Baja or Bust!'s topics - tribe.net

Eric Solarzano is in SJ working on the car!

MrsMe — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 19:15:19 GMT

Eric and his friend and co-driver Sam drove up from Mexico to work on the suspension. the team is hammering and welding and working hard to get us ready for the next race..which is...hmm, have to check with ronjon.

Give us a couple of days to prep the photos....new gallery coming on the website.

We are gonna kick ass this year in the Baja 1000!

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Skid needs a kidney transplant

MrsMe — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 19:48:16 GMT

Our friend and teammate Mike "Skid" Aquino needs a kidney transplant. He is currently in the hospital due to kidney failure, likely a complication of his diabetes. If you have Type O blood, please consider being a live donor.

Currently, the wait time for a donor is 3-6 years, depending on blood type. Until a compatible donor is found, Skid will need to undergo dialysis three times a week. He is currently on the transplant waiting list at UCSF.

This from the UCSF website: "Most kidneys for transplant are from people who have died and whose families give permission for organ donation. However, there are not enough of these organs for everyone who needs one. Nationally, more than 70,000 patients are on the kidney transplant waiting list, and more are added each year. Because of the organ shortage, living donor kidney transplants are an important option. They're possible because we're born with two kidneys. When surgeons remove one of the donor's kidneys, the remaining kidney grows slightly to compensate for the loss of the other and the kidney can function normally."

Who pays for expenses?
Expenses, including the required testing to see if you are a good match, will be paid by Skid's insurance.

What is it like to donate a kidney?
Another member of our team donated a kidney to a friend. If you have questions about what the experience is like, we'll put you in touch with Seth.

I want to help but I don't have Type O blood.
Anyone can donate a kidney through the UCSF "Live Donor to Deceased Donor Waiting List Exchange Program." This is a way to potentially reduce the wait time for a deceased-donor kidney. Once the donation is made, the donor's relative or friend will move to a position on the waiting list equivalent to that of the patient who received the live donor kidney.

You can also help by putting the word out. We'll post updates here: http://www.desertdingo.com/skid.html

posted in Baja or Bust! - 1 reply

Today June 8 at the Cannery at Fisherman's Wharf

MrsMe — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:51:34 GMT

Say hi to the team and see the car at the Cannery.

"The International Diabetes Federation (IDF), its World Diabetes Day official partners and Desert Dingo Racing will co-sponsor a public event at The Cannery on Fisherman’s Wharf on Sunday, June 8 to promote diabetes awareness and education.
The Federation will be distributing World Diabetes Day (WDD) material to draw attention to diabetes in children and inform people of the warning signs of diabetes. Desert Dingo Racing will have its 1969 VW Beetle (the World Diabetes Day car), which raced the 2007 Baja 1000, and team drivers will be on hand to sign hero cards, which also have the warning signs of diabetes printed on them."

http://www.desertdingo.com/pr3.html

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New website and new plans

MrsMe — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 01:33:55 GMT

We've updated the site http://www.desertdingo.com and we're making plans for an event with the IDF at Cannery Row in June. Check the site for deets as the date approaches.

Meanwhile, work continues on the car. What's the next race? Stay tuned.

posted in Baja or Bust! - 3 replies

Looking forward

MrsMe — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 05:52:28 GMT

Most of the team is headed home as I type this. Three folks headed south, taking advantage of having mexican car insurance and visas.

rj will be posting pics on the blog. once they have a chance to process the experience, they'll make plans to run other races between now and next november, then challenge Baja again.

next year, i'm not manning the fort, I'm going to get in that car too. I've got some things to learn in the meanwhile, like how to use the GPS. :)

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1146 busts outa the gate!

MrsMe — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 03:22:30 GMT

Check this out! http://blip.tv/file/481902/

posted in Baja or Bust! - 6 replies

Countdown continues

MrsMe — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 20:57:53 GMT

The Desert Dingos are making great progress. All the news is on our website or in the blog. Jim will be Twittering as they toodle down to Cabo. Keep track on http://desertdingo.com and tell your friends to click on the Make a Donation button to help us raise money for diabetes research.

posted in Baja or Bust! - 0 replies

Best of Luck!

Ray — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 20:24:18 GMT

Woohoo! This is gonna be the greatest baja team ever! Go Team!

posted in Baja or Bust! - 1 reply

Check out the article on Skylar's team

MrsMe — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 20:42:32 GMT

Skylar, I was checking out your website http://jeepgofast.com/ and clicked on the San Diego Magazine link. So cool!

Folks, take a few minutes and read this and check out the video links on the bottom:
http://www.sandiego-online.com/media/San-Diego-Magazine/May-2007/The-Test-Run/

The Desert Dingos will be rooting for Team Anvil!

posted in Baja or Bust! - 2 replies

Baja Pits ROCKS!

MrsMe — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 16:19:24 GMT

We put our deposit down months ago for Baja Pits Service for the Baja 1000. What a Dream Machine -- Baja Pits is a non-profit corporation "providing expert contract pit services to Privateer Desert Racers and Teams for most races in Baja California and some in the Southwestern United States. This service includes: welding, tire change, re-fueling, electrical problems and a variety of other services. "

I decided if I wanted to get in contact with some veterans to learn more about camp logistics and supporting the team in the course of the race, Carlos Orozco, prez of the Pits, was a good place to start. And I was right. What an incredible family we are now a part of. Basically, what Carlos said is that "YOUR TEAM ARE MEMBERS OF BAJA PITS AND ALL OF US WILL HELP YOU."

posted in Baja or Bust! - 0 replies

sponsorships

MrsMe — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 20:26:06 GMT

while ronjon and i research and pitch corporations for sponsorships, i thought i'd set up a donation page on our website to solicit smaller contributions, to help pay for the stuff we're already putting on personal credit cards.

alas, i keep hitting the wall. we don't qualify for paypal or google checkout -- to use their donate buttons, we have to be a 501c.

i did my research on this: 501(c)(7) is for hobbyists. .. but only up to 35% of the org's income can come from outside sources. the rest has to come from membership dues. as if.

to qualify as a 501(c)(4), the focus of Desert Dingos would have to be promotion of social welfare. that's an important part of who we are but not our reason for being.

the only other thing i can think of is setting up a Cafe Press shop and marking up the items to include a donation: tank top plus $25 donation. . .my brain is fried from reading federal regulations. this may have to wait until tomorrow.

unless somebody has a better idea.

posted in Baja or Bust! - 0 replies

Any interest in additional help?

creech — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 00:26:48 GMT

Hi, I'm Creech. In addition to being a burner, I've also raced motorcycles for the past 9 years. I served on the board of directors of the American Federation of Motorcycles and held the Chief Tech position with the club for 2 years. I've also done my share of offroad riding, this being the second year I've run the SheetIron 300, a 300 mile 2 day event in northern California.

While all my racing/mechanical experience is on 2 wheels, I'd love to help out in any way on your quest for the baja 1000. I've rebuilt engines and done other car work (check out the Blood Vessel on the playa, an art car I rebuilt the engine and transmission on). I'd be interested in assisting with pitstop/chase crew and have some familiarity with SCORE international and how they run races. Also, I live in Felton, in the Santa Cruz Mountains, so kinda near by.

Lemme know!

-Creech

posted in Baja or Bust! - 1 reply

check out the web page!

blackrockskid — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:42:51 GMT

http://desertdingo.com/

skid

posted in Baja or Bust! - 0 replies

Art Car Contest

MrsMe — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 19:43:59 GMT

Hi, I'll backtrack later and write a little intro. Right now, we're working like crazy to find funding and also find artists to paint our cars. Since we're paying out of pocket for everything at this point, we can't promise the winner(s) riches, but we can promise international visibility. Here is the official statement:

Desert Dingo Racing has teamed with the International Diabetes Federation to use the cars to promote diabetes research and awareness leading up to the 40th anniversary Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 race in mid-November. The race coincides with World Diabetes Day on November 14.

“We expect the cars to get worldwide visibility,” said team co-owner Jim Graham. “The Baja 1000 will have 300,000 spectators along the 1,300 mile course and TV coverage will push viewership into the millions. On top of that, the IDF is featuring us in its global marketing and PR plans and we’ll be featured prominently on the World Diabetes Day website.”

The team is also sponsoring a drive-a-thon to raise money for diabetes research and education.

“Diabetes is a global problem and affects people of all ages,” said team co-owner Mike Aquino, who suffers from Type 2 diabetes. “Half the people who have diabetes don’t realize it and we want to use the race to draw attention to this growing health issue.”

The team has two cars – a race-ready 1967 VW Beetle and a 1969 VW Beetle that is being configured specifically for the Baja 1000. The 1967 Beetle will be used for promotion and public appearances in advance of the race.

The team will pay the winning artist $100, cover the cost of all supplies and provide food and drinks during the painting session. The team will document the painting process and use the images and video on the Desert Dingo Racing and World Diabetes Day websites. We’ll also write a profile on the winning artist for the Desert Dingo website and mention the artist in the media interviews we do.

Any artist interested in participating will need to submit a graphic showing the proposed design along with three examples of previous work. The deadline for entries is August 12. We may pick one artist to do both cars or different artists to paint the race and promotional cars.

For more information on the contest, contact Roxanne Graham at info@desertdingo.com, call Jim Graham at 831.234.4337 or visit the website at http://www.desertdingo.com .

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