Anonymous - 11-20-2005 at 08:39 AM
http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20051120-9999-1s20bajal...
By Bill Center
November 20, 2005
The famed off-road racing tandems of Larry Roeseler-Troy Herbst and Johnny Campbell-Steve Hengeveld have repeated as overall champions in the 38th
annual SCORE Tecate Baja 1000.
Campbell won his ninth straight overall motorcycle title in the sport's most grueling race ? and his fifth straight with Hengeveld as part of the
factory Honda entry.
And Roeseler and Herbst co-drove a Ford-powered open-class buggy to a second straight overall four-wheel title.
Although there were no major injury accidents in the race, TrophyTruck driver Jason Baldwin was listed among four passengers feared killed when a
private plane went down in the Pacific approximately two miles off Dana Point around 2 yesterday afternoon.
Baldwin, 35, who finished 19th overall in the race, is the son of developer Jim Baldwin, who built the Otay Ranch course that hosted the inaugural
Nissan Off-Road Nationals seven weeks ago.
The private plane had stopped at Brown Field after returning from Baja California. It was apparently headed to John Wayne Airport in Orange County.
The names of the four men aboard the plane were not released, although team members said they believed one of the passengers was Jason Baldwin.
Campbell, of San Juan Capistrano, Hengeveld and team newcomer Mike Childress posted the race's best elapsed time. The trio covered the 708.8 miles in
14 hours, 20 minutes, 30 seconds on their Honda, averaging 49.42 mph. They returned to the Ensenada start-finish line just before 9 Friday night.
The victory was Campbell's 12th overall and 14th class win in the Baja 1000.
It was also the 12th overall and 14th class win for former Santee resident Roeseler, whose buggy completed the race in 15:06:19.
Roeseler's was the first buggy to score back-to-back wins in the Baja 1000 since 1989-90. Last year, the Roeseler-Herbst buggy averaged 62.167 mph.
This year's winning average on a much tougher course was only 46.92 mph.
Only 163 of the second-largest Baja 1000 field of 342 buggies, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs reached the finish line by yesterday's 7 p.m. deadline.
Roeseler took the overall lead south of San Felipe when Poway's Andy McMillin began experiencing engine problems. He finished 16th overall.
The top local finisher in the four-wheel division was El Cajon's Mark McMillin, who teamed with Brian Ewalt to finish fourth overall. His second-place
finish to Roeseler in class gave McMillin the open-class buggy title for the six-race SCORE season.
"I liked this course," said Ewalt. "It reminded me of the traditional old course when I started racing in 1986. Parts of it were very dusty. Parts
very technical."
Escondido's Tim Morton led a three-rider team that placed fifth overall in the motorcycle division and won the 250cc class. Seven-time Supercross and
motocross national champion Ricky Johnson was a member of a motorcycle team that placed fourth overall.
"The course was probably the roughest ever," said Campbell. "There was a lot of sand, and sand brings out the rocks. It was pretty chewed up."