SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1542108
ACTION WITHOUT TRACTION Torrential Rain And Deep Mud Made It Hard For UTV Competitors By Larry Saavedra Photos By Get Some Photo There was no escaping the lingering winter storm that ravaged parts of Baja California in November at the 58th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000. It was especially brutal for some of the UTV competitors, who said they couldn’t find their way around the endless pools of water that transformed parts of the 840-mile course into a swamp and deep ruts. But torrential downpours and the lack of adequate tire traction in the slick mud couldn’t stop Polaris factory team racer, Cayden MacCachren, in the No.1821 Polaris RZR Pro R from capturing the UTV Overall and the Pro UTV Open Class win, with a corrected time of 18:24:05.405. Making it more noteworthy, he was the 16th Overall competitor to cross the finish line. MacCachren’s victory topped off a complete SCORE Pro UTV Open class sweep of the podium for Polaris, with Brandon Sims and Max Eddy Jr. coming in second and third, respectively. “San Felipe was torn up from the rain and SCORE Trophy Trucks,” MacCachren said after crossing the finish line. “I’ve only been coming down here for four years, but it was pretty brutal, especially coming into San Felipe. SCORE Pro UTV Open Driver of record MacCachren and co-driver Ethan Groom took their RZR and dominated the class. Some say it was MacCachren’s time to stand on top of the podium again. But all the official stats pointed to his Polaris teammate Brock Heger. After all, Heger had won the previous three races in Baja. That didn’t happen. MacCachren and Groom were just too good to be beaten, some said. Instead, Heger in the No. 1896 Polaris RZR lost his chance for a podium finish when he tried to make a pass on another racer and rolled. A mistake he said he regrets making. “I had an issue that developed early on, and that was the start of things to come,” Heger said. “I was having fun and passing people. As I was trying to shrink the time down that I had lost earlier on the course, I made a pass and misjudged the corner. I set it on its roof with four tires in the air. It took us more than an hour to get the race car moving again; thankfully, Justin Morgan took it home for the team to the finish.” While it wasn’t the finish Heger wanted, he knows better than most that anything can happen in racing. Surely, after securing three consecutive first-place finishes during the season, the mishap at the SCORE Baja 1000 stung. But even with the fifth-place finish in class, Heger captured the points lead and secured another Class Championship for Polaris in SCORE Pro UTV Open. SCORE Pro UTV Forced Induction Can-Am factory team racer Phil Blurton Jr. in the No. 2944 Maverick R made it look easy as he and his second driver, Vito Ranuio, secured the SCORE Pro UTV FI class victory at the 58th BFGoodrich SCORE Baja 1000. “After winning the race last year with Vito as a second driver, I figured I’d bring him back again,” Blurton said. Blurton drove from the start to mile-marker 550, and then Ranuio took the wheel to the finish. Blurton started in the back of the class off the grid and said it was super technical and dusty, especially in Uruapan, nearing the first SCORE speed zone. And, there were plenty of bottlenecks in Uruapan that made picking the right line critical. Blurton said he had several back-and-forth battles with Monster Energy teammate Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in the toughest sections. Cerrone drove the No. 2949 Can-Am Maverick, but DNF’d due to undisclosed issues. Blurton was in the top 5 at the first pavement section of the course. “I wanted to keep picking my way up through the field until sunset,” he said. “There’s lots of room for errors, and I didn’t want to throw the race away making mistakes. I got the physical lead before handing it off to Ranuio. Unfortunately, he got the worst of the weather in the last 40 miles of the race.” Blurton’s Can-Am factory teammate, Kaden Wells, in the No. 2935 Maverick R, took second place, 90 minutes behind Blurton at the finish. His podium finish gave Wells the points lead to win the 2025 SCORE Pro UTV FI Class Championship. “There was a lot of rain nearing the finish,” Wells said. Wells started the race and drove to mile-marker 365, where Nathan and Brad Ellis took the wheel. After about a four-hour break, Wells climbed back in the Maverick and took it to the finish. Their problems weren›t over yet; however, Wells pointed out that there were a few mechanical issues after losing the exhaust header, and then a radius rod sheared off. Fortunately, he›s glad it didn’t break the transmission in the process. “It was like 3 a.m. when all this happened, but the crew got it repaired,” he said. SCORE Pro Stock UTV Francisco Beltran in the No. 3921 Can-Am Maverick R proved that with the right crew, privateers can top the podium at the SCORE Baja 1000. Beltran wrapped up the season with another first-place finish in class, the third class win of the season for the racer who calls Mexico home. Like the other UTV competitors, the weather played a role in Beltran›s strategy to take on the most difficult race of the year. “It was a very complicated race because of the weather,” he said. “But overall, it was a great race to win. One of our navigators was injured during the race, so my son Diego went from co-driver to navigator, which was totally unexpected. But it worked.” “We did our homework,” Beltran said. “That’s why we spend a lot of time pre-running the course. We managed the course very well. Living in Mexico helps because we have experience on these roads and how and when to attack. The pre-running helps us put the pieces together. We really only needed to finish in the top 10 to get the Class Championship, and we won. Unbelievable.” In the SCORE Baja 1000, you have to drive an endurance race; it’s not about going fast, Beltran added. He took the official lead in the Can-Am in the technical section near San Felipe and never looked back. “There’s a lot of tension starting a race like the SCORE Baja 1000, but then little by little you start to focus, and that’s what it takes to win,” he said. Antonio Mendez in the No. 3959 Polaris RZR nabbed second place, while Kevin Clyde in the No. 3969 Can-Am captured third on the podium. Out of 17 starters, there were 13 finishers in class. SCORE Pro UTV Normally Aspirated Ricardo Torres in the No. 1900 Honda Talon has had a dream season, capped off by a first-place finish at the SCORE Baja 1000. This was his first SCORE Baja 1000 class win, and now he’s a back-to-back SCORE Class Champion. “It was a brutal race,” he said. “Sure, it was fun too. There were rocks and obstacles at every turn. But the Honda ran great with only a couple of flats. Torres said that his Bilstein shocks, Method Wheels, and Tenzor tires took a lot of punishment, but never gave up despite the storms and course conditions. “As a young kid, I’ve always wanted to win the SCORE Baja 1000. It’s been my dream, and now I can say I’ve done it. I hope this win is an inspiration for others.” Always a fan favorite and 2024 SCORE Rookie of the Year, Eva Star Malabanan, in the No. 1919 Polaris RZR, took second in class. Out of 6 starters, there were two finishers in class. SJ