Race Morning Starts at 1 a.m. in San José del Cabo

Friday's first green flag drops at 1 a.m. Cabo time, in the dark.

Moto and quad staging opens at 12:15 a.m. on Boulevard Centenario in San José del Cabo. At 1 the bikes and quads start rolling off the ramp. The first ones off ride five and a half hours before the sun comes up at 6:30.

Then the street waits. There is about an eight-hour gap before the first Trophy Truck. Four-wheel staging opens at 8, the honor guard and flag salute are at 8:15, and the four-wheel classes start at 9. Trophy Trucks go first, one minute apart.

That makes tonight a strange one. One street, two alarm clocks. Bike teams are working past midnight while truck crews try to sleep, because their truck stages at 8. Thursday is also the last tech day. Every four-wheel class not scheduled for Wednesday tech has to clear the line on Thursday. There is no late tech on race day.

Race morning has its own rules, and none of them care how you slept. Fuel goes in before staging. Nobody refuels in a staging area, at any time. Miss your start and you go to the back of whatever class is on the ramp, and your elapsed time starts when you were supposed to leave, not when you actually left.

Sunset Friday is 5:35 p.m. A truck that leaves at 9 gets about eight and a half hours of daylight. Nobody finishes this course in that.

So the plan for the dark gets made in the light. Pack the headlamp where you can find it in the dark.