SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1528094
SURPRISES, UPSETS, & WINS The SCORE Trophy Truck Classes Were Action Packed By Stuart Bourdon, Paul Hanson, Isaac Flores, and Ariana Medrano Photos by Get Some Photo The 2024 SCORE Baja 400 brought another exciting weekend of off-road racing to Baja California, Mexico, delivering some surprises, a few upsets, and a string of consecutive wins for two prominent competitors in the SCORE Trophy Truck classes. Bryce Menzies won Overall and first-place in the SCORE Trophy Truck class for the fourth time in a row. Gustavo Vildósola Sr. scored his 11th straight win in the SCORE Trophy Truck Legends class, and Jorge Sampietro gained his first SCORE Trophy Truck Spec class victory of the season. SCORE Trophy Trucks Menzies crossed the finish line in his No. 1 Red Bull, Mason Motorsports Ford Raptor with an elapsed time of 7 hours, 53 minutes, and 57 seconds. This was his fourth consecutive win in the SCORE Baja 400 and his first in the 2024 SCORE World Desert Championship. Menzies’ race day went without any major problems, getting past Christopher Polvoorde who was stopped to change out a flat tire early in the race. After passing Polvoorde, Menzies was able to move up fast and tail Toby Price who had set a breakneck pace after starting first in class. Menzies said, “It was a wild race for a while, I didn’t know if the trucks were going to last running at that pace. We passed them (No. 46 Price/Weel) at race mile 280 when they got a flat, and from there, we just tried to play it smart, take our time, and get to the finish line.” Menzies added, “Overall, the course was tough, and to win four straight SCORE Baja 400s in the SCORE Trophy Truck class is just insane. I don’t know what it is about this race, it’s just been good to us. Hats off to all the drivers, the competition is tough, it makes us work harder and harder, and that’s what we need for this sport.” Alan Ampudia worked hard to move his way up through the pack, finishing second in class at the checkered flag after having a minor problem with the truck’s steering wheel. Ampudia said, “I feel like we were a little too conservative on the beach section. That’s where Menzies put three or four minutes on us. We were playing the hunting game, waiting to see where we were in the second half, and found we were still in the fight. Price was close behind us, but overall, we had a good day.” Third-place Trophy Truck team drivers Toby Price and Paul Weel had a tough and disappointing day as well. After qualifying first at the Method Race Wheels Qualifier, they began to have trouble at around mile 90, and their truck’s steering system was giving them problems toward the end of the race. They finished in a good spot, but for a while, it was a pretty tight race between them, Menzies, and Ampudia. Weel said, “I got in at around race mile 280 and my section was very tight. We were in Bryce’s dust and that made things really hard.” SCORE Trophy Truck Legends Gustavo Vildósola Sr. and Ricky Johnson achieved their 11th consecutive win in the SCORE Trophy Truck Legends class, driving their No. 1L Ford Raptor to a class win with an elapsed time of 8 hours, 24 minutes, and 25 seconds. Vildósola had a good day, but Johnson got a flat and bent a steering shaft on his section of the course. Aside from that, they had a clean run into the finish line. Vildósola said, “The sections at Mike’s Sky Ranch (race mile 280) and Santa Catarina (race mile 340) were super tiring, difficult, and tight, but we made it.” Johnson told us, “I just had one flat after I hit a rock. We qualified in the top 10 among all the SCORE Trophy Truck classes, which is exactly what we wanted, and got by Rob MacCachren and Luke McMillin when they had problems. We were racing with Tim Herbst all day and it came down to about three minutes of difference at the finish.” Tim Herbst and Pat Dean finished second in the SCORE Trophy Truck Legend class, making their debut in that class after previously competing in the SCORE Trophy Truck arena. Herbst said, “The race went pretty well. We just got a lot of dust starting back in 18th place and had a driver change that took a bit too long, but other than that, the truck ran well, and we ran a good pace.” Clay Lawrence landed third in the SCORE Trophy Truck Legends class. They had some difficulties but were lucky and didn’t experience any major problems. Lawrence told us, “The course was a mix of fast flowy stuff and some tight technical spots. I had a lot of fun. Our BFGoodrich Tires held super solid, and when you can keep the tires inflated and keep rolling, it’s always a good race.” SCORE Trophy Truck Spec Jorge Sampietro won the SCORE Baja 400 in the SCORE Trophy Truck Spec class driving his Mason Motorsports-Chevrolet across the finish line with an elapsed time of 8 hours, 31 minutes, and 57 seconds. This was his first win in the 2024 SCORE World Desert Championship, and the truck had no mechanical issues. Sampietro told us, “The Mike’s Sky Ranch loop (race mile 280) was very challenging, but the main problem for us was being in the dust all day. We started seventh off the line but were able to finish at the top of our class, so it was a good run.” Bryce Swain ended the day with second place finish in the SCORE Trophy Truck Spec class, telling us “It wasn’t bad. It was pretty rough, but it was better than I thought it would be. It was dusty, but it was fun. The truck ran perfectly. At the start, we smelled something smoking, but we never found it and the car never stopped, so we kept going.” Thor Herbst and co-driver Pierce Herbst ran a strong race, and at the end of the day, they stood on the SCORE Trophy Truck Spec podium in third place. It was the team’s third consecutive podium finish of the season. Price Herbst said, “We had a pretty clean day. Thor did a great job and got us in a great position. In the second half, we had a good run, with minimal dust.” They had only one flat when they hit the root of a tree. Luckily, they didn’t get passed by another Spec truck while changing the tire. SJ