SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1526915
Emma Cornwell Can-Am navigatorsays off-road racing is in her DNA By Larry Saavedra Photos by Get Some Photo As the SCORE UTV Pro Stock navigator for the #1895 Can-Am Maverick driven by Kayden Wells, 28-year-old Emma Cornwell says Baja racing is in her DNA. It makes sense when you realize she’s the daughter of longtime SCORE Tech Director Dan Cornwell, a winning buggy racer in his own right. So after years of embracing adrenaline-filled events alongside her dad during her early teens, Emma eventually decided to follow in his footsteps, but instead of driving, she became a winning navigator for Kayden Wells. This year life came full circle for Cornwell when Wells proposed to her on the podium after they took the class win at the 2024 SCORE San Felipe 250. “My dad won the first SCORE San Felipe 250 back in ‘82 and he later introduced me to Kayden shortly after I started navigating,” she said. “He told me Kayden was one of the fastest racers in Baja, and that I should get to know him. Eventually, Kayden and I started dating.” Learning Curves She says as a navigator there’s lots of responsibility because you aren’t in physical control of the race car. “Kayden drives and I navigate, and it’s fairly comfortable in the RaceQuip sponsored seats most of the time,” she adds. “That means I’m constantly communicating with him using headsets during a race. It’s a fun seat to be in. You just have to make sure your driver is okay with your GPS notes mile-by-mile. That’s the challenge.“ Not all navigators grow up in off-road racing like Cornwell, so schools like Waypoint Navigation founded by Erica Sacks are often recommended as refresher courses, or to learn the fundamentals. “There’s a big learning curve with the modern GPS systems,” she said. “Unless you can do thousands and thousands of miles pre-running most potential navigators need to get schooled. I’ve heard wonderful things about Waypoint.” Cornwell says that it’s been her experience that what matters most during a race is how her driver interprets a course. “Kayden and I do a lot of pre-running to determine how he feels about certain corners and obstacles,” she said. “There are waypoints in a race that are vital, and that includes how a navigator calls the race line for the driver. There might be four race lines on a course and you have to be able to give the driver the best option to win.” Cornwell says she uses a digital tablet to mark and record all the VCPs in a SCORE race. “We can take those digital notes and transfer them to the GPS, or we can use the tablet on a mount in the race car,” she adds.“ Cornwell recalled a funny story that happened during a particularly dusty event when the road got bumpy while wiping the tablet clean. “We use microfiber cloth to wipe off the dust on the GPS screens,” she said. “But on some rough courses this year, there were times when I accidentally hit the power button and the whole system shut down. It’s embarrassing, but Kayden handles it well and waits until it reboots.” As far as tire changes and mechanical fixes on the course, Cornwell says they both usually get out of the race car to determine what needs to be done. “He’s a great mechanic,” she said. In the areas of safety Cornwell says they triple-check their Simpson-sponsored racing gear as a team before leaving the grid and after any exit on the race course. Cornwell stressed that fatigue is a real thing too, and so to focus on the course they listen to music from start to finish to enjoy the ride as much as possible. “It gets us in sync and charged up at times too.” SJ