SCORE Journal

SCORE Journal Issue - DECEMBER 2017

SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing

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Brandon Schueler: Team Polaris Tames Baja By Stephen Romero Brandon Schueler, 28, of Phoenix, Arizona is no stranger to the infamous Baja whoops on the race to La Paz. As the driver of record in the 2017 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000, Schueler in the numer 2919 factory-sponsored Polaris RZR XP4 Turbo, drove the bone-jarring whoops, a 100-mile brutal section of the course at mile marker 750, where suspension systems are flogged and the drivers rattled. Even though Schueler was hard-pressed to run full-throttle for hours on end, he and his teammates Miles Martin, Pat Stone, Mitch Guthrie, Matt Park and Jason Spiess stuck with their plan to tackle the race; and it worked. They roared to a finish in the Pro UTV FI class in a time of 27:43:45, taking the class win and all the bragging rights that went with it. “I had a 30 minute lead when I jumped in,” said Schueler. “The race car had two flat tires during the race, but other than that it performed flawlessly. I got a great lead and all I had to do was to keep it out front. By the time Spiess saw the finish line, the team had more than hour’s lead ahead of the competition.” The team’s Polaris did get passed once during a prolonged driver change. Park, however, was able to regain their position before the next driver change. Meanwhile the team of Justin Elenburg in a Can-Am Maverick X3 and Mike Cafro in a Polaris RZR XP4 Turbo where hot on their heels, but were never able to establish a threat to Schueler’s chances of a podium finish once Spiess took the final leg into La Paz. Schueler’s dad, Bill, was the team crew chief and chased the Polaris the full length of the course thanks to good communications between the entire crew. “Everyone on the crew were logged onto the SCORE Tracker app and people were messaging other crew members throughout the race,” said Bill Scheuler. “At about mile marker 950, I figured the team had a chance to win the event. It’s been a long run for us and in five years this is the first win at the SCORE Baja 1000.” Schueler’s Polaris was prepped by his company Jagged X and was sponsored by OMF Wheels, Walker Evans Shocks, BFGoodrich Tires, Varta Power Sports Batteries, Vision X USA lighting, Mountain States Contracting, Jackson Motorsports Group and C.R. Designs Custom Paint. SJ

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