SCORE Journal

MOTO MATTERS SCORE’s Moto Liaison Andy Kirker Is Helping Moto Teams Get Their Voices Heard By Dan Sanchez If it wasn’t for motorcycle racers wanting to take on the challenge of Baja Mexico’s desert terrain, we would not have SCORE races as we know them today. For decades, moto racers have put Baja racing at the pinnacle of their success and have made many legendary riders in the process. But as time passed and SCORE’s moto classes moved into the shadow of SCORE’s Trophy Truck class, it didn’t deter riders from continuing the challenge and reaching a level of riding talent that cannot be showcased in any other form of motorcycle racing. While it all looked great on the surface for many decades, moto riders voiced their frustrations over changes in course layout, penalties, and much more. One of the most outspoken riders was Andy Kirker, a veteran Baja racer who had been racing since the age of 14 and later raced with Larry Roeseler and continued well into his 50s. Since then, Kirker has been the voice of the moto and quad classes and now sits in a position in SCORE as its Moto Liaison, making sure the needs and safety of moto racers are heard within SCORE. A RACER AT HEART Kirker is a true moto racer with more than a 50 year span of Baja racing experience, as well as competing in AMA Outdoor Motocross and Supercross. “I partnered with Larry Roeseler in 1974 and we rode a Yamaha 125,” said Kirker “He showed me the ropes and we’d pre-run races with Bruce Ogilvie. Later in the ‘70’s I was on team Husqvarna with Scot Harden and won many races. Over the years I raced Baja many times until I took 20 years off to raise a family, and was then sucked back into it at the age of 50, due to the ‘Dust To Glory’ movie” Andy Kirker’s last professional race was the 2017 SCORE Baja 500 in the Pro Moto 60 class His frustration from being penalized for riding outside the GPS lines at the 2009 SCORE Baja 500, was the ignition point for Kirker to stand up for moto teams. “At that time, GPS tracking was in its early years and the race director, Paul Fish, thought that the 40 years of the traditional ways to find the lines on the course wouldn’t work anymore,” said Kirker. “They began penalizing teams who were not using marked lines on their GPS. But there were discrepancies between the GPS, the course map, and the actual markings on the course itself. And, it wasn’t concise as to what those rules were and why they were changed.” Along with racers such as Johnny Campbell, Jim O’Neal, and others, Kirker faced off with then-SCORE owner Sal Fish who promptly told Kirker that no one would tell him how to run his business. “I was of course embarrassed, but I had done my homework and showed Sal the discrepancies,” said Kirker. “Sal asked for solutions, which I gave him, then he said I would be the one to have to implement them.” Kirker utilized software Honda had been using and came up with the concept of Virtual Checkpoints (VCPs) which was a way to keep racers from going through farm fields, and prevented others from cutting corners on the course. A way to show course compliance.” Kirker’s efforts continued over the next five years, running the program that collected GPS data, called the Track Review Committee (TRC) made up of volunteer racers to audit the data, unaware of which team it belonged to, and make sure both racers and course trackers were being fair. MOTO LIAISON After Fish sold SCORE to Roger Norman, Kirker went back to racing in 50 and 60 Pro Moto classes, winning several championships with Jim O’Neal and Mark Winkelman teams. “After I reached age 66 I decided it was time to quit, but I couldn’t stay away,” said Kirker. “I approached SCORE’s President and Race Director Jose Grijalva about what I could do and he agreed. After asking several peers and with a list of things that needed to be changed, Grijalva saw the need for a moto liaison and here we are.” “Knowing that Jose G. is a former moto guy, he understood all of the issues we would bring before him. That helped a lot and seeing how he approached controversy and how he had respect for all racers, it was obvious he wanted to be fair to everyone and continued to allow us to make minor changes as needed.” SAFETY A BIG ISSUE Kirker started with increasing safety for moto and quad racers. “The biggest concern from many teams is safety and having a chase helicopter for them,” said Kirker. “In the past, this was something factory teams had done to keep their riders safe. Without factory involvement for many years, this was left to teams to pay for. After noting the safety issues, SCORE now has a dedicated chase helicopter for moto and quad teams at every race. Each one also has a first responder, who is also a surgeon on board.” Moto racers have also had concerns over slow speeds on highway sections, which led to increasing them from 37mph to 60mph. “It is much more dangerous for moto racers to drive slower than traffic on highway sections so this is another big improvement over safety in this area,” said Kirker. Although Kirker was the first proponent of VCPs in SCORE, he pushed to reduce the number of VCPs to give moto racers more leeway on courses. “This allows them to avoid sections of the course that are badly beaten from trucks pre-running them before the race.” In addition, Kirker also thought it was unfair for moto teams to get a 30-minute penalty for failing to transfer the SCORE SPICA device for teams with multiple riders. “In the heat of racing, some riders forget to transfer the device over to the next racer and since it’s not advantageous to do so, it shouldn’t ruin someone’s entire race. Although it’s still important to track riders, the penalty has since been reduced to 10 minutes.” The addition of water stations for moto and quad racers brought relief to many during the SCORE Baja 500 where temperatures were extreme, especially across some of the more desolate areas of the course. “At that race, we had 19 racers reach station number 3 who were out of water,” said Kirker. In addition, we have more groups of volunteers heading out on UTVs ahead of the racers, and a few miles behind them. Each has an EMT and some are also stationed along the course so that there is always someone who could reach an injured rider more quickly.” One of the biggest but simplest issues Kirker saw among moto racers, was that they were not fully aware of the rules. “We began adding more PDF instructions and videos for racers on safety, and use of the SPICA and STELLA GPS tracking devices,” said Kirker. “A lot of racers didn’t know how to properly use them in an emergency. We also reduced the Sportsman Cut-Off sections of the course and changed it so that there is no way a Sportsman racer could finish ahead of the Pro Moto Classes.” EXPOSURE FOR MOTO CLASSES Another concern brought up to Kirker was the fact that media and TV coverage was the one main reason why OEs were not involved in SCORE. “I had spoken to KTM and Factory Honda on the subject, and a lack of media coverage was one of their biggest issues aside from safety for their riders,” said Kirker. “Most moto teams, including myself, did not know that SCORE International’s official publication SCORE Journal had extensive coverage of moto classes. I began pointing this out to teams, as well as the amount of SCORE’s social media coverage of moto racers and classes.” “In addition, we also began working with motorcycle publications such as Cycle News for additional media coverage, and have asked for more moto coverage in SCORE’s’ television broadcasts of each race this season. With SCORE’s use of the Starlink satellite system, we will also be able to give more coverage to moto teams while they are on the course during SCORE’s Live Stream that is available on the SCORE website, SCORE’s social media pages, and the SCORE App.” ENTRIES INCREASE The result of many of these changes has allowed for an increase in entries over this 2022 season. SCORE’s changes from listening to moto and quad racers, along with teams also taking note of rule changes, has led to a doubling of entries compared to a year ago. “The thing that drives me is knowing that SCORE Baja racing is unique. I don’t understand why more people aren’t doing it and I personally don’t want it to go away. You’re racing in another country on ranch roads to which spectators have access. You make friends and memories for life there. It’s chaotic but it’s somewhat controlled. Furthermore ever since Roger Norman has taken over SCORE it has become an even greater event in motorsports.” “For moto and quad classes. It is much safer now to race in SCORE than it has been in the past. One focus is to create purses for classes or overall winners which we are working on. SCORE is the biggest and most recognized off-road race in the world, so there’s no reason why we can’t make SCORE motos great again.”SJ

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