SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1502036
TALKING DIRT By Dan Sanchez, Editor SCORE Journal Coming in last place may be one of the most respected places to finish in all of SCORE Baja racing. At this year’s BFGoodrich Tires 55th SCORE Baja 500, there were lots of celebrations for racers who finished first in their class, and first in Overall categories. While they deserve the respect and admiration for their efforts which are monumental in some cases, there are also those competitors who come in last, just before the race times out, in an effort to simply finish the race, not caring what place they end up in their class. Those last-place finishers are a real testament to their determination and team efforts. The two that stick out from this SCORE Baja 500 race, were Gasper Espindola from Ensenada, Mexico, driving the 716 truck in Class 7. He and his team finished the race in 19:59:26, seconds before they would time out. While there was no fanfare or even a lot of people on the ramp cheering them on other than team members and family, their determination paid off with a second place in class. At the SCORE San Felipe 250, the team also finished in second place in Class. With this finish at the SCORE Baja 500, the team is now sitting at the top of the SCORE Championship Points for Class 7. The official points standings, however, are still being calculated but given the circumstances, it’s a good bet they are now leading. Espindola is in a good position to take away a record 17-year run on the class championship by veteran Dan Chamlee, who had mechanical problems during this race and DNF’d. The fact of the matter is that the problems the Espindola team had on the course weren’t enough to let them give up and continued on the course up to the last seconds of the race. Chamlee wasn’t so lucky, but the 2023 SCORE Desert Championship is only halfway through the season, and anything can happen. While some may also think that the Class 11 vehicles are usually the last to finish, this time, we saw SCORE legendary racer and ORMHOF Inductee Eric Solorzano finish ahead of Class 7 Espindola, with a time of 19:12:00. A true fighter, Solorzano is also one person who does not give up easily, and with his reputation on the line he is one to know that if there’s a way to finish, he will find a way to do it. Solorzano finished four hours behind the No. 1105 Bug of Oliver Flemate, but for his determination, Solorzano also finished second in class. The great thing about all this is that in SCORE Baja racing, things can change in an instant, and finishing last isn’t always that bad. The saying “You have to first finish, to finish first,” is the winning attitude Espindola and Solorzano demonstrated at this year’s race, and is something to be celebrated and admired.