SCORE Journal

SCORE-Journal-May-2021

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

Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1374877

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 95 of 124

Close Call Mike Cafro of the Polaris RZR factory team hangs on to take the class win in Pro UTV Stock at the San Felipe 250 By Larry Saavedra Photos by Get Some Photo Racing veteran Mike Cafro of the Polaris RZR factory team, took the Pro UTV Stock class win at the 34th BFGoodrich SCORE San Felipe 250, Presented by Ford. “I’m happy to get the class win,” said Cafro. “This race was a lot different from other San Felipe races because the speeds were greater and the load on the machines was greater, which led to running hot.” Although he made the win seem easy, looking back after the race, Cafro said fuel issues nearly took him out of contention less than 200 miles into the race. San Felipe is notorious for miles of sand washes that suck fuel, and the course threw him for a loop. As it played out, Cafro left the starting grid in the eighth position in the class. He said San Felipe rewarded those that started from behind because it’s not as dusty as other races. “You can sneak up on people. Our team puts a lot of effort into prepping and pre-running, and in the first 100 miles, we were fairly deep in the other classes. Some races I like to start up front, but not at San Felipe.” Cafro didn’t think the speeds were going to be as great, or that the fuel consumption would be as extreme. “I pitted at mile 104 and filled up the 22-gallon tank. I didn’t notice any issues with fuel to that point.” But many miles down the course he saw a significant drop in fuel level. By mile marker 186, just as he approached a series of steep hills, things got worse. Cafro slowed his pace and crept up the hills trying to conserve whatever fuel remained. “I saw the gauge getting lower, but figured it was faulty,” he said. “I was planning on racing to mile 230 before I got fuel, but the car started to sputter.” Close to stalling the engine, Cafro was able to make the climb to the top of the hill on fumes, and from that vantage point, he could see Baja Pits at the bottom. “I bummed a gallon of gas from them and went on my way,” said Cafro. “My navigator, Adan Leggs, and I were still chasing the Overall win, but that incident put us way behind. I did manage to squeak in front of Kristen Matlock in the other Polaris, and completely left her on the lakebed. I’ve had this rivalry with the Matlocks for a long time, even though we’re all good friends.” From that point, Cafro caught another turbo car and figured he still had a chance at the overall win, but it wasn’t meant to be. Cafro crossed the finish line at 06:30:58. For Polaris, Cafro’s effort put another victory in the books at the start of the SCORE racing season. Perhaps, giving Polaris an edge of the competition heading into the BFGoodrich SCORE Baja 500, presented by 4Wheel Parts. SJ

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of SCORE Journal - SCORE-Journal-May-2021