Baja Racing News Editorial By Gary Newsome
The upcoming CABO 500 has been touted for a first year event, even though its been run like this since the 1930's, as "Epic", "Amazing" and even "The World's Desert Offroad Race". Much of the buzz and backdesert offroad talk about this race has centered around it's scheduling and how far away the race is to a majority of us here in So-Cal. For over a year, the CABO 500 press releases have been churning out every possible angle of this Mexico championship race after the international promoter, Baja Safari, sponsored the Dust To Glory Sneak Peek in San Diego on March 25, 2006 and the Official Film releases both in San Diego and the Premier Party on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. They also have been in offroad racing services since 1996.
The race is sizing up to be the race of the year. Many teams from the United States have already ran the course. As I did just last week. After thirty years of desert racing and even more desert adventuring, I can say with no hesitation, this very well could be the best one-day desert offroad race on an annual basis. Many have commented that the lack of a series connection and points is a negative. I disagree, I say to hell with the games in the offroad racing biz and I want to get back to WHY I started doing this in the first place.
QUALITY, I brought my company, my family and my heart to the desert when I began adventuring and racing. We need to get back to the core of why we are spending the time and effort to race and win. If it's money, its the wrong reason. So many of the great SudoBajaCalifornios, "Southern Baja Californians" racers I have spent time with, have let me in on my own, and I'm sure, your-own secret to why we do, what we do, in the desert.
We have a PASSION for it, we love to race. Yes, its a business- but much more, its a lifestyle when we play for so long and so hard, for desert offroad racing. We see red when we break, we see blue when someone we know gets hurt. The emotion of racing is so much of the raw feeling of what we see, hear and feel. I am racing because its in my heart to the core.
After driving the course, meeting the racers and the wonderful people of Southern Baja California, I say this new CABO 500 is "The Monaco Of Offroad". It truly is the ultimate of desert offroad racing, all in one place on one day. If I race one day a year, its the CABO 500.
Baja Racing News Editorial By Gary Newsome