SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1536633
METHOD RACE WHEEL QUALIFYING The Race To Be First By Dan Sanchez, Paul Hanson, Isaac Flores, and Cindy Clark Photos by Get Some Photo The start of the BFGoodrich Tires 57th SCORE Baja 500 began with qualifying for several classes to get the best starting positions for race day. The Method Race Wheel Qualifier was streamed live on SCORE’s social media sites and was commentated by Austin Farner and Nick Isenhouer, who hosted the qualifying from the SCORE Studio in El Cajon, California. The day began with the SCORE Trophy Truck Legend racers who were the first to take on the five-mile qualifying course located in Ojos Negros, North East of Ensenada, Mexico. After the racers took their observation laps, Ricky Johnson in the No. 1L truck, laid down the fastest time of 4:22:7. This gave Gus Vildosola (DOR), the pole position in the class, giving him an advantage to try and pull-off a record-breaking 14th consecutive class win. “It was a great course,” said Johnson. “There’s places where you can make little mistakes, but a very, very safe course. I want to thank SCORE for laying it out, it was really good. I had a clean run. I’m going to say the Trophy Trucks will probably be about five to eight seconds faster than us for sure. Just because I wanted to make sure that I kept it on track and I didn’t bend the truck or get flats or anything like that. So it was a good run. I have Javi here. He did a great job calling.” The Legends class was followed by the SCORE Trophy Truck Spec Class competitors of which Jason McNeil, in the No. 234 truck, had the fastest lap at 4:15:0 to start first in class. The SCORE Trophy Truck 2WD Class qualified next, with first timer Ethan Ebert in the No. 81T Honda Ridgeline. The Honda team was exuberant at both Ebert’s performance as well as the V6 powered truck, which ran the fastest time in the class of 4:15:8. After a short break, the SCORE Trophy Trucks took to the course, showcasing some of the most exciting qualifying action to date. Some of the top racers in the field began putting up times that were all within seconds of each other. Luke McMillin in the No. 83 truck put up a time of 4:01:9, followed by Tavo Vildosola in the No. 21 truck with a time of 4:04:1. Only eight-tenths of a second separated Vildosola and Toby Price in the No. 46 truck with a time of 4:04:9. It wasn’t until Chris Polvoorde got on the course in the No. 94 truck, however, that put him in the pole position with a blistering time of 3:55:4, that left McMillin starting second, Vildosola third, and Price starting fourth. Alan Ampudia in the No. 1 truck, who won at the SCORE San Felipe 250 this past April, started fifth in class. “I’m super happy to be back in Baja,” said Polvoorde. “I think this Optima Battery Ford Raptor is pretty quick. I’m excited. The race course is fun, but tough. There’s definitely some big mud puddles out there. We’re going to be figuring out ways around and whatnot. But overall, the huge mud patches that we have to go through, they’re getting better and better each day. So hopefully the sun comes out.” METHOD RACE WHEEL SCORE BAJA 500 QUALIFYING • SCORE Trophy Truck Legends, TT 2WD and TT Spec Qualifying • SCORE Trophy Truck Qualifying