SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/693984
Personally, I've taken a different approach to racing after last year's SCORE Baja 500. Racing is not my job. It's something that differentiates us from guys like Bryce (Menzies), Apdaly (Lopez) and Rob (MacCachren). After the disappointment of last year's 500, I started dedicating more time to the gym and getting more serious about nutrition. I felt great after last year's SCORE Baja 1000 and after the SCORE San Felipe this year. After San Felipe, I decided I really wanted to win a SCORE Baja 500 so I got really serious about exercise and nutrition when I am not traveling. That's how I prepared. No alcohol for two or three weeks before the race. It's a different mentality and that is what off-road racing is becoming with guys like Bryce, Apdaly, and Lalo (Laguna). This is what they do and they train for it every day. I am just doing what I can to keep up with the herd. Since I started taking it more seriously we have won three out of five races. I hydrated in the days before the race, drinking as much as I could but at the end of the day the heat was horrible. I still got leg cramps, and my shoulders were cramping, I was extremely thirsty. It was a tough day with the heat. I didn't do an IV before the race. Afterward, Mark McMillin asked me if I had done an IV before or after the race. I don't think they could have found a vein in me after the race. If we are racing in that kind of heat again, it's something I need to do beforehand. I wasn't going to quit, and the thought never crossed my mind, but it was rough out there. SJ: You won the SCORE Baja 500 in a Pro Truck but have had trouble in a Trophy Truck. How rewarding was it to finally win it, and under such brutal conditions? Vildosola: The SCORE Baja 500 is historically a race that has been difficult for me. The SCORE San Felipe is a sprint race, the SCORE Baja 1000 is a marathon, and the Baja 500 is in between. You can't sprint because you won't make it, and you can't coast because the field is really fast now, and they will beat you. The new truck, not that new as this is its 20th race, is designed to win these kinds of races. A lot of things had to come together for this moment. After missing the four-peat in San Felipe with engine issues, winning the "500" feels really good. The SCORE 500 is my favorite race after a peninsula run to La Paz in the SCORE Baja 1000, and not being able to win it hurt. SJ: Only eight other drivers have won the Triple Crown of Baja, you are the ninth. What does that mean to you? Vildosola: The SCORE Baja 500 has always been our Achilles heel. We never focused on winning the Triple Crown of Baja. We were just focused on winning the "500". Now that it has happened. I think THE LEVEL OF COMMITMENT TOYO HAS WITH VILDOSOLA RACING, IN TERMS OF CONTINUING TO FURTHER DEVELOP THE RT, IS REALLY WHY WE ARE HERE. -TAVO VILDOSOLA TAVO WITH HIS FATHER GUS VILDOSOLA SR. CELEBRATE THEIR FIRST SCORE BAJA 500 VICTORY FOR THE TEAM. 046 SCORE JOURNAL GETSOMEPHOTO