SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1530871
PUSHING FOR THE WIN Cody Reid Overcame Adversity For A Class 1 Win By Dan Sanchez Photos by Get Some Photo Cody Reid and co-driver Adam Pfankuch, in the No. 168 Class 1 car, pushed through several issues on the course, to win at the BFGoodrich Tires 57th SCORE Baja 1000. Winning in Class 1 is not easy when the toughest competitors include former class champions and multi-race winners Brad Wilson, Kyle Quinn, Cody Parkhouse, and Brendan Gaughan. Because of this, SCORE Class 1 race wins often come from the team with the cleanest runs, and who have the least problems on the course. But for this race, problems were everywhere for Reid and his team who fell back early in the race due to a broken rotor. “Around race mile 120, the rear passenger side brake rotor failed and we had to stop and repair it,” said Reid. “We managed to push hard and make our way back up the pack.” After passing Brendan Gaughan in the No. 162 car, the Reid team had another issue come up, when the driver’s side rear brake rotor failed. “We had been running as fast as we could and around the Old Mill road crossing, when we broke the other rear brake rotor,” said Reid. “We took the hub apart and by that time, our chase team caught up to us and made the repairs.” After getting back on the course, Reid was so far behind, they decided to push the car and go fast when they could, but slow down and be patient where they needed to. “By this time, Adam got into the car and he managed to get back up to the front of the pack,” said Reid. “He got us into first place after Cody Parkhouse in the No. 127 car was pulled over with a steering problem.” Now in first place, and well past the halfway point on the course, Baja decided to throw some rain at the team. This change in the weather caused the AC in the car to fog up Pfankuch’s visor, long enough for him to hit a rock and get a flat. Yes, the Reid AWD Class 1 buggy with a big-block engine and 40” tires has AC. But the rain and a flat tire didn’t deter the team from getting the win. “After Adam changed the tire and got back on the course, he had to push hard to stay in front of the Wilson team and Parkhouse, to keep them from catching up,” said Reid. “Fortunately he managed to say ahead of them and made it to the finish line first. This is a great win for us, and some of the minor changes we made on the car have paid off in this race, and all season.” Reid mentioned that some of the changes included more testing with the AWD car instead of the 2WD car, changing from King 4.0 to 4.5 bypass shocks, and other small changes they’ve made to the car over the season. “Most significantly, it’s been the growth of the team that has made us more successful this year,” adds Reid. “We started a couple of years ago with this new car and it started rough. Now our crew is quicker and more efficient and it’s proven with this win and finishing in the top two in Class 1 this season.” SJ