Drag racing legend Prudhomme returns to Baja 50 years later
Don Prudhomme had no clue what he was doing the first time he raced Baja.
He didn’t know the course. He didn’t grasp the conditions. He didn’t even have the right setup in the car.
The legendary drag racer was a last-minute fill-in for actor Steve McQueen, who had to bail because of filming obligations. Prudhomme teamed with friend and fellow racer Tony Nancy for the 1,000-mile sprint across the desert and through tiny towns in Mexico. They drove McQueen’s car — a dune buggy Nancy built with a Porsche engine — and made it about 100 miles before flames started spewing out of the tailpipes.
Prudhomme walked away with more regrets than recollections.
Now, 50 years later, he’s looking for redemption.
“Hope to have a little better luck this time,” Prudhomme told The Associated Press from his home in San Diego.
The 77-year-old Prudhomme will return to Baja for the Mexican 1000 next week, his first competitive race since retiring from NHRA in 1994.
“It’s always been a thorn in my side that we never finished the race,” Prudhomme said. “But thinking back on it, it’s kind of a good thing or else I’d still be lost out there in the desert. We didn’t know what the hell we were doing. I would say luckily we broke down, to be honest with you. Now, going back, it’s a bucket list thing. It’s like climbing a mountain you didn’t make it up years ago.”
Or decades ago.
The Mexican 1000 is a five-day, o -road rally run by the National O -Road Racing Association, which ran the first Baja 1000 in 1967. It celebrates o road racing history and vintage off-road vehicles. Cars, trucks, buggies and motorcycles from all eras of Baja racing are eligible to participate in a variety of classes. The race begins April 22 in Ensenda, Mexico, and ends in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico.