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11/18/2006 - 07:00 PM
Ojos Negros, Baja California, Mexico
The father and son team of Rod and Ryan Millen. (photo courtesy Toyota) » More Photos
Off to a Challenging Start
The Toyota FJ Cruiser/MillenWorks team got an early taste of the tough challenges of the 2006 SCORE Baja 1000, as driver Rod Millen and co-driver Richard Kelsey encountered trouble in their first stint in the event.
After starting off from Ensenada at 12:40 p.m., the FJ Cruiser driven by multiple Pikes Peak champion Millen was scheduled to perform its initial driver change some two hours later, in an outpost circa 70 racing miles east of the starting point, where his son Ryan and navigator Adam Dupree were set to take over driving and co-driving duties.
What was supposed to be a smooth transition with a healthy laad became a test to the MillenWorks crew, however, when a flat tire occurred less than five miles away from the rendezvous spot. With the right-front BF Goodrich reduced to shards, Millen pulled over to the shoulder of Baja California's Highway 3 to trigger what became a feverish pit stop: once the knocked-out tire was removed, it became clear that the FJ's upright suspension arm had incurred damage.
"We don't know whether the flat tire damaged the upright or the other way around," revealed MillenWorks program manager Brian Miller.
After some ten minutes of intense work, the crew managed to fix the damage with the employment of what Miller described as "a little shimming": literally, Rod Millen himself laid down on the dust and added a handful of shims between each lugnut and the wheel mount to correct the toe adjustment of the FJ's right-front tire.
"It's fixed, but we don't know how long it will hold," Miller admitted. "We'll just have to see how it goes."
Ryan Millen and Adam Dupree were back on the racecourse at 3:05 p.m. In case the shimming job isn't enough, the team already has a new upright assembly awaiting at San Felipe.
The MillenWorks Baja special Toyota FJ. (Dan Streck photo) » More Photos
Just Typical Baja
Rosarito, Baja California Sur, Mexico
After a mostly trouble-free run through the dark Mexican night that saw the Toyota FJ Cruiser/MillenWorks team enter the state of Baja California Sur (the peninsula's southern half) on the wee hours of Friday vying for the lead in the 2006 SCORE Baja 1000's Stock Mini class, the gruesome character of the event -- which had already appeared early on Thursday afternoon, when the FJ suffered a flat tire and damaged right-front upright suspension arm less than 70 miles after the start of the race -- again chose to poke its ugly face.
When Friday morning broke, the MillenWorks crew assembled in a dirt road some half a mile off Mexico's Highway 1 near the town of Rosarito, already in "B.C.S.", as the state is commonly called. The FJ, manned by driver Adam Dupree at that moment, arrived slightly delayed at the checkpoint mark, and the reason became clear by gazing at the Cruiser's once-gorgeous all-black paintjob. Simply put, it had been replaced by a decidedly less attractive all-brown.
"We were stuck in the mud for 30 minutes," lamented Dupree before handing over the reins to team owner/driver Rod Millen.
As for the previous night's action, Rod's son Ryan, who did most of the nocturnal driving, relayed the action-packed events -- which included a lesson or two in Baja Engineering 101.
"The fix we had done [Thursday] in the afternoon held itself decently, but we had the opportunity to change the whole right-front upright arm at night and that seemed like the best choice," said Ryan, referring to the so-called "shimming job" that had temporarily solved the issue. "It proved so, because the car felt just like brand-new again.
"It was funny, because some guys from the other teams were asking us, 'How are you going to fix an upright?' We said we weren't: we'd just change the whole thing. People
To top it off, literally, Ryan found out the gas cap was gone. An impromptu solution was found with a bit of ingenuity -- and plenty of duct tape...
The MillenWorks Baja special Toyota FJ. (Dan Streck photo) » More Photos
More Typical Baja…
Ciudad Insurgentes, Baja California Sur, Mexico
All along during Thursday night and Friday morning the Toyota FJ Cruiser/MillenWorks team battled through a series of issues -- a damaged suspension arm coupled with a flat tire and a 30-minute session of mud-wrestling to get the FJ unstuck being the most notorious ones -- to keep a comfortable lead in the Stock Mini class of the 2006 SCORE Baja 1000.
But shortly after the team departed for the eighth leg of the punishing event, between Loreto and Ciudad Insurgentes in the state of Baja California Sur, the certainty of victory for the driving trio formed by off-roading legend and team owner Rod Millen, his son Ryan and Adam Dupree was put on hold.
A difficulty with the ECU (Electronic Control Unit) in the FJ's 4.0-liter V6 meant the engine wouldn't start after the team's eighth driver change of the event. Unplugging an plugging back the ECU seemed to solve the problem, but only temporarily: after ten minutes of running, the power plant shut off again.
The MillenWorks crew decided to tow the car back to the checkpoint area to assess the situation. A new ECU was put in place and improved the car's behavior, but lingering electronic difficulties are keeping the engine in "limp" mode, with driver Ryan Millen running the Cruiser under 50 mph in his stint.
"We've radioed Ryan and he said, 'You know, it's not as bad as you think'," revealed Rod. "Of the final 180 miles we have to go, the last 90 are really slow, so the fact the engine's running in limp mode shouldn't be a problem."
As far as retaining the lead in the Stock Mini class, the elder Millen admitted the jury is still out at this point.
"I'm confident that we can still win this thing. We're almost certain that we still hold the class lead at this point," he said.
"Before the ECU issues, the car was running absolutely great. I mean, we were cruising at about 95 miles per hour when we were approaching the Bahia de Los Angeles area -- that's a very good speed for this kind of off-road competition. In fact, we were actually dicing with classes above us, buggies, pickup trucks with a lot more suspension travel and so."
So the FJ has already proved it packs a punch, and one above its weight at that. Whether it can hold on to conquer a class win will be discovered in the next few hours...
Photo finish!
La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico
After 34 hours, 37 minutes and 18 seconds, the MillenWorks Toyota FJ Cruiser finally made it to La Paz, the capital of the state of Baja California Sur, having traveled almost 1050 miles since its departure from Ensenada.
Despite the problems that afflicted the effort in the final stint of the enduro, the truck manned by Rod and Ryan Millen still salvaged a second-place finish in the Stock Mini class.
Amazingly, following almost a day and a half of racing, the FJ was denied victory by a mere 33 seconds, as class winners Dan Fresh/Sean Douglass/Dale Godges crossed the finish line in 34h17min44s in a Mitsubishi Raider.
As a testament to the difficulty of the Baja challenges, only two other Stock Mini entries made it to the finish,both of them factory-backed: a Hummer H3 and Honda Ridgeline.
Click here for the latest on the Toyota FJ Cruiser's Baja adventure, including blogs from drivers Rod and Ryan Millen, photos and much more.
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