SCORE Journal

Rosarito Beach 20th SCORE Desert Challenge Racers Play Smart At The Beach Only two months after the SCORE Baja 500, the Rosarito Beach 20th SCORE Desert Challenge in September provided racers with an additional opportunity to earn some valuable points and prepare their vehicles for the 49th SCORE Baja 1000 in November. The race was run in split sessions with competitors covering two laps, totaling 128.4 miles that started and finished just south of Rosarito Beach in the Los Manantiales area south of central Rosarito. The car and truck classes ran the first half of their race over the course of two days, while the motorcycles and quads ran both of their sessions in one day, with a break between each of the two-lap sessions. In the SCORE Trophy Truck Division, the talk of the day was how fast Carlos Apdaly Lopez managed to finish the course. After speeding past the finish line and receiving penalties for that, Lopez’s father, Juan Carlos Lopez, had the next fastest time to win the overall race. This also meant that Billy Wilson would finish in second place, keeping him in contention for a possible championship season, after an eighth place finish at the SCORE Baja 500. Class 1 driver Jaime Huerta Sr, driving for Huerta Jr. finished second place overall and first in Class 1 in front of Brad Wilson, who ended up second place in the class. Wilson found himself in contention for a class championship, after finishing sixth in San Felipe and third at the Baja 500. While the points race was close in Class 1, it was also the same in Class 10. Rafael Navarro IV and Todd Winslow fought hard in Rosarito with Winslow coming in first and Navarro IV in second place. In Trophy Truck Spec., Elias Hanna took first place over Chad Broughton, making it a close race after Hanna finished second behind Broughton in San Felipe, and finishing seventh to Broughton’s second place finish at the SCORE Baja 500. In the motorcycle divisions, the victors remained undefeated. Colton Udall rode solo and lapped other competitors in Pro Moto Unlimited, showing his skill and speed on the course. Likewise, Javier Robles Jr. again dominated in Pro Quad while Winkelman and team won the Pro Moto 50 class, but could only muster a third place finish in Pro Moto Limited. Marc Burnett again sped his way into his second Pro UTV FI victory in Rosarito Beach, beating out Mike Cafro who came in second place in the class. In Pro UTV NA, Gregory Row won the class against six other competitors. With a second place finish, however, Alonzo Lopez gained a significant points lead and was on his way to a possible championship. While the Ampudia team continued to dominate Class 8 in their Ford F-150, Victor Cesena also dominated Class 5. With the Ampudia’s out of Class 1/2 1600 this year, the competitors there had a mixture of wins among them. By the time the Rosarito Beach race played out, Ramon Bio in the number 1616 car, lead the field in points with a seventh place finish in San Felipe, a first place finish at the Baja 500, and a second place finish in Rosarito Beach. At the end of the race, several teams knew what they had to do in order to secure a championship at the 49th SCORE Baja 1000 in November. Testing, preparations, and calculated pit stops, had many of the racers began preparing for the biggest race of the season and with the hopes of winning the SCORE Baja 1000, many also wanted to take home a 2016 Championship.SJ

• Cover