The Baja 1000 is an annual Mexican off-road motorsport race on the Baja California Peninsula. The race was established by the National Off-Road Racing Association in 1967 as the Mexican 1000. In 1974, the fuel crisis forced cancellation of the event. A new entity—SCORE (Southern California Off-Road Enthusiasts)—was invited to run the event in 1975 and it still does today.
Baja California dreaming
Matt Barnes was first introduced to the Baja 1000 as a kid while watching ABC’s Wide World of Sports, a sports anthology television program; he was hooked. In the back of his mind, the race lingered as a dream to fulfill one day.
The ultimate catalyst for Barnes to compete in the race was a late-night satellite phone call from his nephew, an Army Paratrooper stationed in Afghanistan. “Sean wasn’t having the best day of his life. And I said, ‘Listen, I’m going to get a car. We’re going to do that race.’ We had always talked about it, and it would give [Sean] something to look forward to.” Barnes began looking for a car and researching.
The hardest car to race in Baja in is a Volkswagen Beetle because of the terrain. “If we’re going to do it, let’s do it. Let’s really get our asses beaten. So that’s what we chose. I mean, if you’re going to do a challenge, just try it, right?” says Barnes. The first race in 1967 was won by a dune buggy with the mechanicals and chassis of a Volkswagen Beetle. Barnes explains, “I wanted to go back to the roots, you know, and so that’s where that came from.” Barnes’s first car was also a VW Bug, solidifying his choice of car for the competition.
When you build it, you can race it
In 2013, Barnes, along with a mechanically inclined friend, started working on the Beetle once or twice a week in a barn. “We’re not mechanics. We’re not race car drivers. It is literally a dumb idea that I just kept pursuing because I’m stupid and probably stubborn.”
Barnes reached out to the 2012 Class 5 winner who lives on the west coast and ultimately struck up a friendship. “He started telling me which components to buy, which ones broke, which ones he found out lasted and were worth the money.”
Between the connections Barnes made on the west coast and their knowledge in addition to his local knowledge, the car still took nearly six years to build before the first race. Everything on the car was one-off race built: the roll cage, shocks, suspension, motor, transmission, etc.
Teamwork makes the dream work
When the car was nearly complete, Barnes knew it was time to build the race team. He reached out to his good friend Todd Baxter, who had no idea what the Baja 1000 was. Baxter was up for the challenge after watching Baja race videos on YouTube. Barnes also connected with a local pair who had competed in the race on dirt bikes, and they came on board.
The team evolved over the years with new members joining the team. Travis DuTemple, from California, helped Barnes and Baxter when they broke down during their first race with a busted steering wheel. When Barnes returned home, he contacted DuTemple, and the two became friends. Barnes comments, “Travis ended up being this Baja savant. His dad brought him down there since he was two. They raced Baja. He lived in Southern California, and every vacation he took was south of the border, so he knows the ins and outs of Baja. So, our third year, we added him on the team. We’re friends to him to this day, and he is just an unbelievable resource of knowledge.”
The number name game
Of course, there’s a story for how 585 came to be the car number. SCORE, the governing body of the Baja 1000, assigns the vehicle numbers. Every category has a range of numbers. For example: Trophy Trucks are 0 through 100 and Class 5 cars (Open wheel unlimited Baja Bugs) are 550 through 599. Barnes called SCORE and tried having 585 assigned, but it was already taken. When a team gets a number, they usually keep it. So, the first year, the car was number 595. Barnes was persistent and contacted SCORE repeatedly. He finally asked the registrar to contact the 585 number holder and explain that 585 “is our area code; we’re from the East Coast.” Not long after, the registrar reached out to Barnes with news the driver gave up 585—he had decided his racing days were over due to injuries.
First, the agony of defeats, then the thrill of victory
Although the team had done their research and felt ready to beat the Baja—Barnes even traveled to San Felipe and rode a three-wheeler to learn the terrain—Baja ended up beating them the first two attempts. Barnes admits, “We’re not motor sports people, but we’re going to go try to do the toughest race in the world with zero knowledge. And it showed our first year down there. We got our butts handed to us.” He describes the loss as “heartbreaking and absolutely crushing” when the team ended their Baja debut 200 miles before the finish line. The team raced again in 2019, with another defeat.
There’s an old adage “the third time is a charm” and for the team it was—in 2021, the 585 car crossed the finish line 63 hours and 44 minutes after starting. “We got lucky on some things, but we also worked extremely hard to get there. And, you know, it worked out,” Barnes says. Ryan Green, a local photographer and filmmaker, went along to assist the team while documenting the Baja adventure with 63 Hours—A Baja 1000 Film, which can be viewed on YouTube.
Fans love some bug
A year and a half ago, Barnes was invited to go out to Baja with another team, this time in a Trophy Truck. These trucks are big business and people make a living racing them. “We had a helicopter, we had everything. It was a different experience from a bug to that.” Regardless, “[Beetles] are crowd favorite down there. They really are, because everyone respects what you’re trying to do. The whole crowd stands up at three in the morning. They will get out of their tents. They will literally give you a round of applause. They know how hard we’re working to get to the finish line,” Barnes remarks.
Right now, the 585 car is in pieces. It’s a year-long process to take the car apart and put it back together. “I’m going to go get ice cream with it,” says Barnes of his plans for the car after it’s up and running again. That trip should be a piece of cake after the Baja escapades which included rolling the car down a mountain and a near miss with an ox at full speed. Check out basecampoffroad.com for more information about the team and their Baja adventures.
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2025 issue of (585).
Views: 1
