San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
QUINTERO FINDS OFF-ROAD CALLING
San Marcos driver youngest to win stage in Dakar Rally history
Growing up, Seth Quintero loved playing baseball.
Entering Mission Hills High, his goal was to earn a fullride college soccer scholarship.
So what is the now 18-yearold with ball skills doing driving a race car across the desert in Saudi Arabia?
“I dabbled in other sports as a kid, but I started riding dirt bikes when I was seven,” Quintero said. “Racing is a family sport, but when my dad got in an accident riding dirt bikes, my family put a stop to that.
“So we had to go a different direction.”
That direction has taken him to Spain, Morocco, Dubai and recently to Saudi Arabia where he became the youngest competitor in the 40-year history of the Dakar Rally to win a stage in what is considered the most-extreme off-road race in the world.
Driving a modified Polaris Razer for the Red Bull Offroad Junior Team in the Classic Class, Quintero won Stages 6 and 11 in the 12-stage, 4,751mile race across sand, rocks, dirt and tarmac.
“Stage 11, I think, is the hardest in the Rally,” Quintero said. “And it’s long (371 miles). There are a lot of rocks, and we’re driving over dunes. And it’s dusty as heck. Some people back down on this stage. But we went for it and won by 13 minutes.”
Gearbox trouble in Stage 9, a long tow ride — a 13-hour ordeal — cost Quintero and codriver Dennis Zenz.
Getting the OK to race just minutes before Stage 10, it didn’t go well.
Still, Quintero rallied to win Stage 11. But the problems in Stages 9 and 10 cost him a spot in the overall top 10, finishing 18th in a field of 41.
“In racing, things are earned, not given,” Quintero said. “We’re already thinking about Dakar next year and moving up to the Pro Turbo Class.”
To keep things fresh, Quintero plans to race in the Parker 250 in Arizona in late February.
In July, he hopes to race in the Silk Way Rally, a 10-stage, 3,106-miles test of endurance across Russia, Mongolia, and ending in China with a trip across the Gobi Desert.
“I really like doing different off-road events,” Quintero said. “These races are a chance to see parts of the world I never dreamed of seeing. During the Dakar, we came across Nomad camps, people living in tents. It was a really positive experience. The people are super warm. Traveling like this is very humbling. To see what’s outside our comfort zone can really open your eyes. It’s pretty educational.”
Quintero graduated from
Mission Hills with a 4.2 GPA.
“It was good grades or no racing,” Quintero said.
He was far from a celebrity in high school, though.
“I kind of kept my racing under wraps in high school,” Quintero said. “Not that it wasn’t cool. I just didn’t go out of my way to tell people I was a racer. My friends know, and that’s just fine.”
On his way to winning a stage in the Dakar Rally, there was plenty to brag about.
In 2014 at age 11, he won the youth class in the UTV World Championship.
There were three first-place finishes in 2015, and many top finishes in 2019, including the Silver State 300 in Nevada, the BITD Vegas-to-reno and the Mint 400 in Las Vegas.
Quintero was drawn to offroad racing while watching the Baja 1000.
“We watched that as a family and it was super awesome,” Quintero said. “I love all types of racing — NASCAR, Formula 1 — but there was something about the bumps, the desert, not knowing what’s ahead, that attracted me to off-road racing.”
And there is a hint of danger.
“I’ve crashed and cracked my helmet,” Quintero said. “And, yes, guys get hurt, and hurt badly. But it’s safety first. Honestly, I feel pretty freaking safe.”
Racing thousands of miles across the desert can be physically demanding. And while Quitero watches his diet, he’s not a fitness nut.
“I find going to the gym boring,” Quintero said. “I don’t lift weights. But I’m active. I’m still a kid, so I surf, ride my bike, snowboard.
“Dakar was grueling. I lost 12 pounds over the course of the race. So being fit physically and mentally is big. With so many different types of terrain on the course, you have to be mentally sharp. You can’t slip up. Racing is what I do. It’s what I want to do. I feel I’m carving out my own path.”