Baja 500 Video Raises Money for Charity

The premier of the 2011 Score Baja 500 race video was shown Saturday night, August 20th, at Hot Rods & Beer in Holtville.
Several hundred people attended the event including many who took part in the race. Trucks that take part in desert racing were on display in the parking as well as vendors selling Holtville t-shirts, off-road truck accessories and South African wine. John Prock, owner of Hot Rods & Beer, said, “What we’re trying to do is bring what goes on down south of the border up north a little and motivate people to go to the races.” People at the event bought raffle tickets to raise money for Emanuel Lucero, a popular Holtville student. The money went to help pay for his hospitalization and chemotherapy. Robert Caloca was at the event representing Grupo Rescate Aguiluchos, a non-profit search and rescue organization that patrols from the border to San Felipe helping people who are lost or involved in off-road accidents. They work for free and depend on donations to survive. Sergio Soto from Imperial Dunes was there to promote Rider ID’s. These are emergency kits which go on the handlebars of bikes. In case of an emergency, the Rider ID has emergency information to help first responders. If a rider is hurt and unconscious, the Rider ID shows their full name, their GPS location where they’re camping, if they have any allergies, etc. Several Tecate girls were also there including Belinda Montoyo and Denice Lopez. They posed for pictures with many people who came out to see the movie.

Ben Abatti III and Branden Abatti talked about the famous Abatti “Hay Hauler” off-road truck. The Hay Hauler was originally a farm truck that hauled hay. It was turned into a racer and became Robbie Gordon’s first race truck. It has competed in the Baja 500 and Baja 1000. Ed Bevins, an importer of exquisite wines from South Africa introduced their De Zoeteinbal, Chase and Pinotage wines which will soon be available in the area. He explained the temperature that wines should be stored out as well as the advantage of storing wine in oak barrels versus stainless steel. Oak barrels can only be used three or four times by a vineyard but gives the wine more flavor and body. The local band Stiletto, a classic 80′s rock band, provided entertainment after the Baja 500 movie was shown.

The 43rd Tecate Score Baja 500 was the first week of June this year and over 250 entries competed in pro and sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and atvs. Most of the world’s best desert racers take part in the event each year. The race is actually 454 miles long. All vehicles had a 23 hour time limit from the time each start to become an official finisher, but the fastest vehicles finished in about 9 hours. Some of the trucks had over 800 horsepower engines. In addition to season class point championships, the racers also compete for part of the nearly $400,000 in cash purse and contingency postings each race.
Entry fees varied between $600 and $900 per vehicle. Entries from 30 US states, from Hawaii to New York as well as the Territory of Guam competed this year.

SoCal Says: Wine, baja trucks and fundraising? Where do we sign? If you haven’t been to the Baja 500 or 1000 it’s an amazing event. This is a great fundraiser for a great cause and we encourage any of you who are interested to show your support and get involved.

Source: http://tribwekchron.com (http://s.tt/137j4)