SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1352065
A WINNING FAMILY FORMULA Wilson Motorsports Aims For The 2021 SCORE Class 1 Crown Story by Stuart Bourdon Photography: By Get Some Photo The Wilson family has been winning off-road races for many years, beginning when three brothers, Ronny, Rick, and Randy Wilson first decided to go racing in the desert. Not too long ago, Ronny’s son Brad and Rick’s son, Brian, teamed up, and today they carry on the Wilson race-winning tradition. Like many other off-road racing teams, the Wilson family skipped the 2020 SCORE season due to COVID-19 and were missed by both race fans and fellow competitors. However, for the 2021 season, the Wilson Motorsports Team will be back in force, fielding two incredibly potent Class 1 race cars. “Late last year, we got a sister car to the older (2018) Jimco Racing mid-engine Class 1 race car. It’s almost identical to the other Jimco mid-engine car,” said Brad Wilson. “We learned a lot while racing the old car through trial and error, and now we have two mid-engine Class 1 cars to go after the championship.” Wilson Racing has always been a family affair, and it continues with Ronny, Rick, and Randy offering logistic assistance and advice based on dozens of years of first-hand Baja racing experience. Brad and Brian are the primary drivers, and now the third generation of younger Wilsons are at the races cheering them on. “I split driving duties in the new car with one of our good family friends, Justin Munyon. My cousin Brian drives the other car with Kyle Quinn. Kyle is my uncle Randy’s son-in-law.” Tale of Two Whips Both Class 1 race cars are Jimco Racing creations. The “Hammerhead” is a next-level breed of unlimited mid-engine off-road race car that features what Jimco Racing CEO Robbie Pierce called, a Trophy Truck front suspension. “The new Wilson car has 22-inches of wheel travel up front, a long-arm rear link system that delivers 23-inches of travel. It also features a new Fortin FRS5 transmission with dual starters and a 72-gallon fuel cell for long hauls.” While both cars are mid-engine designs, the newest of the two is more powerful and features an improved transmission. “The new car is another mid-engine design,” said Wilson. “This one has a Wiks Racing 775hp LS. The Fortin transmission is designed specifically for driving in competition with 40-inch tires. It’s much faster and feels like you’re not putting as much effort into it. The car reacts like a truck in some situations. Sometimes I look down and realize I’m going much faster than I would normally go through a section. It will go into the high 130 mph range.” Mexico-Ready Most new vehicles need to be shaken down and finely tuned before they are competition-ready, and the Wilsons have had plenty of time to do that in 2020. “We raced it once in the States and took first place in our class. It works great,” said Wilson. “We’re excited to see how it runs down in Mexico.” Brad credits long-time Wilson Motorsports crew chief Mike Stapleton and mechanic Chris Ramey for much of that great performance. Brad continued, “We have always been a team that put our efforts into making our cars Mexico-ready.” The first race of the 2021 SCORE off-road-racing season is the 34th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Felipe 250 Presented by Ford. It may be the shortest race on the SCORE schedule, but it’s typically one of the roughest. Wilson is confident in the new car’s handling, however. “We worked with King shocks to test and set up our cars for the roughest terrain because that’s what Mexico throws at you,” he said. “The rough stuff is where you need your car to be the fastest. The San Felipe race is only 250-plus miles, but it puts you through hell for each one of them. You have to have confidence in your car to be able to go up Zoo Road at more than 90 miles-per-hour for stretches of 10 to 15 miles. If your car can’t handle that, you’ll never be able to keep up with the leaders.” “We’re going to run both cars at every SCORE race in Mexico this year,” adds Wilson. “The new car has proven itself a winner already, and we’ll keep learning and improving with every race to stay on top of our game. Of course, we want to win the SCORE Baja 1000 this year, but we’re going for the Class 1 championship this year too. To us, winning the championship means you made it every single mile of every race, your car didn’t break, and your team was on point.” SJ