CNII ARCHIVES
P96
BY KIT PALMER
Some feel Chuck
Stearns' amazing
accomplishment as a
rookie at Dakar seems
to have been relegated
to a footnote in desert-
racing history. The
Californian was the
first American Dakar
starter and finisher.
I
n 1985, a relatively unknown
local desert racer from Califor-
nia became the first American
to finish (and start) the Paris to
Dakar Rally, better known today
simply as Dakar and now held
exclusively in the Saudi Arabian
desert. Chuck Stearns cut his
racing teeth in the Southern Cali
-
fornia desert and Baja, trying to
win SCORE events, like the 500
and 1000. He impressed legend
-
ary desert racer and Baja Cham-
pion Scot Harden when they first
crossed paths.
"He was one of the nicest,
most sincere and dedicated
young desert racers I have ever
met," says Harden. "I first met
him in 1982 at the Parker 400.
We were pre-running, and I
was at the crossover pit on the
Arizona loop refueling my bike
when this young kid walked up
and introduced himself. He was
extremely polite, and you could
tell he was bitten hard by the
desert-racing dream. He wanted
my advice on how to become
a factory desert racer. After I
finally got him to stop calling me
'Mr. Harden,' I gave him what ad
-
vice I could in the time available
but promised to stay in touch
and help wherever I could. Over
the next couple of years, he rose
through the ranks and became
one of the top 250cc desert rac-
ers in California."
But Stearns had bigger ambi-
tions than racing in the Califor-
nia desert. He wanted to tackle
the Paris to Dakar Rally, which,
at the time, wasn't on too many
American off-road racer's radars,
CHUCK STEARNS
AMERICA'S DAKAR PIONEER
