Day 7 - Zacatecas to Monterrey (The Last Day)

Besty entered the day in 4th place for Historic C and had a good run in the morning. Unfortunately during the last speed section of the race she tore out a rear shock and mount. Julien and Stan were able to finish the race, abit at a slower speed. This took them out of medal contention. As the race draws to a close we have the following reflections:

1) This is easily the most unorganized event in existence. No one knows where they are supposed to be at any given time. The support crews are given almost no assistance and the race organizers have a habit of picking hotels with no parking. Imagine 10 - 20 trucks and trailers trying to park on a busy street or blocks away from a hotel.

2) The people of Mexico have been universally friendly and always willing to lend a hand. They are an extremely hard working people and it has been a real joy interacting with them on a daily basis.

3) Street food in Mexico is some of the best food you will ever eat. Some favorites include Sonoran Hot Dogs (A hotdog wrapped in bacon on a sweet bun with grilled onions, peppers, mayo, mustard, ketchup and corn), Carnitas from road side taco stands (imagine a dirt floor, plywood walls and a tarp roof), grilled corn on the cob slathered in mayo and dusted with ground chipolte pepper and scrambled eggs with grilled onions, grilled corn, pobolno pepppers on a sweet hot dog bun.

4) The Mexican highway system sucks. Their version of an Interstate will routinely dump you on a one lane goat track through a major city, street signs are non-existent and pot holes abound. To cap it off they have tens of thousands of speed bumps that will tear out the underside of your vehicle if you go over them faster than a couple of miles an hour. With that said there is nothing with a 4 lane highway made with 2 1/2 lanes where everyone shifts over to the side as someone passes down the middle of the road driving 120 kpr.

5) The event is what you make of it. If you have a good attitude and are here to have fun there is nothing like it in the world. If you let the stress take over (2 weeks of constant travel and little sleep) it will seem like a never ending hell. All in all I would highly recommend the experience.

In the upcoming weeks we will be posting hundreds of photos on www.carreraracer.com.

Tomorrow begins the long trek home.

Freddy

Day 6 - Aguascalientes to Zacatecas

Besty continues to run great and is in 4th place after today. If she has a good run on Thursday she may make the podium.

The residents of Zacatecas threw a great fiesta for the La Carrera contingent. A band marched through the city picking up followers and dispensing Mezcal. As an FYI Mezcal is to Tequila as Schiltz is to beer. In other words not good. The march ended in the towns old bull fighting ring were the participants were treated to a dinner, cerveza and tequila. Zacatecas is by far the nicest, cleanest and most hospitable town that we have stayed in so far. We would highly recommend visiting for a vacation.

Day 5 - Morelia to Aguascalientes

Freddy had a hard day yesterday. He entered the day 4th overall and was in 2nd overall after the morning's speed sections. Unfortunately he broke a valve spring and rocker arm during the last section. A repair was attempted during the service break but there was too much damage and too many unknowns to risk the motor so he is out of the race. A real bummer because with his speed and the expert driving of Tom Silver and Gerry Bledsoe we had a real shot at winning the race. Thats all part of the game and sometimes stuff happens.

Besty continues to run strong in the Historic C class and has a chance at placing. Marty and Dick further solidified their position yesterday in the Original PanAm.

The picture of the bent up car is of the Jaguar that barrel rolled down the mountian on Monday. The roll cage was demolished during impact. The driver is ok but the co-pilot is still in serious condition. They do not think he has brain damage but he is under sedation for the next week in order to control brain swelling.

Day 4 - Queretaro to Morelia

If you would like to track the race cars real time via GPS go to:

http://panamericana.waypointinfo.com/

Freddy continues to dominate the race, improving to #4 overall today with Tom Silver's excellent driving skills. Besty dropped slightly to #37 overall and #4 in the Historic C class. An unexepected player is Marty Schneider who is running #2 in the Original PanAm class. Marty and his team mates hail from Orono, MN.

The roads today were trecherous. The route passed through Mil Cumbre National Park and was filled with wicked turns. A mid-day rain caused the roads to turn into an oil slick and caused several accidents. One in particular was very serious when a Jaguar barrel rolled down the side of a hill about 400 feet. The co-pilot was in serious condition with a severe concusion and face trauma.

For some unknown reason the State decided to log portions of the Park. This has resulted in severe erosion that washed away over 1/2 the road in 5 or 6 places. Where there was once asphalt there is now a 300 foot drop off with minimal signage or warnings. The van chased the race all day and the passengers were subjected to a couple of white knuckle turns. We have some great video from the trip down the mountain.

Tomorrow we race back up through Mil Cumbre an on to Aguascalientes.

Day 3 - Puebla to Queretaro

No pictures today, sorry. For more race information including a GPS tracking of the cars as they race go to:



And don´t forget to visit the La Carrera website. Go to the photo gallery for pictures.

http://www.lacarrerapanamericana.com.mx

Freddy entered the day at #5 overall. We have been disqualified from the Historic C class due to an issue with the fact that Freddy has aluminum heads instead of iron. The racers of the Turismo class are really upset that Freddy is doing so well and are raising a lot of objections. He will continue to race an hopefully will be in the top ten at the final flag.

Betsy is also doing well and started the day at #32. Julien and Stan are racing really well and are in the top 3 for the Historic C class.

Day 2 - Veracruz to Puebla

We apologize for not updating the blog for the past couple of days. Evidently someone cut the Internet wire going to Veracruz because most of the town has been without service for the past several days. Everyone is doing fine and we have not had any crashes (except for the Van incident yesterday and Juliens 180 spin out).

Today we raced from Totula down to Tehucan and then back-up to Puebla, about 380 km. No crashes today, that we know of, but the road was a lot less technical and there were only 2 speed sections. No results as of 11 pm.

The pictures above are from a fiesta in Tehucan that was thrown for the rally. Everywhere we have gone the people are universally friendly and go out of their way to help us. There must have been at least 20,000 people packed into the town square to look at all the cars and join in the festivities. Our drivers and navigators have developed carpal tunnel from signing so many autographs.

Freddy is feeling a little ill and keeps running a temperature. Doctor Todd worked on him tonight and hopefully he will be feeling better in the morning.

Tomorrow we leave a 7 am for Mexico City. Hopefully Freddy Van Buren will be in attendance and sign the Freddy car.

Today

Day 1 - Veracruz

Day 1 started like the Qualifying round with several crashes and mechanical breakdowns. The race took place between El Carrizal to Huatusco and back for a total of about 300 km.

The Lincoln above had an engine fire that Todd and Al Hagen were able to put out before the car blew up. We have some really good video of that one. At least 6 cars crashed although several were able to get back in the race later in the day. Unfortunately the Studebaker at the bottom of the ditch was not one of them.

What an exciting day. Betsy did a 180 turn in the middle of a speed section. Luckily her skilled driver and navigator were able to get the car turned around and only lost a small amout of time. Later in the day the support van, driven by Mr. Todd Landon, crashed into the back of a cargo pick-up who in turn had hit a small car. The van and passengers were unscathed but the other two vehicles did not fare so well. A not so small amount of pesos was exchanged and we went on our way. Definately a better alternative to trying to explain our side of the story to the local police while sitting in a jail cell. For the record Todd was innocent in the entire affair.

Freddy and Betsy continue to run strong with a #9 and #34 finish respectively.

Day 0 - Qualifying Round

Besty finally appeared today dressed as a pirate and covered in skulls and demons. What has happened to our sweet innocent Cow Car)? Freddy is not sure what to think about his cousins new image.

The qualifying round of the race took place between El Carrizal and Jalcomulco about 50 km outside of Veracruz. The 11 km stretch was trecherous and poorly marked in the route books. Freddy finished in the number 7 spot and Betsy the Pirate finished in the top 25 for the day. The Studebaker above suffered a tremendous crash and is out of the race. A Mini Cooper crashed into the Studebaker and rolled.

This could be a very long week with these roads.

Inspections are Complete

We completed the technical and driver inspections for the cars today. A process that should have taken 30 minutes somehow turned into 5 hours. They were still inspecting cars at 7 pm.

Qualifying rounds are tomorrow and will take place outside of Veracruz. The race begins on Saturday morning.

The picture is of Freddy's two drivers and navigator. From left to right are Tom Silver, Jerry Bledsoe & Chris Cooper.

Betsy is still missing. We think she may have driven into a bad part of town and ran into trouble. Freddy is getting worried.

Pirates

Freddy writes: Today my driver, Tom Silver, put the finishing touches on me. I am so excited to start racing in two days. Tomorrow we have our technical inspection.

Betsy writes: Today I was on my way to meet Freddy when a bunch of scarry men started shooting at me. I was forced to stop on the road and was taken captive by Julien and Stan, a pair of French pirates. They made me become a pirate and are planning on pilaging the surrounding countryside. I am not sure if I will ever see Freddy, Todd and Jason again. I have never been more scared in my life. . . .

Were Here!

We have finally arrived at Veracruz, a trip of over 3000 miles and several thousand dollars in tolls and gas. The next few days will be spent prep'ing the cars for the race.

Day of the Dead

On Sunday we celebrated during a Day of the Dead festival at San Miguel. The town hosted a car show in honor of the La Carrera American contingent. The cars were a huge hit with the locals, especially the kids. Freddy and Besty in particular received a lot of attention.

On Sunday night we headed out to Mexico City. The group was met outside the city limits by a police escort which took us through the city. Although it was almost midnight traffic was crazy and most of the group ended up getting separated. Our lead contingent was stopped by the local police for a shakedown. An understanding was made and we headed out of town. We arrived in Puebleo around 2 am.

Next stop, Veracruz!

San Miguel de Allende

On Saturday we made the long trip from Nuevo Laredo to San Miguel de Allende. Freddy led the way for most of the trip with Betsy riding tail. The trip was fairly smooth with the occasional cow, burro or goat wandering into the road way. It is easy to understand why half of Mexico is trying to escape to the US. The level of poverty is amazing. One highlight was the dried snakes that you can purchase for lunch.

Jason had a taco for lunch from a shack with no roof, pallet walls and a dirt floor. Absolutely delicious! Todd chose to pass for fear of M. revenge.

San Miguel is supposedly one of the top ten places to visit in the world. So far we are not seeing the charm but maybe our morning exploration will enlighten us. We did have a midnight snack of corn on the cob with Cohita cheese and dried peppers and of course some tequila and Corona. Wonderful.

Today we are participating in a city wide car show for La Carrera and then it is on to Puebla at 7 pm tonight. The goal is to go through Mexico City with a Federal Police escort around midnight so we miss the traffic.

Freddy & Betsy

Day 1 & 2

My cousin Betsy (aka Cow Car), picutred in the front, and I stole across the Mexican border at Laredo last night around 12:30 am. After clearing customs around 2 am we headed to the hotel for a quick night's sleep.

We have pushed hard so far covering over 1800 miles in the 1 1/2 days.

Freddy is complete and ready to race!

Join me in a daily blog that will capture the spirit and essence of La Carrera, one of the most unique and challenging road races in the world. Postings will begin on November 3rd as I make the 4000 mile trip south to Veracruz, Mexico, the starting point of La Carrera. Over the next 16 days I will pre-qualify for the race and finally make my way up to Monterrey during 7 days of hard racing.

Below is a overview of La Carrera printed from Gerie Bledsoe on his website www.panamrace.com. You can also check out the official website at: http://www.lacarrerapanamericana.com.mx/

We have few opportunities in our lives to experience a legend. La Carrera Panamericana or the “Pan Am” is one of those rare opportunities. It is the last open, top speed road race of its kind in the world. No one can predict how long it will survive in this modern age.

This November, 70 or more vintage race cars--each with a driver and co-driver--line up in southern Mexico to race nearly 2000 miles back to border with Texas. It’s seven full days of full-speed racing over paved roads, through some of the most beautiful countryside north of the Equator. Seven days of freedom. It’s a week of feeling very special and a lifetime of memories.
The modern race is a revival of the famous international Pan Am that was conducted between 1950-1954. Many of the world’s most famous drivers, including world champions like Phil Hill and Juan Manuel Fangio, came to Mexico during these years to test their cars, skill, and stamina. The race was started in 1950 by the Mexican government to inform the world that Mexico had a new system of highways that stretched across the country – from north to south – for commerce and tourism. When the race was canceled in 1955, its purpose had been accomplished.

In 1988 a group of Mexican and North American auto enthusiasts revived the Pan Am. The event operates in a “pro-rally” format. Each car is given a route book with detailed instructions to follow for the entire seven days. Every turn along the entire route is listed, and each is rated by degree of difficulty. Warnings are given about dangerous conditions, and even speed bumps and special attractions are noted. But there can always be a surprise lurking around each blind corner.

Each day is divided into “transit” and “special” stages. The transit stages are run from town to town on regular highways, in regular traffic. But several times a day the Pan Am cars line up for the special stages or speed sections. After the Mexican Federal Highway Patrol clears the road, the Pan Am cars are started in thirty-second intervals. There are no speed limits--only open roads slicing through the mountains. You may travel as fast as your skill, your car, and road conditions warrant.

These special sections normally stretch from three to sixteen miles in length, mostly over good, paved mountain roads. The stages may also be run on a sports car track or freeways. At the end of the week, the cars with the lowest elapsed times for the special stages are declared the winners – overall and by class. Time penalty points may be awarded if you arrive too early or too late to a speed section, or commit an infraction of the rules.

The Pan Am is a combination of serious racing and adventure. It is a true test of driving and mechanical skills, stamina, and patience. Most importantly, perhaps, it is an opportunity to see a beautiful country and meet its gracious people. You will cherish these memories and the friends you’ll make forever!