:50:01
Andy. Steve. And Johnny
had been teammates the previous year
:50:04
on the Honda A Team.
:50:05
He was one of
the defending champs.
:50:08
It's probably the highest notch
on my wall right now,
:50:11
besides being a father, you know.
:50:13
It's right under being a father.
:50:14
A corporate decision
bumped Andy from the A Team
:50:17
just two weeks before the race.
:50:19
He and his father Neil
were headed home
:50:20
when Chris Blaze asked if he wanted
to race on the Honda B Team.
:50:24
It's not about the race.
:50:25
It's about being down here,
having fun, being with your family.
:50:29
When I say family, I mean
the whole community of off-road racing.
:50:31
And once I figured it out,
everything started clicking
:50:34
and the race just went
smooth from there.
:50:36
It doesn't matter
if you're racing off-road
:50:38
or playing the piano,
you try, you give your best to life.
:50:42
And when you have a son that does
that, it brings me to tears sometimes.
:50:46
I mean, I was so proud of him.
:50:48
Andy and Neil had a plan...
:50:50
prove the folly of leaving Andy
off the A Team.
:50:53
They wanted to lead the race.
Not just on time.
:50:55
But physically. So they
would be making first dust.
:50:58
Through checkpoint four.
Andy had been reeling Steve in.
:51:01
The once four-minute lead
had shrank to 30 seconds.
:51:04
It took me probably 50, 60 miles
for my arms to loosen up.
:51:07
But in that time I was catching Steve.
:51:09
I could see the helicopter
getting closer and closer
:51:11
and then all of a sudden
I was in his dust.
:51:13
"Okay, just take it easy.
Let the pit strategy get you in the lead
:51:17
and see what happens after that. "
:51:19
F the rear tire holds.
The impossible can be achieved
:51:22
and Andy will be at the front
of the entire Baja 1000 field.
:51:25
T's 22 on the highway.
:51:27
There's about a 30-second split
between 1-X and 11-X.
:51:33
Knowing that Andy
had started behind him,
:51:36
Steve has
no choice except to pin it.
:51:38
And that's gonna tear his tire up,
which is okay with him
:51:42
because he knows he's getting
a new tire at this pit.
:51:44
What he didn't know was that we were
running a different tire compound.
:51:57
- Front wheel okay, Steve?
- Yeah.