Price, Vildosola Jr, Ampudia top three qualifiers Thursday for Saturday’s K&N 4th SCORE Baja 400

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, Dominic@SCORE-International.com September 14, 2023

'Celebrating 50 Years of SCORE Desert Racing Excellence' Presented by VP Racing Fuels Price, Vildosola Jr, Ampudia top three qualifiers Thursday for Saturday’s K&N 4th SCORE Baja 400

       ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico—‘Celebrating 50 Years of SCORE Desert Racing Excellence’ this year, Australia’s Toby Price (additional driver for Australia’s Paul Weel), Mexico’s Gustavo ‘Tavo’ Vildosola’ and Mexico’s Alan Ampudia, were the top three qualifiers Thursday among nearly 225 racers expected to start Saturday’s K&N 4th SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing Fuels, to launch the second half of the four-race 2023 SCORE World Desert Championship. Held on a 5.29-mile course east of Ensenada, Price, 36, powered his way to a time of 6 minutes, 43.533 seconds, averaging 47.19 miles per hour in his No. 46 AWD Chevy Silverado, built by Mason Motorsports). He was the fastest of 35 SCORE Trophy Trucks out of the 37 entries who attempted to qualify. The qualifying route was on private property approximately 30 miles Northeast of Ensenada. Price is a two-time Dakar Rally motorcycle champion and he will drive the first SCORE Trophy Truck off the start line as the qualifying driver must also start the race. Weel, 44, will then drive the second half of the race. Price was the 17th SCORE Trophy Truck to qualify as one vehicle went out at a time. One of the legendary SCORE Baja racers from Mexico, Tavo Vildosola, and Ampudia, finished within one and one-half seconds between each other. Vildosola, 41, of Mexicali, finished in 6:51.239 in his Mexicana Logistics No. 21 Ford Raptor built by Vildosola Racing. Ampudia, 32, of Ensenada, recorded a time of 6:52.718 in his Papas Y Beer No. 10 Ford Raptor built by Mason Motorsports. Top qualifier out of 37 entries in the Trophy Truck Spec class was Mexico’s Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez, 28, of Tecate, with a time of 7:08.371 in the No. 226 Curry-Ford. He was the 14th racer in his class to run his qualifying lap. Lopez was the 36th starter in his class. SCORE Trophy Truck, SCORE TT Legend, and Trophy Truck Spec were the only three classes required to qualify for starting positions as the other start positions in the over 40 various classes were determined by a drawing. DIRT FAX The youngest race in the long and storied 50-year history of the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization, Round 3 of the four-race 2023 SCORE World Desert Championship will be held Sept. 13-17, in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. Ensenada, ‘The Off-Road Racing Capital of the World,’ is a Pacific Ocean port located 80 miles South of the U.S. Border near San Diego. Pre-race Contingency and Tech Inspection and the start/finish line compound are located on Boulevard Costero adjacent to the iconic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in the heart of Ensenada. All four 2023 SCORE races are being held on Mexico’s magnificent Baja California peninsula for the eighth consecutive year. SCORE, the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization, is celebrating its 50th season in 2023. MORE DIRT FAX With over 225 entries anticipated at the start line, 199 total entries have been received so far for this growing event, with racers representing 27 U.S. States, U.S. Territory Puerto Rico, and 10 countries. The countries with at least one racer so far are United States, host country Mexico, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, France, Israel, New Zealand, and Peru. With double-digit entries to date are the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck (high-tech, unlimited, 1000-horsepower, custom trucks) with 37 (including nine in SCORE TT Legend for SCORE Trophy Truck drivers over 50), Trophy Truck Spec, (SCORE Trophy Trucks with crate engines) with 34, Pro UTV Open with 15, Pro UTV FI (Forced Induction) with 12, Class 10 with 10, and Pro UTV Stock with 10. Among 2-wheel vehicles, Pro Moto Ironman (for solo riders) has seven entries. LATE RACER REGISTRATION Late, on-site racer registration continues Friday (Sept. 15) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Salon Rojo in Ensenada’s iconic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center. GREEN FLAG It is an elapsed-time race with staggered starts with the green flag dropping on Saturday (Sept. 16). Motorcycles and Quads will start at 5:30 a.m. PT, Cars, Trucks, and UTVs will start at 8:15 PT. The race course is 384.66 miles. While the fastest vehicles will finish in about seven hours, the elapsed-time race will have a 16-hour time limit to become an official finisher. BRIEF HISTORY Inaugurated in 2019, the SCORE Baja 400 was not held in 2020 because of the international health pandemic, in 2021 started and finished without spectators Northeast of the central city and returned to the heart of the city in 2022. SCORE LIVE Popular Rat Sult will once again serve as host of the SCORE Live streaming. Assisting Sult will be veteran voice Dave Arnold. Contingency and the race itself will be streamed live, airing via the internet on the SCORE website. Included in the exclusive race coverage, along with vehicle tracking, will be live drone and in-car camera footage from various locations around the race course. There will also be hosts in the SCORE Studio in El Cajon, Calif., bringing live updates during the race. START GRID-SCORE BAJA 1000 The final results of the SCORE Baja 400 also will determine the start order within each class for November’s iconic season-ending BFGoodrich Tires 56th SCORE Baja 1000. This year’s Granddaddy of all Desert Races will be a point-to-point race starting for the first time in La Paz, Baja California Sur, and finishing in Ensenada, Baja California. It will be held Nov. 13-18. (Number, driver/rider of record/additional drivers and/or Navigators/riders, vehicle, engine)   SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (Unlimited Custom Trucks including Builder)-- TOP QUALIFIER, TOBY PRICE, 36, Australia (DOR-Paul Weel, 44, Australia, Chevy Silverado (Mason), 6 minutes, 43.533 seconds (47.19 miles per hour) 2. 21 Gustavo ‘Tavo’ Vildosola Jr, 41, Mexicali, Mexico, Ford Raptor (Vildosola), 6:51.239 3. 10 Alan Ampudia, 32, Ensenada, Mexico, Ford Raptor (Mason), 6:52.718 4. 1 Luke McMillin, 30, San Diego, Chevy 1500 (Mason), 6:52.958 5. Harley Letner, 39, Corona, Calif./ (DOR-70 Kevin Thompson, 50, New Braunfels, Texas), Beau Morton, 25, Huntington Beach, Calif., Chevy Silverado (Mason), 6:57.002 6. 7 Bryce Menzies, 36, Las Vegas, Ford Raptor (Mason), 7:04.370 7. 91 Ray Griffith, 35, Downey, Calif. (DOR-Christopher Polvoorde, 23, Hemet, Calif.), Ford Raptor (Mason), 7:04.440 8. 23 Dan McMillin, 35, San Diego, Chevy 1500 (Mason), 7:10.108 9. 38 Eric Hustead, 52, St. George, Utah/Igor Dorojinski, Chevy Silverado (Custom), 7:13.070 10. 19 Pat Dean, 54, Las Vegas, (DOR)Tim Herbst, 60, Las Vegas), Ford F-150 (Herbst/Smith), 7:13.118 11. 11 Rob MacCachren, 58, Las Vegas, Ford F-150 (Geiser), 7:15.538 12. 31 Andy McMillin, 36, San Diego, Ford Raptor (Mason), 7:15.938 13. 26 Dave Taylor, 49, Page, Ariz., Chevy Silverado (Geiser), 7:16.188 14. 16 Cameron Steele, 55, San Clemente, Calif./Ryan Arciero, 49, Foothill Ranch, Calif., Ford Raptor (Geiser), 7:17.170 15. 43 Larry Roeseler, 66, Boulevard, Calif., Toyota Tundra (ID), 7:19.319 16. 69 Andrew Myers, 43, San Marcos, Calif./Julio Quintero, 40, Escondido, Calif., Toyota Tundra (Herbst/Smith), 7:19.896 17. 89 Mike Walser, 56, Comfort, Texas, Rod Walser, 45, Canadian, Texas/Christopher Polvoorde, 23, Hemet, Calif., Chevy Silverado (Mason), 7:20.779 18. *1L Gustavo Vildosola Sr, 70, Mexicali, Mexico/Ricky Johnson, 58, El Cajon, Calif., Ford Raptor (Mason), 7:24.210 19. 82 Sam Baldi, 58, Beaumont, Calif./Jake Johnson, 44, Yucaipa, Calif./Michael Baldi, 32, Yucaipa, Calif./Robert Llewellyn, 41, Yucca Valley, Calif., Chevy Silverado (Baldi), 7:27.58 20. 85 Mikey Lawrence, 35, Banning, Calif./Dustin Grabowski, Upland, Calif., Ford Raptor (Herbst/Smith), 7:27.899 21. *37L Rolf Helland, 63, Morris, Ill./Rick D. Johnson, 57, Barstow, Calif., Ford Raptor (Mason), 7:28.450 22. 6 Luke Johnson, 31, Murrieta, Calif., (DOR-Dan Myers, 45, Newport Beach, Calif.), Toyota Tundra (Brenthel), 7:28.466 23. 68 Roberto Ruiz, 48, Tecate, Mexico/Miguel Ramos, 31, Tecate, Mexico/Jose Contrera, 39, Tecate, Mexico/German Encinas, 47, Ensenada, Mexico, Ford F-150 (Geiser), 7:33.017 24. 92 Paul Nauleau, 26, San Francisco (Francisco)/Johnny Bickel, 25, Fort Worth, Texas, Chevy Silverado (Brenthel), 7:34.379 25. 58 Tracy Graf, 60, Canada/Justin B. Smith, 38, Las Vegas, Chevy Silverado (Racer), 7:39.417 26. 71 Jesse Jones, 76, Phoenix, (DOR-Harley Letner, 39, Corona, Calif.), Chevy Silverado (Herbst/Smith), 7:44.234 27. 87 Dallas Lutrell, 42, Las Vegas/Cody Swanty, 48, Kingman, Ariz., Dodge Ram, 7:44.608 28. 27 Jonathan Brenthel, 43, Murrieta, Calif., Chevy Silverado (Brenthel), 7:48.686 29. *61L David Payne, 62, St. Luis, Mo./Damon Bradshaw, 51, Peoria, Ariz., Chevy Silverado (Brenthel), 8:01.277 30. *85L Clay Lawrence, 61, Banning, Calif./Steve Lawler, 63, Upland, Calif., Chevy Silverado (Herbst/Smith), 8:12.330 31. *5L Nick Vanderwey, 53, Litchfield Park, Ariz. (DOR-Clyde Stacy, 78, Bristol, Va.), Chevy V16 (Geiser), 8:12.599 32. 33 Roberto Romo Jr, 18, Mexicali, Mexico/Roberto Romo Sr, 41, Mexicali, Mexico, Ford Raptor (Racer), 8:30.380 33. *55L Jose Flores, 59, Culiacan, Mexico/Eduardo Perez, 59, La Paz, Mexico/James Sejd, 63, Gainesville, Va., Chevy Silverado (Jimco), 8:44.539 34. 96 Enrique Murillo, 53, La Paz, Mexico/German Alvarez, 37, La Paz, Mexico/Mike Perez, Texas, Chevy Silverado (Jimco), 9:06.357 35. *79L Russell Buehler, 64, Kanas City, Mo./Neal Buehler, 57, Kansas City, Mo., Ford Raptor (Jimco), 9:27.816 36. Did Not Finish: 28 Ryan Daniel, 40, Huntington Beach, Calif., Jimco-Chevy Did Not Qualify: *3L Ed Herbst, 62, Las Vegas, (DOR-Mark Post, 65, Las Vegas), Ford F-150 (Riviera)   *SCORE TT LEGEND (Unlimited Custom Trucks, including builder, Drivers over 50 years old)--   TROPHY TRUCK SPEC (unlimited Truck/SUV, stock, sealed engines)-- TOP QUALIFIER: 226 Carlos 'Apdaly' Lopez, 28, Tecate, Mexico, (DOR-Juan C. Lopez, Tecate, Mexico), Curry-Ford, 7:08.371 2. 234 Jason McNeil, 45, El Cajon, Calif., TSCO-Chevy, 7:08.658 3. 200 Jorge Sampietro, 32, Ensenada, Mexico/Abelardo Ruanova, 40, Ensenada, Mexico, Mason-Chevy, 7:11.665 4. 273 Kyle Jergensen, 28, Phelan, Calif.,(DOR-Jordan Brenthel, 37, Temecula, Calif.) Brenthel-Chevy, 7:11.987 5. 228 Dustin Grabowski, 26, Upland, Calif. (DOR-Ryan Hancock, 48, Yuma, Ariz.), TSCO-Chevy, 7:12.566 6. 211 Tim Wilson, 22, Boulder City, Nev. (DOR--Pat Sims, 56, Eunice, N.M./Jeffery T. Wilson, 25, Boulder City, Nev., ESM-Chevy, 7:16.906 7. 277 Travis Williams, 46, Avondale, Ariz./Pete Tolar, 45, Phoenix/Travis Chase, 44, La Crescenta, Calif., Geiser-Chevy, 7:20.038 8. 238 Elijah Kiger, 23, Kirby, Pa./Christopher King, 39, Kirby, Pa., TSCO-Chevy, 7:20.494 9. 207 Mason Cullen, 24, Long Beach, Calif./Matt Cullen, 54, Long Beach, Calif., Geiser-Chevy, 7:25.767 10. 272 Jack Grabowski, 25, Upland, Calif., Herbst/Smith-Chevy, 7:26.859 11. 249 Dustin Swanson, 44, Honolulu, Hawaii/Eric Dollente, 43, Imperial, Calif., TSCO-Chevy, 7:27.058 12. 210 Kolton Hustead, 24, St. George, Utah, KRE-Chevy, 7:27.482 13. 263 EJ Herbst, 22, Las Vegas/Ryan Millen, 38, Huntington Beach, Calif. (New Zealand), Herbst/Smith-Chevy, 7:29.814 14. 282 Brent Fox, 55, Highland, Utah/Brook Beckstrom, 52, Salem, Utah, Herbst/Smith-Chevy, 7:29.990 15. 219 Thor Herbst, 24, Las Vegas/Pierce Herbst, 20, Las Vegas, Herbst/Smith-Chevy, 7:30.055 16. 295 William Hedrick Jr, 27, Vicente Guerrero, Mexico/William Hedrick, 54, Vicente Guerrero, Mexico, ID-Chevy, 7:33.066 17. 298 Jordan Dean, 25, Las Vegas (DOR-Riley Herbst, 24, Las Vegas)/Matthew Brady, 25, Las Vegas, Herbst/Smith-Chevy, 7:38.118 18. 299 Charles Dorrance, 48, Austin, Texas/Larry Job, 55, Las Vegas, TSCO-Chevy, 7:47.056 19. 205 Joe Delucie, 44, Las Vegas/Neal Drickey, 44, Omaha, Neb./DJ Blasko, 45, Las Vegas, SLR-Chevy, 7:47.563 20. 246 Ethan Hagle, 31, Somis, Calif./Ben Hagle, 33, Somis, Calif., Alumi Craft-Chevy, 7:48.870 21. 225 Scott McNeil, 35, Sun Tan Valley, Ariz./John McNeil, 57, Mesa, Ariz./Kelly McNeil, 61, Mesa, Ariz./Mitch McNeil, 32, Mesa, Ariz./Rodney Pyburn, 37, Gilbert, Ariz./Adam McNeil, 45, Mesa, Ariz., Geiser-Ford, 7:52.461 22. 260 Santiago Creel, 37, Mexico City/Cristian Castelan, Ensenada, Mexico, Jimco-Chevy, 7:53.058 23. 281 Damon Lewis, 24, Fallbrook, Calif./Christian Lewis, 30, Fallbrook, Calif./Michael Lewis, 53, San Marcos, Calif., Mason-Chevy, 7:54.244 24. 252 Ernesto Arambula, 46, Ensenada, Mexico/Elias Hanna, 41, Ensenada, Mexico, Mason-Chevy, 7:56.977 25. 289 Tanner Rust, 33, El Cajon, Calif., Foutz Ford, 7:59.404 26. 247 Scott Shields, 47, El Cajon, Calif./Kevin Shields, El Cajon, Calif., Alumi Craft-Chevy, 8:00.353 27. 266 David Ziegler, 48, Reno, Nev./Paul Ziegler, 53, Reno, Nev., Brenthel-Chevy, 8:01.386 28. 283 Garth Owens, 57, Chino Valley, Ariz/Grant Ereckman, 42, Chino Valley, Ariz./Nick Owens, 37, Chino Valley, Ariz., Brenthel-Chevy, 8:02.953 29. 241 Stephen Beal, 52, Dallas/Corey Geiser, 23, Phoenix/Sean Geiser, Brenthel-Chevy, 8:05.148 30. 231 Carlos Ramos, 36, La Paz, Mexico/Jose Rosas, 37, La Paz, Mexico/Stephano Algorri, 30, La Paz, Mexico/Agustin Moreno, 31, San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, Custom-Chevy, 8:05.957 31. 294 Vincent Munoz, 36, Yucaipa, Calif./Roy Tomkins, 34, Redlands, Calif., Full Potential-Chevy, 8:08.051 32. 280 Bryan Scheible, 59, Georgetown, Texas/Jeff Wiper, 58, Orcas Island, Wash./Edgar Mayoral, 32, Ensenada, Mexico, Brenthel-Chevy, 8:15.917 33. 236 Michael Marsal, 36, Millbrook, N.Y./Troy Grabowski, 23, Upland, Calif., Geiser-Chevy, 8:21.630 34. DNF: 244 Oliver Flemate, 45, Ensenada, Mexico/Ana Paula Flemate, 18, Ensenada, Mexico/Luis Magana, 30, Ensenada, Mexico, TSCO-Chevy 35. DNQ: 240 Chris Miller, 49, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./Chasen Gaunt, 27, Torrance, Calif., Mason-Chevy 36. DNQ: 268 Paul Kraus, 52, Chatsworth, Calif./Jason Farrell, 41, Las Vegas, Brenthel-Chevy 37. DNQ: 235 Zach Lumsden, 26, Larkspur, Colo./Craig Lumsden, 60, Larkspur, Colo./Shannon Moham, 51, Larkspur, Colo., TrophyLite-Chevy TOBY PRICE (DOR – Paul Weel), No. 46 (Qualified first) -- Qualifying did not go that great. We blew a turn, so it was a little frustrating. Other than that, everything else was really good and clean. Not too sure where that will sit us, hopefully somewhere in the top five. And then we need to get a finish at this one. It’s going to be a tough race, it’s 400 miles and we just need to make sure we keep it on four wheels and get a good start for the SCORE Baja 1000. That is our main priority right now. It would be nice to get a win and if not, then try and have some fun. It is a one-line groove. The only way to make some passes is if there are flat tires and things like that. We feel good on the track and feel comfortable and ready to see what the day may bring. GUSTAVO ‘TAVO’ VILDOSOLA, No. 21 (Qualified second) -- Today we wanted a clean run and that’s what we got. We didn’t make a lot of mistakes. We did make one, but I think we corrected it pretty well. The objective is to get to the race clean. There is no point in beating the truck up in qualifying, that is what we wanted to do - be clean, be smart, be fast. Hopefully that is what we did. Since they changed this format to qualifying, it changed the race a little bit. You don’t want to start in the back for the SCORE Baja 1000 as you have no way of winning it. In the past, the SCORE Baja 400 has been smooth and fast and fun, but now they decided we need to go through the nastiest stuff we can imagine. It is super tight and people are out there with chainsaws, bulldozing things over. For these trucks, it is hard to get through the tight stuff, but we all have to do it. But we are always looking for the fast lines, like the McMillins always find. ALAN AMPUDIA, No. 10 (Qualified third) -- Qualifying was fun, we definitely went out there. These four-wheel drives are insane compared to what I used to run last year. This car is so much fun to drive. We had a good time, I think we're safely in the top ten, hopefully looking for a top five. We'll see how we stack up to the other boys, there's a lot of fast guys out there. We're hoping to have a good finish for the race, especially this time because it's Mexican Independence weekend. So, I definitely want to get my fellow Mexicans excited. We're going to try to go out there and win and get a good starting spot for the SCORE Baja 1000. LUKE McMILLIN, No. 1 (Qualified fourth) – It was a good qualifier for us, I felt really good. It was a lot of fun, I was just pushing the truck and feeling very comfortable with it. If you’re out of control it’s not fun, but when you’re pushing it hard and you feel good about it and the truck is just reacting the way you want it to, it’s such a good feeling. There were one or two small mistakes and three of four areas where maybe I could have pushed harder, but some others where I think we did well. We were a bit conservative on some decisions, but  we need to keep the SCORE Baja 1000 in the back of our minds too as we’re going for four in a row. BRYCE MENZIES, No. 7 (Qualified sixth) -- The course was gnarly and really fun, but I went off the start line and in the first corner I hit something and lost brakes. So that made it very challenging to do this course with no brakes. We lost so much time going slow and trying to figure it out. The truck is alright, we'll figure out what happened with the brakes and we'll get to the starting line and try to fight our way through the dust. The race is going to be really good, it’s going to be really tight and technical. I didn’t want to start in the back, I really wanted to start out front. I thought that was going to be a huge key for this race just with how tight it is and how silty, dusty and short. It's going to be a lot of fun looking forward to it and on to race day. DAN McMILLIN, No. 23 (Qualified eighth) -- Qualifying was really good. We pushed really hard, probably too hard. We blew a couple of turns, it was hard to push fast. I got out of shape a couple of times and put it on two wheels, it was the closest I have come to rolling this thing. It wasn’t a great qualifying, we will see where we end up. We will get ready for Saturday. The course is technical but fast. We did the whole thing yesterday and felt good about it. It’s a lot of the same stuff we have seen. There is some new stuff that is progressively getting blown out and faster. We are excited for Saturday and ready to go racing. JAMES DEAN (DOR-Tim Herbst, No. 19 (Qualified tenth) -- Qualification was really tight, we got two bobbles, but nothing crazy.  We got this four-wheel-drive truck, so we're just going to do our best and we did what we could so hopefully it went well. I think it's going to be a follow-the-leader kind of race. There are not many lines out there, it’s a pretty single-line track, but I think it’s going to be a fun one. The race is going to be very interesting, I'm excited. I'm feeling pretty good about the truck even though it's still pretty new to me. ROB MacCACHREN, No. 11 (Qualified 11^th) – It went pretty well. There’s one corner we wasted some time on and I would like to have done it better. But I saw a lot of people having issues there too, so hopefully I still did it a little bit better. It was a very technical course, with cliffs on the left and banks of the right and stuff like that. We had a good run and the track was well set up for it and our BFGoodrich Tires had a lot of grip. We’ve been pre-running all week and are excited to be here. It’s going to be a tough race. I like the course a lot and it looks like the weather is going to be nice too, so that’s great. ANDY McMILLIN, No. 31 (Qualified 12^th) – It went better than the last two years. We made it here with the truck in one piece, didn’t take any chances and just went fast where we could and slow on the sketchy stuff, it was a success. It was a very technical course from the start and really hard until the last portions. I really liked it, though, it’s Baja. Hopefully we did a good run and we’ll have a good race on Saturday. The whole race course is complicated. The only breath of fresh air we have is the highway to Mike’s Road and Valle of Trinidad. It’s technical and gnarly, how Baja is supposed to be. CAMERON STEELE, No. 16 (Qualified 14^th) – We screwed up a little bit, but it was fun. We tried a couple of different things with the truck, which I think helped us in some, but also hurt us a little bit. I definitely overcooked turn No. 4 and went into some bushes, which cost us some seconds. It’s the first time I got the truck in racing conditions with the big block, so it’s a learning curve, but as long as we start in the first 20, it’s going to be all good. It’s a very technical race course and I think there’s going to be a lot of mistakes and we want to make sure we’re not one of them because our SCORE Baja 1000 race has just started here on the qualifier. LARRY ROESELER, No. 43 (Qualified 15^th) – I think it went OK, with no major mistakes. Maybe we were a little bit on the conservative side, but it was a tricky course, slippery and narrow. It was a good qualifying course, that was nice. We got through it clean and that’s one thing we did well. It was easy to really slip off the road or miss a turn, as we saw with other people. We just tried to keep it solid. The race course is very technical, just like the qualifier one. In almost every corner there’s a hidden rock or a hidden ditch, it’s really going to keep you on your toes all day long. MIKEY LAWRENCE, No. 85 (Qualified 19^th) – It went fairly well. The course was super tight and I just tried to keep it clean and to get a good finish. The race course is on pretty much the same area since I’ve started racing here and although the storms that came through made it a bit rockier, they also smoothened out some of the whoops, so now it’s faster, but rockier. LUKE JOHNSON (DOR- Dan Myers), No. 6 (Qualified 20^th) – This course was super narrow and that made me a little bit nervous. You could only go so fast in certain areas and we’re not just thinking about this race only, we’re thinking about the SCORE Baja 1000 too and we don’t want to end our race before it even begins. Pete was calling off awesome notes and we got an awesome car to qualify, so we’ll see where we end up. Overall, I feel really happy with the performance we put in. The truck is one piece and our BFGoodrich Tires stayed round. JESSE JONES (DOR – Harley Letner), No. 71 (Qualified 24^th) -- Today everything was going well until we picked up a puncture about halfway through, so we finished on a flat tire. The truck ran great and we are looking forward to the race. Getting through the first half of the race will be the biggest challenge, staying clean and making sure we don’t do anything wrong. Our goal is to not lose our position on the road.