Haines, in an interview during the race, mentioned the importance of knowing your position in your class. "I've seen so many young guys who have been leading their class only to crash trying to pass other racers ahead of them, throwing away their class win in the process." He added with a grin that it took him "lots of leads and lots of crashes" to learn this lesson.
Johnson was running in the top 10 overall during his first segment when he was hampered by two flats. Before he had to slow for the tire trouble, he had passed nearly all the competitors who had started earlier, including dozens of younger riders. After completing the second segment of his 600-plus-mile effort, he commented, "It's just like watching a movie of the prerun unwind in my head. I see it all before me; it passes by, and then it's gone."
While driving to the pit location at which he would mount the team's Honda XR650R, Smith commented about his change in perspective on racing. "I used to look for the fastest line. Now I look for the line where I'm least likely to get hurt. My reaction time, eyesight, strength and courage are not as good as they used to be. I just had to keep reminding myself of my age, and it took a while for it to sink in. Jack was the real hero of this team, he still hauls!"
He later related his thoughts as, "'What's an old man like me doing out here?' Once I'd gotten on the bike and ridden a few turns, I said to myself, 'Oh yeah, now I remember.'"
In the more than 50 years he has been in and around Baja, much has changed. On the way home from his first win in 1967, Smith ended up sitting three days on top of a load of live sea turtles to get back to Ensenada after his van broke down at the Bay of Los Angeles. He has given back much to the place he loves by building an orphanage funded entirely by motorcycle riders, located only a short distance from the dirt roads he's raced on for years.
However, even with all the changes both Smith and Baja have seen in those 50 years, one thing has remained constant. As he said good-bye to his teammates after their historic victory, Smith noted, "It's a lot more fun when you win!" -Douglas Hackney