Winning Mil Cumbres

For many years the Mil Cumbres stage of the world famous La Carrera Panamericana has been reveled as the most dangerous stage of the entire race and and in the process has claimed not only many cars but tragically it has taken many lives as well; So many in fact that after Gary Faules and Jon Emerson won that stage during the 2007 LCP it has since been removed from the event. DO NOT let the sound on this video fool you since it is only being heard through the mic on Jon and Gary's helmets, these guys are seriously hauling the mail. Gary and Jon show how a good working relationship between driver and navigator are paramount thus giving each other the confidence each other can feed off of.

For the record, when Jon loses his place in the log book for a second or two I had to laugh and when all was said and done this was the only time during the entire race that it happened and he was flawless. Since the LCP Studebaker's are known for being built on tube frame chassis with Nascar Winston Cup engines that are capable of doing 200 miles per hour it was exceptionally rewarding to pass one even if it was between him and a donkey.

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Gary Faules & Jon Emerson Winning Mil Cumbre Stage Of LCP from Gary on Vimeo.

Here's some of what we missed

Finish line at the 1954 La Carrera Panamericana.


For those of us who have raced La Carrera Panamericana one of the things we hate most is not being able to take time to smell the roses so to speak. I'm talking about hauling ass all the way from one end up thru the backbone of Mexico all the way to the other and never really being able to remember what anything looked like. After all, if you take your eyes off the road for even a few brief seconds at the speeds we were traveling to enjoy some scenic site you may not live to tell about it. In all honesty I saw more of Mexico on blogs, websites, newspaper and other people's video quips than I did during the entire Jon and I raced there.

But now thanks to "BEAR'S MEXICO PAGE" all that has changed. I was amazed how many places I recognized on Bear's site and it truly took me back. Some of these places are intimately special and remembering passing thru them on transit stages was a once in a lifetime experience for all of us. It's impossible to explain the rush while people wave, children smile, senoritas blush, donkeys run for cover and the police are having a blast taking part. At least now I can sit back with a cold one, look at these photos and reminice all I want as so many of these photos look exactly like the very highways we raced on. Carretera means highway.

CARRETERAS 135 AND 190 FROM OAXACA

CARRETERA 51

OAXACA CITY