In 1979 Frank DeAngelo and Don Minton hopped into a BFGoodrich semi and headed to La Paz, Mexico to support desert racers.
Developed out of necessity to help BFGoodrich-supported teams using the company’s tires, the program grew to include racers who couldn’t afford their own pit crew.
What started as a race team providing its assets grew until BFGoodrich was supplying a team of welders, fabricators, tire changers, mechanics, cooks, medics and even bi-lingual workers to manage communications north and south of the border.
An added bonus in the desert
BFGoodrich offers pit support to racers running exclusively on BFGoodrich tires at select desert races and events.
In addition to pit support, the company also created the BFG Garage at King of the Hammers and Easter Jeep Safari. They’ve begun to support UTV events, too, such as Camp RZR.
While the pit support is exclusive to teams using BFGoodrich tires, the Garage is open to anyone and provides a place for anyone (racers, spectators, enthusiasts) to work on their vehicles.
Team AMSOIL racer Brad Lovell finds the support vital.
“When racing the Baja 1000, you always feel a sense of safety and support when seeing the light of a BFG Pit. Be it remote parts of Mexico or desolate desert in the U.S., BFG Pits have critical support to keep the racers moving.”
Brad Lovell
The Garage relies on a team of 90 percent volunteers, many of whom take their vacations to help support pit and garage programs.
And AMSOIL is proud to partner with BFG to provide lubricants for pit support and the Garage, as well as to provide oil recycling onsite.
BFG saves the day!
The BFG Garage probably sees the most action during King of the Hammers. With a week of racing events during the day and enthusiasts testing their skills on the obstacles at night, the Garage saw 150 cars during King of the Hammers week in 2019.
The Garage also allows space for teams/enthusiasts to work on their vehicles with tools they may not have at their disposal. Last year, the Garage was used to complete an engine teardown and rebuild in just 28 hours.
They even fixed a flat tire our #TeamAMSOIL videographers encountered while traveling the rough terrain to get some awesome video and photography.
Unfortunately, COVID-19 canceled this year’s Easter Jeep Safari. BFG hopes to provide pit support for the upcoming Baja 500 June 17-21 and the rescheduled San Felipe 250 Sept. 16-20.
In the meantime, you can learn more about how BFGoodrich executes pit support during the SCORE races below.
