SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1547140
THE 10 HOUR SPRINT Buggy Classes Faced Huge Obstacles For A Win By Dan Sanchez, Ariana Medrano, Isaac Flores, and Alberto Lopez Photos By Get Some Photo The buggy classes started the 2026 SCORE Baja 400 with Class1 competitors vying for a pole position start. That went to Brendan Gaughan’s team in the No. 162 Buggy, with co-driver Tim Wilson putting in the fastest time for the start. With Gaughan winning the first two races of the season, this gave them a definite advantage. Baja, however, had other plans with a downpour during pre-running and a track that had everything from deep silt to rocks and technical areas, which leveled out the playing field come race day. With Gaughan out front for most of the race, until sunset when darkness fell on Baja. Gaughan’s team had problems with their lighting system, allowing the No. 127 buggy of Cody Parkhouse and the No. 138 buggy of Brad Wilson to leap ahead. “ We didn’t have our light bar, and then something covered our lights, so I couldn’t see,” said Gaughan. Wilson got ahead of Parkhouse and kept the lead until the finish line to win the class, with Parkhouse in second and Gaughan in third. Despite the third-place finish for Gaughan, he is still in the points lead for a Class 1 Championship heading into the SCORE Baja 1000. “We got a good points-day out here, so we’ll bring the old South Point car to the points lead for the SCORE Baja 1000,” said Gaughan. “But I’m just bummed that I didn’t do my job well today.” Rough Ride For Class 10 The 2025 Champion Stan Potter had a tough time on the course at the SCORE Baja 400, with vehicle problems with the No. 1000 buggy that kept him from finishing the race. His partner, however, Matt Willert in the No. 1009 car, kept it going to finish the race in first place. “ It was a good day, and nobody had to get out of the car,” said co-driver Michael Goodrich. “Everything went pretty smoothly. We got in the car, but the GPS went out two minutes later, and we followed the notes that we could off our iPad. The race course had water, speed, ruts, and everything. Matt started the race and took the car to race mile 245. He got to the pits in second, and we ended up getting out of there in first. He had an absolutely awesome day. Can’t thank him enough for giving me a clean car. We just tried to avoid the water from there. See you at the SCORE Baja 1000.” Tim Morton in the No. 1060 Buggy finished second, followed by Eli Yee Jr. in the No. 1017 buggy in third place. After the DNF, Willert has taken over the lead for the Class 10 Championship. SJ • The Willert/Potter team got a win with their No. 1009 Buggy while Stan Potter in the No. 1000 buggy broke and did not finish the race