SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1420514
MENZIES DOMINATES THE 2021 SCORE Baja 400 This Victory Puts The Team In The Pole Position For The SCORE BaJa 1000 Story by Stuart Bourdon Photographs by Get Some Photo Bryce Menzies pulled-off a second 2021 season victory at the 2nd Annual SCORE Baja 400 presented by VP Racing Fuels, held in Baja, California, September 14-19, 2021. For the second time during this SCORE season, Menzies was at the top of the podium. The first was at the SCORE San Felipe 250 where he raced neck-and-neck against Luke McMillin all the way to the checkered flag. Menzies crossed the finish line a mere sixteen seconds ahead of McMillin. At the SCORE Baja 500, Menzies led the race again with McMillin right behind him. However, a “miscalculation” cost Menzies the finish, but luckily not the starting order for the SCORE Baja 400. Getting another win, however, was by no means easy. The challenge was once again made more difficult with the pressure of Luke McMillin right behind him. During qualifying for the SCORE Baja 400, Menzies was only .51 hundredths of a second faster than McMillin for the pole position. “We started 1-2 again with Luke on our tail,” said Menzies. His game plan was to qualify first, start out front, and try to stay there with clean air to run through all day. “We wanted to put a couple of minutes (ET) on Luke as early as we could,” he said. “We were able to achieve that, so we felt good about the way the race was going from the very beginning.” McMillin Increases The Pressure “We were running about three minutes ahead of Luke for the first half of the race,” said Menzies. “During the second half, Luke really stepped it up, began pushing harder, and cutting our lead (ET) down.” Aside from McMillin cutting down the lead he had over Menzies, the course didn’t offer him any other advantages. “It was unreal how technical this course was,” said Menzies. “I know it was only 400 miles long, but it felt like 1,000 with seemingly endless turns, hills, rocks, and corners. I kept the pace up while trying to play it smart and didn’t make any mistakes. You really had to pay attention to keep yourself out of trouble.” It came down to a minute-and-half between Menzies and McMillin at the SCORE Baja 400 finish line. “Our AWD Mason truck has made a big difference getting us through corners quicker and up hills faster. Luke was putting a lot of pressure on me, but that’s what it’s all about,” said Menzies. “We’re both racing to win. His team is awesome, and it’s good to race against a driver and team like that because it keeps us on our toes. Today we celebrate our SCORE Baja 400 win. Tomorrow we begin working toward winning the SCORE Baja 1000.” Check out Menzie’s current stats on SCORE’s Fan Pages SJ