NORRA Mexican 1000 · Baja, April–May 2027
For twenty-five years Kris and Erin Flaherty kept one promise: never race in the same vehicle. One of us always comes home. For their twenty-fifth anniversary, they're breaking their own rule — and running Baja together.
to the green flag in Ensenada · Stage 1, Apr 25
Page 1 — The Team
They met in the dirt at the 2000 SCORE Baja 1000, in a contingency lot in Ensenada. Twenty-five years later they're still building, still wrenching, still racing.
Driver · Navigator · Crew · Wrench
Kristen has filled nearly every seat in off-road racing. She ran Relay 14 with the BFGoodrich relay communications team, keeping race traffic connected from a mountaintop in the middle of Baja. Then she got behind the wheel — driving, navigating, and turning her own wrenches between races.
“Every role taught her something different.”
Builder · Fabricator · Driver
Erin grew up in his mom's Bronco. When it broke and got pushed to the pasture, he made a deal: pass every class, and the truck was his. He passed. Then he spent the next twenty-five years learning to build it — through Southwest Fab, through Baja, through every mistake that taught him a lesson.
“I didn't want baseball cards. I wanted THAT truck.”
Origin Story
Thirty-seven years, one Bronco, and a promise that finally gets broken.
A kid rides shotgun in his mom's Ford Bronco. Every dirt road is an adventure. He decides that one day, that truck will be his.
The Bronco breaks and gets pushed to the pasture, where it sits for years. Mom's offer is simple: pass all your classes and it's yours. Late nights. Early mornings. No excuses. He passes.
Working at Southwest Fab, Erin gets asked a question that changes everything: do you want to go to Baja? He runs the SCORE Baja 1000 with Spirit Racing — truck #866, 1,679.54 miles from Ensenada to Cabo.
40:01:12 · 1st in Stock Full · 16th overall
He first spots her under a race truck in the contingency lot. She never even notices him. At the finish line in Cabo, they finally talk. They exchange phone numbers.
Married at La Jolla Cove. Two racers, one team — and the Bronco was always part of the deal.
Two kids arrive. Family, work, garage nights, race weekends. So they make a pact: they will never race in the same car at the same time. One of us always comes home. For years, they keep it.
Motorbreath is entered in SEMA's Battle of the Builders. Out of more than 240 entries, Erin's Bronco is chosen as one of the builds to spotlight. Still raw steel. The build was already speaking for itself.
Twenty-five years in, a map of Baja sits on the table between them. What if we finally go do it together? Ten days through Mexico. One Bronco. One promise. For the first time, they'll face the course in the same vehicle.
The Run
NORRA's Baja rally pays homage to the past and celebrates the future — running everything from vintage iron to state-of-the-art race cars down the length of the peninsula.
It is a loop, not a run to the bottom. Ten stages south from Ensenada to San José del Cabo, two rest days, then back up the peninsula to finish where it started.
NORRA also runs the course in halves — a 6-day rally to Cabo (Apr 23–May 1) and a 4-day rally home (May 2–May 7). Kris and Erin are running the whole thing.
Race details from the official NORRA event page. norra.com →
The Machine
One Bronco. One vision. A lifetime of fabrication. Motorbreath was never built once — it was built, tested, broken, studied, and built again.
Long-travel, wide stance, stronger axles. Built from a notebook sketch.
Built to survive a thousand miles of rock, whoops, sand, heat, and night.
Full cage, window nets, harnesses. Two seats. Both of them, this time.
No polished finish. No show paint. Just steel, welds, and the shape Erin carried in his head for years.
It didn't look unfinished. It looked like Motorbreath.
Fuel the Run
Entry fees, tires, fuel, spares, and ten days of Baja logistics. Every dollar goes into getting Motorbreath — and both Flahertys — from Ensenada to Cabo. Scan, tap, or copy. All of it helps.
Prefer to help another way? Spares, shop time, and a share of this page all count.
Issue #1
The whole story, drawn. Twenty-seven pages from a kid in a pasture to a start line in Ensenada. Proceeds go straight into the race.