49TH SCORE BAJA 1000 RACE RECAP
UTVS CONVERGE AT
THE SCORE BAJA 1000
W
ith 37 vehicles
registered and
ready to race,
it seemed
like an all-
out UTV war
at this year's SCORE Baja 1000.
The battle for winning the
most prestigious race in all of
off-road racing brought out 21
competitors in the Pro UTV FI
class, and 16 in the Pro UTV NA
class, who were anxiously wanting
this race on their list of wins.
In the Pro UTV FI class, the top
competitors had difficulties but still
pushed hard for the win. Despite
all their efforts, however, Branden
Sims in the number 2013 Polaris
RZR XP4 Turbo, took the class
BY SCORE JOURNAL STAFF
PHOTOS BY GET SOME PHOTO
BRANDEN SIMS AND
JUSTIN KRAUSE WON THE
PRO UTV FI CLASS.
win. "This machine just killed it on
race day," said Sims. "We didn't get
out of the car once and just did
scheduled maintenance. The car
kept going and never skipped a
beat." Sims teamed up with Justin
Krause who drove the first leg of
the race. "We thought from the
start that we had it and I drove as
fast as I could without hurting the
car," said Krause. "I knew Branden
would bring home the win."
Sims and Krause beat several
tough competitors, including
Wayne Matlock who finished in
second place without a right front
wheel. "We didn't hit anything but
a wheel just broke so I didn't have
a right front wheel for the last 15
miles," said Matlock. "People came
out of their houses and they were
cheering us on. I've finished a lot
of these in first but I never finished
one on the back of a car. It was
a much warmer welcome with
all the little kids chasing us and
giving us a thumbs up. It makes
you realize the spirit of Baja."
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SCORE JOURNAL