Winning Spirit Magazine January-February 2014 | Page 9

Dan McKeever (first on left) tackled the Baja Challenge with Team BF Goodrich. WINNING SPIRIT IN ACTION: The Challenge of Baja “The pre-run was quite an eye-opener,” said McKeever. “I was amazed by the capability of the tires, the cars and how much fun the desert was. It was easy to see how this could be addicting!” T here is no more legendary off-road race in the world than the Baja 1000. Since 1967, competitors have tackled the rugged Baja Peninsula with trucks, buggies, cars, motorcycles and ATVs. Although the route changes regularly, the event remains a “bucket list” entry for anyone with an interest in off-road competition. Dan McKeever, vice president of operations for Miller Performance, is a very accomplished and championshipwinning road racer in sports cars, but when an invitation came from BFGoodrich Tires to take part in their assault on Baja in November, it was too good an opportunity to pass up. “I’d heard many stories from Baja and always wanted to drive there,” said McKeever, “and now was my chance. To do it with BFGoodrich was a great honor.” Team BFG would be comprised of two Subaru-powered off-road buggies, each with six drivers from various disciplines, which would showcase the capabilities of BFGoodrich’s off-road tires. McKeever was named one of the two team captains, and among the other drivers on his team was John Williams, an off-road racer and chief off-road driving instructor at Miller Motorsports Park’s Ford Racing School. This year’s Baja 1000 course totaled 883 miles, from Ensenada to La Paz and back again, and was described as “the toughest Baja 1000 course in 20 years.” The adventure started in late October with a four-day “pre-run” of the course. Many of the other drivers on the team had either raced the event before or had driven the cars in a different event, so McKeever’s learning curve was steep. Finally, the pre-run would determine the driver/co-driver pairings for the actual event. The 2013 Baja 1000 took the green flag on Friday, November 15, with Williams and Chad Gilsinger, an accomplished road racer and Honda engineer, taking the first stint and driving to a 10-minute class lead. McKeever and Minga took over at San Felipe just after 5 p.m. with Dan behind the wheel as they headed south. They had to deal with a steering-shaft problem but managed not to lose too much time. Dan drove through a long wash, passing numerous stuck vehicles, and described his stint as “mostly uneventful.” He swapped