Post-Race Quotes 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 500 Round 2 of four-race 2018 SCORE World Desert Championship

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, dominiccnv@aol.com
 
June 3, 2018
Post-Race Quotes
50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 500
Round 2 of four-race 2018 SCORE World Desert Championship
June 2-3, 2018 – Ensenada, Baja California
 
SCORE TROPHY TRUCK 
 
ROB MACCACHREN, No. 11 (First in class and first overall)
Rob MacCachren started and drove to the finish.  Early on, we had Cameron Steele behind us and something happened and it’s hard when you’re out front to know how hard to run.  Last time we checked we had about a 1:44 gap on him and I hope we pulled a little more gap on him at the finish.  I have been coming to Baja since the mid 80’s and I have a good fan base; you could hear them cheering us on throughout the course.  Want to thank my sponsors and the crew as they work almost 24/7 prepping the truck and getting us a reliable truck.  This truck honestly has had very few problems over the last 4 or 5 years.  Want to thank my crew chief who is well known down here in Ensenada and has gotten us 3 SCORE Baja 1000 wins in a row, 2 San Felipe 250’s in a row, and now a SCORE Baja 500 win and that’s good stuff.  Love being here!
 
LUKE MCMILLIN, No 83 (Second in class and second overall)
Luke McMillin started and drove to the finish.  We had a good day, but just couldn’t catch the robot, Rob MacCachren.  We had zero issues today with anything on the truck and zero flat tires, so I just really want to thank my team and my sponsors.  We put in a lot of hard work and this team just keeps getting better and better.
 
RYAN ARCIERO, No 32 (Third in class and third overall)
Ryan Arciero started and drove to the finish.  I thought we had the win.  We had one flat leaving the coast and we could see Luke (Mc Millin) and I thought we were sitting perfect and it had been like that all day long.  The Mike’s loop over to the coast separated the men from the boys.  You could not stub your toes in that section and the guys in front obviously did not.  Again, we had a flat leaving the coast and we both had to get out to change it and that is the time we lost.  My hats off to Kyle with reading the notes as he did a hell of a job and I challenge anyone that thinks that job is easy.  Want to thank Troy Lee Designs for the look of this truck; it’s awesome and we brought the truck back without anything wrong.
 
DAN MCMILLIN, No 23 (Fourth in class and fourth overall)
Dan McMillin started and drove to race mile 270.  Larry Roeseler drove to the finish.
Larry Roeseler said: I got my first Baja 500 class win in 1972 and here I am still doing it and having fun.  Shout out to Josh as he rode the whole way and he deserves recognition for that.  I chased Andy coming to the Pacific all the way down the beach and over the mountains and we had 2 minutes to spare.  But it’s not over until it’s over so we didn’t let up.  It’s always awesome to finish a SCORE Baja 500 as it was a fantastic race being tight and tough.  Dan McMillin said:  The first half was extremely fast because it was pretty much the same as the San Felipe 250.  I knew it like the back of my hand and I was pushing really hard.  We were absolutely flying and we had two flat tires that I absolutely earned and I’m surprised with this course, that we didn’t get a 100 of them because it was so brutal.  Honestly, these BF Goodrich tires are absolutely amazing.
ANDY MCMILLIN, No 31 (Fifth in class and fifty overall)
Andy McMillin started and drove to the finish.  It’s good to finish, honestly, as that was a really narly SCORE Baja 500.  It was actually a little slower than I thought it would be, but that speaks to the difficulty.  I don’t know what it was today, but it just wasn’t clicking for me.  We will go back to the drawing board and see where we can get some more speed as we didn’t have any problems with the truck today.  Really appreciate Red Bull for coming on board as my title sponsor and wish we could have backed up our win from last year, but still want to thank all the pit crew waiting hours and hours for us in the desert.
 
CARLOS APDALY LOPEZ, No 1 (Sixth in class and sixth overall)
Carlos Apdaly Lopez started and drove to the finish.  I want to thank all my sponsors and my RPM Team.  We didn’t have any flats all day or no problems with the truck.  The best way to describe my day was “DUSTY”!
 
BILLY WILSON, No 15 (Seventh in class and eighth overall)
Billy Wilson started and drove to the finish.  The new section that they bulldozed in was the roughest section and was tough.  We were in the dust for the first 170 miles and we would catch somebody and go to work on them and then blow a turn because we couldn’t see and then have to catch them again.  We passed Robbie Gordon going up on two wheels, hitting a bush and then squaring up the turn perfectly.   We never lifted out of the throttle and then we passed the Lawrence truck and splintered the nose and then a little while later it was all gone.
 
TROY HERBST, No 55 (Eighth in class and ninth overall)
Troy Herbst started and drove to race mile 270.  Christian Sourapas drove to the finish.  Christian Sourapas said:  Aaah, well started out pretty good.  Troy started out really good.  They were in the back, but they were making great time, I think. To Mike’s, things were pretty good, but it was pretty bad, pretty brutal, super rough, lots of rocks.  After our last pit we were getting into some of that tricky stuff then there were a couple mishaps. We followed Robbie Gordon for awhile.   When we got in the truck, it was in perfect shape, they did a great job.  For my first ever Baja race, getting here to the finish line; I think we did ok.  I can’t thank our sponsor Terrible Herbst enough ‘cheers’.  I’d like to thank Monster Energy and BF Goodrich Tires and of course ‘dad’ for all this.
 
TIM HERBST, No 19 (Ninth in class and tenth overall)
Tim Herbst started and drove to race mile 270.  Ed Herbst drove to the finish.
Tim Herbst said: We started out tenth, I think.  And we just stayed there all day.  I don’t know, we just didn’t hit it real hard, it was just a rough day.  Tough setup on this truck; couldn’t see all day.  We’ve been coming down here, for I don’t know how long.  All three Herbst trucks are strong, but just wasn’t our day.
 
 
 
 
ROBBIE GORDON, No 77 (Tenth in class and eleventh overall)
Robbie Gordon started and drove to the finish.  It was a good run for us as we really didn’t have any issues, but struggled to pass guys today.  We are not here for points, we’re really here to win the race.  It was a decent day for us, but really not what we wanted.  It was a very, very, very, tough race; it is probably the toughest Score Baja 500 I have ever raced.  As you can see from the average speed, it is a really slow average speed.  Disappointed we didn’t get all of our sponsors a win today.
 
ALAN AMPUDIA, No 10 (Eleventh in class and twelfth overall)
Aaron Ampudia started and drove to race mile 270.  Alan Ampudia drove to the finish.  We made a bunch of mistakes today and lost a lot of time, but we are here so it is a win in my book.  The party tonight is going to be at my house “Papas & Beer”.  The toughest part of the course was the cross over from Mike’s as it was very technical and rocky, and usually the silt is tricky, but it was not that bad.
 
 
SCORE TT Legends
 
GUSTAVO VILDOSOLA, SR (First in class and thirty-ninth overall)
Gustavo Vildosola Sr started and drove to race mile 267.  Scott drove to the finish.
I got out at 267, that was our decision; we gotta split this half and half.  I think Scott got the longer half, the slower half, very technical, very difficult terrain, but here he is and I’m very proud of him.  I think all of the course was pretty bad, it was dusty, it was a rough course, but it was a lot of fun, very challenging.  That San Felipe loop, I think, it got everyone.
 
 
CLASS 1 
 
JUSTIN DAVIS, No 185 (First in class and thirteenth overall)
Justin Davis started and drove to the finish.  It was a long day, longer than expected and we were second through SAN FELIPE and then had a flat after catching a rock.  Just took my time and got over to Mike’s and this car was fast through the tight and technical.  I made up about 6 minutes and then didn’t look back.  Our team did an awesome job and our pits are on point.  I am just the maniac behind the wheel, just keeping it on the road, but the important thing is to be patient and let the race come to you.
 
BRAD WILSON, No 153 (Second in class and eighteenth overall)
Brad Wilson started and drove to race mile 270.  Justin Munyon drove to the finish.  Justin Munyon said:  We got stuck in a little bottle neck through the technical section and had to pull a guy out and then once we got him cleared up we started clicking off miles and cars, moving forward.  We also got stuck behind a Trophy Truck the whole beach section and then finally got by and was able to start racing.
Brad Wilson said:  Everything was good off the line and we made up some time and then lost some down in San Felipe.  We got a flat tire after race mile 180.  I drove conservatively after the flat until we could get another spare and then turned it over to Justin at 270 in fourth place.   He picked off third and then second and held it from there.  The new section that SCORE put in was great; it got really, really, silty and really soft.
 
MORGAN LANGLEY, No 150 (Third in class and twenty-fifth overall)
Morgan started and drove to race mile 270.  Paul Keller drove to the finish.  Morgan Langley said:  We are doing great, as the car didn’t have brakes on it today, so to get it here in 3^rd place, we will take it.  Maybe next time we will get some brakes on it and see what we can do.  The course was rough, but it’s a 500 and it is always narly.
 
 
TROPHY TRUCK SPEC 
 
BRYCE SWAIM, No 242 (First in class and twenty-second overall)
Bryce Swaim started and drove to race mile 270.  Austin Jones drove to the finish.  Bryce Swaim said: We were stuck behind a lot of the Class 1 vehicles that had a little slower pace.  Coming into their silt got us turned around on the course a few times and we were so lost, but once we got down on the desert we were on our own and hammer down.  Austin Jones said:  Bryce was able to get us an eight-minute lead at the 270-mile mark and we ended up getting stuck right after the tight stuff at Mike’s.  Billy Goerke, (no. 87 Dallas Luttrell) Trophy Truck, pulled us out because we were blocking the course.   Then we hit this narly rock section and hit the right side, hit the left side, and then almost rolled it and went off the side.  The (Billy) Wilson 15 got behind us and pulled us back onto the track and we had a flat right-rear tire.  We got out onto the road at the beach and set it on.  There are a lot of people stuck out in the desert right now.
 
ROD LEWIS, No 277 (Second in class and twenty-fourth overall)
Rod Lewis started and drove to race mile 125.  Clint La Rue drove to the finish.
Rod Lewis said:  I only pre-ran the first 30 miles, but my navigator pre-ran the whole course, so that was really helpful.  We skated by a silt section that had five trucks stuck.   We were able to get by all of them, so we lucked out on that one.  We picked through our lines today as it was really easy to overshoot and we saw many guys turned over in a ditch or a wash and we just wanted to get through it smoothly.
 
PAT SIMS, No 211 (Third in class and forty-first overall)
Dave Cole started and drove to race mile 270.  Pat Sims drove to the finish.
Overall, we had a good day; it was like a Saturday afternoon drive.  We didn’t have any problems during our section, we just had a good day.
 
ELIAS HANNA, No 200 (Fourth in class and forty-sixth overall)
Elias Hanna started and drove to the finish.  It was a long day!  We did what we planned to do, pushing hard at the beginning.  Unfortunately, passing for the lead, we got stuck in a bottle neck and it took us about an hour to get out of there.  That was frustrating.  Looking back, we went back to seventieth position and then came back to fourth and I think we did a good job.  Just really wanted to make our sponsors proud and all the people from Mexico.
 
SARAH PRICE, No 204 (Fifth in class and fifty-fifth overall)
Sarah Price started and drove to the finish.  The best part of the day was finishing.  Finishing this race is amazing.  The most challenging part of the day was the silt beds and we only got stuck in one due to a fuel pump issue.
 
 
CLASS 10
 
BROC DICKERSON, No 1023 (First in class and twenty-third overall)
First place!  Dude, I had to go to the restroom and I ran over to the hotel and we were like back around the corner, like way back there so I came walking out of the tunnel and they called me and they said “5 cars to the front”, so I ran over here and by that time I wasn’t ready to go to my spot so they closed on me.   I ran the whole race. Cameron and Cortland were with me; Jeff was a backup.   The most challenging part was the silt; it was just nasty, silt and dust; I couldn’t see for half the race.  Fifth Baja for me, um maybe sixth.   I enjoy the grind of the corners.  It’s quick in the corners, fun to go thru there.  Our top speed was probably about 100 mph; we are a little low on speed, but it’s alright.
 
BRENT PETERSON, No 1031 (Second in class and thirty-first overall)
Brent Peterson started and drove to race mile 270.  Caleb Gaddis drove to the finish.  Caleb Gaddis said: The track was rough especially starting in the back and Brent did an excellent job early on, picking off some cars.  He got me the car in pretty good shape.  We got into second on the road near Camalu and had a little downtime and then got back on and brought it in.  I would like to thank everyone as this is a team effort.   We had people everywhere and everyone hit their marks and it was awesome.  Jake Velosco’s race prep was awesome; they should clone that guy as I couldn’t break this truck.
 
RUBEN TORRES, No 1063 (Third in class and thirty-sixth overall)
Gabriel Torres started and drove to race mile 245.  Ruben Torres drove to the finish.  Ruben Torres said:  This was a very good race and we are tired, but everything turned out good.  The course has never been so difficult, in the past years, with a lot of rocks and silt.
 
KARL EBDRUP, No 1072 (Fourth in class and fiftieth overall)
Karl Ebdrup started and drove to race mile 118.  Josh Beyers drove to race mile 269. Marc Ebdrup drove to the finish.  Marc Ebdrup said:  The course was tough and it was relentless all the way through.  The car did a good job; it’s new to us, but it is not a new car.  Karl Ebdrup said:  One of the toughest parts of the race was that we went through some huge water and got soaked, so we have been cold the last two and a half hours.
 
 
RICHARD GLASZCZAK, No 1073 (Fifth in class and fifty-fourth overall)
Kelton started and drove to race mile 270.  Richard Glaszczak drove to the finish.  Richard said: This is the first time my son has raced in Mexico and also the first time he has been behind the wheel for more than 100 miles.  I am really proud of him; he kicked butt.  I got in the car and got through the Mike’s section and then just had to make good choices to get through the silt section.
 
 
HAMMER TRUCK UnLtd
 
CASEY CURRIE, No 4422 (First in class and Ninety-sixth overall)
Casey Currie started and drove to race mile 270.  Cody Currie drove to the finish.  Casey Currie said:  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.  About half way, 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.  Cody drove from Mike’s to the finish and did a fantastic job.  I am excited to be here, but super tired as we are burned out from our really rough day and the team absolutely killed it.  Cody Currie said:  I got in the car and it was like 120 degrees, but we battled with this car all day long in the insanely rough and silty sections.  Having the 4-wheel drive really works awesome when it’s on and there were some silt beds out there that were not there during pre-running and this thing just plowed right through it.
 
 
CLASS 1/2-1600
 
OSCAR R. ALVAREZ, No 1603 (First in class and sixty-second overall)
Oscar Alvarez started and drove to race mile 120.  Ramon Bio drove to race mile 240.  Cisco Bio drove to race mile 440.  Oscar Alvarez drove to the finish.  Oscar Alvarez said: Really want to thank all my sponsors for helping us get here.
 
GUSTAVO AVINA, No 1678 (Second in class and 86th overall)
Faisal Diaz started and drove to race mile 170.  Gustavo Avina drove to race mile 370.  Erik Rivera drove to race mile 500.  Gustavo Avina drove to the finish.  Gustavo Avina said: The most difficult part of the day was around race mile 320 through the silt hills - they were really tough.  We broke an axle in the back, about the middle of the race and changing it was hot.
 
 
SCORE LITES 
 
MARIO ALCALA, No 1201 (Second in class and seventy-fifth overall)
Mario Alcala started and drove to race mile 120.  Juan Mayoral drove to race mile 270.  Mario Alcala drove to the finish.  Mario Alcala said:  Today was a tough race and we didn’t have any problems other than a flat tire on the section between race mile 170 to 270.  I have been racing the SCORE Baja 500 for a few years and this one has proven to be one of the top challenges.
 
 
CLASS 7 
 
JEFF PROCTOR, No 709 (First in class and forty-eighth overall)
Jeff Proctor started and drove to race mile 270.  Pat Daily drove to the finish.  Jeff Proctor said: This is the narliest SCORE Baja 500 I have ever raced and I have done a lot of them. The most challenging part of the day was the back side of Mike’s to the back Setae Garraro and the Europan section.
 
 
CLASS 5 
 
MARK MCNEIL, No 501 (First in class and eighty-third overall)
Mark McNeil started and drove to race mile 270.  Perry McNeil drove to the finish.  Perry McNeil said: This was a really long race, worse than the SCORE Baja 1000.  We ran into a couple of bottlenecks and lost about 30 minutes.  I am glad to be here after how tough this race course was.  I want to thank my sponsors as “we drove it like we stole it” today, and it feels good to get on the podium.
 
 
PRO UTV FI 
 
BRANDEN SIMS, No 2913 (First in class and forty-fourth overall)
Branden Sims started and drove to the finish.  Hope we get the win on elapsed time as it has been a long time coming - with a few seconds, I have gotten.  It was a brutal course and unfortunately, we didn’t do any pre-running. I know a lot of these top guys do a lot of pre-running and know the course like the back of their hands.  I guarantee that I did every race mile because we didn’t know any other way to go, so we followed that line the whole day. That made it a little tougher because I would see others with more creative lines and they would get ahead of me.  I would have to work a little harder to get back by them.  I didn’t have to get out of the car once today and that’s pretty phenomenal and a big deal. When that happens, you know you’re going to have a good day.  Want to thank Polaris Razor as this is the third SCORE Baja 500 for this car and the only changes I have made is the cage, but everything else is stock.
 
 
 
WAYNE MATLOCK, No 2971 (Second in class and fifty-second overall)
Wayne Matlock started and drove to the finish.  Feels good to cross the line first but I believe Kristen will be first overall.   She has been looking for this for a while and I am super pumped for her.
 
MARC BURNETT, No 2900 (Fourth in class and seventy-ninth overall)
Marc Burnett started and drove to the finish.  It was a rough start right at the beginning as we lost a fin off the turbo and had holes in the turbo intercooler so it was just rough.  All my guys stuck together and pulled it through and got it to the finish line.  Just want to thank all my sponsors as they are the reason we are here and we couldn’t do it without them.  Tijuana is my round as I have won twice there and maybe we will get a three-peat there.
 
TONY RIGGS, No 2912 (Fifth in class and eighty-first overall)
Tony Riggs started and drove to race mile 270.  Tom Melville drove to race mile 510.  Darrin McGuffin drove to the finish.  Tony Riggs said:  It was awesome today.  Tom Melville hurt himself in the car so our crew chief Darrin McGuffin, had to finish it off.  It was a super rough course and our car is pretty much destroyed as we ripped the spare clutch off and the jack off - it’s pretty rough out there.  I believe we are ahead of where we were last year.  Want to thank my sponsors as we only had to change a belt today which is pretty good, as everything Polaris gives us is top quality.  We finished well enough here and finished ok at the SCORE SAN FELIPE 250 and we’ve decided to race for a championship, so I think we are in a pretty good position.
 
MIKE CAFRO, NO 2975 (Seventh in class and eighty-fifth overall)
Mike Cafro started and drove to the finish.  We made it here, but we had a lot of issues today.   It didn’t go how we wanted.  Want to thank Polaris for all their support.
 
 
PRO UTV NA
 
KRISTEN MATLOCK, No 1954 (First in class and forty-second overall)
Kristen Matlock started and drove to the finish.  This could be the first time that I could get first place overall and I am so excited!  I want to thank my sponsors as we have a huge list.  I really want to thank my co-driver as I yelled at him a few times today and I already said my apologies.  Thank you so much it was fun!
 
CLASS 5 - 1600 
 
DAVID HEREDIA, No 568 (First in class and one-hundred forty-fifth overall)
David Heredia started and drove to race mile 120.  Marco Robles drove to race mile 270.   David Chimbo Valenzuela drove to race mile 475 and David Heredia drove to the finish.  ~no quote
 
 
BAJA CHALLENGE
 
ERIC TEDDER, No BC1 (First in class and one hundred forty-eighth overall)
Eric Tedder started and drove to the finish.  Eric Tedder said: This was not my first one as we did the SCORE BAJA 1000, but there was a lot of silt and if there wasn’t silt then there were rocks and if not rocks then there was silt-covered rocks.  There was a lot going on as we helped a lot of people get right side up - doing some good Samaritan work out there.  Next time, we won’t lose the back end and not have so many mechanical issues.  I believe we will be the only BC1 car to finish, so pretty stoked about that.  I would like to thank my family for coming down here with us as we don’t have any sponsors and do this for the Fisher House Foundation.
 
 
CLASS 11 
 
ERIC SOLORZANO, No 1111 (DSQ class)
Eric Solorzano started and drove to race mile 270.  Paul Nauleau drove to race mile 400.  Fernando Flores drove to the finish.  Paul Nauleau said: The day was tough and a lot of work as we switched an engine and a transmission at race mile 75 so it is an accomplishment to finish.
 
 
PRO MOTO UNL
 
JUSTIN MORGAN, No. 7X (First in class and seventh overall and first overall BIKE)
Justin Morgan started and rode to race mile 240.  Mark Samuels rode to race mile 370. Justin Jones rode to race mile 505.  Justin Morgan rode to the finish. -- After doing the first 240 miles I felt good for the last stage as I had some tacos at Valley T and a couple of Monsters and I was good to go.  The first 240 miles were rough and it was hard to prepare for the end as I could only sleep for a couple hours.  My first Baja 500 was in 2011 and I was 21 years old and didn’t have clue on a limited and I was hooked even after I was forced to miss 2014 because I was hurt.  I have a couple more years on a bike for sure, but hope to run a truck after that.  CO RIDER Mark Samuels said: I hurt my hand with a pretty deep cut and had to take 3 or 4 days off to let it heal so I came down and got 5 days of pre-running.  The track was rough and my section was really rocky and technical.  I was supposed to ride another 50 miles, but Justin Jones stepped up and rode it for me down the beach section and killed it.  The team really pulled together and it was awesome.  The course was tough and we had to make 3 rear tire changes.
 
SHANE ESPOSITO, No 1X (Second in class and fourteenth overall and second overall BIKE) Shane Esposito started and rode to race mile 120.  Tyler Lynn rode to race mile 270.  Max Eddy rode to race mile 465.  Shane Exposito rode to the finish. We had a third guy because Grant Statley could not get off work so we substituted Tyler Lynn who rode the lower desert section for us.  I have only met him two times since we have been here and we put him down there in the desert section.  He is 17years old from Utah and this is the first time he has ever been here.  He really did great for us.  Max Eddy said:  I rode from 270 to 470 and went down hard on the coast and that’s part of racing.  I have been pushing my luck down here for a long time and it finally bit me, but it wasn’t too bad.  Tyler Lynn killed it in his section and rode the lower desert section for us and did great.  We came here to win and running second is disappointing, but I guess the best part of it all is that we are all here and healthy.
 
GARRETT POUCHER, No 3X (Third in class and 21st overall and third overall BIKE)
Garrett Poucher started and rode to race mile 170.  Michel Valenzuela rode to race mile 240.  Garrett Poucher rode to race mile 270.  Skyler Howes rode to race mile 413.  Garrett Poucher rode to race mile 470.  Skyler Howes rode to the finish.  Garrett Poucher said: Garrett Poucher said: The race course always changes over the last few days before the race and the lines were in different places, the rocks were in different places, and the silt was both deeper and wider so we came into the sections at race speed with a pre-run mind set because we really didn’t know what to expect.  It was nice to be in-front of the trucks because I don’t know how guys are going to do it if they get stuck behind a truck.  We battled all day long with 2 or 3 bikes and just being stuck in a bikes dust is bad enough.  We made a couple rider changes on the fly because we were battling with third place so we put a fresh rider on and another fresh rider at Ojos Negros and took them over.  We only slept about an hour last night and are running on adrenaline, but we are partying tonight!
 
 
PRO MOTO 40  
 
JANO MONTOYA, No 400x (First in Class and fortieth overall and thirteenth overall BIKE) Alberto Ruiz started and rode to race mile 77.  Jano Montoya rode to race mile 170. Jeff Kawell rode to race mile 380.  Sergio Vega rode to race mile 510.  Jano Montoya rode to the finish.  Jano Montoya said: The course changed a lot and I got beat up between pre-running days and the actual race day and we knew going in, that certain sections would be rough, but they also changed after the trophy trucks pre-ran it.  I am happy to be finishing in front of the trophy trucks and not racing behind them.
 
 
PRO MOTO 30  
 
RYAN LIEBELT, No 300X (First in class and thirty-fifth and tenth overall BIKE)
Ryan Liebelt started and rode to race mile 122.  Andrews Puckett rode to race mile 245.  Ryan Liebelt rode to race mile 275.  Greg Bardonnex rode to race mile 375.  Justin Shultz rode to the finish.  Ryan Liebelt said:  The course was nothing like when we pre-ran, I mean nothing.  It was very, very different.  The track was silty and it was rough and it changed a lot.  2016 was the first SCORE Baja I participated in and have raced everyone since.  The team has had pretty good luck staying healthy during the training for this race, but have had 2 riders hurt, which made it so we couldn’t field our other bike, (3x) but we were able to keep this team going.
 
CHAD THORNTON, No. 333X (Second in class and thirty-seventh overall and eleventh overall BIKE)  Jason Trubey started and rode to race mile 75.  Chad Thornton rode to race mile 164.  Paul Luce rode to race mile 270.  Dennis Belingheri rode to race mile 372.  Steve Tichnor rode to race mile 510.  Jason Trubey rode to the finish.  Jason Trubey said: I was tired through the middle part of the day as it was a little rough getting up at 1:30am in the morning, but felt good on my last section to the finish.  Overall, we made it and had a smooth ride and the bike is perfect.  We didn’t get beat up or crashed.  We were just a little timid toward the middle part of the race.  Dennis and Steve really flew and made up a lot of time.  We were a little timid due to some injuries at San Felipe and so our riders just rode smooth and our goal was to get the gap under 10min with the lead bike.
 
 
PRO MOTO 50  
 
GIOVANNI SPINALI, No 510x (First in Class and forty-seventh overall and fifteenth overall BIKE) John Griffin started and rode to race mile 130.  Earl Roberts rode to race mile 270.  Giovanni Spinali rode to race mile 370.  Troy Pearce rode to race mile 475.  Giovanni Spinali rode to the finish.  Giovanni Spinali said:  I have been running Baja for 6 years and the silt was just bad from the trophy trucks turning it up.  It was more difficult than the pre-running days. I think the most difficult section of the track was coming across the peninsula which was my section up the mountains which is really rocky and technical.
 
 
PRO MOTO LIMITED  
 
SANTIAGO CREEL, No 100x (Second in class and thirty-fourth overall and ninth overall BIKE)  Austin Miller started and rode to race mile 70.  Alberto Heredia rode to race mile 166.  Larry Serna rode to race mile 270.  Alvaro Miller rode to race mile 360.  Santiago Creel rode to race mile 470.  Raul Hernandez rode to finish. Santiago Creel said: This was a very difficult course and a long course which makes it really interesting for us and we like that.  It was a very good day because we managed to get a first place.  We were racing the 66x and had some issues there that cost us some time and we missed the podium, but we are happy with no injuries and had a good time in Baja.
 
 
PRO MOTO IRONMAN 
 
FRANCISCO SEPTIEN, No 730x (First in class and fourty-third overall and fourteenth overall BIKE) Francisco Septien started and rode to the finish.  This was not a usual ride and one of the hardest Score Baja 500.  The worst idea I had, was trying to pass the Sportsman guys.  Being an Ironman, we are already tired and trying to deal with more and more dust; it was not a good idea.
 
JOSE ARMANDO CARRASCO, No 721x (Second in class and sixty-fourth overall and nineteenth overall BIKE) Jose Armando Carrasco started and rode to the finish.  Really excited to have this new ride as we literally got this bike a week ago.  It proves that they really come race ready and it worked perfectly throughout the whole race.  I really want to thank my sponsors and my family as it is a team effort.  I am glad to be back in the game after the hiccup we had at San Felipe, but hopefully we can turn it around and go for that championship.
 
PRO MOTO 60 
 
OSCAR OCHOA, No 602x (Second in class and one hundred eighth overall)
Gilberto Gallardo started and rode to race mile 77.  Cesar Parra rode to race mile 120.  Jaime de la Torre rode to race mile 240.  Alex Melero rode to race mile 375.  Gilberto Gallardo rode to race mile 470.  Cesar Parra rode to the finish.  Team said: All the curves were the worst part of the course (laughter).  Oscar Ochoa, who was the rider of record broke, his collar bone so he was not able to ride today.  Jaime de la Torre had a rough section and broke 3 of his fingers.
 
 
PRO QUADS
 
SAID SANCHEZ, No 1A (First in class and twenty-eighth overall and fourth overall BIKE) Said Sanchez started and rode to race mile 40.  Javier Robles rode to race mile 77.  Jose Mesa rode to race mile 290.  Felipe Velez rode to race mile 375.  Said Sanchez rode to the finish.  Said Sanchez said: There was more adrenaline today racing versus pre-running days and it was a very hard course today after the trophy trucks and cars did their pre-running.