Faced with the challenge of jagged rocks, tire-wearing sand washes, solid lake beds, cattle crossings and wily mountain passes is what Josh Cobb of Wickenburg had to conquer to win first place in the 2022 Baja 1,000 TrophyLite 3000 competition.

He completed the race in 38 hours. The Baja 1,000 is a celebrated off-road competition conducted on the Baja California Peninsula that dares drivers and vehicles to defy the harsh, brutal and desolate raceway of the majestic Sonoran Desert with trophy trucks, dirt bikes, ATVs and Volkswagen vehicles, known as Baja bugs, among other vehicles, to win.

Those who race in the Truck TrophyLite sit in a cocoon of steel and metal; their only companion, titanium nerves and heaps of verve in order to win. Last November’s race was a 1,000-mile loop that started in Ensenada, Mexico. The 3-team duet of drivers and co-drivers had 48 hours to complete the race. On some of the straight-aways drivers pushed the needle to 95 mph, but because of the treachery of the trail, the average speed was around 40 mph. The real test? Driver skill and doggedness and vehicle performance.

Cobb’s mother, Gretchen Cobb, is the chief operations officer at Royal Oaks Senior Living in Sun City and one of her son’s teammates. The 24-year-old driver was born into a culture of speed; his father, Jason Cobb, who grew up in Phoenix, raced BMX bicycles in grade school, then graduated to dirt bikes, race cars and finally his dream, race trucks.

Josh Cobb began racing at 14, starting with buggies, eventually moving up to TrophyLite Trucks. The Cobbs bought the TrophyLite Truck business in Wickenburg in 2017, and now build, sell and rent TrophyLite trucks. The TrophyLite truck is a stock Chevrolet with four cylinders and a 200 horsepower engine. The vehicle runs on a special fuel that gets four miles to the gallon; a gallon of gas for these trucks costs $12. Truck specs for the TrophyLite class are identical. In fact, all vehicle motors are built by a company in Las Vegas, Nevada to ensure they mirror one another.

There are no doors, the driver and passenger enter through side windows, I know because I did it. At 80 years of age, thrill seeker that I am, it was not easy to feel like a knotted pretzel or a twisted contortionist with old and aching bones, slithering through a window onto a cushion-less seat. To say it was a new comfort zone was irony. The truck only traveled 12 miles; but the race route replicated the Baja experience as it flew over jagged rocks, at times all four wheels leaving the raceway, the driver and passenger charged steep corners and dove nose-first down ravines. When it was done, I felt like I had been tumbled in a clothes dryer; but I had fun, and yes, I would do it again.

A crew of 30 volunteers are members of Team Cobb. When Gretchen Cobb is not handling COO issues at Royal Oaks, she oversees the logistics for the Baja 1,000 and handles accommodations for overnight lodging, food, drink and transportation for the truck, chase vehicles and teammates. The company also rents trucks and support staff to other drivers, who also enter the competition.
The truck’s console mirrors a 747 jet with gauges, toggle switches and knobs.

The trail is wide enough for one truck, and each truck sports an LED screen and if a driver is bumper to bumper with the lead truck, the driver pushes a button on the vehicle’s LED screen alerting the driver he wants to pass.

“This is a gentleman’s sport and most drivers yield,” Josh Cobb said

But there are some drivers who fail to yield, so they get a bumper tap.

“Not everyone who starts that race finishes,” Gretchen Cobb said, “Hundreds of trucks start the race and only about 20 percent finish.”

Truck fatigue, driver exhaustion and mechanical problems can knock drivers out of the race.

“Baja gives you a little bit of everything,” Josh Cobb added. “There not only are rocks and quick turns, but in some places three to four miles of silt beds that feels like driving across talcum powder and is 20 feet deep in some places; the powder flies onto the hood, the windshield, obscuring visibility and blinding the driver.”

Throughout the 48 hours, the raceway is lined with thousands of fans who bring chairs, tents and grills to enjoy the festival-like event. The toughest part, Josh Cobb said, is the night driving because the trucks headlights cast massive and fuzzy shadows on either side of the raceway.

“At times it is hard to distinguish people from saguaro,” he said. “But you do.”
Safety is the priority of the Cobb family. It is why Gretchen Cobb feels so comfortable supporting her son’s chosen path. There are fireproof suits and helmets that are air conditioned, there is a chest grabbing seat harnesses and modern technology that allows the chase team to monitor the truck’s performance. There are metal roll bars and reinforced steel sides.

“Josh rolled the truck in a race in 2016, got back in and finished the race,” Gretchen Cobb said.

Not everyone enters the race to win. Josh Cobb said they had a client who at 70-years-old wanted to experience the thrill and another client who entered the race, but stopped to picnic along the route. Gretchen Cobb said they have had clients from around the world who have rented their trucks.

The sponsors of the race are required to obtain a permit from the Bureau of Land Management before anything happens. Once the race is complete, participants are back onsite, smoothing the raceway, picking up the flotsam and jetsam left behind by racers and spectators. They are back again, at least four times per year to make sure the desert is clear of human discard and junk. During the past Memorial Day, the husband-and-wife team celebrated the day by driving along one of the routes and stopping to pick up trash.

The family also owns TL Speedshop in Wickenburg that rents UTVs to clients to enjoy self-guided and one-to-seven-day guided tours to explore the desert, including Vulture City Ghost Town, an abandoned gold and silver mine in Wickenburg.

Editor’s Note: We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.