Charlene's Story to the Baja 1000
Long History Reflection: From Facebook
For this History Making Baja 1000, Lance will be driving and I will be his co-driver taking the green flag at the start. This will be my FIRST TIME actually IN a car during a Baja race day. Everything is about stepping stones. Here is some history that makes this significant...
My first Baja 1000 was in 2009 (14 years ago) with Pirate4x4. I was invited down to help with media coverage. My "pay" for the week was a set of BFGoodrich Tires!! Boom!! Excited, raw to desert racing and thankful...Lance, Erik Camo Linker and I kicked butt delivering top of the line/state of the times LIVE coverage in a truely remote area using a satellite dish the size of Lance's Dodge Ram truck bed!!
In 2010, Lance co-drove for Roger Norman and I took the keys to Pirate4x4 for a full tilt point-to-point race coverage package again, sponsored by BFG. Eric James Anderson aks Mustard Dog and Lil Rich Klein were my drivers and Jessi Combs came along for the ride.
Back then coming to Baja was super sketchy...especially when we had a huge white satellite screaming : "lots of camera equipment and money inside"! (then let's add a tall blonde which made me feel even more targeted.) But we always stayed out of jail and just out of arms reach of the policia.
I always say..."I'm not a racer, my job is to make racers look good", but in Harry Wagner words : "That's not what your resume says!" Every event I have participated in we have won or been on the podium ~ because I'm not competitive at all lol! The significance of this though, is all of them have been with contest winners as my co-drivers!! My motto is : "Do the Best You Can" which should increase everyday with every experience adding value. Racing the Baja 1000 for the first time I expect the same from myself and I appreciate Lance for giving me the protips to be better.
So many memories have been popping up as I run the course and the roads. Including...the BFG KO2 Launch, Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of SCORE International, multiple point-to-point runs; getting to ride in Rob MacCachren prerunner and Ryan Arciero TT; prerunning and chasing teams doing Bower Motorsports Media PR & media for Pirate4x4, Roger Norman, Mike Shaffer, Brad Lovell , Pistol Pete Sohren , Driven Experiences , Jt Taylor and others. Spending time with my namesake Bob Bower and so many other long-time friends. I've done a lot of media packages for BFG including chasing BC1 and interviewing all of the team... ((and now I'm one of them!))
As part of our 1st Ladies Offroad Network Co-Driver Challenge in 2016, it was my first time being in Baja NOT during a race thanks to the amazing Trail of Missions trip hosted by Cameron Steele. I got to enjoy the beaches and Misions, what we generally don't take time to do on prerunning or race weeks with Marcie Havener Hricziscse who now frequents Baja!
Watch the ABC Special:
My last time down in Baja was in 2017 for the 50th Anniversary point-to-point. We did the ultimate BFG Pit stop chase as part of the 2nd Ladies Offroad Network Co-Driver Challenge with Megan Wood as the winner and Rich Klein as our driver/body guard. We tested each of the pits bathrooms, which they have quite a running contest!! Read more:www.ladiesoffroadnetwork.com/baja-1000
6 years later...after focusing on Ladies Offroad Network consistently...I'm honored to be back in Baja as part of the 2023 BFGoodrich Baja 1000 BC-1 Team race Team. The team is comprised of BFG Performance Team Members Kyle Tucker , Brian Finch , Lance Clifford , Andrew Comrie-Picard , Shelby Hall and myself alongside BFG Engineers Jay Jakupca and Brandon Sturgis .
Our Team leaders are Javier Hernandez , Jeff Cummings , Jon Jewell along with more support from James Degain, Jerry Cummings, Larry McRae and Dan Elkins, and the whe Wide Open Baja tea.. Check out the page I posted to follow ~ www.ladiesoffroadnetwork.com/2023-baja1000
Stepping back to that set of tires in 2009...I received KM(1or2)s for Big Red, which was the wrong application for towing and what I was doing. I met Richard Winchester at Off-Road Expo Pomona and he asked me how I liked them. Being honest, but still thankful, I told him I knew they were the wrong application...next thing I know he has my address and sends me a set of KOs! I became a closer part of the BFG family and in 2014 I was asked to join the BFG Performance Team as their first female and as someone who doesn't sit in a racer role.
History is in the making again this year.
- First Ladies to participate in the BFG BC1 Team ~ Shelby and Myself
- First BFG Pitboss that is a Lady ~ Pit 4 ~ Jennifer Lynn Horne
- First BFG Relay Lady Boss's Baja 1000 (she has been in charge all year) ~ Kristen Deen-Flaherty
- First ever point-to-point that starts in La Paz and goes north.
- 2nd longest Baja 1000, sitting at 1310 total miles.
We are only in the middle of making memories in 2023, and they are some great ones! Never forget to enjoy the ride!! Thank you BFG for so many amazing opportunities 
To follow more of this 15 day journey, add our BC1 Page on FB and @bfgperformanceteam on IG (they are different pics)
Links
All the Links... CLICK HERE
The "Important Ones":
Schedule of Events: CLICK HERE
Entry List: CLICK HERE
Baja Challenge: BC1 Kyle Tucker
Course Map: CLICK HERE
Tracking: To Be Posted CLICK HERE
A Great Read by Bob Bower: CLICK HERE
SCORE International
SCORE International is celebrating their 50th year as an organization.
See their Full Website: CLICK HERE
Subscribe to the SCORE Journal: CLICK HERE
Purchase Merchandise: CLICK HERE
