Known simply as "Ironman" knows all there is to know about racing and winning the Baja 1000. Some questions answered by Ivan Ironman Stewart. What is it like tackling the Baja 1000 alone? "Driving solo is really hard in the beginning because you really don't know what you are doing or how to go about it!"
What makes the Baja 1000 so special? "With rallying there are stages, but Baja is a non-stop, 1000-mile race and you never know what the conditions will be during the day or night."
What's the biggest change to the Baja 1000 from the early days? "The biggest change we have seen, and it is a shame, in my opinion, is the introduction of GPS. Nobody gets lost anymore. When I first raced at Baja we had to pre-run the course and remember the danger spots. Nowadays, the guys practice with GPS and they mark it down and the co-driver tells them where it is. So drivers don't get lost in the fog anymore at 3am. If I had my way I'd take the GPS away.
Baja 500 Ivan Stewart and Robby Gordon helicopter footage. Outstanding RAW helicopter footage of Ivan Stewart and Robby Gordon at the 1990 Baja 500. Robby Gordon footage starts around 20:45min into video.
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Overshadowed by tragedy - Baja 500 1999. In 30 years of Baja 500 off-road races, no one has driven like Ivan Stewart. The Ironman has won 11 times overall, seven times in the last nine years. A day after his 54th birthday, Stewart won by driving solo in his Tundra Racing Toyota V-8 Trophy-Truck for 447 miles over a rugged desert course in the northern part of Baja California. Then he said it will be his last 500.
An accident barely two miles off the starting line in Ensenada killed a Mexican spectator and severely injured Stewart's son, Craig. Eight others, among them Craig's wife, Sherrie, were also injured when Jason Baldwin lost control of his pickup truck at a highway crossing and flew into the crowd alongside the course.
"I don't blame Jason," Stewart said. "He was just driving aggressively, the way a racer should. But I am concerned over how fast our vehicles are going and how crowded conditions have become in Baja. I would like to turn this tragedy into a positive.”
"When I first started racing in Baja, we were running 80 [mph] tops, except maybe Parnelli [Jones] could hit 100 in his big Bronco. Now, it's commonplace for cars and trucks to go 100, and we get up to 130 in our truck. And we race over 500 miles with no fences, barriers or protection for spectators or residents.”