SCORE Journal

SCORE Journal - JAN 2019

SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing

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50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 500 Racers Celebrate This Milestone Race and History By Dan Sanchez Photos by Get Some Photo The SCORE 2018 season culminated with the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the SCORE Baja 500 in June. With that, a total of 327 participants entered the race to add their names to SCORE’s history books. The celebration alone took two days, honoring and recognizing many of the individuals who helped make this race possible, including Grand Marshals Ivan Stewart and Sal Fish. SCORE and the city of Ensenada also recognized off-road industry pioneer Nico Saad who helped develop the relationship that SCORE has with the city and the government in Mexico. The start of the 50th SCORE Baja 500 began with a rare Mexican Flag Ceremony, in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Baja 500. It was followed by the Mexican Honor Guard ceremony, represented by all of the branches of the Mexican military’s armed forces. When the race finally got started, Rob MacCachren had just come off his win at the SCORE San Felipe 250 and was definitely the guy to beat in the SCORE Trophy Truck division. He didn’t disappoint his fans and sponsors by winning the 512.4 miles, remaining in the first starting position and ending it that way when the race was done. To the delight of fans, Luke McMillin finished second, followed by Ryan Arciero in third and Dan McMillin finishing fourth, with Andy McMillin in fifth place. The Pro Moto 7x team of Justin Morgan and Mark Samuels proved their win in San Felipe wasn’t just a fluke. These guys were serious about winning a 2018 Championship and demonstrated they were out to get it. The Santiago Creel 100x team had a more difficult time in Pro Moto Limited, battling with the 106x team of Phillip Jaramillo who ultimately finished first. The battle between these two teams was just getting started. Within the other Pro Moto Classes, fans would witness Jano Montoya on the 400x bike, Giovanni Spinalli on the 510x bike, and Guy Laycraft on the 649x bike, all win their second race of the season in their respective classes. For Said Sanchez in Pro Quads, he dominated the class with his first win of the season, while Francisco Septien won again in Pro Moto Ironman. Justin Davis in Class 1 again defeated the competition while Broc Dickerson returned as the winner in Class 10. Within the Trophy Truck Spec class, Bryce Swaim found himself in the winner’s circle as did Gus Vildosola Sr. in the Trophy Truck Legends class. In Class 11, SCORE fans were re-introduced to Viry Felix, a local race hero in Ensenada who does a lot to promote women in off-road racing. In her first race of the season, she beat the competition by being able to finish, thus beating everyone in her class in the process. But as race fans would soon see, she was in it for the competition, and her win here was more than just luck. Within a highly competitive UTV division, the Mexican team of Jesus Mendez Jr. again took home their second victory in a row within the Pro UTV Unlimited class. Brandon Sims entered the SCORE Baja 500 and won the race in the Pro UTV FI class, with Wayne Matlock finishing in second. Kristen Matlock pulled off one of her most spectacular wins at the SCORE Baja 500, winning not only the Pro UTV NA class but also UTV Overall, beating all the other racers in time and driving solo. SJ

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