As the Baja 1000 takes over Baja Sur for the first time, I thought it prudent to share my 2023 Slow Baja conversation with Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame member Bob Bower. "At age 8, Bob Bower read about the Bill Stroppe Lincoln teams that dominated the 1953 Mexican Carrera Panamericana and later learned about the Baja 1000 race to La Paz. It became his fixation to be part of it someday.
Living the life of a Corvette enthusiast, Bower caught the eye of BFGoodrich at a time when BFG was in the early stages of marketing performance tires to car clubs. He accepted the offer to go to work for BFG in 1977 and found himself at the Mint 400 as a pit volunteer. The fixation transformed into a deep passion for off-road.
From that day forward, he would make a huge impact on the world of off-road racing in a variety of roles. Pit volunteer, chase crew, race team manager, pit manager, program manager, winning co-driver, winning driver, ESPN TV color analyst, teacher and mentor. In 1982, BFGoodrich put him in the role of Off-Road Program manager.
With very thin budget resources, the challenge was to support the contracted teams and win races. Bower’s race strategy was very straightforward… “You start winning rather than finish winning, to be the best between the green and checkered flags.” Bower launched the BFGoodrich Pit Support program.
The 1985 Baja 1000 ended early for Bob and his teammate Mike Randall in the Class 4 Honcho. It took two days for their team to find and retrieve them. Bower swore to his wife, Necia, that they would never get lost like that again in Baja. He made detailed maps of the race course, highways, and chase roads (KM mileage included), along with other information like fuel and food locations. In the early 1990s, Bower turned map-making over to BFGoodrich to make it available to the masses. By widely distributing the maps, chase crews could support their teams with a higher degree of safety.
Bob wrote “What About You?”, a powerful piece included in almost all pit books over the past 20 years. It remains fresh and relevant today because of its absolute raw truth. “What About You?” is Bob’s heartfelt advice to everyone in off-road, about safety and taking care of yourself and those you are with during the race.
Many are convinced “What About You?” has saved lives over the last two decades. Young stars like Robby Gordon, Ivan Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Arciero, and Rob MacCachren have all had Bob help them along in their racing careers in one way or another.
For Bower, it has been a labor of love. Bob’s personal motto is “Life Is A One Lap Race!” He seems to be running a rather good lap!
—Off-Road Motorsports Hall Of Fame (edited for space)
Watch the Podcast on YouTube here.
Listen to the Podcast on Apple here.
Listen to the Podcast on Spotify here.
Visit the ORMHOF website here.
Get your Baja insurance here.
More information on Slow Baja Adventures here.
Support Slow Baja with a donation here.
