SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
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MID-SEASON SCRAMBLE Heger Brings Polaris Factory Team The UTV Overall Win By Larry Saavedra Photos by Get Some Photo Racing the No. 1896 Polaris RZR Pro R for Polaris Factory Racing, Brock Heger took the UTV Overall and UTV Pro Open Class victories at the 55th BFGoodrich SCORE Baja 500. Heger’s victory marks the second consecutive class win for Polaris and the SCI Motorsports team this season. . “Taking both the Overall and Class win at the SCORE Baja 500 was surreal,” said Heger, who drove the 473.67-mile loop-style course solo. “I came out of short-course racing, and UTV endurance racing is kind of new to me. Everything I came from is 110 percent on the throttle. Baja is much different.” After starting in the eighth position, it took Heger 100 miles to finally catch up to the UTV leaders. Only Wayne Matlock was ahead of him at mile marker 195. That didn’t last long though, and Heger made his pass on Matlock and kept his head down until the finish. Heger’s Overall caught some in the crowd off guard, with many expecting Rodrigo Ampudia to take the Overall as he did at this year’s SCORE San Felipe 250. But Ampudia’s threat never materialized. “Being the first UTV seemed to impress the fans,” Heger said. “I could see and hear them cheering, and that definitely got me excited until the finish. This car was prepped by the team’s crew chief, Johnny Nelson, and the guys at the shop– they did an amazing job. At the end of the day, I try to show everyone what these cars are capable of doing.” Heger was dinged with a VCP penalty in his quest to stay ahead of his competitors, but even that didn’t deter him. “I didn’t want to push it too much after missing the VCP and felt my pace was working in my favor, so I just kept it there,” he said. “The outcome didn’t surprise me one bit,” said team owner Craig Scanlon. “I was elated for Brock and the team and the guys in the shop. To win it in the way he did showed how hard he can drive. That was the goal that Travis Clarke and I set out to do at SCI. These are incredible drivers and mature way beyond their years.” Scanlon said the UTV class has become very fast, and everyone is getting really “racy” off the start. According to Scanlon, you won’t last 500 miles in Mexico with that mindset. “You can’t take a big hit off the start of the race,” he said. “My biggest fear was that our three drivers were going to race too hard immediately. These aren’t indestructible vehicles– you still have to race smart. I think they did everything we expected of them.” It was evident that the Polaris Factory Racing team came into the Baja 500 determined to make a statement. After a solid showing at the San Felipe 250, the factory team knew what they needed to do at the Baja 500. “Brock drove an incredible race– he was smart and smooth,” said Alex Scheuerell, Polaris Factory Racing Technical Director. “We’re extremely proud of the preparation, hard work, and dedication he continues to display day in and day out.” There were a total of 20 starters in the UTV Pro Open class, with 15 finishers. Branden Sims finished in second place despite having issues with his vehicle. “We had the cooling fans shut off around San Felipe (race mile 240), so we had to stop and fix it,” said Sims. “We also replaced an axle in one of the pits. It was brutal, but I really liked this course. I’ve been to many SCORE Baja 500s and I really like it. It tested the equipment really well, it had a little bit of everything. It tested everybody’s driving ability in different scenarios.” Kristen Matlock finished in third place, her best finish so far this season after a DNF in the SCORE San Felipe 250. “It was a rough one, actually. But I had a great time out there, it was typical Baja,” said Matlock. “I ended up following Branden Sims (No. 1886) all the way from San Felipe (race mile 240) to the finish line. It was probably one of the best battles I’ve had in my career. I had a lot of downtime in the beginning because the car was overheating, but once we got that sorted out, we just got going.” Pro UTV Forced Induction While Polaris walked away with the top spots in the Pro UTV Open class, Can-Am took the top the top three in the SCORE Pro UTV FI class. Racing the No. 2944 Can-Am X3, Phil Blurton was first in class with a time of 11:18:55, beating out his nearest competitor by nearly an hour. “We changed a couple of axles about halfway into the race,” Blurton said. “The course was awesome– that’s what I love about Baja.” Blurton said the rocks were incredibly challenging when going over the summit. “Then you get to San Felipe in another 100 miles, and it’s all big whoops,” he said. “The coastal route is fun and the easiest part of the course. But we got stuck behind a truck for the longest time and just cruised.” Other notable Can-Am racers included Jason Murray in No. 2917 and Matt Burroughs in No. 2948–both fought for second and third place, respectively. Murray’s brother, Derek, started the race and made a driver’s change with Jason at mile marker 270. The brothers agreed that the course progressively worsened as the day wore on. “By mile marker 400, the ruts were gnarly,” they said. Burroughs pulled off a podium for Can-Am but struggled near the end of the course. “The car wouldn’t go over 30 miles per hour,” he said. “But we powered through it. Overall, the race was amazing.” Pro UTV Normally Aspirated In the No. 1925 Honda Talon 1000R, Zack Sizemore and Wayne Lambert captured the class win in Pro UTV NA for the team’s second consecutive win at the SCORE Baja 500. Sizemore was DOR and started the race, and Lambert took it to the finish line. “Zack had a really clean run,” said Lambert. “He gave us the car in second position in class, and we were able to move it into first place. The car never missed a beat, and we never got out of it until the finish.” Close behind was former Pro Moto Ironman racer Lawrence Janesky, who was driving the No. 1914 Honda Talon 1000R with his co-driver Victor Abitia, who started the race. Janesky officially took second. “I drove a huge portion of the race and it was totally fun,” he said. “It had a mix of everything. I wish all of the courses were like this one.” Janesky’s team suffered two flats and lost the lead because of it. Janesky, however, remained optimistic and said he absolutely loved the Talon. “It’s only our fourth race in the car.” The finishes for Sizemore and Janesky gave Honda a top-two win in this class. While more than half of the SCORE Pro UTV NA competitors did not finish the race, veteran Joe Bolton, who took first place in the San Felipe 250 this year, ground it out and took third place in the No. 1957 Polaris RZR Pro R. Pro Stock UTV Can-Am’s Sara Price in No. 3938 shared driving duties with Mitchell Alsup and took first place in class. “This race came about at the last minute with Cameron Steele,” said Price. “We built the car in about three days so this is really a dream team. I’m super stoked for the win.” “I have Sara to thank for this race,” added Alsup. “It’s become a great partnership and we had some successes over the last few months. We had zero issues.” Endy Chavez in the No. 3978 Can-Am pulled off a second-place podium finish. Co-driver Yoshua Mardecho said, “The race was very fast overall, except for the final 70 miles.” Also racing a Can-Am X3, Nick Bruce in the No. 3953 car took third place in class with co-driver Juan Dominguez. “Nick had a lot of problems during his section of the race,” said Dominguez. “The car overheated and a crash forced us to replace some parts. After the repairs, we didn’t have any other issues.” Dominguez said the night driving was much easier with their new lights, but there were lots of rocks and whoops. Pro UTV Unlimited Racing the No. 3993 Polaris RZR Pro R, Richard Fant and co-driver David Ducote were the only competitors in the class. All they had to do was finish to take first place, which they did. The Pro UTV Unlimited team said the first third of the race was excellent, but it got progressively more difficult. It was the first race for the team in the new Polaris. “We made it to the ocean at sunset and it was really beautiful,” Ducote said. “I ran into a lot of dust, traffic, and some fog. There were a couple of incidents and we got lost a few times. But overall, it was really fun.” Official Finishers: PRO UTV OPEN (two-seat open UTV open-displacement) (20 Starters, 15 Finishers) 1. 1896 Brock Heger, 23, El Centro, CA/Ethan Groom, 16, Temecula, CA, Polaris RZR Pro R, 10:45:28 (44.03 mph); 2. 1886 Branden Sims, 37, Prescott Valley, AZ/Skyler Howell, Polaris RZR Pro R, 11:00:24 3. 1854 Kristen Matlock, 42, Alpine, CA, Polaris RZR Pro R, 11:03:45 4. 1869 Justin Lambert, 47, Bakersfield, CA/Matt Scarpuzzi, 42, Alpine, CA/Scott Trafton, 41, Alpine, CA, Polaris RZR Pro R, 11:07:29 5. 1871 Wayne Matlock, 45, Alpine, CA, Polaris RZR Pro R, 11:12:08 6. 1876 Mike Cafro, 53, Temecula, CA/Jamie Kirkpatrick, 42, Olympia, Wash., Polaris RZR Pro R, 11:27:60 7. 1859 Josh Row, 33, Lakeside, CA/Preston Axford, 35, Lakeside, CA, Polaris RZR Pro R, 12:12:01 8. 1867 Mike Pratt, 55, Draper, Utah/Dodge Poelman, 23, Orem, Utah/Luke Smith, 23, Orem, Utah/Gavin Pratt, 20, Draper, Utah, Polaris RZR Pro R; 12:38:24 9. 1827 Austin Weiland, 30, El Cajon, CA/Dylan Schmoke, 30, Santee, CA, Polaris RZR Pro R; 14:04:47 10. 1881 Douglas Mittag, 28, Winchester, CA/Kyle Ahrensberg, 35, San Diego, Polaris RZR Pro R, 14:56:52 11. 1868 Bernie Gomez, 55, Huntsville, Ala., Polaris RZR Pro R, 16:25:16 12. 1895 Kaden Wells, 24, Hurricane, Utah, Polaris RZR Pro R, 16:42:47 13. 1870 Brandon Walsh, 36, Encinitas, CA/Cody Weaver, Springville, Penn., Polaris RZR Pro R 14. 1821 Cayden MacCachren, 21, Las Vegas, Polaris RZR Pro R, 17:05:48 15. 1850 Paul Barnhart Jr, 70, Houston/Jeff Stone, Fla., Polaris RZR Pro R, 17:48:19 Pro UTV Unlimited (Unrestricted UTVs including Forced Induction) (1 Starter, 1 Finisher) 1. 3993 Richard Fant, 62, Houston/Rhys Millen, Huntington Beach, CA (New Zealand)/Nathan Moreno, Lake Forest, CA, Polaris RZR Pro R, 13:09:57 (33.47 mph) PRO UTV FI (two-seat Forced Induction, OEM engine UTVs) (22 Starters, 12 Finishers) 1. 2944 Phil Blurton, 36, Auburn, CA/Jeff Gallegos, Can-Am X3, 11:18:55 (41.86 mph); 2. 2917 Jason Murray, 40, North Tustin, CA/Derek Murray, 39, Yorba Linda, CA, Can-Am X3, 12:13:59 3. 2948 Matt Burroughs, 54, Norco, CA/Zachary Burroughs, 22, Norco, CA/Bradley Howe, 34, Leona Valley, CA, Can-Am X3, 12:33:24 4. 2928 Carlos A. Quezada, 44, Mexicali, MX/Cesar Castillo, 39, Mexicali, MX, Can-Am X3, 12:52:32 5. 2985 Austin Jones, 27, Litchfield Park, AZ/Seth Quintero, 20, San Marcos, CA, Can-Am Maverick X3, 12:59:39 6. 2951 Austin Johnson, 26, Rio Rancho, N. M./Chris Whelchel, 42, Vail, AZ/Herman Johnson, 52, Rio Ranch, N.M., Can-Am XRS Turbo RR, 13:06:04 7. 2998 PJ Jones, 54, Cave Creek, AZ/Kyle Vestermark, 53, Aliso Viejo, CA, Can-Am X3, 13:16:01 8. 2927 Justin Smith, 52, Wittman, AZ/Jeff Day, 50, Peoria, AZ, Can-Am Maverick X3, 13:32:17 9. 2911 Aaron Aguilar, 50, Hermosillo, MX/Martin Bringas, 54, Tijuana, MX/Fermin Flores, 36, Hermosillo, MX, Can-Am Maverick X3, 14:35:22 10. 2996 Jessica Lopez, 19, Tecate, MX/Alexis Lopez, 23, Tecate, MX, Can-Am Maverick X3, 14:52:10 11. 2976 Jesus Mendez Jr, 25, Mexicali, MX/Jesus Mendez Sr, 56, Mexicali MX/Felix Garcia, 24, Mexicali, MX, Can-Am Maverick XRS, 15:18:60 12. 2915 Rickey Arslanian, 41, Livermore, CA/Brian Cooper, 37, Santa Rosa, CA/Kevin Fox, 32, Santa Rosa, CA/Jason DeMeulernaere, Livermore, CA, Polaris RZR XP1000, 17:22:00 PRO UTV NA (two-seat Normally Aspirated, OEM engine UTVs)—(7 Starters, 3 Finishers) 1. 1925 Zach Sizelove, 29, Hesperia, CA/Wayne Lambert, 47, Canyon Lake, CA, Honda Talon 1000R, 12:59:51 (36.44 mph) 2. 1914 Larry Janesky, 58, Middlebury, Conn./Dustin Gebers, 40, Chapmansboro, Tenn./Victor Abitia, 37, Rosarito Beach, MX, Honda Talon, 13:16.54 3. 1957 Joe Bolton, 65, Corona, CA/Austin Bolton, 28, Corona, CA, Polaris RZR XP1000, 14:01:17 PRO UTV STOCK (Stock UTVs, FI or NA)—(11 Starters, 8 Finishers) 1. 3938 Sara Price, 30, Mohave Valley, AZ/Mitchell Alsup, Bakersfield, CA, Can-Am X3 Turbo, 13:06:06 (36.15 mph) 2. 3978 Endy Chavez, 27, Mexicali, MX/Omar Beltran, 22, Mexicali, MX/Yoshua Mardecho, 29, Mexicali, MX/Rigoberto Santillan, 26, Mexicali/Efrain Espinoza, 25, Calexico, CA, Can-Am X3, 13:21:46 3. 3953 Nick Bruce, 57, Queen Creek, AZ/Ken Bruce, Heber, AZ/Juan Dominguez, 31, Yuma, AZ, Can-Am X3 Max XRS RR, 14:41:02 4. 3936 Jorge Cano, 48, Culiacan, MX, Marco Venezuela, 34, Ensenada, MX, Can-Am Maverick X3 Turbo XRC, 15:05:40 5. 3930 Douglas Cornwell, 58, Haslet, TX/Trent Kirby, Fallbrook, CA, Polaris RZR XP1000 Turbo R, 15:22:20 6. 3911 Victor Esparza, 34, Yuma, AZ/Luis Verduzco, 32, Tijuana, MX/Victor Barajas, San Diego, Can-Am X3; 17:12:24 7. 3933 Randy Emberton, 64, Prescott, AZ/John Zuleski, 42, Prescott, AZ, Polaris RZR Turbo S; 18:10:04 8. 3959 Antonio Mendez, 57, Puebla, Mexico/Alonso Gonzalez, 40, Ensenada, Mexico/Edmumdo Fernandez, 56, Ensenada, Mexico, Polaris RZR XP4 Turbo S; 18:50:31