who have died and whose families give permission for organ donation. However, there are not enough of these organs for everyone who needs one. Nationally, more than 70,000 patients are on the kidney transplant waiting list, and more are added each year. Because of the organ shortage, living donor kidney transplants are an important option. They’re possible because we’re born with two kidneys. When surgeons remove one of the donor’s kidneys, the remaining kidney grows slightly to compensate for the loss of the other and the kidney can function normally.”

    Who pays for expenses?
    Expenses, including the required testing to see if you are a good match, will be paid by Skid’s insurance.

    What is it like to donate a kidney?
    Another member of our team donated a kidney to a friend. If you have questions about what the experience is like, we’ll put you in touch with Seth.

    You can also help by putting the word out. We’ll post updates here. Contact us with questions at info@desertdingo.com

  • Se poncho el bocho 1101

    Thanks to Henryque for translating it to “The bug 1101 got a flat.” The first of three 🙂

    Thanks very much to Jose Castellanos for shooting and posting the video!

  • Post race update

    Richard and Skid take a well-deserved break.

    This report from Seth (who also sent the photos):

    Our valiant attempt to conquer the Baja 250 came to an end at Race Mile 72. In those 72 miles, we suffered 3 (three) flat tires, which when added to the two on Friday, were 2 more than we could handle.

    Many of you know that we race to raise awareness of diabetes. That said, we decided to have our two diabetic team member start this race. Skid and Richard left the start line at just after 11 a.m. The first flat tire occured near race mile 5 (!). After a quick tire change, they were off again. At Mile 22, they were joined by Chase Captain Seth. There, they replaced the spare wheel with spare #2, performed a helmet swap, fixed the radio, and pulled the damaged bumper (from an early close-encounter with a creosote tree).

    Off again, the course claimed tire #3 at Race Mile 46. The decision was made to run the car with the flat, and this they did admirably. And, at Race Mile 55, another tire went flat.

    Richard and Skid carried 1101 all the way to Race Mile 72 with all tires on the left side of the vehicle flat. They finally stopped because they could not see through the smoke coming from the flat tires.

    We chased them for 2 hours, and loaded 1101 onto the trailer. No racer wants to see the trailer…I think they were hoping we might have some more extra wheels and tires, but we did not.

    1101 is now trailered, and will soon go home. But, as always, lessons were learned, and 1101 will not be down long.

    You can check out race day photos here.

  • Desert Dingo Racing on dLife TV

    dLife’s Matt and Christian put together a great six-minute piece on Desert Dingo Racing at the Baja 1000. Actually makes us sound like we know what we’re doing :).