I Took Buddy The Off Road Miata To A Baja Race...And Won

Daniel Curiel

It's dark o'clock at night somewhere in Baja, California. Three of my Rigid LED lightpods are shining directly onto the rocky, rutted path in front of me, one is pointed straight up to the sky like the Luxor Sky Beam in Las Vegas. My shoulder harness has been rubbing a raw spot on my neck all day, I'm hungry, thirsty, sweaty, tired and I still have many, many miles to go.

"These hills will never end," says my navigator, Robbob Stewart, and it seems he is right. We've been going up and down steep hills for an eternity and we have no idea how much longer we have. After all, we are racing the NORRA 500. There is no pre-running– just a roadbook for dangers and a GPS. This could be over in five minutes or 105 minutes. We legit do not know.

Never mind. I throw Buddy the Off Road Miata into first gear to take full advantage of his 5.38 final drive. The turbo spools and I just let the car do the work. With the welded differential and 29-inch BFGoodrich KO2 tires, Buddy billy goats up and over rocks and through ruts, all while keeping a steady uphill pace.

Then, out of the darkness, a man. Just standing on the edge of the road. Is it Jesus? Or Jesús? Why is he here? Am I hallucinating? The path is barely wide enough for the car and he's standing on the edge, a cliff of who knows how many feet mere inches away from him. I lock eyes with the man and for some reason...I wave? He doesn't seem happy or concerned or worried. He just casually watches us go by.

What the actual #*&%?

Daniel Curiel

Yep, anything can happen at NORRA, and we proved it. Buddy is now the first Miata to race in Baja, earning an official first place finish in Vintage Stock Sedan with an average speed of 23.55 miles per hour total on the dirt, with a best-stage average of nearly 33 miles per hour. Honestly, I can hardly believe it, but I've got the hardware in hand.

NORRA is set up like a stage rally. It's not just get in and drive as fast as possible for 500 miles. There are check-in times to obey, waypoints to acquire and transit sections on the pavement to endure. To be honest, we weren't that great at managing some of the details and got penalties for early check-ins and a skipped stage finish line. Both Robbob and I have raced NORRA before and we should have had the minutiae under control, but our main goal was to Just F–ing Finish. Not Just F–ing Finish With As Few Penalties As Possible.

Fotosol

At any rate, we took the green flag in Ensenada towards the back of the pack. Stage 1 took us through the little town of Erendira where I have a house, so I was very familiar with the roads. Things were pretty easy until we got to the beach. It's littered with smooth stones ranging in size from a tennis ball to a soccer ball. The course crossed on to the beach on an uphill, off-camber path and we didn't have enough momentum. Fortunately NORRA positioned a sweep vehicle nearby and we got yanked out. Easy peasy.

A bit later the fuel pump relay broke off its tabs and bit the dust. We were blocking the course at that point, but the good folks in a 1976 IH Scout Terra pushed us up the course until they could get around us, then towed us to a safe spot. Thanks, guys! It took us a bit of time to diagnose the relay, but our local chase showed up with a new one and we were on the go again!

However, that delay had a domino effect later in the day and we didn't have time to complete stages 2 or 3. While we got wheels in the dirt in both, we didn't actually complete every mile of the last two stages and thus had some pretty heavy penalties. Oh well. JFF, amirite?

At the end of day 1 VETTS in Motorsports -– more on them later -– and my local chase guys did a quick service on the side of the road in San Quintin. The bolt that connects the lower ball joint to the control was missing but the stock lower control arms, axles, steering rack, tie rods and transmission were all good to go. No cracks or bends. Sweet!

Rebecca Donaghe

Day two dawned with Tropical Storm Rachel on the heels of every racer and the tide was already high. We took some penalties going around muddy terrain – some racers ended up literally sinking in the water crossings – but managed to get through the rocky beach in Erendira with no help. We plowed through silt beds and mud, undulated through whoops and floored it on the smooth farm roads, hitting upwards of 70 miles per hour easily. Thirty miles or so from the finish line of the final stage the adjustable alignment bolts in the rear left the chat, and Buddy refused to drive straight. We slowed down and kept pushing forward, crossing the finish line of the last special just before the rain started.

We had another 21 miles to go on the pavement, in the rain and dark with no windshield and the car wanting to either dive into oncoming traffic or run right off the road. Honestly it was the scariest part of the whole race.

We took the final checkered flag back in Ensenada in the pouring rain and spent the rest of the storm drinking margaritas in a bar, filthy and tired from the two days of making history, but stoked that we made our goal. In addition to the first in class trophy, I was also awarded the Mary McGee trophy, given to the female driver that displays the most grit and determination. McGee raced the first Baja 1000 in 1967 in a Datsun 510 and went on to ride motorcycles solo in many Baja races. I think I'll put this trophy front and center on my mantle.

Rebecca Donaghe

None of this would have been possible without John McMurrin from VETTS in Motorsports. I'm not nearly brave enough to serve in the military, but Robbob was in the Navy and has been working with VETTS for a few years now. McMurrin offers pit support for veterans who might already have a race car, but still need man-power to make a race.

After five tours in the Middle East, McMurrin wanted a way to help vets transition back to civilian life. "There is a lot of therapy in just being out there racing," he said. "It's like a mission, with a plan and an objective. Where I help is with the specific racing knowledge and equipment that they may or may not have. So if a vet wants to be a co-driver, I know how to program radios and GPS units. I know how to own that side of a car. So I can mentor them to be the best co-driver they can be."

Off-road racing requires a different pit set up than pavement racing. You need to be able to move your pit at a moment's notice and you need all kinds of equipment. My own pit setup consists of a five-gallon dump can, a set of wrenches and a Harbor Freight jack. To support Robbob, McMurrin came in a heavy-duty GMC with a 55-gallon drum and an electric pump, a fueling mat and all the safety equipment. He had a welder, power, lighting, SAE and metric tools, a heavy-duty floor jack...the whole shebang. He programmed the GPS, scouted pit locations, added a Zello push-to-talk satellite comms system to Buddy and basically led everyone on this wild goose chase.

In addition to chasing for Robbob for this race– and me by default– he was also able to get Robbob a new racing suit from Impact Racing and helmet from PCI Race Radios, two necessary items that can add thousands of dollars to a racer's bottom line.

Fotosol

Of course, I have to thank everyone that helped me get here. My chase crew that came down on their own dime: Rebecca Donaghe, Jim Jordan, John Adolph, VETTS and my local chase Cesar Galleta and Robelonches. Thank you to Advanced Engine Dynamix for the motor that did not quit and BFGoodrich for the KO2s that powered through rocks and silt. Rugged Radios made sure Robbob and I could hear each other through our comms system and Fox Shocks keeps Buddy flat in the whoops...well, as much as you can with five inches of travel. Thanks to Paco Motorsports for the rear upper control arms and the gearing. If you want to build your own lifted Miata, Paco is the place to start. Buddy has cool 3D printed bump stops from Perry Parts to soak up the big hits and a big ol' aluminum radiator from Mishimoto.

We were able to live stream the whole race through starstream.pro. It's a pretty cool set up that allows you to stream interior and exterior cameras using Starlink. We had some sound issues thanks to my terrible wiring skills, but you can go back and take a look at www.youtube.com/@yeahemme.

If you want to read more about Buddy and grab some merch, check out www.yeahbuddy.fun And keep an eye out for us at the next race in Laughlin, Nevada in December. As always, Yeah Buddy!!!