Since its first appearance in 2010 the “Caballo Del Diablo” (horse of the devil) 1968 Ford Bronco has been a fan favorite. In ten appearances and over 13,000 miles of brutal Baja racing, the fifty-plus-year-old truck has garnered seven class wins in the competitive “Pioneer 4x4” category of the annual National Off Road Racing Association’s Mexican 1000. Drivers Boyd Jaynes and Brian Godfrey have applied the marketing skills from their professional lives to develop the race team into a viable platform for their partners to test and market products while endearing themselves to the fans as folklore type characters.
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Caballo Del Diablo Timeline
2009 / 2010
A very clean, never raced, 1968 Ford Bronco is located for sale in San Diego California and subsequently purchased with intent to enter the "new" NORRA Mexican 1000. After one test in the desert, it is mentioned that driving the unruly Bronco offroad is like riding a horse possessed by demons. The "Horse of the Devil" is born.
Following the natural disaster Hurricane Jimena which made landfall in southern Baja California, the first NORRA reboot was postponed until the following spring in 2010. Inexperienced and with an untested vehicle, the team finished nearly dead last in the field.
2010 Image Gallery
2011
New roll cage constructed in 2011 with new 2.5" Fox shocks. A hard lesson learned when the transmission failed midway through day two of the rally outside Bay of LA. The team was forced to withdraw from the race. DNF
2011 Image Gallery
2012
A significant year for several reasons. New partner Brian Godfrey brings a high level of off-road racing experience thereby elevating our preparation and ultimately we are more competitive. Marked by a larger number of Early Broncos entered in the "VJ" class, the 2012 Norra Mexican 1000 finishes in Cabo San Lucas for the first time. We have a new sponsor General Tire and complete shock tuning with legendary Tommy Morris of PPI Toyota / Ivan Stewart fame. Our pesky ignition issues seem to have been resolved. We have a flawless race, winning every stage and besting the other 7 vehicles to our first class win and 15th overall in the vintage category.
2012 Image Gallery
2013
A go for broke year with no equipment changes from the previous year's perfect run. Oil change on the Devil Horse and ice on the beer... the plan was to have more fun than the last year. Dueling with buddy Dave Cole for the majority of the race pushed stage times down even further and resulting in a second consecutive class win and a remarkable 8th overall in Vintage
2013 Image Gallery
2014
In 2014 due to a scheduling conflict Brian Godfrey wasn't able to compete with us so special guest driver Brad Lovell was convinced to join us. The race was memorable for having broken a driveline yoke (Boyd) on the very first stage, we didn't have a spare for it, but we were able to locate a suitable one on a junk yard car. We continued on and then got caught behind a bottleneck on a silt covered hill on day 3, the shift lever for the transfer case decided to come apart but Brad was able to shift into 4wd using a screwdriver getting us up the hill eventually. Loads of fun sharing the cockpit with Brad in 2014 and despite our misfortunes we managed a third-place finish in the V108-77 class. One of our fellow competitors Chris Sullivan would roll his early Bronco in the race. Brad left Cabo owning the damaged Sullivan rig which he and brother Roger now race with much success.
2014 Image Gallery
2015
A hard-fought class victory in 2015 with the return of Brian Godfrey and new title sponsor Fox Shocks. Rod Hall brings his restored 68 Ford Bronco racer and puts up a fight. Read the in-depth 2015 story here.
2015 Image Gallery
2016
The first year with new partner American Racing Wheels and first appearance of the Evil Mariachi personas. NORRA rules now outlaw 2.5 inch shocks in Pioneer and we switch to a 2" with heat exchangers. After some electrical issues in 2015 we have the Devil Horse rewired by Gerald "Smitty" King using all Mil-Spec connectors, new dash, and Autometer gauges. Another battle with Rod Hall for what is now called the "Pioneer 4x4" Category. The front clip of the truck breaks loose and needs to be ratchet strapped down. The straps keep breaking and we are forced to stop many times on day 3 to resecure it. On the last day with a 45 minute lead, and only 5 miles to the finish, we slide the rear of the truck into a tree bending the rear housing. We manage to limp into San Jose Del Cabo losing only 10 min and taking the victory. The first year of NORRA awarding era trophies, we gather up the "Steve McQueen Memorial Trophy" for the fastest Pioneer vehicle.
2016 Image Gallery
2017
In 2017 we solve our structural issues in the front of the old Bronco and upgrade the brakes but our cooling issues with the 351 Cleveland V8 persist. We change a suspect axle bearing during hurricane-force winds in the Bay of LA. There was a friendly battle with our American Racing teammates and ultimately beat them to San Jose Del Cabo to win our second "Steve McQueen Trophy" for the Pioneer category.
2018
The 2018 NORRA Mexcian 1000 proves very heated for the Devil Horse team with engine cooling challenges despite a top-end rebuild prior to the late April start date. Every mile of every stage required critical monitoring of the temp gauges with frequent stops to pour water over the radiator. In the end, we had fewer problems than our competitors to receive our seventh class victory.
2018 Image Gallery
2019
Perhaps the most significant transformation year to year, we are fortunate to install a new Ford Performance engine during the off season but the dramatic change has unexpected consequences with the increased RPMs. Our torque converter stall speed is not optimal causing high transmission temps. An overnight transmission swap before day 3 allows us to finally open up the new powerplant. New NORRA entry of Chris Greenwood proves competitive until rolling his recently built early Bronco racer in the mountains outside Loreto. We cruise to our seventh class victory, our fifth consecutive.
2020
The 2020 NORRA Mexican 1000 is canceled due to the global Covid19 virus.
