SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1530871
THE FINAL WIN Near Flawless Riding Brings Justin Morgan And The 7x Team A Victory By Mike Vieira Photos By Get Some Photo Justin Morgan and the Slam Life Racing 7X team of Brandon Prieto, Tyler Lynn, and Ryan Surratt dominated the Pro Moto Unlimited class in the BFGoodrich Tires 57th SCORE Baja 1000 with their Honda CRF450X. The team led the race from start to finish, and brought home a victory. In doing so, the team also received a check for $10K thanks to Pro Moto Baja Racing and its sponsors, SCORE International, Baja Bound, Tacomoto, Stella Anube, and AHM. The 7x team began the race with Tyler Lynn on the bike, starting at 1am and building up a more than ten-minute lead by the time he handed the bike over to Brandon Prieto at Mile 260. The team continued to extend their lead, but ran over some chicken wire that got wrapped around the front wheel. Fortunately, it was near a scheduled pit stop and they were able to get it unwound and cleared after a few minutes. Prieto proceeded to start making up lost time before Morgan took over at Mile 470. By then, the 7x team had an even larger lead than what they had held earlier. “I just rode real smooth, and kind of eased into my section, and had a great ride,” said Morgan. “It felt really good. I didn’t do anything crazy and just kept consistent ,and knew where to go because I pre-ran the course a lot. I ended up pulling quite a bit more time, and ran all the way up to race mile 670.” Ryan Surratt then took his turn with instructions to stay smooth and consistent at basically a pre-run speed, and continued to stretch the lead. He then handed the 7x Honda back to Lynn for the last section into the finish. Because the team had built up a good lead, they were able to slow the pace a bit during the rain they encountered in the latter part of the race, and in doing so, finished nearly an hour ahead of the second-place 11X team. Morgan says, “We just had a really smooth day, other than the wire issue on the front wheel, it was 100 percent perfect. We worked so hard all year to become the best that we can, and we’re really dialed in. The pits are super-strong, and the bike was extremely reliable. It’s made for Baja.” The actual roughness of the course was the biggest challenge the team had, as Morgan says there was no relief from the pounding that the surface was giving the riders throughout the race. Due to the lack of earlier storm rains in the year to help clear and soften the terrain, he says it was one of the rougher races he can remember. Their teamwork paid off however, as he continues, “I think we did everything exactly as we should have. I’m just really thankful to be on a team with people that know how to do their jobs correctly. Everybody did just exactly what they were supposed to do. They all rode like veterans, even the younger guys.” The season didn’t start off very well for the team however, with a disqualification in the San Felipe 250 when Morgan mistakenly followed a line that was not supposed to be used. He had not attended the pre-race riders’ meeting, and wasn’t aware of the change for the section he wasn’t originally scheduled to ride. In the SCORE Baja 500, although the team finished with the best time, penalties incurred when Lynn lost his tracker in a crash and pushed them back to second place. The team had to rent a helicopter to retrieve it, as they faced another disqualification if they didn’t return it. The SCORE Baja 400 went much better with a clean class win, setting them up for a clean air, first position start in the SCORE Baja 1000. Next season, the bike and the team will be back, but Morgan is trading two wheels for four, and will hopefully be running for the SCI Motorsports factory Polaris team in the Pro UTV Unlimited class. He has raced with the team several times this year and last, partnering with Cayden MacCachren to win the SCORE Baja 1000 in 2023. “The bikes are awesome,” said Morgan. “I’ve won seven SCORE Baja 1000s on a bike, and five SCORE Baja 500s. I’m going to be 35 in a couple of weeks, so I think now is a good time. I love racing bikes down there, so it’s a tough decision. But I think safety-wise, I haven’t really had any big injuries, and it would be a good time to call it. Ryan Surratt and Tyler Lynn are talented, young, and they’ve been taught correctly, so I think the team is in good hands. I’ll definitely be at all the SCORE races. My life is SCORE racing. I’ll be racing in a roll cage, and trying to figure out how to win on four wheels.” SJ