SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
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A FAMILY WIN Cody Reid Teamed Up With Mom Shelby For A Championship Finale By Mike Vieira Photos by Get Some Photo Despite his main race car not being ready at the start of the year’s racing season, Cody Reid captured the SCORE Class 1 title for 2023 by finishing in the top three for all the season’s races, including a first-place effort in the Baja 500. At the opening race of the season, the SCORE San Felipe 250, Reid was forced to drive his pre-runner in the competition while he waited for repairs on the Alumicraft all-wheel-drive car to be finished. Despite some tire issues and problems with the downsized shocks of the pre-runner, which was an old race car belonging to his mom, Shelby, he still managed a third-place finish in the 250. The all-wheel-drive car was ready for the SCORE Baja 500, and with a trouble-free run, Reid said, “We came out swinging and we ended up bringing home the win there. We had zero issues all day. I think we may have plugged the air filter, but that was about it.” The next race, the SCORE Baja 400, went a bit differently for the team. “We started strong and got out front pretty early,” Reid said. “Unfortunately, I ran out of talent and rolled the car at the crossover road. I think we were down for about three hours or so, then my co-rider and I, with the help of a SCORE Trophy Truck team that had rolled there too, managed to flip the car back over using nothing but jacks and tree logs. We got it flipped, but we had to pull all the spark plugs out and drain the oil out of the cylinders. We got that working, and we helped flip the SCORE Trophy Truck over, then got going.” Despite the delay and extra adventure, the team still managed to take second place in the race. At the SCORE Baja 1000, Reid started the race and stayed at the wheel for about 530 miles, pulling out nearly a sixty-mile lead on the next car. His mom, Shelby Reid, came out of retirement to drive and took over for about 250 miles. The legendary racer didn’t encounter any problems, and she held the team’s lead position. Devin Housh then took the driver’s seat but encountered tire troubles in an area that made it necessary to limp along for nearly forty miles with a flat. He switched tire positions on the vehicle several times to avoid damaging the hubs while trying to get to their chase truck for repairs. That problem caused the team to drop back to third place, where they remained for the rest of the race. However, that finish earned the team enough points to clinch the season championship. It was a great example of both a team and family effort. “Unfortunately, my mom hasn’t brought one home in quite a while, which is tough because we had a string of bad luck when she was racing,” said Reid. “I’m glad she came back and did a section of the SCORE Baja 1000 to help us seal the championship. That was a cool feeling. It was a great team effort, and it’s nice to see everybody’s hard work finally pay off and for luck finally go our way a little bit.” For the future, Reid will continue to be a big booster for Class 1, and he hopes that as people see higher overall finishes for Class 1 cars, more competitors will be attracted to the group. SJ VIDEO Highlights of Cody Reid’s 2023 Championship Season