SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1332112
2020 SCORE Class 7F Champion Justin Park Broke And Repaired His Way To The Finish And Won The Class 7F Points Championship By Mike Vieria Photos By Get Some Photo The Class 7F Championship went to Justin Park this year, who started the season with a first-place finish in the SCORE Baja 1000, but had problems at the SCORE Baja 500 when suspension failures put the team out of competition at around mile 315. Park has owned his 1998 Ford Ranger race truck since 2000, and for the 2020 season, it benefitted from a new four-link rear setup and upgraded front components to make the truck more competitive than in previous years. Despite performing well in testing, Park said that the new suspension just couldn’t stand up to the rough conditions in Baja on race day during the SCORE Baja 500. The team tried to stay in the running to the finish with some emergency repairs along the way but ultimately had to cut their effort short. “It was man and machine versus nature, and in this case, nature won,” said Park. The first in class finish in the SCORE Baja 1000 was a big relief and a fantastic win for the team, but it didn’t come without difficulties along the way. “It seemed like it was going great for about the first 150 miles or so, then around mile 200, everyone in our class started having problems,” said Park. “All of us seemed to hit something, or swerve off the road and get some kind of damage. Our steering rack assist bracket ripped a piece of the frame off, but we were able to limp along back to the pits where we were able to weld things back together.” More problems surfaced as the miles went by. A loud humming at the rear of the truck was traced to the skid plate being rattled so hard that it knocked the bolt heads off the pinion. “Then, after all that, we started having fuel starvation issues at the very bottom of the summit,” he said. “I found that the fuel line had moved too close to the headers, so I was able to move the line over and use zip ties to keep it away from the heat. One of the fuel pumps then stopped working, but the other was perfect, so we were able to get going again up the hill.” As they climbed, they came upon a UTV blocking the road, hanging over the cliff edge after its wheel and axle had broken loose. “I stopped my truck right away,” said Park. “I jumped out with my co-pilot as we had to help those guys get out of the way, or we would never be able to finish the race. We were able to get it pushed aside so everyone could get by. The driver commented that he didn’t know how many people would have gotten out to help in a place like that, but we just wanted to make sure they were safe and had enough water and food because they were going to be there for a while.” Finally, the Ranger made it up over the summit and was moving along nicely until about thirteen miles from the finish, when the pinion finally gave out. Park recalled It took about an hour and a half to get the new pinion setup to the truck and installed, then be able to motor on to the finish. “All of our team have other full-time jobs, and we work on the truck mostly at my house,” he says. “It’s been an incredible journey to win the SCORE Baja 1000 with a truck I’ve been driving for twenty years, and racing for ten,” he says. Because of the great season he and the team had this year, Park tells us that there’s no doubt he will be back again next year.