WTF

La Carrera Panamericana 2008 had a spectacular finish. Geezer, Stewie and Rene finished 36th overall in El Jefe and 6th in the Production Class. The linkage to the clutch busted with just 60 miles left to go to Nuevo Laredo so we had to trailer El Jefe, but we officially finished all the speed stages and turned in our race card so we can still call it a finish. In a starting field of 105 cars, about half of those finished - a very high atrition rate so we are very happy to have finished, and finished well. Final results are here: http://www.lacarrerapanamericana.com.mx/resultados_08.asp (download the pdf called Resultos Absulotos Finales). Todd's 3 cars all finished and the big news is that Richard and Simon got 1st place in Historic C with Marc and Rupert close behind with 3rd place in Historic C! And they were 6th and 9th overall, which is incredible! Martin and Jon in the Gypsy Wind finished 6th in their class and 34th overall which is a good showing for missing 1+ days of raci...

The aftermath of the Robertson's Studebaker and the Mustang. The video of the Studebaker/Mustang crash is here: http://www.sporcar.com/sporcartv/sporcarplayer07.asp?formato=4&seccion=MEX&video=PANA-SLP-AGS.FLV You may need to cut and paste the link into your browser to get it to work. It is simply incredible that everyone is okay. The first crash is Stewart and Linda Robertson of Canada smashing into a wall and rolling in their Studebaker. I heard they were running 12th overall that day. After a few seconds a Mustang came around the corner, missed the turn and smashed into the Studebaker, landing on top of it. Linda walked away with compressed discs in her back and Stewart was unharmed except for the Studebaker rolling over his foot since he was out of the car when the Mustang hit. Stewart built that car to be very strong and as safe as possible. I have had several discussions with Linda in the last two years about her navigator's seat and even teased her about her ...

Hello, sorry, internet has been non-existent for quite a while. El Jefe is running very well, maybe in the 30 somthing place overall and no mechanical troubles. Todd,s boys are running quite well, typically either first, second or third in their class, or some combination thereof. On Day 2 both the Gypsy Wind and the Bag ONails hit a dip in the road during a speed stage and split their sump (that,s British for ripped open their oil pan) but Richard was able to get theirs fixed quickly by a local mechanic and finish the day, missing only 1 speed stage. Martin and Jon had dumped all their oil on the road so we had to put them on the trailer and they didn,t run the next day while the car was being fixed. There has been quite a bit of carnage but as far as we,ve heard, no one is seriously heard. A gorgeous Sunbeam was totalled on the first day, my friends Jorge and Tomas in the white Volvo went off road but they are okay. We ended up giving them a ride back to Oaxaca because they were ri...

This just in from race car builder Todd Landon: As of the end of Day 4 of racing: Richard and Simon 1st in class and 6th overall (Bag O,Nails). Mark and Rupert are 2nd in class and 7th overall (orange Falcon). El Jefe is running strong about 41st overall and no mechanical troubles! Thanks everyone for your support and your patience in waiting for me to update the blog.

The Volvo/John Deere lawnmower driven by Tom and navigated by George. The car hauler where Tom and George were riding in their crashed car. Tom, a few hours after the crash. The totalled Sunbeam. The Cadillac went off road but was able to join the race again after repairs. Gerie Bledsoe helping out the cars that went off road on Day 1. Fernando with our local crew support, Pepe y Paco de Oaxaca. Tom and his oil-soaked shirt at the end of Day 1. The end of a very long day of racing - Tom's navigator, Jim and mechanic Corky.

!Saludos Amigos! We raced the prequalification course yesterday - a 6km course just outside of town. Stewie drove and Geezer navigated for the first time in the PanAm. They did really well, drove conservatively and placed towards the bottom of the pack. Day 0 of racing doesn't count for anything, it just establishes the official race day lineup, so it is best to take it easy, check out the car and not get too crazy. Rene, Bimbo and I went out to the speed course to watch and enjoyed seeing 90 some cars whiz by about a minute apart. Some were very fast, some were very slow, but everyone looked pretty good. I stood on an inside corner near a city policeman who was guarding the gate to an estate so I practiced my Spanish by talking at him and showing him a few pictures on my camera of the cars on my team. VIDEO of Stewie driving and Geezer navigating on the prequalification speed stage yesterday. Also uploaded quick videos of Richard in the Bag O'Nails and Mark in the Falcon on th...

Hello, this will be a short posting until I can fatten it up later. Today is Day 0 of racing. We have been in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas now for several days (I have lost count) in preparation for the official start of the race tomorrow. Today we run a prequalification to decide the starting order for tomorrow. We run at 3pm and rumor has it that we will race on a track. The cars all passed inspection and have been test driven. Mark from Belgium and Rupert from the UK are both very pleased with the Falcon Todd built for them. Can you imagine ordering a race car, sight unseen, and arriving in the south of Mexico to race it? The Gypsy Wind was struggling on the journey down, running on 6 cylinders and eating up to 2 quarts of oil each time we filled up with gas. It seems that oil was sneaking passed the valve stems but yesterday the guys fixed it and also put on the race wheels and tires and Martin and Jon said she was a new car and are very pleased. There is a film crew from NYC ...

We are currently in Puebla headed today for the start at Tuxtla Gutierrez. All has gone well on the trip which is fantastic since we now number 10 people, 3 trucks, 3 trailers and 3 race cars. Jon, Martin, Fernando and I all flew into Dallas on Thursday evening and we left the Honeycomb Hideout on Friday morning, after waiting for UPS to deliver a driveshaft for the Falcon. The plan was to get some work done in the morning, receive the shipment at 10am and hit the road. But we had a lot of work to do and the UPS man didn't arrive until 12:30pm so our planned lunch at my parents' house turned into an early happy hour. We cruised about 150 miles to my parents' house in Georgetown where we regretted we could not stay longer for the fabulous party they put on for us! A grand feast was laid out and their friends Kathy Scott, Frank and Jane, as well as my aunt and uncle Kathy and Jack were there. We celebrated my stepdad's birthday the following day, and mechanic Dave Fuss...

The adventure has officially begun! Todd Landon and Dave Fuss left today from Mound, Minnesota, where the fall colors are in full bloom. The next stop is 1,000 miles down I-35 to overnight at the Honeycomb Hideout in Roanoke, Texas where they will pick up the Gypsy Wind and the Bag O'Nails.....and me. Friday, Oct 17, the entire Mustangs To Go caravan ( Mule Team ) will make a lunchtime stop at my mom and stepfather's house in Georgetown, Texas. Mom's gonna feed us some home cookin' and take one of the racecars out for a test spin in the Texas Hill Country. She's ridden in the Gypsy Wind before but she'll probably like the Bobcat (Falcon) best this time because she doesn't like it when the beautiful paint jobs get all cluttered with race and sponsor stickers and right now the Bobcat is still unstickered and clean. ;) Then we're gonna make a run for the border! The plan is to meet up with Geezer and the TBZ Team (Rene and Bimbo) in Zacatecas Saturday night...

It is hard to believe but in just one week I will be boarding a plane to Dallas/Ft. Worth where I will meet up with Todd Landon and crew for the long road trip to Tuxtla Gutierrez in the southernmost region of Mexico to begin our La Carrera Panamericana adventure! The 2008 La Carrera Panamericana runs from October 24 - 30 and races 2,000 miles along the following route: Day 0: Prerace Qualifications in Tuxtla Gutierrez Day 1: To Oaxaca Day 2: To Mexico City Day 3: To Queretaro Day 4: To San Luis Potosi Day 5: To Aguascalientes Day 6: To Zacatecas Day 7: To Nuevo Laredo The combined teams of Geezer's TumbaBurros de Zacatecas (TBZ) and Todd Landon's Mustangs To Go include: #11 "El Jefe" (Stewart) 1952 Ford Victoria Vance Stewart Jr., Rene Rodriguez, Vance Stewart III, Kristin Stewart Turismo de Produccion #372 "Bag O'Nails" (Landon) 1965 Mustang Fastback R-Model Richard Tyzack and Simon Jefferies Historica C #358 "Gypsy Wind" (Landon) 1965 Mus...