American team Fastball crashes out of Dakar

There is no doubt that competing in the annual Dakar Rally is the longest true endurance race in the world. Conquering the annual Dakar is as difficult an undertaking as there is in modern motorsports, which is just the way event organizers like it.

While American riders and drivers are currently doing very well in the motorcycle and UTV/side-by-side categories, there is also sad news today as the lone United States racer team in the premiere car category has crashed out of the race. The Fastball Racing effort of Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Bobby Patton and Jimco Racing owner Robbie Pierce ended when Patton caught a rut at high-speed, sending their No.344 Toyota Hi-Lux into a race-ending crash.

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Luckily, both Patton and Pierce (who owned both Impact Racing and MasterCraft Safety) were unhurt, despite the fact that the Toyota's chassis had to be cut apart to extract them. Both drivers also compete in North American desert racing via Jimco-prepared vehicles in the Trophy-Truck and Trophy-Spec categories.

"We are competitors we push the limits of our equipment and ourselves, sometimes it doesn’t work out," explained Pierce via a Facebook update. "Bobby and I are both okay and should be on our way home tomorrow. Fastball had a tough day, they had to cut the cage from around me to get my happy ass out of the car. Best of luck to our teammates, go USA!"

The 2020 Fastball Racing effort at Dakar was the team's debut appearance in the race, with a stated goal of learning all of its nuances in preparation for a bigger and better assault in 2021.