Desert Dingo Racing recently made its second foray to Mexico to race the San Felipe 250 and spread the word about diabetes awareness. The team is now planning a rather unique photo shoot that includes an airport runway, a boom truck and 25 pounds of whole wheat flour.

In mid-March the team traveled to San Felipe, on the east coast of Baja California, to race the San Felipe 250 - a course for whoops, silt and creosote bushes.

"We were first off the starting line and held the lead for the first five miles," said driver Richard Palasik, who has type 2 diabetes. "We were just about to pass a slower car when we got cut off by another racer and ended up with a flat tire - the first of three we had during the race."

"People think VWs are slow and while we're not as fast as the trophy trucks, this car is a little rocket," said co-driver Mike "Skid" Aquino. "We completed 72 miles of this race - the last 20 on two flat tires. We're making some adjustments to the suspension that will fix the tire issue and will be running some races in the U.S. to prep for the Baja 1000 in November."

See a video of the race shot by race fan Jose Castellanos as Richard and Mike pull over and get help fixing the first flat tire.

The team is now prepping the car for the next race, and are also readying the car for a photo shoot that involves an airport runway, a boom truck and 25 pounds of whole wheat flour.

"As part of our partnership with the International Diabetes Federation's World Diabetes Day campaign and Life for a Child Program, we want to distribute information to race fans about the warning signs of diabetes," said team member Jim Graham, who has a history of diabetes in his family. "To do that, we're going to give out what race teams call 'hero cards' that have a photo of the car on the front and diabetes information on the back. Team members autograph them and hand them out to race fans."

The photo will simulate the Desert Dingo Class 11 VW being chased by a helicopter. Professional photographer Jeffrey Luhn has donated his time to photograph the car. The team will spread flour on the asphalt to simulate the desert on an airport runway.

"We're inviting people who live around the airport to come out and watch the shoot and we'll give them rides in the car," Graham said. "We want it to be a community event. It should be a good time."

Here are some ways to track Desert Dingo's progress:

• On their blog: www.desertdingo.com
• Via Twitter (for quick updates): http://twitter.com/desertdingo

You can contact the team by emailing Jim Graham at jim@desertdingo.com. Visit www.desertdingo.com for more information about the team.

Posted on Sun, 04/27/2008 - 14:17