there came a moment when to fix the rear axle, in Le Paz, without a full garage that specializes in gears and axles, they made do with this bottle jack and chain. It got the axle straightened out
Showing posts with label Baja racing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baja racing. Show all posts
Sunday, April 12, 2026
Thursday, April 02, 2026
The No. 46 Ford Trophy Truck was disqualified from the 2026 San Felipe 250 following a cheating scandal, due to video evidence that Toby Price and Brent Bauman stacked rocks on a portion of the San Felipe course during the pair's pre-run
Video evidence was submitted to SCORE officials, and, ultimately, they decided that the team should be disqualified.
Saturday, December 20, 2025
impressive close quarters donuts...
but was there really a helicopter in the courtyard? Because I would suppose not many people are going to risk hitting a helicopter.
Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Bob Bondurant/Tony Murphy, AIR AMC SC/Rambler, class winner 1969 Baja 500
Tuesday, October 14, 2025
unbelievable.... this was driven by Pete Brock and Bob Lyon in the 1969 Baja 1000, where it finished 4th in class behind James Garner’s ’69 Olds Cutlass
That worked during the day, but at night the planes couldn’t fly so the drivers just crept along at speeds slow enough that the struts would last till dawn, which they did.
Friday, August 22, 2025
Con Ferr, of Burbank, built/customized two vehicles for Steve McQueen, a Jeep, and his Thomas Crown Affair Manx.... realizing this makes it a very significant company, I had to learn about it
and the Super Jeep https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2018/08/con-ferr-incorporated-in-burbank-made.html which I haven't figured out, did they build it for Steve, or, did he do them the favor of posing with it for publicity photos, as they sure were in business together, they sold the seats Steve patented, that Solar Productions made (see below)
This only JUST connected for me today, that Con Ferr, did two vehicles for Steve McQueen, and got me wondering, what WAS Con Ferr? Did they have a name for making customs? Or just working for the very rich?
So, here's what I found out:
Con-Ferr was a company known for manufacturing off-road accessories and equipment, particularly for Jeeps and other 4x4 vehicles. founded in 1961 by Pete Condos & Frank Ferro though eventually Pete bought out Frank to become sole owner.
Pete had a background in Scouts, while Frank had a background in Jeeps. Their goal was to provide specialty off-road products for both types of vehicles. To that end, not only did they run their parts shop in Burbank, California, they also built custom jeeps like the Super Jeep.
Pete’s driver, Bill Haddad, drove Condo’s race jeeps to 18 victories in the 21 races in which he entered.
Pete would go on to co-found the National Off-Road Racing Association (NORRA) in 1966, which produced races like the Baja 1000 and Mint 500. During that time, Condos also produced racing vehicles for other folks, such as off-road racers for Steve McQueen and James Garner.
In 1970, Con-Ferr billed itself as America’s largest Off-Road vehicle accessory provider and had more than 44,000 square feet of storage, work, and retail space. It was an authorized dealer of Kaiser Jeep, Toyota Land Cruiser, and Manx.
Pete would go on to co-found the National Off-Road Racing Association (NORRA) in 1966, which produced races like the Baja 1000 and Mint 500. During that time, Condos also produced racing vehicles for other folks, such as off-road racers for Steve McQueen and James Garner.
In 1970, Con-Ferr billed itself as America’s largest Off-Road vehicle accessory provider and had more than 44,000 square feet of storage, work, and retail space. It was an authorized dealer of Kaiser Jeep, Toyota Land Cruiser, and Manx.
I translate "by Solar Plastics" as meaning this is the Steve McQueen patented seat I posted about
This is the Scout, that Pete Condos owned
Con-Ferr stuff was available at IH dealers. Many accessory parts were 'tied in' by corporate and made available for direct order by dealerships. Offerings were commonly noticed to dealers using the Parts Mike bulletins, and included specialized dealership tools. A lot of the accessories were also issued as addenda to the MT-87 Necessaries catalog.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/pete-condos-frank-ferro-con-ferr.351433/
Wow, imagine being at that Hall Of Fame ceremony... Garner, McQueen, Hickey, Stroppe? That's the Who's Who of celebs in off roading
Born on May 8th, 1925, Condos grew up in the suburbs to the north of Chicago. He spent many hours of his young years at a local speed shop learning the skills needed to customize cars making them into hot rods. He helped to hop up Model A’s and B’s, but his time spent at the garage came to a quick end with the beginning of World War II.
In 1942 he joined the United States Navy. He served on the U.S.S. Nevada as a seaman. After the war he returned to Chicago and completed his high school education and resumed his interest in hot rods.
He began building and racing roadsters and coupes. His first Roadster was a 1934 Ford that he completed in 1948, and he became a charter member of Andy Granatelli's Hurricane Hot Rod Racing Association.
In 1948 he moved to So Cal and joined the Throttler Car Club, (dry lakes racing).
In 1950 Earl “Madman” Muntz hired him to assist with the fabrication of the Muntz Road Jet car. Condos worked for Muntz building the high-end custom cars which were purchased by Hollywood’s elite.
In 1961 he purchased his first I.H. Scout so that his hunting trips to Nevada, Montana, and Idaho would be easier, while on the trips, he realized the need for different accessories for the Scout and he began making accessories for the Scout. He worked with Frank Ferro and the two would discuss accessories that would be useful for both Jeeps and Scouts. The two men started their own company, Con-Ferr in 1961.
How crazy of a coincidence is that, I just posted on the Dec 7th Pearl Harbor attack yesterday and Pete was crew on the USS Nevada, the only ship that got underway that morning.
Amazing... he was in WW2, in the Throttlers CC, worked for Muntz, co founded NORRA, pioneered Baja racing, coined the term Off Roading, made the Manx for Steve McQueen in the Thomas Crown Affair, and made cars for James Garner... which I'll guess was the Olds or the SC/Rambler Baja racers... I'll see if I can verify that
Thursday, July 10, 2025
Thursday, June 05, 2025
Sunday, June 01, 2025
Thursday, November 21, 2024
Saturday, November 16, 2024
Sunday, September 22, 2024
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Stand and raise a beer to toast the retirement of Dominic Clark, and begine the slow clapping that crescendos
Born in 1949 in Reno, Clark started his 41st year this year working in Media Operations with SCORE.
Reflecting on his 40-plus years with SCORE, and nearly 60 years working special events, Clark, who just turned 75, commented, “What a truly amazing life and career I have had in sports journalism and sports media relations and SCORE has been the biggest part of it with over four decades of doing what I have been blessed to do since I started out as the Sports Editor of both my high school newspaper, high school yearbook in the 1960s, and my college yearbook in the early 1970s.”
“Like most boys in Southern Nevada at the time, I grew up playing and enjoying ‘stick and ball’ sports, but I was able to transfer the skills that I learned in journalism and sports marketing to relate in the world of motorsports, even though I can barely change a tire, let alone tell anyone what’s under the hood of the vehicle. I have worked with SCORE for more years than any of the other exciting events that I have been fortunate to be a part of for my awesome career. It’s time to hang up ‘the keyboard’ and relax with my family for the final years of my journey. It truly has been a wonderful life.
SCORE said “Dominic has been a huge part of SCORE for a very long time and we appreciate all of the passion, professionalism and insight he has given to us for all of these years,” reflected Abelardo Grijalva, President/Race Director of SCORE International. “I have only worked with him directly for the last 10 years, but I was a racer before that when Sal Fish owned SCORE and Dominic was always a very large part of whatever SCORE was doing during that time as well. To say that his contributions to SCORE will be missed is a huge understatement and all of us wish him nothing but the best in the years ahead. We also want everyone to know that his wisdom and insight into our operation will always be very welcome.”
Motorsports
Among his numerous special events were both the 1991 and 1993 Miss Universe pageants held in Las Vegas, a decade with the Las Vegas Bowl college football game, 17 years with the United States National Wrestling Championships, three years with the United States National Table Tennis Championships, one year with the U.S. Cycling Federation Olympic Trials, one year with the U.S. Olympic Trials for Karate, Judo and Taekwondo, one year with the U.S. Firefighters National Championship, and one year with the U.S. Triathlon Series National Championship.
Clark also was the local media director and published both the event souvenir program for the 1991 and 1993 Miss Universe Pageant.
Under the direction of founder Larry McKay, Clark was also the Media Director for 17 of the 25 years of the Las Vegas Holiday Prep Classic boy's high school in-season basketball tournament that saw as many as 100 teams. He was also the Media Director for two Boy's high school summer basketball tournaments
Clark is one of only five people to be recognized with the SCORE Legacy Award, joining Jerry Herbst, Rod Hall, Oscar Kawanishi, and Sal Fish.
After the 2023 season, Clark was honored with a special SCORE Lifetime Achievement award.
“Like most boys in Southern Nevada at the time, I grew up playing and enjoying ‘stick and ball’ sports, but I was able to transfer the skills that I learned in journalism and sports marketing to relate in the world of motorsports, even though I can barely change a tire, let alone tell anyone what’s under the hood of the vehicle. I have worked with SCORE for more years than any of the other exciting events that I have been fortunate to be a part of for my awesome career. It’s time to hang up ‘the keyboard’ and relax with my family for the final years of my journey. It truly has been a wonderful life.
SCORE said “Dominic has been a huge part of SCORE for a very long time and we appreciate all of the passion, professionalism and insight he has given to us for all of these years,” reflected Abelardo Grijalva, President/Race Director of SCORE International. “I have only worked with him directly for the last 10 years, but I was a racer before that when Sal Fish owned SCORE and Dominic was always a very large part of whatever SCORE was doing during that time as well. To say that his contributions to SCORE will be missed is a huge understatement and all of us wish him nothing but the best in the years ahead. We also want everyone to know that his wisdom and insight into our operation will always be very welcome.”
Motorsports
Clark was introduced to motorsports and in particular desert racing through the original Mint 400 desert race in Las Vegas and his motorsports consulting career was launched from there.
While Clark worked continuously for over four decades with SCORE, he also had great experiences working with:
- the old High Desert Racing Association (HDRA) in Las Vegas,
- the Mickey Thompson Off-Road Championship Gran Prix stadium series,
- Roger Mears Racing in the desert, stadium racing and the Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb,
- Rod Millen Racing at Pike’s Peak,
- media operations, advertising and sponsorships for the old Las Vegas Speedway Park,
- Gloy/Rahal Racing media relations with the NASCAR Truck Series,
- and with Unlimited Hydroplane racing media operations at Lake Mead in Las Vegas and Mission Bay in San Diego.”
SCORE will retain Clark as a consultant at least through Dec. 31, 2024 as the SCORE Historian, maintaining all the SCORE race results and other statistical data related to the races and to the series as he has for the past 40-plus years.
Background
Clark moved to Las Vegas in 1959 with his family, and began his journalism career working on the school newspaper and school yearbook. He attended college on a scholarship from the Las Vegas Press Club, attending UNLV and the University of Nevada in Reno, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Journalism in 1971.
Clark was the Sports Information Director at the Wolf Pack for two years while completing work on his journalism bachelor's degree. At UNLV, he was also sports editor of the Rebel Yell student newspaper as well as the sports editor of the UNLV student yearbook. After graduating from Nevada, he accepted a position as the Prep Sports Editor at the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper.
Clark left the R-J after six months to accept a position as Sports Information Director in the Athletics Department at UNLV, where he remained for 10 years, then became a partner in TUCA Productions sports marketing firm in Las Vegas where he stayed for another 10 years before leaving in 1991 to start his own sports marketing company in Las Vegas that he named Image Media.
SCORE will retain Clark as a consultant at least through Dec. 31, 2024 as the SCORE Historian, maintaining all the SCORE race results and other statistical data related to the races and to the series as he has for the past 40-plus years.
Background
Clark moved to Las Vegas in 1959 with his family, and began his journalism career working on the school newspaper and school yearbook. He attended college on a scholarship from the Las Vegas Press Club, attending UNLV and the University of Nevada in Reno, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Journalism in 1971.
Clark was the Sports Information Director at the Wolf Pack for two years while completing work on his journalism bachelor's degree. At UNLV, he was also sports editor of the Rebel Yell student newspaper as well as the sports editor of the UNLV student yearbook. After graduating from Nevada, he accepted a position as the Prep Sports Editor at the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper.
Clark left the R-J after six months to accept a position as Sports Information Director in the Athletics Department at UNLV, where he remained for 10 years, then became a partner in TUCA Productions sports marketing firm in Las Vegas where he stayed for another 10 years before leaving in 1991 to start his own sports marketing company in Las Vegas that he named Image Media.
While at UNLV, Clark was also the ghost-writer for legendary basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian’s weekly column in the Las Vegas Sun newspaper and after leaving UNLV, Clark wrote a weekly running column called ‘Strides’ than ran for over five years in the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper. He also coined the nickname of the UNLV basketball team still used today ‘Runnin’ Rebels’.
When he first left UNLV he published a coffee-table book entitled ‘Dynasty In The Desert’ celebrating the first 25 years of Runnin’ Rebel basketball and the opening of the iconic Thomas & Mack Arena in Las Vegas. He also was the host of a weekly Sports Talk Radio Show in Las Vegas for over a year called ‘Landmark Sports Tower Review’
The Olympics and more
With a two-decade mentorship from a media operations guru, Clark worked media relations for the Coors Brewing Company rodeo program that included 17 years at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.
Then in 1995 was introduced to the world of professional beach volleyball, a relationship that lasted over two decades as a Media Operations Delegate for the Federation Internationale de Volleyball that included working both the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Clark also worked for several years on the media operations team for the Wooden Legacy College basketball tournament, as well as a decade on the the Armed Forces Bowl and the First Responders Bowl college football bowl game
When he first left UNLV he published a coffee-table book entitled ‘Dynasty In The Desert’ celebrating the first 25 years of Runnin’ Rebel basketball and the opening of the iconic Thomas & Mack Arena in Las Vegas. He also was the host of a weekly Sports Talk Radio Show in Las Vegas for over a year called ‘Landmark Sports Tower Review’
The Olympics and more
With a two-decade mentorship from a media operations guru, Clark worked media relations for the Coors Brewing Company rodeo program that included 17 years at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.
Then in 1995 was introduced to the world of professional beach volleyball, a relationship that lasted over two decades as a Media Operations Delegate for the Federation Internationale de Volleyball that included working both the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Clark also worked for several years on the media operations team for the Wooden Legacy College basketball tournament, as well as a decade on the the Armed Forces Bowl and the First Responders Bowl college football bowl game
Among his numerous special events were both the 1991 and 1993 Miss Universe pageants held in Las Vegas, a decade with the Las Vegas Bowl college football game, 17 years with the United States National Wrestling Championships, three years with the United States National Table Tennis Championships, one year with the U.S. Cycling Federation Olympic Trials, one year with the U.S. Olympic Trials for Karate, Judo and Taekwondo, one year with the U.S. Firefighters National Championship, and one year with the U.S. Triathlon Series National Championship.
Clark also was the local media director and published both the event souvenir program for the 1991 and 1993 Miss Universe Pageant.
Under the direction of founder Larry McKay, Clark was also the Media Director for 17 of the 25 years of the Las Vegas Holiday Prep Classic boy's high school in-season basketball tournament that saw as many as 100 teams. He was also the Media Director for two Boy's high school summer basketball tournaments
Clark is one of only five people to be recognized with the SCORE Legacy Award, joining Jerry Herbst, Rod Hall, Oscar Kawanishi, and Sal Fish.
After the 2023 season, Clark was honored with a special SCORE Lifetime Achievement award.
Saturday, November 18, 2023
An instant Baja Legend, Wouter-Jan Van Dijk from the Netherlands via Australia where he became a naturalized citizen... raced the Baja 1000 with nothing but a backpack. No team, no sponsors, no support crew, no pre run.
The start of this story is when he posted a question on Facebook, one month ago, to the Pro Moto Baja Racing page:
Then he flew to the states from Australia, bought a used KTM 500 in San Diego on Craigslist, that had 70 hours on it, rode it to La Paz and entered the Baja 1000. Now it has 48 more hours on it, and will probably end up one of the most famous bikes to complete the Baja 1000!
At tech inspection he was denied entry due to bald tires and missing safety equipment.
He also needed to get a gps tracker and new tires, he somehow gathered everything he needed and took the green flag.
He got help from random pits, even being fed tacos at one stop.
He finished the Ironman Moto class (riding the entire race solo) having never ridden in Baja before and no prerunning.
Zipties were needed:
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