Fud's Crud - July 1999

Viva Rancho Villarreal - The Conquista Gran Prix Location

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then being there must be worth a thousand pictures. On our web page we had pictures of Rancho Villarreal and I had been telling everyone that would listen just how nice this location was. However, it wasn't until people started pulling in that they realized just how beautiful Rancho Villarreal was. The parking area was a huge meadow with giant Oak trees that allowed everyone plenty of room to park and yet be close enough not to miss anything. A nice breeze all day made it seem like a nice spring day rather than a hot summer one. A group escaping from the blistering desert brought a large rope and a swing was created in no time. Another had a horseshoe pit. Everywhere you strolled the sound of laughter could be heard. In the center of all this was a restaurant, refreshment center, an 18 wheeler truck with ice and a bandstand. Off-Road racers had never had it so good.

The grand opening of racing at Rancho Villarreal was an outstanding success. While mother nature created this masterpiece, our extraordinary hosts, Juan Villarreal, Carlos Mateus and Jaime Campa masterfully put it on display. They must have taken lessons from the curator of the Getty Art Museum. Juan Villarreal, the owner of this little Garden of Eden made sure the road thru the parking was watered to prevent any dust from reaching the campsites and trash barrels seemed to be everywhere. Senor Campa made sure everyone had plenty of fresh cooked food while my good friend Carlos Mateus arranged for around the clock security for two days and made sure the refreshments stands served ice cold drinks with friendly fast service.

It was amazing to listen to the comments of those in attendance, many who had never been to Baja before. One group commented that they were quivering crossing the border until they discovered that the people in Tecate were nicer than the people in California. The neighbors of Juan Villarreal seemed to appear out of nowhere to lend a hand just when it was needed.

By the way there was a race going on all day too. Complete details will be available soon, in the meantime we can tell you that there were two big winners: Craig Smith won two bike races and Chuck Hovey won both heats of the feature event of the car races.

However, this is not a race story, it is a big warm thank you to out friends in Tecate Baja California for their outstanding hospitality. We will happily return next year and we suggest that you do too!

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This page last updated on 6 September 2000