8000+ Miles to Glory...

That's how far we'll be driving over the next two weeks on our way to and from Cabo San Lucas in Baja, Mexico, starting from here in NH. 

Some 3000 miles of this will be done over the next few days as we transport the NISMO Stuff Racing Nissan Frontier sponsored by Body Armor Outlet and Gamer Soda to San Diego/Ensenada, Mexico where the race is to begin.  Then we will race some 1000 miles due South along the Baja Penninsula for the following four days and then return home.  The team and I will attempt to update this page and our personal FB and Twitter and Instagram accounts as we go along.  To find each of us on Facebook you can look for: Dan Spalinger, Elliott Sherwood and Paul Hartl and you can look me up on Twitter by the link on this page or under "NISMO Stuff" and on Instagram under "spalind"

For those of you who wish to see where we are exactly on our route, you can use this link to see where we are based upon my last Glympse update which tracks my  
phone: http://glympse.com/09F6-JQ2G
Once the race begins this coming Sunday 5/11 you will be able to track the race vehicle at this website which tracks us by a satellite transponder.  The event on the site is the NORRA Mexican 1000 and the links to tracking will not be "live" until about the beginning of the race so check back then for the "live" links:  http://www.racetheworld.net/ircstore/

Right now there are over 162 entries in the event with a number of full Dakar-spec vehicles and world class competitors included so we have no pretensions about winning anything, this is purely for the enjoyment of the adventure.  We hope you follow along and throw back a few tequilas and Tecates in common spirit while we are away.

Thanks to my wonderful wife Wendy who has supported me through this silly idea, my kids who I keep fresh in my mind every day and all those who have assisted and supported me over the years while I play little boy games with big boy toys.

The full NORRA Mexican 1000 website is linked below and contains info on the exact schedule, maps of the course, competitor listings and more.  When I find out where the daily scoring and results updates will be posted I will post that link directly here as well.

Vaya con dias!!

NORRA Mexican 1000 webpage...

Lac-Aux-Sables Rallye 2013 -- Video

This isn't the official video of the event which should be coming out in the next few days but it does capture a few passes of many of the vehicles.  Included here in three instances (one at the 11 second mark, a second at the three minute mark and lastly at the 4:25 mark) of the NISMO Stuff Racing Frontier.  Once in a still shot awaiting the beginning of a stage and two at higher speeds including one of the train track jump.  From what I can see the suspension was certainly drooped coming over the jump but I'm not sure if the truck ever left the ground.  If it did, it wasn't by much...

Video of the 2013 Lac Aux Sables Rallye, Stage #7, Rang 3 #1

This is the only video I took from the event (which I will recap shortly).  It is of the shortest stage of the race, a stage we ran twice at the end of the day.  This is the first run down this stage and the slower of the two.  There were three train track crossings and three big jumps on the stage which had lots of spectators along the road.  I haven't seen any video of the truck going over the jumps so I don't know if it got off the ground or not.  I have a feeling on the second and faster run that it did but I am not 100% sure.  Its hard to tell with the softness of the suspension at speed.  I also need to figure out how to post these videos at a higher resolution on YouTube.  They are being filmed in 720 HD but are only going up on YouTube at 480...Here it is for your enjoyment (or not!)

"Official" Rallye Sanair Video Part 1

At least I believe that is what this is titled in French.  Though the NISMO Stuff Racing Frontier makes only a single appearance (near the very end) its a nice tight shot of it with its full lights on--and we're not being passed nor do we look to be crawling along!

Also included in the video are a nice spinout by our fellow NH Ralliest, Vittorio Barres in the red Audi and a nice blown corner and wall smack by a Civic.  I definatly love gravel events and real roads better but this gives you a good idea of how head to head this event can get.

New Bumper Coming to a Nissan Frontier Near You...

well, closer to me than you actually...but you get the drift.

Brandon over at BTF Fabrication has the frame horns done at the moment and is finishing up the rest of the bumper currently.  It should ship within a couple weeks.

The 32" LED lightbar I showed a couple weeks ago will be mounted on the top of this bumper, as will two HIDs, ensuring optimum lighting and providing a bit of protection to my radiator/underside that I have previously lacked.  The front of my NISMO Stuff Racing Frontier is completely bare at the moment--no skid, no lower bumper cover, nothing...just the bare steel bumper...

As always, Brandon's work is top notch and beautiful to behold.  In the end, the bumper should look quite similar (though not exact) to the one seen on Gil Green's Frontier seen below except with a lasercut BTF logo in the front skid.