SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1536633
BUGGY BASH Baja Was Brutal To Class 1 and Class 10 Competitors By Dan Sanchez When most of your competition is taken out from the brutal course or vehicle breakdowns, one can say you’re in a position to win. Of course, that’s if the same doesn’t happen to you. Fortunately for the Wilson Racing team, Kyle Quinn in the No. 138 car managed to be conservative, hold-on and got the Class 1 win. “It wasn’t the best day, but it ended very well,” said Quinn at the finish. “Our team of Greg DiStefano and Scott Conley started the race, and they were doing very well. They were the first car at roughly race-mile 78. Not long after, however, the buggy rolled over on its side. They were down for about an hour getting it flipped back over. Our guy’s Ben and Mag and their crews hauled butt out there and dealt with it. Fortunately, the buggy was in good shape so he just kind of kept picking away at it and I think we were about an hour or so down when I got in.” Quinn and the team were trying to catch up to the class leader on the course, Cody Reid in the No. 168 buggy. Reid and co-driver Adam Pfankuch worked their way passed some issues they had earlier but managed to fix them and get back on the course. “Adam got in the buggy and was making up for some time, overtaking the TT Spec trucks that passed us when we were down,” said Reid. “It was then that our torque converter broke, and we had to pour in roughly 25-gallons of transmission oil and various other substances to get us to the finish. Kudos to the Wilson team for not giving up and getting the win.” The RPI team finished in second place but were also happy for Quinn to get the class win.” Although the Wilson and RPI teams were able to somewhat overcome their troubles, it wasn’t the same for the other competitors. Brendan Gaughan in the No. 162 buggy and Cody Parkhouse in the No. 127 buggy broke down on the course and did not finish the race. “The other teams were having some issues so that obviously helped us,” said Quinn. “But we just tried to lay down the best run we could and obviously it worked.” ELLIOT WATSON TAKES CLASS 10 WIN The Class 10 racers didn’t have it any easier getting through a technical and muddy course. Add the fact that a higher level of competition was at this year’s race, and it’s easy to see how the class got shaken up. Finishing first in the class was Elliot Watson in the No. 1033 buggy with a clean penalty-free race. “It was pretty wet down south,” said Watson. “It was a long day from starting at the back of the Class 10 field.” Watson maintained his pace and slowly started picking their way through the mix of 12 competitors, including 2024 Class Champion Francisco Vera (No. 1000) and former Champion Bruce Yee (No. 1014) and veteran Matt Willert in the No. 1009 buggy. “There are some really fast guys in this class right now and we had some super good races,” said Watson. “ I would catch a couple of guys in the tight twisty stuff but then they would pass me back on the rocky stuff, but the tight and twisty course worked in our favor today.” “We picked off the competition one by one and went back and forth with the Willert car for a bit. The last 200 miles guys started falling off, making little mistakes here and there and we made our way through. We didn’t get out of the car once all day, just gas and go. We had zero flat tires thanks to Yokohama Tires and thanks to all of our pit guys for the awesome stops. It’s a huge thing for our family to come down here and win a race like this. we’re super excited for it.” The No. 19075 car of Eliseo Garcia finished in second place, battling with class competitors on the course. “There was a little bit of everything,” said Garcia. “A-lot of mud, water, and the competition was really tough. I think that from the beginning, we didn’t separate. It was always all Class 10s in a row, until about half of the race, then we started to separate a little. But me, third and fourth place finishers were all close together running the same pace.” The Willert team finished in third place to round off the top three podium finishes in the class. SJ