The La Carrera Panamericana...: A VERY Exciting Picture

The main staging area for the 2007 La Carrera Panamericana was behind the Eduardo Vasconcelos Stadium in Oaxaca opened in 1950 and was named after Eduardo Vasconcelos, who was Governor of Oaxaca from 1947 to 1950. This was the meeting place for anyone who competed. It was a very exciting place for many of us especially us first timers and it was here that for the first time it really began to sink in that something big was about to happen. This is where we began to notice some of the cars and drivers we had been reading about for the last two years and a place were we would make new friends that will last a lifetime.

This is a very special never before seen slide taken right in front of the Oaxaca stadium at the start finish line during the 1954 LCP. Thank you to the estate of the late Frank C Ruppert brother of our good friend Frank J Ruppert. Anyone who was there in 2007 will really enjoy this simply because at the time we were there. It's hard to believe but it was MILES to the nearest empty lot and business's filled the streets as far as you could see. Obviously long before this photo was taken as there is NOTHING around the stadium them. If you look closly to the left of the soilder you can see one of the Lincoln team members wearing their blue team jacket.

CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE

Here it is today.

This was home for a couple days where we could park our rigs and begin any unfinished prep work and so on. We were required to take a brief physical or sorts and basically if you could get a helmet on your head you passed.

This was where we gathered to get in line to get all the required goodies including registration papers, license, LCP jackets, hats and T-shirts and so on and I was the first person in line which I found out later really reaped it's rewards. Afterwards you could get in line to get your car scrutinized by the tech inspectors and this is where teams really learned the importance of getting their early and being prepared. This line for some lasted two whole days and in several cases some teams had to return more than once with corrections or changes to their cars to meet tech requirements as well as helmets and racing suits.

This also the place you finally get to see the route book for the very first time.

Cars lined up for tech inspection for two days.

After your car met the approval of strict tech inspection you were sent to have the required decals installed by an entire team of guys who really knew what they were doing and did an awesome job.