Dust to Glory Page #4

and boys will be boys,

most ignore 'em.

After all, who's gonna catch 'em?

I wasn't speeding.

Well, the authorities were slightly miffed.

But Pflueger immediately

saw the error of his ways

and turned state evidence

and was deputized.

When we were listening on the radio

to where the cars were,

I hear there's a bunch of cops have

pulled over all the heroes in the sport

and they're on the side of the road

having a doughnut convention.

And just like that,

two of Baja's finest

stopped 70 people

and $50 million of race equipment.

Meanwhile behind them, the open-wheeled

brother to the trophy truck,

the Class 1 buggies,

surged off the line.

These vehicles are unlimited,

meaning the engine size is unlimited

and so is the budget.

Ranging between $300,000

and $1 million,

these are expensive cars.

If you win, four grand maybe.

Behind the big money

of the Class 1 buggies is a lot of heart,

a quality best exemplified

by an off-road racing dynasty,

the McMillin family.

My dad and brother decided they were

gonna race one race in 1976

for the Baja 1000, just race it once,

and then sell the car.

Just to say they did it, you know?

And when I was in that Class 9

with eight inches of wheel travel,

a 50-horsepower motor, I really

thought I was gonna win overall.

I mean, I thought,

"I got a chance here."

At 74, Corky McMillin is still

chasing his dream.

You know, people ask me today,

with my age and everything... -

I said, "Well, the only person

I really have to please is myself."

And if I feel like I'm competing

and doing good and hanging in there,

I'm happy, I'm satisfied.

The McMillins are a successful family

in more ways than one.

And I see Corky still line up to get

a shower in the morning before the race

in a line at a campground behind

all the guys that work in his company.

And you can't tell which one's Corky

and which one's driving nails the next day.

It makes us all have something

in common to kind of get together with,

and it's not the bosses

and the employees.

I mean, we're all just a bunch of people

trying to have fun and enjoy life,

and we're doing it.

He's had to miss a couple because

of health reasons, but you know what?

Take one race at a time,

and the next race he was back.

My body thinks

my brain's gone crazy.

The McMillin with

the most championships is Mark.

He's also one of the most successful

drivers in the history of the Baja 1000,

but it's been 14 years

since his last victory.

There's ups and there's downs.

But something that I've always taken from

my dad and I'm trying to give to my boys

is you never, never, never give up.

Whether it's at work,

whether it's racing,

or something you're trying to accomplish

at home with your family,

we just never, ever, ever give up.

Mark McMillin got off to a fantastic start,

roaring through the first 80 miles.

But once again, Bad luck struck.

At Ojos Negros he'd have to change

his entire transmission.

Way too early. Way too early.

It'll be a long day. We'll get a finish

out of it, that's for sure.

And off the line in Scott McMillin's

buggy was a rookie driver,

his 16-year-old son Andy.

Ever since like I was two or three years old,

I used to go pre-running with my dad.

I started driving a clutch when I was

probably six or seven years old.

I had a lot of trust in him as we, you know,

developed our relationship driving

and just taught him

what I learned from my dad.

At first Andy had

a little problem staying on course.

Watch it. Remember, there's

a hole here. Remember? Stop.

Here, go this way. Stop!

I think about it,

and I think when I have a kid,

I'm never gonna have like

the trust that he has in me.

Now take your time.

Take your time doing it.

But he settled down.

Go. You're running

with the big dogs, boy.

The trust that Scott had in his son

was well deserved.

After a couple of wild rides early.

Andy had gotten it together

and was in first place in his class

when he turned it over to his father.

Probably hit him a little too hard, bud.

You got it, you got it.

Make some dust. Good man.

While the McMillins have fun

on the cutting edge of technology,

there are those who enjoy something

slightly more antiquated.

This is Class 11, which gives a whole

new definition to the word "underdog."

You really get the satisfaction of talking

to someone that races a trophy truck,

a Class 1 motorcycle,

looking at you and saying,

"Oh, you race Class 11.

Guy, you must be crazy."

Hey, those guys are

the toughest guys out there.

You know, they've got

little support, you know,

vehicles that are extremely challenged,

and they go for it.

That's the hardcore

Baja racer right there.

These are unmodified

Volkswagen Beetles.

Not the New Beetle,

but the old Beetle, pre-1982.

No modification of the suspension

or engine is allowed.

We are losing our dashboard.

What they lack in speed

they more than make up for in passion.

It's a feeling inside of this one.

We born know Bajas,

and we die knowing Bajas, too.

I think they're real men.

I mean, there's some stuff

that I have no idea

how they get through.

Racing Class 11, it's very,

very important to finish the race.

Sometimes there are no signs left.

Our time limit is sometimes

very, very narrow for us.

So it's very significant to go through

whatever you have to

go through in getting there,

just getting there.

Stand by. He's on his way.

Air clear.

Looks like we're going right.

By noon everyone

had left the starting line

and racers began

to settle into their groove,

which isn't always a good thing.

Well, that's the end of our race.

Isn't that a shame?

Yeah, that sucks, man.

That rock is what got me.

Just the average person

who has a 9-to-5 job

has 10,000 close calls

over the course of a life.

It's the light

that you run through.

Go through an intersection

and that split second later

somebody runs a red light and goes

behind you, you never even saw it.

Down here you're doing like

all 10,000 in one day.

I think when you get back home,

after you do something like that,

it's like slo-mo, life is slo-mo.

Everything else, that's no big deal.

You got a job interview

or you're showing up for something big,

well, what's the worst thing

that could happen?

Somebody says no,

you know, to a sales job?

Well, I just almost got killed 40 times.

So not really that big of a deal.

It's key to deal with adversity.

Al Hogan uprighted his truck

and was back in the race.

We know it was gonna roll over.

It don't seem to phase this one.

This truck likes it, I guess.

Rides better now than it did before.

Getting them shocks broke in

from rolling it over.

Yeah.

What was that all about?

I don't know. Good thing

there wasn't a rock there, though.

Mike, I'm telling you, the back end

is just softer. It's just too soft.

The good Baja racer

is prepared for anything.

Like number 560, who did a complete

roll just outside of Ensenada.

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