Unfortunately the race ended for them this year in Bay Of LA and they will not get the points championship. There was a problem with the wiring harness security that prevented the vehicle from staying started.
I had the honor of helping Kurt Williams of Cruiser Outfitters fix the rear track bar when they pulled into the pits. The rig was shut off because Joe Bacal thought the rig would need welding to repair the track bar.
After the track bar was repaired, Joe and his co-driver tried to fire the rig again, and nada. Something electrical with the security system was not talking to another part of the security system and the only known fix was to let the rig "sit".
so after a few hours, we left and went a little further south and camped. Later that morning (we stayed up most of the night goofing around at the pits) we were pumped to see the Lexus tear out of town, up and going.
We later heard that the Lexus had been loaded on the trailer and after being there.. it started. I also understand he took first place in his class.
WOW, really???? I never would have guessed that! After talking to them and hours later seeing it up on the trailer I never would have guessed it made it off the trailer, finished the race and finished in time!
WOW, really???? I never would have guessed that! After talking to them and hours later seeing it up on the trailer I never would have guessed it made it off the trailer, finished the race and finished in time!
He made it through the Bay of LA checkpoint with just minutes to spare
An excerpt from my trip report:
"As the 2010 race is an A to B peninsula race (instead of a loop) seeing the race twice is a feat in itself, the fastest teams are averaging 55-60 mph and considering we have to load up and race south to the next checkpoint, even on the highways it would be a stretch. We loaded up Dave's 80 Series Land Cruiser (passionately known as Ruby Claire), found a lull in the racing to cross back over the race course. From there and burned south, stopping only once for gas in a small town. Our destination was the Bay of LA which was not only a checkpoint for the race but was also one of the BFG pits in which many of the teams would be utilizing including some of our favorites. We knew the TT's and Class 1's were long gone but our timing gave us a chance to see some of the slower and late starters coming through including the Lexus 570 driven by Joe Bacal. If all went smooth he would have been hours ahead of us on his way to La Paz. As we rolled into the BFG Pit we noticed Bacal's recovery truck, a bone stock LX570 (200 Series Land Cruiser) driven by our Land Cruiser friend Todd K. (Todd is the editor for Toyota Trails magazine, both Dave and myself have had articles published in the magazine). Turns out Joe had not come through as of yet having lost a wheel and tire somewere north of us but he was headed our way.
We hung out in the pits for several more hours, watching rigs come and go, some taking gas, some taking tires, others making quick repairs or flat out calling it quits. Suddenly we spot the LX 570 blasting down the city street which had partitioned off to allow racers to blast through town. Joe was still in the game or at least so we thought at the time. He came in hot, took gas and discussed some handling issues with the BFG pit crew, they recommended he pull up out of the fuel lanes and take a look at it. We were just bystanders, snapping pictures and giving accolades but before I knew it we were right in the mix working on the rig. The handling issue turned out to be a loose track bar mount at the frame, we helped him diagnose it and implement a repair. One of the highlights of my trip was laying under his race truck with a cordless drill wrenching on his rig. With the track bar fixed a bigger problem popped up, the truck refused to start. Some sort of electrical gremlin had taken over the rig (still running the stock security system and ECU fwiw). There we sat for two more hours trying to help him get it running, checking connections, double checking connections, brainstorming ideas, etc. No dice on the Lexus and we had still not heard anything about the BMW, he must be broken or lost. Tired and down, we left, Joe was taking a nap and his co-driver (a Lexus Engineer) was trying to figure out the issue. It was about 7am when we crashed on a beach just a few miles away, usually you like to wake up when the sun is just starting to light up the ocean, we are the opposite.
Marc and I Working Away (photo courtesy of DMC)
As we were forced out of bed by the noon day sun we figured Joe was officially out of the race, DNF. I assumed he was loaded on the trailer and headed north towards home by this point. Imagine the looks on our faces when we saw his rig blasting past our camp and headed south in a hurry. Hooray, he was still in it. We quickly packed up camp and stopped back by the BFG pit to hear the story. Apparently they too had given up, they were getting ready to load in on the trailer when suddenly it fired to live, they suited up and hopped in the seats and boogied out of there, getting through the SCORE checkpoint back in town with just minutes to spare. We later learned that not only did Joe finish the race but he took first in his class, what a come back story!
I wish the Lexus people really gave Joe factory support like Toyota Auto Body does for their LC200 team in the Dakar. They have factory mechanics, factory drivers and navigators, and full factory support in terms of spares, etc.
IIRC, the LC200 running the biodiesel 1VD-FTE engine has a modified engine management system so that only a very minimal amount of electronics are involved in the vehicle. While they run in the "stock" class, there is nothing "stock" about the rig we saw in Japan. They strip it bare, the fill tons of holes, and they retune everything to support self-sufficiency in the Dakar.
while on the other hand, I think it's amazing and pretty awesome that someone, WITHOUT factory support rigs can go out there and be competitive, take a break for several hours, and still win first in class.
Cancer treatment centers of America is a for profit hospital. They have a couple of charitable companies, one of which my wife used to work for, but the main company that sponsors Joe is about making a lot of money.
That's not to say they don't do good things at the hospital. They just charge for it. It's not a "cause".
