SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/997748
Scott Bailey teamed up with Gus Vildosola Sr. to win the SCORE Trophy Truck Legends class Dash To Gold Racers In All four-wheel Classes battle to have their names in the history books at the 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 500 By Dan Sanchez Photography: Get Some Photo With 327 racers wanting to finish first overall and in their respective classes, the 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 500 called many to take on the challenge and make history. While the top finishers in SCORE Trophy Truck class, put on a great race that had fans cheering for their favorite racers and teams, the remaining four-wheel classes had their own battles where veterans and new faces made themselves known among SCORE fans and took home one of the most prized victories in off-road motorsports. After spectators saw Rob MacCachren start first and finish first at this year’s race, they looked to the SCORE Trophy Truck Legends class, to see who would cross the finish line first. Making up for a disappointing second place finish in San Felipe, Gus Vildosola Sr. took the lead in the class towards a 2018 championship and finished first. Vildosola shared driving duties with Stronghold Motorsport’s owner Scott Bailey in the number 12L Ford Raptor. “Scott got the longer half,” said Vildosola. “It was the slower, very technical half with very difficult terrain, but I’m very proud of him. I think all of the course was pretty bad, it was dusty and a rough course, but it was a lot of fun and very challenging.” Following Vildosola and finishing in second place within the SCORE Trophy Truck Legends class was Rob Reinertson, with Mike Salimbeni, in the number 72L Ford F-150. In the SCORE Trophy Truck Legends class Vildosola and Rob Reinertson battled for the overall class win In Class 1, the competition was intense with veteran competitors such as Justin Davis and the Wilson team of Brian and Brad Wilson, who were tough challengers in San Felipe. Davis in the number 185 Jimco again managed to stay out in front of Brad Wilson, by driving solo and despite a flat, made up the time to win in Class 1 and finish 18th overall. “We were second through San Felipe and then had a flat after catching a rock,” said Davis. I made up about six minutes and then didn’t look back. Our team did an awesome job and our pits were on point.” Finishing second in Class 1 was Brad Wilson with Justin Munyon, followed by third-place finisher Morgan Langley with Paul Keller. Davis and Wilson battled in Class 1 with Davis finishing first and Wilson (ABOVE) coming in second Bryce Swaim, (right) who finished second in San Felipe, pulled off a great SCORE Trophy Truck Spec win at the 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 500. Swaim, co-driving with Auston Jones, stared in the second spot and pulled ahead in the number 242 TSCO Chevy ahead of second place finisher Rod Lewis and Clint LaRue (below) in their number 277 Jimco Chevy. “We were stuck behind a lot of the Class 1 vehicles that had a little slower pace,” said Swaim. “Coming into the silt got us turned around on the course a few times, and we were so lost. Once we got down on the desert we were on our own and hammer down.” Finishing third in Trophy Truck Spec was Pat Sims and Dave Cole in the number 211 ESM Chevy, while 2017 Trophy Truck Spec Champion Elias Hana finished in fourth place. “Passing for the lead, we got stuck in a bottleneck and it took us about an hour to get out of there,” said Hana. “That was frustrating. Looking back, we went back to the seventieth position and then came back to fourth and I think we did a good job.” While Swaim took the top spot, SCORE fans also had their eyes on the number 204 RPM Off-Road Chevy of Sara price, who finished in fifth place in her first SCORE Baja 500 race. Class 10 racers once again saw the return 17-year old Broc Dickerson at the podium with another Class 10 victory. Dickerson started in 11th position and drove the entire race on his own. With luck and his amazing driving skills, he passed some of the top competitors including SCORE San Felipe winner Chase Warren and SCORE Baja 1000 Class 10 winner Cody Reid. Finishing second behind Dickerson was Brent Peterson and Caleb Gaddis in the number 1031 car, followed by the number 1063 car of Ruben and Gabriel Torres who finished in third place. With only two more races in the SCORE World Desert Championship, Dickerson will have to win the SCORE Desert Challenge and the 51st SCORE Baja 1000 in order to earn a second championship season. Truck Class Racers Score Big Wins Class 8 winners, Vincent Munoz and Roy Tomkins, took their Ford Ranger to the finish line for their second straight win this season, after finishing first in class in San Felipe. In Class 7, Jeff Proctor in the number 709 Honda Ridgeline once again proved that the vehicle can conquer Baja and now has his first class win of the season. Known for his four-wheel-drive rock crawler, Casey Currie entered the Hammer Truck Unlimited class and won it driving with his brother Cody Currie in the number 4422 Jeep Wrangler. The two are planning on competing at the SCORE Baja 1000 this year, and this race offered some additional driving time. “We had an absolutely insanely rough day today with some broken parts, but had a great team out there to put it back together and keep it going,” said Casey Currie. “About halfway, we decided we needed to get my brother Cody some seat time as the SCORE Baja 1000 always comes up and we need a strong second driver to come out and put another 300 miles on the car.” Although not a truck but also not a VW powered car, the Baja Challenge class is one of the most popular for anyone who wants to participate in a SCORE race and enjoy the challenges it can offer, without worrying about the vehicle or logistics. This year, the BC1 team of Erick Tedder, Edgar Maymes, and Charlie Ovideo won the class. VW Classes Go For the Long Haul Hardcore VW class racers came out to be a part of this 50th-anniversary celebration. In the Vintage Trailblazer class, Peter Alesi Jr and Peter Alesi III, with Mark Fox drove their vintage 1977 Chenowth to a win among admiring spectators who haven’t seen a buggy like this one win in Baja for several decades. Oscar Alvarez in the number 1603 far teamed up with Ramon and Cisco Bio, Fernando Alvarez, and Adrian Guerrero to win the 1/2-1600 class. The number 1678 car of Gustavo Avina, Faisal Diaz and Erik Rivera finished in second place, followed by Bruce Yee, Angel Barajas, Alejandro Corona, Ignacio King in the number 1614 car. SCORE Lites also had numerous competitors from which Gustavo Pinuelas, Cesar Castillo, Sergio Salgado, and Joel Serna drove to a class win in the number 1218 car. They were followed by second place finishers, Mario Alcala and Jose Robles in the number 1201 car. Richard Roberts, Kirk Kontillis Chris Godfrey, and Rob Martensen finished third in the number 1208 car. Sportsman Buggy had a local team from Ensenada, headed by Juan Narjano from Rowland Heights, California win the class. The team included Gabriel Sandoval, Juan Fernandez, Carlitos Agundez and Gabrial Sandoval Jr. The buggy featured the Calzon Man on the vehicle, which is part of an ongoing local effort to inform children on how to safely watch the sport of off-road racing and to know the danger spots where accidents can occur. Class 5 Unlimited Baja Bugs had a very tough time with the silt and dust, but the number 501 car of Marc and Perry McNeil finished first, followed by the number 525 car of Dustin, Parker and Neal Grabowski. Finishing third in class was the number 524 car of Ben and Peter Swift. It was the same for Class 5-1600, of which drivers had a difficult time navigating through a rough course that was beaten-down even further after many of the previous classes had driven through it. Nonetheless, David Heredia in the number 562 car won the class. The number 582 car of Rodolfo Martinez finished second in class. There’s no doubt that Class 11 racers have the toughest time on any course, but are nonetheless determined to finish. Of the 12 starters at the 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 500, a local favorite Viery Felix teamed up with Adrian Guerrero, Roberto Robles and the Bio family of Cisco, Ramon, and Pancho Bio to win the class. Viery is the first woman Class 11 racer to win a SCORE Baja 500 in recent history and had the entire town cheering her on as the team crossed the finish line in 21:06:01.