From what I can recall, John Baker was the first off road racer to be sponsored in full by Dodge in the Class 8 Two Wheel Drive class. Baker was a well rounded driver that had decent success in his Ford Bronco before switching to the Dodge truck. He ran this truck for two years before the Dodge sponsorship was transferred to Walker Evans. At this point, John Baker moved to a Class 7 D-50 mini truck. Does anyone have more photos or information about Baker and his Class 8 dodge desert race truck? It is currently being restored and the owner would like more information.
It is with great sorrow that I announce that off road racing legend Frank “Scoop” Vessels has passed away after a plane crash in Oregon at the age of 58. Vessels is one of the pioneers of desert racing and was known to be one of the most friendly “big name” off road racers around. Stories are starting to pour in on this thread on Race Dezert about his generosity and willingness to take the time from his busy schedule on race day to talk to kids, fans and other racers.
We are looking for older Dave Shoppe photos? He raced desert races for a number of years and drove both Chevrolet and Ford Class 8 race trucks. Can you help us?
We are looking for more photos of the Miller Lite Oldsmobile Cutlass that Chris Robinson used to off road race in Class 6. Can you help us out?
Do you remember Glen Harris and the Black Gold-Team Mazda off road racing team? They raced some desert races, but mostly the Mickey Thompson MTEG stadium races. They were a force to be reckoned with!
For me, one of the best parts about Waynes World was the pimped out AMC Pacer. Did you know that there was a few AMC Pacers that were raced off road in the 70’s?
Off Road Action reader Rod Hafner sent us this great photo of the Condor off road racing motorhome. He took the photo in the 1969 or 1970 Mint 400.
Earlier this month, we wrote a short article about 3 Ford Edsel that used to race in off road desert races in the 60’s though to the 80’s. With the Swift’s racing their restored Ford Edsel off road race car in the NORRA Mexican 1000 this week, we have been coming across more photos for your pleasure. Thank you to Class 3 Racing.com for most of the photos in this post.
The NORRA Mexican 1000 vintage off road race held last weekend was an instant success! We have posted a few photos here and here, but we now have the first videos for your pleasure!
Last week we posted photos of the ex Rod Hall 70’s Desert Race Ford Bronco. Thanks to Classic Broncos.com member rhenrys68, we have some more! They have done a great restoration in such a short amount of time!
