Baja-Kansas concludes with tough endurance course

  Monday, May 26, 2014 2:00 AM
  News

Pittsburg, KS

If the endurance race at Baja-Kansas in 2011 was remarkable for the mud, what many participants will remember about this year’s race was the dust, and a level of difficulty that sent many competitors scrambling to repair their crippled cars.

“Dusty,” said Erik Rasmussen, driver of the winning Iowa State car, describing the course. “The logs on that turn were really rough. It was a fast track. I really liked it. It was amazing for spectators.”

Rasmussen said the key to winning the race was keeping his wheels on the ground.

“There were teams that were airing out a lot of the jumps. I was trying to accelerate as hard as I could and brake hard at the top,” Rasmussen said. “Then I was able to accelerate down the back side.”

Although they got “ooohs and ahhhs” from the large crowd of spectators when they soared over the obstacles, the teams that weren’t able to keep their wheels on the ground paid a high price. Yellow-shirted rescue crews were busy throughout the race responding to disabled cars and rollovers.