Rookie Team of Buffalo Natives Takes on Ultimate Off Road Race—the Baja 1000

The 43rd annual Baja 1000 2010 Highlights will be televised this Sunday, December 19 on NBC. Members
of the BestIT Race team will be watching with friends and loved ones to share their insights and surreal
tales of this exotic experience that took place in mid-October.

Harry Curtin, CEO and President of BestIT was lead Driver for his company sponsored 1600 Class
Buggy. Curtin is a native of Buffalo, NY, currently residing in Phoenix, AZ with his wife and daughter.
BestIT, who’s headquartered in downtown Phoenix, is involved with IT outsourcing and services, doing
business with both large and small companies worldwide. The CEO is a newcomer to professional off-
road racing and was impressed with racing organizer, S.C.O.R.E. International for their support and
encouragement of him and his race team.

“I really had no idea what to expect," said Curtin. "I had to trust my will, my instincts, the team I had
assembled, as well as race organizers." Curtin was concerned with the safety of his 12-man team due to
recent rashes of violence towards American citizens. He provided Spanish speaking escorts to deliver
parts and his fellow teammates across the border to the start of the 1061 mile race, whose starting line is
in Ensenada, Mexico. The course runs back and fourth along the Baja peninsula between the Pacific
Ocean and the Sea of Cortez to finish in Lapaz, Mexico near the tip of Baja. The team found Mexico to be
very safe and hospitable. At one point, Curtin had managed to get his race car stuck in a waist-high silt
bed. Silt in the Baja is a very fine clay and sand mixture similar to powder sugar or snow.

A family of Mexican spectators who had established their rural camp trackside, for what appeared to be
days, came to the rescue by pushing the car more than 20 feet to more stable ground. Curtin discovered a
unique camaraderie among fellow participants and local spectators who all engaged in helping each other
to finish the race safely.

Communications seemed to be the biggest challenge for members of car 1603 chase vehicles. Teams of
chase vehicles race alongside their perspective racers to provide logistics, parts and emergency repairs to
their troubled teammates, as well as deliver alternative drivers to pre-designated pit stops along the
course. Communications became difficult somewhere between miles 250 and 500, when alternative driver
Raphael Navaro III of Temacula, CA had drowned car 1603 in a wash (a small stream), flooding over the
hood and dismantling two-way radio communications. From this point forward, all GPS tracking
instruments and even satellite phones malfunctioned on a regular basis.

Tom Dosch, a native of Buffalo, NY, and who works for a telecommunications company in North
Carolina and who co-piloted one of five chase vehicles noted, "Going into the race, I expected many
obstacles to overcome, but I did not think our fancy satellite communications would be included in that
category. They were the one saving grace that made me feel comfortable in committing to this
adventure. Spending hours upon hours without any communication can drive a team crazy, which we
found out the hard way, trying to keep everyone on the same page and tracking the car in a race of this
magnitude was near impossible. Many hours were spent just hoping the car would be okay. Then the
special moment would arrive where we would see the 1603!  Nothing can describe the happiness knowing
that your friends are okay and that we still get to try and finish the race." "Being alone in the mountainous
desert of Baja, Mexico, a couple hundred miles away from the nearest gas station, would be intimidating
without a satellite phone to stay in touch with your team, a satellite to provide internet access to track our
race car and a myriad of cell phones from different carriers. Now what if they don't work! I can tell you
from experience that thoughts of bandits raiding our truck followed along with footsteps from a
mysterious group slowly approaching through the thick brush. Luckily it turned out to be just a couple of 
cows eating their way past us but it goes to show you what communications malfunction can do to you in
a race of this magnitude."

Miles 500 to 750 were driven by Andy Lee and co-driven by Derek Otto, both instructors and technicians
at the Bondurant Racing School in Phoenix, Arizona. They  are very familiar with racing on pavement,
but have had minimal training off-road. The duo made great time despite flipping car 1603 over and
struggling to get unstuck for over two hours.

The silt and sand on the Boots has been replaced with dried road salt for Will Curtin, older brother to
Harry. As a snow removal contractor from Buffalo, New York. Will is used to long hours, sleep
deprivation and the wrath of mother nature with his day to day job. Will Curtin was  co-driver and
navigator from the start to 250 and then miles 750 to 1050. At that point, the younger brother literally
handed off the steering wheel  to his older brother, who had not slept in days, but received the honor of
completing the last miles of the race. After a 36-hour race, the elder brother refused to leave the race car,
falling asleep as the car was being loaded onto a trailer at the finish line in Lapaz.

Tucker Curtin, a restauranteur from Buffalo, NY, and chase vehicle driver put his talents to work
procuring and preparing food and drink for the team, as well as insuring the rest and relaxation of the
group between driving stints. Driving alone for over 500 miles by himself through military check points
was a challenge for the elder brother of the lead driver. He is is eager to return to Mexico with his wife to
conduct some research and development at the country's the roadside taco stands.

In the end, car 1603 was one of only 68% to finish the race, but the team vows to return next year to win.

For Immediate Release
Press Contact: Tucker Curtin, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 716-983-3515

----Buffalo, NY