Ronn Bailey Motorsports took first both in class and overall in the Sonora 500 on Saturday winning the prestigious Mayor's Trophy. The Sonora 500, sponsored by Pro Desert Racing/Grupo Producciones De Mexico, began and finished in San Luis, Sonora, about an hour south of Yuma, Arizona.
"Not bad for a race that wasn’t even on the schedule – or even on the team's radar," said Ronn Bailey, owner and driver of the Ronn Bailey Motorsports. Bailey, who is in the final stages of preparation for his third Dakar Rally, was planning to practice dune racing in the legendary dunes of the Sonora Desert. These dunes are the closest to those found in the Sahara, so Bailey planned to practice on them, both day and night, from Friday to Monday.
This all changed at 2:00 am Saturday morning when an off-hand remark at a local cantina, alerted Bailey to the fact that the Sonora 500 was scheduled to run later that morning (in some six hours to be precise), and that entries were being accepted right up until the mandatory pre-race meeting at 7:15 am.
Bailey's race team is sponsored by Vanguard Integrity Professionals, the long-time leader in information security protecting the global data assets of the world’s Top 1000 organizations and their customers. For this weekend Bailey had brought with him a four-man team consisting of the directors of R&D, Training, Facilities Management, and one fabricator/mechanic from the Motorsports team. With only three pit crew hands --and a single chase vehicle to cover over 500 kilometers of open desert-- the odds were overwhelmingly against success. Team Vanguard’s mechanic set in as navigator for the race.
There were other obstacles that had to be overcome, of course, such as having neither fire suits nor fuel, rather mandatory items to running the race. So the race to find these necessities was on. Fortunately, both were found and procured; however only two cans of fuel were available (secured after the race had already begun), which critically impacted the race strategy.
At the Start Line, Ronn Bailey lined up last, since one’s starting position was based on a lottery held the previous evening. It wasn’t long before Bailey raced out in front of every competitor from every class. The two 150-mile long laps went all the way down to the Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortez) and back to the starting point. Race management had concluded that they would see the fastest of the competitors making ‘the turn’ in about 3:00 hours. You can image how they were taken aback when Ronn Bailey made ‘the turn’ at 2 hours and fourteen minutes!
Ronn and his co-pilot/navigator Jason, executed precisely to plan, with "no problems and no flats." They even masterly handled the high man-made berms that appeared near the Gulf shore. "We launched high in the air," concluded Bailey, "but we were always where we expected to be, in the zone of 'controlled chaos'". However, danger was always lurking. Emergency services were provided by Cruz Roja of Mexico, though helicopter traffic was not allowed in the entire State of Sonora.
A bit of excitement occurred at the final pit stop. As they were beginning to fill the tank, the pit crew saw Ronn’s closest competitor pull into his designated pit area. Not wanting to allow the competitor any chance to jump ahead, Ronn was waved out by his crew back onto the track. The strategy paid off, but barely. Ronn crossed the finish line well ahead of his competitor, of course. But when the crew tried to load the car onto the trailer, it wouldn’t start.
It seems like Ronn Bailey had crossed the finish line, literally, on fumes.
Ronn said "This race proves "heart" is core to success. Yes proper planning and preparation are essential and needed, but in the end it is the heart-of-team that carries you through the checker flag."
On Sunday, Ronn received the race’s highest honor, the Mayor’s Trophy, on the steps of the City Hall in San Luis. In a heart-felt acceptance speech Bailey donated all the winnings to the needy children and families of San Luis, a charitable organization run by the Mayor’s wife.
Immediately after the ceremony was over Ronn and his crew got back on track and spent the next two days and nights practicing for Dakar in the sand dunes of Sonora.
