McCreary Racing 2006 Baja 1000

Jess crosses the finish line right at sunset on Friday, Nov. 17. 2006

Jess works on her last leg of the race into La Paz.

The arrival.

A picture that is worth a thousand words!

No wonder Offroad.com thinks we celebrated the biggest!

Craig replaces a bad tire on his raptor to get him over to highway 1 from Gonzaga Bay after his first leg of the race to San Felipe.
Craig proved to us that miracles indeed happen in Baja by running into a guy he knew,
riding on the exact same bike with the exact same wheels and who owed him a favor, all in a moment of crisis.

This is the race bike, fully race prepped by Duncan Racing International.

Our link to offroad.com was a little confusing for those trying to track our progress during the race. If you click the link below and check in on the "Live race day coverage" for Days 1 and 2 pages, you will see little blurbs about our progress made throughout the race as we were able to call in any stats from the satellite phones: offroad.com's race coverage
You can also click on this link to a page that was set up just for our team during race week:
54a Chase team Report

However, to make it easier...we have copied and pasted the blurbs that were reported on us (with some blurbs that provided information related to our race) on the offroad.com website below...

08:11 AM - Still no live feed from The Weatherman. The IRC IRITrack units are working well. Looks like the sportsman class bikes and quads heading off the line now.
10:20 - The bikes are heading towards San Felipe now. Going through Diablo now. Lead quads appear to be on the highway heading towards Diablo out of Valle de Trinidad.
10:41AM- The first Trophy Truck #97 B.J. Baldwin is off the line
1:10 PM Update- All the vehicles racing the 39 th SCORE Tecate Baja 1000 are on the race course now. The last vehicles off the line were the highly modified UTV 1800 Class. No UTV has completed a SCORE race in the 2006 season in the allowed time; let’s see if anyone of them can pull it of at the 1000.
2:56PM update- This in via email update from the 54a McCreary/Christy racing team. Team 54A reported in by phone at 2:20 pm and requested this news be passed on for updates on the web site. Team 54A passed checkpoint 4 a half hour ahead of schedule. Steve is currently on the quad, which is running fine and everything A-OK. Team member Tim McCreary is on his way to the next checkpoint to take over this evening. -Reported by Gayle Kidder in San Diego
4:55PM update- This in from the 54a quad team of Craig Christy; Gail Kidder via email wrote..... Bike has broken down at race mile 309 and is currently being worked on in the pit. Hope to get going again soon.
5:32 PM Update- Night has fallen in most of Baja by now. Many racers are using their lights and GPS to help guide them through the nigh. Luckily it is a clear night through the northern part of Baja, with slight NW winds and a cozy 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The leaders will not see day light until they get closer to La Paz in Baja Sur. Day break will be at 6:37am. Hope your race teams have good lights.
10:25PM update- This reported via sat phone just now. The Craig Christy/Jessica McCreary quad entry 54a is back up and running. They had some problems with the rear axle and it has been repaired. Last reported they were stopped earlier this afternoon. She reported that they were close to Vizcaino and she would be getting on the bike at San Ignacio. Great to hear they are back on the road with the Honda TRX 450r.
12:53 AM - BILSTEIN Race Update 1X is at the finish line. Congrats to Honda and Hengeveld for another Baja win. Their elapsed time was 18:18:28
5:48 AM - BILSTEIN Race Update Daylight is near, or as the locals would say, Ya va Amaneciendo. So far only a handful of bikes have made it through the finish. The first quads are on the horizon of coming into La Paz. 7A Danny Prather and Mike Cafro from Temecula Motorsports have just passed checkpoint 10. The first Trophy Trucks are also near, with #83 Andy McMillin in the lead and passing through checkpoint 10 at RM 1031.
6:14 AM - BILSTEIN Race Update #83 across the finish line and 7a of Danny Prather was right in front of him giving the Temecula Motorsports Quad the win in Pro ATV. Danny Prather came in for the talent-packed Temecula Motorsports 7a team that also included Mike Cafro, Dana Creech, Marc Spaeth, and Levi Marana. The first quad across the line by quite a while and just feet before the first Trophy Truck of Andy McMillin, Danny said he was glad to get in when he did. "You never want them to pass you - it's not fun."
12:13 PM - BILSTEIN Race Update This report in from the finish line ORC staff; 54a The good news - from cell phone report Jessica McCreary Jessica got off bike at Loreto at 6 am, Craig got on. Steve is on now (10:30 am) 15 minutes, they'll change to Tim Final rider-Jessica- will take it from Tim to the finish.
2:35PM - - The first sportsman quad 52a of David McCarroll just came across the finish line on his Honda TRX450R.
3:23 PM - - Craig Christy just reported in. They passed checkpoint 9 at 1:20 and should be at finish line shortly.
3:32 PM - - The #96a quad of Mike Penland just crossed the finish line on his Can-Am. We will get the full details to you shortly from Mike himself.
4:00 PM - The finish line is a little crazy right now with many entries pulling in. Check the timing and scoring page for all the finishers. #54a was reported at check 10 and on their way to the finish.
4:32PM - 54a is at the finish line for 3rd in sportsman ATV on their Duncan Racing TRX450R. Elapsed time was 32:57:20.
New this year, teams were invited to join the "Off Road Nation Chase Team". Top on this list was #54a Sportsman ATV team of Craig Christy, Steve Malley, Tim McCreary and Jessica McCreary, who called several times throughout the race and let us all share their adventure mile by mile. They also get the prize for biggest celebration at the finish with cheers, tears and champaign. Congrats, and thanks for bringing us along.

Here are some more photos that just arrived
through email from our pit crew leader, Roli:

Tim and Craig work on preparing the Satellite phones for the race.

Captain Dan, hanging out in the race prep area in Kings Coronita, Ensenada

Guess who this guy is hanging out at this corner!!! Email us your guess and we will award the winner with the correct answer!

Craig works on his first leg through Ojos Negros where he shaved off 1/2 hour off his best time yet.

Just arriving in Crucero, waiting for Steve to get off, and Tim to get on.

Race Mile 309: Can you see the break that almost took us out of the race and the weld by Baja Pits that saved us??!!

The last of the sun that Jess and Tim saw before their long night rides.

Tim getting off of his first leg in San Ignacio. Geez, was Tim eating dust or what??!!

What is this, you ask? A Bobcat, of course!

Yes, it is a bobcat that Tim trecked for 100 miles after accidentally hitting it in his night section.
The locals were very impressed and told us they make the best tacos, so we left it with them.

The team anxiously waits at the finish line for Jess to roll in. Will she maintain our third place in the last 100 miles of the race?

She-Woman and her very impressed son, Zack, after crossing the finish line, AND maintaining the 3rd place in the race.

Tim hugs his wife after FINALLY arriving at the finish line and discovering for certain they placed 3rd in their class!!!!

Steve, telling the fans how it was done!!!

The happy team at the finish line!

Jess, giving her finisher's quote to SCORE.
This is what was posted for all to see:

"No. 54a Craig Christy (3rd Place)
Co-driver, Jessica McCreary: It was great! It was awesome. We’ve been down here every single week for the last few months to train. We've trained so much together, we’ve been down each other’s throats, but now it has all paid off.
For me, seeing the sunrise was really nice. That was the best part. I think it really helped coming over the hill and seeing all the girls light up, realizing that I’m a woman. That was cool!
The most challenging part was having to go to the bathroom. I really hated stopping. Everything was challenging. Racing with the Trophy Trucks is always tough. Actually, they were really nice in this race. Each of our riders did about 250 miles. This is my first time coming in within the time limit!"

SCORE official counting all the chips received from each of 10 checkpoints throughout the race.
Each race team member held their breath during the count wondering if they accidentally missed a checkpoint somewhere
.....but all 10 were there!

Craig was very happy to see that his bike was in one piece after the 1057 mile race.

Jess and Tim signing autographs for all the local fans.

Jess calls her mom on the satellite phone to tell her about the amazing finish,
but she already knew from staying tuned to Offroad.com.

The happy team.

The Day after the race....and still celebrating with Jess' favorite liquor, Damiana.

Photos like this make you realize how badly addicted we are to this sport.
Believe it or not....Jess, Tim, and Steve slept right here on the ground after the race.

Steve hamming it up with some more racing fans on the way to the awards ceremony.

The awards ceremony was held on the plaza at the malecon in La Paz
on a beautiful sunny day with warm temperatures and a light breeze.

Our son, Zack, totally digging this moment!

Tim and Jess standing in front of the awards ceremony.

Craig, paying a tribute to his father for all the support he provided us for this race.

Sal telling Craig to not jump again on the stage because he might fall through (all this while Jess was speaking).

Craig still making a scene while Tim is talking.

The racers proudly display their 3rd place plaque.

The team members present in La Paz.