SCORE Latest News
Price, Polvoorde, Menzies, top qualifiers Wednesday for Saturday’s 5th SCORE Baja 400, pres. By VP Racing
Gus Vildosola top qualifier in SCORE TT Legend; Trey Gibbs top qualifier in Trophy Truck Spec. 186 entries to date from 22 States, 11 Countries; S/F line in front of Riviera CC; SCORE Live --Contingency, S/F Line--Rat Sult host, assisted by Kevin Johnson
By Gabriel Garcia, SCORE Media Operations Director: [email protected] OR SCORE HISTORIAN: Dominic Clark, [email protected]
By Gabriel Garcia, SCORE Media Operations Director: [email protected] OR SCORE HISTORIAN: Dominic Clark, [email protected]
By Gabriel Garcia, SCORE Media Operations Director:
OR SCORE HISTORIAN: Dominic Clark, [email protected]
Sept. 11, 2024
Method Race Wheels Qualifying
Price, Polvoorde, Menzies, top qualifiers Wednesday
for Saturday’s 5th SCORE Baja 400, pres. By VP Racing
Gus Vildosola top qualifier in SCORE TT Legend; Trey Gibbs top qualifier in Trophy Truck Spec.
186 entries to date from 22 States, 11 Countries; S/F line in front of Riviera CC;
SCORE Live --Contingency, S/F Line--Rat Sult host, assisted by Kevin Johnson;
Vehicle Tracking throughout the race at www.score-international.com
Saturday—Motorcycles/quads start at 4:15 a.m. (PT), cars/trucks/utvs at 9 a.m. (PT)
NOTE: Texto in Espanol abajo; thenMethod Race Wheels Qualifying results,
SCORE Trophy Truck quotes at bottom of text
ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico – Continuing its sixth decade as the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization this year, the top three Method Race Wheels qualifiers Wednesday among nearly 200 racers expected to start Saturday’s 5th SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing, were Toby Price, Christopher Polvoorde, and Bryce Menzies.
Held over a 4.4-mile course 15 miles East of Ensenada at Rancho Nelson, Mexico, Multi-time motorcycle Dakar Rally winner Toby Price, 37, Australia, powered his Team Australia No. 46 Chevy Silverado, built by Mason Motorsports to the fastest qualifying time of five minutes, 49.583 seconds. He was fastest of the 23 SCORE Trophy Trucks out of 31 entries in the class that attempted to qualify.
Utah´s Christopher Polvoorde, 24, who finished third in the last SCORE Baja 500, finished with the second-fastest qualifying time this year, driving his No. 94 AWD Ford Raptor to a time of 5:54.459.
Las Vegas’ Menzies, 37, powered his way in a time of 5:54.870 to finish third in qualifying in the No. 1 all-wheel drive Mason-built Ford Mason SCORE Trophy Truck.
Fastest in the SCORE TT Legend class for SCORE Trophy Truck racers over 50 years old was Ricky Johnson, 59, El Cajon, Calif. (Driver of Record--Gustavo Vildosola Sr, 70, Mexicali, Mexico), in a time of 6:07.935 in the Vildosola Racing No. 1L Mason-built AWD Ford Raptor.
Top qualifier out of 25 entries in the Trophy Truck Spec class was Trey Gibbs, 23, Murrieta, Calif., in the No. 232 Mason-Ford in a time 6:17.246.
SCORE Trophy Truck, SCORE TT Legend, and Trophy Truck Spec were the only three classes required to participate in the Method Race Wheels Qualifying sessions for starting positions as the other start positions in the various classes were determined by individual finishes in the previous race and a drawing for new entries.
WHAT’S UP
The colorfully challenging 424.96-mile race course will start and finish and pre-race contingency will be held on Boulevard Costero, adjacent to the iconic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center.
Entering Thursday and Friday’s final two days of late, on-site race week registration, 187 official entries to date represent 22 U.S. States, and 11 countries. In addition to the USA, U.S. Territory Puerto Rico, and host country Mexico, racers so far have also come from Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, France, New Zealand, and Venezuela.
With double figure entries so far are SCORE Trophy Truck (31), Trophy Truck Spec (25), Pro UTV Open (18), Pro UT FI (Forced Induction) with 16, Class 10 with 12, and Pro UTV Stock (12).
Ensenada is 80 miles south of the U.S. Border at San Diego on the Western side of the Baja peninsula along the Pacific Ocean.
All four 2022 SCORE races will be held on Mexico’s magnificent Baja California peninsula for the ninth consecutive year.
SCORE, the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization, is celebrating its 51st season in 2024.
SCORE LIVE
During Method Race Wheels Qualifying on Wednesday, contingency on Friday and the race on Saturday until the course closes on Sunday early morning, SCORE Live streaming will be broadcasting race activities and start and finish line interviews as well as live action from Drones, ground cameras and in-car cameras from around the race course. There will also be live Zoom interviews for individuals around the race course as part of SCORE Live for this race.
Popular Rat Sult, who is starting his ninth season as the voice of SCORE, will once again serve as host and lead ramp announcer of the expansive SCORE Live streaming. Assisting Sult will be Kevin Johnson.
Sult and Johnson will be announcing from the SCORE start/finish ramp while the show will also include SCORE studio announcers in El Cajon, Calif., providing live info and updates throughout the race. Host announce in the SCORE Studio will again be Brandon Johnson while co-host during the race will be Wes Miller.
SCORE live is being produced again by SCORE Media House, Bud Brutsman, producer, Alberto Luna, on-site director.
SCORE live may be launched from the home page of the SCORE website or from the SCORE App.
GREEN FLAG SATURDAY
The 5th SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing, will be an elapsed-time race with staggered starts as the green flag on Saturday, Sept. 14 will drop first for the motorcycles and quads at 4:15 a.m. (PT) and 9:00 a.m. (PT) for the cars, trucks and UTVs. While the fastest vehicles are expected to finish in around eight hours, all vehicles will have a 16-hour time limit in the 424.96-mile race to become official finishers in the popular race.
ON-SITE RACER REGISTRATION
Being held in Salon Rojo at the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in the heart of Ensenada, the regular on-site and late racer registration will be held on Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT. No new entries will be accepted after 3 p.m. PT on Friday and the final entry list and final starting order will be posted on the SCORE website after 6 p.m. PT on Friday.
Contacto de prensa de SCORE: Gabriel García, [email protected] o con el Historiador de SCORE: Dominic Clark, [email protected]
11 de septiembre de 2024
GIGGS EN LA SPEC
Se queda Price con la “pole” de la edición 5 de la SCORE Baja 400, presentada por VP Racing
El ganador en 2 ocasiones del Rally Dakar en las motos, consiguió el tiempo más rápido en la calificación Method Race Wheels dentro de los SCORE Trophy Trucks
#SCOREBaja400
ENSENADA, Baja California, México- Toby Price, de 37 años de edad, y de Australia, sumó su segunda “pole position” en fila dentro del Campeonato Mundial del Desierto 2024 de SCORE, al quedarse con el tiempo más veloz de la calificación Method Race Wheels de la edición 5 de la SCORE Baja 400, presentada por VP Racing, carrera fuera de camino que arrancará y finalizará este sábado en el Bulevar Costero de Ensenada.
Price, ganador en 2 ocasiones del Rally Dakar en las motos, recorrió la ruta de 4.4 millas ubicada en el rancho Nelson, en 5 minutos y 49 segundos, a bordo del SCORE Trophy Truck Número 46 del Team Australia, unidad todo terreno de doble tracción, de la marca Mason Motorsports. Paul Weel, será su segundo piloto para este sábado, dentro de la ruta de 424.96 millas.
Christopher Polvoorde, de 24 años de edad, y de Heber, Utah, consiguió el segundo mejor tiempo en la calificación Method Race Wheels, a bordo de su SCORE Trophy Truck Número 94 Ford Raptor, de doble tracción y de la empresa Mason Motorsports, al detener el reloj en 5 minutos, 54 segundos y 459 centésimas.
La tercera posición fue para el ganador overall de la SCORE Baja 400 en 2023, Bryce Menzies, de 37 años de edad, y de Las Vegas, Nevada, quien estará al volante de su Ford Raptor Número 1 del equipo Menzies Motorsports, al detener el reloj en 5:54:870 centésimas, en un apretado duelo por el subliderato con Poolvoorde.
En la clase Score Trophy Trucks Legend, la leyenda del Supercross, Ricky Johnson, coequipero del mexicalense Gustavo Vildósola Señor, logró el mejor tiempo, séptimo en forma general, con 6 minutos y 7 segundos, al volante del Ford Raptor Número 1L del equipo Vildósola Racing.
Dentro de la clase Trophy Truck Spec, Trey Gibbs de Murrieta, California, conquistó el mejor tiempo, con 6 minutos y 17 segundos, a bordo de su Ford Raptor Mason, como parte del equipo Mango Racing, en lugar de Chelsea Magness, quien estará ausente en esta SCORE Baja 400.
Jason McNeil, manejando en lugar del piloto oficial del Truck Número 238 TSCO-Chevy, de Elijah Kiger, finalizó segundo con un tiempo oficial de 6 minutos y 22 segundos, mientras que Maverick Gaunt cerró en tercero, con lo que arrancará en ese lugar este sábado en el Bulevar Costero de Ensenada.
LA GUÍA DEL OFF-ROAD
La ruta de 424.96 millas, arrancará y finalizará en el Bulevar Costero, frente al Centro Cívico y Cultural Riviera de Ensenada.
Esperando más registros de corredores en próximos días, hasta el momento se cuenta con 185 equipos, incluidos varios de 22 estados de los Estados Unidos, al igual que 11 países. Se cuenta con al menos un participante de Puerto Rico, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Canadá, Chile, Ecuador, Francia, Nueva Zelanda, Venezuela y el anfitrión México.
Las clases con más inscritos hasta el momento, son los SCORE Trophy Trucks (31), Trophy Truck Spec (25), Pro UTV Open (18), Pro UTV FI con 16, Clase 10 y Pro UTV Stock con 12.
Todas las fechas del Campeonato Mundial del Desierto 2024 de SCORE serán en México por noveno año en fila, incluidas 3 carreras en Ensenada, y 1 en San Felipe. En esta SCORE Baja 400 la estimación de la derrama económica por parte de la Secretaría de Turismo de Baja California, es de 8.5 millones de dólares, abarcando varias semanas de recorridos en la ruta por parte de los equipos, al igual que la semana de la carrera, en áreas como hoteles, restaurantes, gasolineras, mercados, abarrotes, casetas de carretera y otros servicios.
CAERÁ LA BANDERA VERDE ESTE SÁBADO
La edición 5 de la SCORE Baja 400, presentada por VP Racing, arrancará este sábado 14, a las 4:15 de la mañana para las motocicletas, y a las 9 de la mañana para las diferentes categorías de carros. De acuerdo a los organizadores de la carrera fuera de camino, se espera que los ganadores overall, crucen la meta tras 8 horas de competencia, y todos los participantes contarán con un tiempo límite de 16 horas para concluir el desafío todo terreno.
TRANSMISIÓN EN VIVO
Desde la calificación Method Race Wheels celebrada este miércoles, la revisión mecánica de este viernes y la carrera el sábado, hasta que el domingo se cierre la meta, se transmitirán en vivo las actividades en diferentes puntos de la ruta, incluidas entrevistas en el arranque y meta del evento, al igual que tomas aéreas de dron. También se realizarán entrevistas vía zoom con diferentes pilotos a lo largo de la travesía como parte de la cobertura por parte de SCORE.
La voz oficial de SCORE, el carismático Rat Sult, estará encabezando las acciones en la rampa de salida y meta, siendo este su noveno año en la empresa mexicana de Off-Road. Kevin Johnson será su relevo en el micrófono dentro de la transmisión en vivo de la SCORE Baja 400.
Sult y Johnson estarán en el Bulevar Costero de Ensenada por varios días, pero también desde la base de SCORE en El Cajón, California, Brandon Johnson y Wes Miller darán sus puntos de vista sobre la carrera.
La producción en vivo del show de la SCORE Baja 400, estará a cargo por SCORE Media House, con Bud Brutsman como productor y Alberto Luna como director, este último en la zona de salida y meta en Ensenada.
Para los aficionados que quieran seguir la transmisión en vivo, pueden ir a la página oficial de SCORE en internet, o también desde la aplicación de la organización.
SIGUEN ABIERTAS INSCRIPCIONES
El registro de corredores seguirá este jueves en el Salón Rojo del Centro Social y Cultural Riviera de Ensenada, de las 8 de la mañana a las 5 de la tarde, mientras que el viernes, esa actividad será de las 8 de la mañana a las 4 de la tarde, tiempo del Pacífico. No se aceptarán nuestros registros de equipos tras las 3 de la tarde del viernes, mientras que la lista final de inscritos será dada a conocer este viernes en la página de internet de SCORE, después de las 6 de la tarde.
5th SCORE Baja 400,
presented by VP Racing
Round 3 of four-race 2024 SCORE World Desert Championship
Sept. 10-15, 2024—424.96 miles – Ensenada, Baja California
Current Total Entries: 187 (as of 9/11/24)
(from 22 U.S. States, U.S. Territory Puerto Rico, host Mexico, Argentina Australia,
Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, France, New Zealand, Venezuela)
Method Race Wheels Qualifying Results
(Sept. 11, 4.4-mile desert course)
(determined start order for qualifying classes)
Pro Cars, Trucks & UTVs
(Pos., Number, driver/rider of record/additional drivers and/or Navigators, vehicle, engine)
SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (Unlimited CustomTrucks including Builder)--
TOP QUALIFIER: 1. 46 Toby Price, 37, Australia/Paul Weel, 45, Australia, Chevy Silverado (Mason), 5 minutes, 49.543 seconds (53.56 mph)
2. 94 Christopher Polvoorde, 24, Heber, Utah, Ford Raptor (Mason), 5:54.459
3. 1 Bryce Menzies, 37, Las Vegas, Ford Raptor (Mason), 5:54.870
4. 10 Alan Ampudia, 33, Ensenada, Mexico/Aaron Ampudia, 31, Ensenada, Mexico, Ford Raptor (Mason), 5:59.791
5. 83 Luke McMillin, 31, San Diego, Chevy 1500 (Mason), 6:04.337
6. 11 Rob MacCachren, 59, Las Vegas, Chevy Silverado (Jimco), 6:07.436
7. 16 Josh Daniel, 48, Bonsall, Calif. (DOR-Cameron Steele, 55, San Clemente, Calif./Josh Daniel, 48, Bonsall, Calif., Ford Raptor (Geiser), 6:09.672
8. 58 Justin B. Smith, 38, Las Vegas (DOR-Tracy Graf, 61, Canada, Chevy Silverado (Racer), 6:11.246
9. 89 Mike Walser, 57, Comfort, Texas/Rod Walser, 45, Canadian, Texas, Chevy Silverado (Mason), 6:14.188
10. 21 Gustavo Vildosola Jr, 42, Mexicali, Mexico, Ford Raptor (Vildosola Racing), 6:15.379
11. 41 Justin Lofton, 38, Lockney, Texas (Brawley, Calif.), Chevy 1500 (Mason), 6:16.612
12. 63 Ruben Torres, 26, San Luis Potosi, Mexico/Gabriel Torres, 31, San Luis Potosi, Mexico/Enrique Avalos, 35, Ensenada, Mexico, Nissan Titan (Mason), 6:33.362
13. 85 Mikey Lawrence, 36, Banning, Calif., Ford Raptor (1 Nine Industries), 6:35.947
14. 33 Roberto Romo Jr, 19, Mexicali, Mexico, Ford Raptor (Racer), 6:36.498
15. 82 Sam Baldi, 59, Beaumont, Calif./Jake Johnson, 46, Yucaipa, Calif./Michael Baldi, 33, Yucaipa, Calif., Chevy Silverado (Baldi), 6:39.630
16. 78 Tracy Poole, 53, Bozeman, Mont./RJ Stidham, 21, Bozeman, Mont., Chevy Silverado (Geiser), 6:43.470
17. 27 Jonathan Brenthel, 44, La Cresta, Calif./Jordan Brenthel, 37, Temecula, Calif./Paul Nauleau, San Francisco (France), Chevy Silverado (Brenthel), 6:47.528
18. 87 Dallas Lutrell, 43, Las Vegas/Billy Goerke, 49, Las Vegas, Dodge Ram, 6:51.529
19. 70 Kevin Thompson, 51, New Braunfels, Texas/Harley Letner, 40, Corona, Calif., Ford Raptor (Mason), 7:42.131
DID NOT QUALIFY: 23 Dan McMillin, 36, San Diego/Andy McMillin, 36, San Diego, Chevy 1500 (Mason)
DNQ: 5 Clyde Stacy, 79, Bristol, Va./Robby Gordon, 55, Charlotte, N.C., Chevy V16 (Geiser)
DNQ: 26 Dave Taylor, 50, Page, Ariz., Chevy Silverado (Geiser)
DNQ: 62 Ryan Poelman, 48, Orem, Utah/Dodge Poelman, Orem, Utah, Ford Raptor
DNQ: 66 Chris Hertsch, 53, Lake Havasu City, Ariz./, Ford Raptor (Blitzkrieg)
SCORE TT LEGEND (Unlimited Custom Trucks, including builder, Drivers over 50 years old)--
TOP QUALIFIER: 1. 1L Ricky Johnson, 59, El Cajon, Calif. (DOR-Gustavo Vildosola Sr, 70, Mexicali, Mexico), Ford Raptor (Mason), 6:07.935 (50.88 mph)
2. 19L Pat Dean, 56, Las Vegas (DOR-Tim Herbst, 61, Las Vegas), Ford Raptor (1 Nine Industries), 6:44.443
3. 85L Larry Roeseler, 66, Boulevard, Calif. (DOR-Clay Lawrence, 62, Banning, Calif.), Ford Raptor (1 Nine Industries), 6:51.121
4. 61L David Payne, 63, St. Luis, Mo./Damon Bradshaw, 51, McCall, Idaho/Cam McQueen, 45, Canada, Chevy Silverado (Brenthel), 7:15.959
DNQ: 37L Rolf Helland, 64, Morris, Ill./Rick D. Johnson, 56, Barstow, Calif., Chevy Silverado (Mason)
DNQ: 53L Wade Porter, 57, Chico, Calif., Ford Raptor (Brenthel)
DNQ: 67L Paul Kraus, 53, Chatsworth, Calif., Chevy Silverado (Brenthel)
TROPHY TRUCK SPEC (unlimited Truck/SUV, stock, sealed engines)--
TOP QUALIFIER: 1. 232 Trey Gibbs, 23, Murrieta, Calif. (DOR-Chelsea Magness, 36, Denver)/Trey Beyers, 28, Corona, Calif., Mason-Ford, 6:17.246 (49.62 mph)
2. 238 Jason McNeil, 47, El Cajon, Calif. (DOR- Elijah Kiger, 24, Kirby, Pa.), TSCO-Chevy, 6:22.403
3. 258 Mavrick Gaunt, 30, Torrance, Calif./Chasen Gaunt, 27, Torrance, Calif., Geiser-Chevy, 6:26.315
4. 241 Sean Geiser, 33, Phoenix (DOR-Stephen Beal, 53, Dallas), Geiser-Chevy, 6:28.866
5. 219 Thor Herbst, 25, Las Vegas/Pierce Herbst, 21, Las Vegas, 1 Nine Industries-Chevy, 6:29.005
6. 285 Justin Davis, 31, Chino Hills, Calif./Jeremy Davis, 23, Chino Hills, Calif., TSCO-Chevy, 6:29.339
7. 297 Jorge Sampietro, 33, Ensenada, Mexico/Elias Hanna, 41, Ensenada, Mexico/Miguel Castelan, 32, Ensenada, Mexico, Mason-Chevy, 6:30.851
8. 282 Brent Fox, 56, Highland, Utah/Brook Beckstrom, 52, Salem, Utah, 1 Nine Industries-Chevy, 6:33.439
9. 263 EJ Herbst, 23, Las Vegas/Ryan Millen, 38, Huntington Beach, Calif. (New Zealand), 1 Nine Industries-Chevy, 6:34.432
10. 273 Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez, 30, Tecate, Mexico (DOR-Jordan Brenthel, 38, Temecula, Calif., Brenthel-Chevy, 6:35.680
11. 236 Michael Marsal, 36, Millbrook, N.Y./Troy Grabowski, 22, Upland, Calif., Brenthel-Chevy, 6:36.368
12. 242 Bryce Swaim, 37, El Cajon, Calif./Garrett Stone, 30, El Cajon, Calif./Ronnie Swaim, 36, Lakeside, Calif., TSCO-Ford, 6:36.916
13. 277 CJ Hutchins, 39, Las Vegas (DOR-Travis Williams, 47, Avondale, Ariz.), Geiser-Chevy, 6:38.001
14. 205 Joe Delucie, 45, Las Vegas/Neal Drickey, 46, Omaha, Neb./Matt Ongman, 42, Las Vegas, SLR-Chevy, 6:42.324
15. 245 Ethan Hagle, 31, Somis, Calif./Ben Hagle, 33, Somis, Calif., Alumi Craft-Chevy, 6:43.904
16. 203 Mitch McNeil, 33, Mesa, Ariz./Scott McNeil, 32, Mesa, Ariz., Geiser-Ford, 6:46.742
17. 207 Mason Cullen, 25, Long Beach, Calif./Matt Cullen, 54, Long Beach, Calif., Geiser-Chevy, 6:46.765
18. 209 J. David Ruvalcaba, 51, Ensenada, Mexico/Esteban Cruz, 51, Ensenada, Mexico/Santiago Creel, 40, Mexico City, TSCO-Chevy, 6:49.050
19. 294 Vincent Munoz, 37, Yucaipa, Calif./Daniele Munoz, 36, Yucaipa, Calif., Full Potential-Chevy, 6:53.017
20. 266 David Ziegler, 49, Reno, Nev./Wyatt Ziegler, 24, Reno, Nev., Brenthel-Chevy, 6:56.363
21. 213 Josh Beyer, 46, Las Cruces, N.M./Marc Ebdrup, 48, Canada, Brenthel-Chevy, 7:01.173
22. 299 Charles Dorrance, 49, Austin, Texas/Dejay Dumas, TSCO-Chevy, 7:04.341
23. 228 Chasen Gaunt, 27, Torrance, Calif. (DOR-Ryan Hancock, 48, Yuma, Ariz./Jordan Poole, 35, Yuma, Ariz., TSCO-Ford, 7:04.415
24. 290 Isidro Ochoa, 47, Mount Helix, Calif./David Herrera/Enrique Avila, D&E-Chevy, 7:40.879
DNQ: 206 Joshua Cobb, 25, Wittman, Ariz./Jason Cobb, 53, Wittman, Ariz., Nye Frank-Ford
5th SCORE Baja 400
Method Race Wheels Post-Qualifying Quotes
September 11, 2024
(As interviewed by Paul Hanson, Isaac Flores; transcribed by Guilherme Torres)
SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (Unlimited Custom Trucks)
TOBY PRICE, No. 46 (Qualified first) – I think we had a good, clean lap. We had a little scare, but we got through it and the truck is still in great shape. The course was really difficult to try to make time on anyone. We got a few days until the race, but we’re excited for it. The race course has some sections from previous races, but it’s a little tricky. We’ll see what the day will bring, but I think it’s going to be really difficult to make passes, so we’ll hopefully let the race come to us.
CHRISTOPHER POLVOORDE, No. 94 (Qualified second) – That was really tough, there was a lot of crazy terrain up there. It was a really challenging course that really pushed us. I made a few mistakes, definitely, but just tried to keep it on the course the whole time. Overall, I feel good and happy with where the team is coming. We’re learning a lot with this truck every race. We want to keep our heads down and learn more on race day. The name of the game this race is going to be patience. We’re going to have a lot of guys pushing hard, but it’s rough terrain and from Mike’s Sky Ranch (race mile 280) to the end, it's very, very technical.
BRYCE MENZIES, No. 1 (Qualified third) – It went pretty well. I thought this was going to be a lot more short-course style, but it was very tight and technical, with some big ditches. You always want to play it safe, but you also want to push it. It felt like a good run, we didn’t make any mistakes and I’m hoping for a top five. The race course is very technical. They took every hard part of every race that we do and added into this one, so it’s going to be pretty slow, technical and tight. It’s going to be challenging, but certainly an awesome day.
ALAN AMPUDIA, No. 10 (Qualified fourth) – We started well and were able to keep it clean for the most part. We only did one mistake, got the car little sideways a little bit and ended up losing a lot of time there. But the car is OK and Saturday is what counts. We still got a couple more days of pre-running, but we’ve been putting on great work this past weekend and a half and I can’t wait for the race on Saturday.
LUKE McMILLIN, No. 83 (Qualified fifth) – It went pretty well. Unfortunately, we had an electrical issue right at the start of our practice lap and it was kind of hard to get our notes having to deal with that. When the green flag dropped, we just hammered it down and I thought we did pretty well. I thought we had the perfect qualifying pace, pushing in some spots and being more conservative in others, but we didn’t make any major mistakes. I think that should put us in the top five.
ROB MacCACHREN, No. 11 (Qualified sixth) – It was a decent run. It’s a new course and we had to take some risks. But I know you don’t win the race in qualifying, so I was cautious in some places. But ultimately, we’ve working hard to get everything in order on the truck since the SCORE Baja 500. It would be nice to be up as high as we can. Anywhere on the top ten is fine. The SCORE Baja 400 is notorious for being a wide-open race the whole day and I know it’s going to be that way. They got some new sections in the race course. I’ve been coming here for almost 40 years and there’s about 20 miles of the course I’ve never been on. It’s a great course, very technical.
CAMERON STEELE, No. 16 (Qualified seventh) CO-DRIVER JOSH DANIEL said: It went pretty well. We were just trying to be really smooth and don’t make any mistakes. I haven’t qualified in seven years probably, so I didn’t want to push it and blow it off a turn and ruin everything. We got on a soft spot and lost two to three seconds there, but other than that, it was just smooth and clean. We just wanted to have a good start and the truck is in good shape. We were looking for a top ten finish and hopefully we got it. There’s a lot of fun stuff and a lot of stuff I don’t like on the race course. Uruapan and Erendira are always a challenge, but the beach section is beautiful.
GUSTAVO VILDOSOLA JR, No. 21 (Qualified tenth) – Unfortunately we made a couple of critical mistakes, one here almost at the end, where the truck made a 360 loop. We had another one in the back, when we came into a ditch and went into the bushes. It was a tough day of qualifying, I think maybe we got a top-15 start. It’s very slippery out here, but the truck feels good. I think the race will be very singletrack, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to do much starting from the back.
MIKEY LAWRENCE, No. 85 (Qualified 13th) – It went fairly well. There were a lot of spots where you could toss it very, very easily, but we’re here and we didn’t get any flats, so I’m happy. It’s our first race with this new truck and it feels good to get a little bit more drive to the wheels. Pre-running has been going well, with no issues. I’m splitting the race with Dustin Grabowski this time and we’re working on our team work.
SCORE TT LEGENDS (SCORE Trophy Truck drivers over 50 years old)
GUSTAVO VILDOSOLA SR, No. 1L (Qualified first) CO-DRIVER RICKY JOHNSON said: It was good. It was a very tricky course, which represented a lot of Baja. There were a lot of turns you couldn’t see, but also some fast sections. It was a good course, but sometimes a little frustrating for the driver, because you want to hang it out, but you got to keep it clean. We tried some new things with the truck for qualifying which we liked, but we’re learning every race. I’ll do the first half of the race and will get the beach section, which is fast, but before it there’s some technical stuff, which is going to be very dusty. We’ll need to be patient until we get there.
TIM HERBST, No. 19L (Qualified second) CO-DRIVER PAT DEAN said: Our truck was pretty phenomenal. The course was very technical, it had a lot of off-camber, but we still got to go pretty fast. It’s difficult for these trucks, but we did fine. With the race course, I think the fast half is very fast and nice. Tim (Herbst) will get the second half and he’ll get the technical part of it.
CLAY LAWRENCE, No. 85L (Qualified third) CO-DRIVER LARRY ROESELER said: It was pretty fun. It’s a new course for all of us and it was a bit slippery, but it had some really cool jumps and some technical sections. I made a couple of small mistakes, but when you try to push it, that’s what happens. We race right through here, so this course gave us a taste of the race course. It’s very technical for the most part, I really like it.