DRIVE FOR THE TOP OFF-ROAD RACER BOUND FOR BAJA.Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer LANCASTER - A Lancaster off-road racer is gearing up for another of the preliminary races that he hopes will lead his team, Bonfire Racing, to the Baja 2000. Heading to the last step before competing in what is dubbed dub 1 tr.v. dubbed, dub·bing, dubs 1. To tap lightly on the shoulder by way of conferring knighthood. 2. To honor with a new title or description. 3. ``the mother of all off-road races,'' Bill Markel, 36, is putting the finishing touches finishing touches finish npl the finishing touches → der letzte Schliff finishing touches npl → ultimi ritocchi mpl on his 1981 four-wheel-drive Toyota pickup truck to compete June 2 in the Baja 500. ``We're running fourth in points right now and not too far out of first place,'' said Markel, who owns a roofing company. ``We're really hoping to take that spot.'' Markel won championships in his class - stock mini pickup trucks - in the Larana Desert Racing Desert racing is the act of racing through the desert in a 2 or 4 wheeled off-road vehicle. Races, which are generally comprised of two or more loops around a course covering up to 40 miles, can take the form of Hare and Hound or Hare Scramble style events, and are often laid out series for 1994 and 1995, and has done well in the Mojave Desert Mojave or Mohave Desert, c.15,000 sq mi (38,850 sq km), region of low, barren mountains and flat valleys, 2,000 to 5,000 ft (610–1,524 m) high, S Calif.; part of the Great Basin of the United States. Racing series. This is his first year in the Baja series, and his finishes so far have earned him a spot in the Baja 500, a 440-mile race that is the final step before competing in the Baja 2000. The Baja 2000 will cover 1,800 miles, running from Ensenada 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. at the very tip of 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. . Markel competes in a race about every six weeks and operates his roofing company between competitions. Deciding to run the Baja series this year has made his race schedule much tighter. ``We want to race in the Baja 2000 because no one has ever done a race like this before,'' Markel said. ``We'll do well in the 500, and I just hope we can go to the 2000.'' Markel's sponsors include C.L. Bryant Race Fuels, Goodyear Tires, The Radiator Shop and Yarman Drivelines. Markel began his racing career as a boy in the late 1960s, racing on oval tracks in quarter-midget racers powered by what he called ``souped-up lawn mower mower, farm machine used for cutting grasses and other hay crops. Mowers, drawn by or attached to tractors, or self-propelled, have superseded scythes. The mower is essentially an adaptation of the much earlier reaper. The first commercial mower was patented in 1847. engines.'' In 1993, helping a friend prepare a 1981 Toyota four-wheel-drive pickup truck for a race, Markel offered to buy the truck. ``I just figured I had to get back into it or stop thinking about it,'' Markel said. ``I bought the truck and haven't regretted it yet.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Bill Markel of Lancaster checks out the rig of his 1981 Toyota, which he plans to race in the Baja 500 next month. Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News |
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