SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1547140
HIGH STAKES SCRAMBLE SCORE UTV Classes Go For Broke And Gamble For A Win By Larry Saavedra Photo by Get Some Photo Once the dust settled at the 7th Annual SCORE Baja 400, Wayne Matlock in the No. 1871 Polaris RZR officially captured the SCORE UTV Overall and the SCORE Pro UTV Open Class win with a corrected time of 9:54:28.193. After the Polaris Factory Racing team at SCI Motorsports, won a string of undefeated seasons in the SCORE World Desert Championship series, Matlock overtook them to also win a $50,000 bonus Polaris offered to any non-Polaris Factory racer, who could beat all of their factory racers and take the SCORE Overall UTV. It’s the second race this year that the Polaris Factory Team went unseated by a non-factory racer, after Branden Sims with the No. 1886 RZR captured the SCORE Overall at this year’s SCORE Baja 500. Even though Matlock crossed the finish line physically in third place, infractions by Polaris Factory Team racers Brock Heger and Cayden MacCachren, automatically advanced Matlock to first, who breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the news hours after finishing the race. Matlock didn’t even know if he was sitting on the podium until well after the race was finished. “Not a bad day,” he joked. “The RZR worked great with only a single broken axle just outside of Uruapan. It was increasingly difficult to chase down MacCachren, or Heger on the course.” Matlock says that this year’s race had everything in it; including rain, water crossings and the high-speed beach runs. “It’s an awesome bonus and I’m glad I won it,” he said. “But mistakes happen and I have a lot of respect for both Heger and MacCachren.” Although the Polaris Factory Team failed to take the top spot, teammates Ethan Groom and Dallas Gonzalez rounded out second and third place respectively in SCORE Pro UTV Open alongside Matlock. This, nonetheless, gave Polaris a clean podium sweep in class. In other classes, racers Kaden Wells and Phil Blurton both took wins, impressively showcasing their longtime affiliation with Can-Am. SCORE Pro UTV Open Heger was the odds-on favorite to win his class, but a split-second decision to take an unauthorized road came back to haunt him. “We got to a silt section down on the coast and there was a truck stuck in it,” Heger said. “I got told ahead of time there was a truck stuck in it. I assumed there were a lot of people around that area. It’s a very busy area, so I figured the safest thing to do was drive down a Redline road. I’m going to get penalized for it.” No sooner had Heger found himself in trouble, his factory teammate MacCachren made an illegal highway pass next to a checkpoint entry, which ultimately landed him a DQ by race officials. With two of the Polaris Factory racers out of the leaderboard only Groom and Gonzalez remained in the hunt for a podium. Both had a well-established lead in class. But 48-year-old Matlock wasn’t done racing. For most of the race Matlock had only minor issues. He was even leading MacCachren until his axle failed. Groom remained in front. Matlock was sitting in fourth position at Valley T. He eventually passed Rodrigo Ampudia in the No. 1898 Polaris, and Sims in the 1886 Polaris. And once he took the lead on corrected time he never let up. SCORE Pro UTV Forced Induction Meanwhile, Kaden Wells in the No. 2935 Can-Am said he was running his new Maverick R, and for the most part, things went smoothly until their in-car radio failed. Then he lost his GPS after leaving Ojos. “I wasn’t super worried about it because we pre-ran the course three times,” he said. “But you can’t remember every rock.” Thinking it was a bad unit they replaced it at Valley T, but that one didn’t work either. To talk with their chase team Wells’ navigator had to rely on a cell phone for any course data. Still Wells hung in there. His latest Bilstein-sponsored Maverick is a few inches longer and wider than his previous race car and the fuel cell is larger. “It’s a smoother riding Can-Am,” he added. The Bilstein Black Hawk shocks are live valves with a lot more adjustment. He also thinks this current racecar is noticeably better than his earlier one. The larger fuel tank, additional chassis width, and two-inch longer wheelbase made a big difference on the course. Joining Wells on the podium was Ivan Rivera in the No. 2954 Can-Am who captured second, followed by Allen Alexander in the No. 2966 Can-Am in third place. According to Alexander, he had a right rear flat after clipping a rock and that took them off their pace. “It’s a great race and a mental challenge to finish near the top,” he said. “I’d like to race the SCORE Baja 1000 if I can find a driving partner. If not, I may do it solo.” SCORE UTV Stock SCORE UTV Champion Phil Blurton didn’t expect to race in Mexico this year until he got a call from the Warbux team inviting him to race their Can-Am. It’s the first-time racing in a stock UTV for Blurton and he said it took some getting used to after racing SCORE UTV Forced Induction for many years. As expected, Blurton in the No. 3938 Can-Am didn’t disappoint. He took the class win away from second place John Meek in the No. 3939 Polaris. The Warbux team almost expected it, he said. “I’m really happy it worked out,” he added. Blurton started in the back and within 60 miles he was leading his class. Then the rear shock seals let loose. “We changed all the shocks at Valley T and fell back to last in class,” he said. At mile 200 he regained the lead with no trouble and didn’t miss any VCPs from that point onward. The SCORE Baja 400 took six fuel stops, which normally took only two in his previous Can-Am, Blurton said. “The weather got pretty bad. It was pouring rain and we got soaked.” Endy Chavez in the No. 3928 Can-Am took third. After multiple podiums this year, Craig Scanlon in the No. 3931 Polaris ended up in fifth after fourth place Emmanuel Duron edged him out near the finish. SCORE Pro UTV Normally Aspirated Joe Bolton in the No. 1957 Polaris RZR saw zero competition at this year’s race. Typically, a small field, this race saw Bolton running alone in class. All he had to do was finish the race to win. He heroically completed the course without any major problems in a time of 14:26:52.019. SCORE Sportsman UTV Travis Oakes on Can-Am No. 1818 was able to push hard and win his class in a time of 13:32:04.589. He was joined on the podium by Chas Burger. Burger is the current leader in the class points race. SJ