the jade gurss blog

Thanks to "Wind Tunnel"

Thanks to producer Andy Parsons and host Dave Despain for inviting me to be a guest on SPEED-TV's "Wind Tunnel" program last Sunday night... It was a lot of fun.

"Like Being in a 24-Hour Plane Crash"

"this is not for wusses..." 
Sal Fish, promoter, Baja 1000

"Dust to Glory" is a film from Dana Brown (the son of Bruce Brown, who made the legendary films "On Any Sunday" and "The Endless Summer") which documents the 2003 Baja 1000. From motorcycles to buggies to unlimited trophy trucks with helicopters as follow vehicles, from unknowns to desert legends like Robby Gordon and Ivan "Iron Man" Stewart plus stars from other disciplines like Parnelli Jones, Mario Andretti and Jimmy Vasser. 

This is more than a race - it's more like a suicide mission across 1,000 miles of unknown territory along the unforgiving Mexican peninsula - and held since 1967. The draft at Daytona may seem treacherous, but this race involves 110mph+ speeds along silt and mud, goat trails and occasional pavement. Then, throw in stray dogs, crazed Mexican spectators, errant pickup trucks and even random cows. Each can end your race... or worse. Not to mention the Mexican federales - who decided to pull over the stars of the race for speeding because parts of the race takes place on public roads which remain open to all traffic. 

Ultimately, the film and the race are both about friends and families - and it's well worth a rental or Netflix selection. 

Here is the trailer:

 

Sad news on the passing of the diminutive Teddy Mayer, who has died at the age of 73. Mayer had helped create Bruce McLaren Motor Racing in the early 1960s with the New Zealander McLaren. Not only was the company the precursor to today’s F1 powerhouse, it built and raced winning cars in a variety of series such as Formula One, LeMans, CanAm and Indy cars. Mayer ran the McLaren team after the death of the company’s namesake in a testing crash in 1970. After several F1 world titles, Mayer sold McLaren to Ron Dennis, and found himself in Indy car racing, eventually becoming a key player in Roger Penske’s Indy car juggernaut. Mayer was one of the legends from an era when teams and drivers competed in a variety of disciplines rather than specializing in one series.