DIRT WHEELS DUO READY 2 A.V. MEN TO RACE IN BAJA 2000.Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer LANCASTER - Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley residents Dennis Cox and Cain Smead are gearing up for the longest, toughest off-road race in North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. . The two editors from Valencia-based Dirt Wheels magazine Wheels Magazine is an Australian automotive magazine. Wheels was founded in May 1953 by a young writer called Athol Yeomans. With the help of a colleague, Yeomans planned the first copy of Wheels in a stationery room of Hudson Publications in Sydney. are part of a team that will be racing a new Yamaha all-terrain vehicle all-ter·rain vehicle n. Abbr. ATV A small, open motor vehicle having one seat and three or more wheels fitted with large tires. It is designed chiefly for recreational use over roadless, rugged terrain. in the Baja 2000 - 1,800 miles of winding through Baja California Baja California, state, Mexico Baja California (Span.: bä`hä kälēfōr`nyä), state (1990 pop. 1,660,855), 27,628 sq mi (71,576 sq km), NW Mexico, on the Baja California peninsula. Mexicali is the capital. desert from north to south. ``This is like our ultimate challenge,'' said Cox. Cox, a Lancaster resident, and Smead, a Quartz Hill resident, were on the team that won the 1998 Baja 1000's ATV (1) (Advanced TV) An early name for the digital TV standard proposed by the Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service (ACATS). See ACATS. See also ATV Forum. (2) (Analog TV) Refers to the NTSC, PAL and SECAM analog TV standads. class on a Honda 400EX. This time, they will be racing a 2001 model Yamaha 660 Raptor Quadrunner - a sort of four-wheel motorcycle - provided by the manufacturer, which also paid their entry fee of nearly $3,000. The pair are part of a seven-man team. Each man will ride the machine on a stretch of the race, which will start Nov. 10 in northern Baja at Ensenada and zigzag down the state to Cabo San Lucas Cabo San Lucas (popularly known as just Cabo) is a small city at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula at , in the municipality of Los Cabos in the state of Baja California Sur, Mexico. . Part of the race will follow the normal course of the Baja 1000 - doubled in length this year in honor of the millennium. Cox believes a competitive race time for ATVs will be about 40 hours, not quite double the just-under 24 hours for the Baja 1000. ``Dust is probably what everybody hates down there the most - somebody else's dust,'' Cox said. Among the other challenges are getting their replacement riders down the course in time to take over the ATV when it arrives and staying out of the way of the big, fast trucks that compete in their own race category. Trucks start the course after motorcycles and ATVs. For Dirt Wheels, Cox and Smead will write about the Quad's performance and about the race itself. The other team members are all from the motorcycle industry and experienced racers. John Gregory, the ``rider of record'' whose name goes on the official contestant list, rides for a San Diego County shop, Golden West Cycles. Doug Roll is an aftermarket parts designer. Chad Duvall, William Yockley and Doug Eichner are all top riders. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) From left, Dirt Wheels editor Dennis Cox watches drivers Cain Smead and Adam Campbell. (2 -- color) Dennis Cox checks the new Yamaha 660 Raptor Quadrunner he and his teammates will race in the Baja 2000 this fall. Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News |
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