SCORE Journal

SCORE Journal - June 2019

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

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The Green Army Drives To Victory Justin Davis and the Green Army win Class 1 At The 51st SCORE BaJa 500 By Dan Sanchez Photos by Get Some Photo SCORE’s buggy classes have been a part of off-road motorsports since the inception of the Baja 500 race itself. As the vehicles improved, so have the drivers. This was most evident at this year’s 51st SCORE Baja 500, when some of the top Class 1 drivers in the world, competed head-to-head in a grueling course that had bottlenecks at several points in the race. Prevailing over the course and the top competition was Justin Davis and the Green Army. Co-driving with Larry Job, the Green Army had no issues beginning their battle taking on Shelby Reid at the starting line in a side-by-side start. “Larry made it out of the Lucas Oil Stadium, only to get caught up behind trucks that were stuck in the silt a few miles out from the stadium,” said team leader Justin Davis. “It held us up for about 13 minutes, and it was the same for the rest of our competition. Fortunately, we were in a spot where we could be rerouted first by the flagmen and we got out ahead of Shelby and the Wilson cars.” The team then had clean air in front and managed to stay ahead of Reid and caught up to Brad Wilson who started first but was having issues with their engine. While the Green Army team got ahead of the Class 1 competition, it wasn’t smooth sailing for the team. “At mile 70, we had a power steering line break,” said Davis. “We drove about 20-miles without power steering so we eventually had to pit and got the line fixed and added fluid. This cost us another 25 to 30 minutes and knew the competition was closing the gap. You always have to count on the Wilsons to be right there. When you battle with them and you have an issue, they’re right there, but we like it and it’s good competition.” Although physically in front, the Green Army team was losing any lead they had the longer they were down. By the time Job made it to the driver swap at mile marker 187, it was Davis’ turn to get into the vehicle. “When I got in, we were down 30-minutes so I had to push hard to make up the time,” said Davis. “We had an incredibly clean run with no flat tires and got through all the trucks. By mile 380, we knew we had the lead and ended up finishing first. It was a great feeling and a huge victory for our team. We’re a band of misfits, many of whom are from Alaska and come all the way down to Mexico to help us. But our team is the same 25 guys and they know what to do.” Davis says the car’s great performance in this race was also due to a new engine from Danzio performance. “The car definitely had more power and I also have to thank Josh O’Neil who preps the car and does a phenomenal job,” said Davis.SJ

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