TMW - 6-6-2011 at 09:20 AM
From SCORE:
43rd Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500
Round three of 2011 SCORE Desert Series
June 2-5, 2011 – Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
Post-race quotes
PRO CARS & TRUCKS
SCORE TROPHY-TRUCK
BRYCE MENZIES, No. 70 (First in class and first overall four-wheel vehicle to finish. Menzies drove the entire race.) – We just took it easy until
mile 120. The crew did an awesome job. Every time I was in the pit it was just 30 or 40 seconds. When I got up to Borrego I made one mistake and hit a
huge rock and we thought we broke a caliper off the truck but we stopped and checked it out. It was good so we kept going and then the rear right at
the end started feeling like it was going so we just kind of slowed it down. They said we had 8 to 10 minutes on Andy (McMillin), so we had to get it
here to the finish so we just limped her in. Our goal is to win the championship this year. If we win this one, that is a huge jump on the points. I
didn't have one flat all day long. No bent rims, no nothing so thanks to everybody for helping me out. I was down here pre-running for close to two
weeks so I think that pays off huge. I couldn't be happier. I pre-ran with Jesse Jones and he helped me out a lot with lines and stuff and at the end,
it paid off. We've been doing a lot of testing with the truck and it is showing. The summit was real rocky but we just cruised over it and got to
Borrego and let it fly from there.
ROB MacCACHREN, No. 20 (Second in class. MacCachren drove the entire race.) – Points are what we are here for. We are trying to win the
championship for our sponsors. Our day went really well, actually; just following people is what killed me. We followed the (Nick) Vanderwey truck
from mile 300 to Ojos Negros, he got a flat and we finally got by. Then we set sail and tried to pick off these two guys in front of us. We were down
four and a half minutes to them but I think it is pretty close so we'll see if we get one or both of these guys that finished in front of me. It's
really fun being down here in Mexico and I'm ready to come back. We had a flat tire about half way and we were nursing the truck because it had
something going on with the transmission; it was locking up and really tight. The traffic, again, getting stuck behind (Gary) Weyrich, (Adam)
Householder and Vanderwey – I got by them all on the dry lake when they pitted and then I ended up coming through San Matias, got a flat, and all
three of them got back by me. It took me all the way to Ojos Negros to get the last one back and it was just killing me.
ANDY McMILLIN, No. 31 (Third in class. McMillin drove the entire race.) – We caught them (Tim Herbst) on the crossover road and we just followed in
their dust all the way to here. It was a long day for sure. Bryce (Menzies) had a really good pace going off the start and hats off to those guys,
they ran an amazing race. It was a really, really good job for them. We were like 2:15 behind them around Borrego and then I had a flat tire and
Roeseler got around me. We were at the meadow and Bryce had about six minutes on me at mile 270 and (Tim Herbst) had about 1:30. Then I just followed
in their dust and Bryce put another four or five minutes on me. It happens, it's racing. I had a flat tire and that's what cost us today. I don't
think I would have caught Bryce anyway – he was running an awesome race today. I had the flat right where you hit the pavement in San Matias. It was
one of those mystery ones; I didn't hit anything but got a flat. At least I'm here (at the finish). Besides that flat tire, we really no problems
except for a little bit of dust from the Herbsts.
NICK VANDERWEY, No. 84 (Fourth in class. Larry Vanderwey, Curt LeDuc and Nick Vanderwey each drove about a third of the race.) – It was a good day.
These days, everybody has great equipment, everybody drives well and nobody breaks. It was a freight train out there and you just stayed in line. The
one little section we couldn't pre-run, I creamed a rock and got a flat. Luckily, we had a crew there to change it. It took a little while because
they had to pound it off with a hammer but other than that, it was a great day. We ran hard all day. We traded some positions with pitting and we were
fourth on the road almost all day and then I got that one flat in the section across from Ojos Negros so we lost one spot. The course is awesome. The
Baja 500 is just the best thing going. It's got everything: It's got rock crawling, it's got rally roads, a fast beach … just everything. It's fun. We
love it.
GARY WEYHRICH, No. 98 (Fifth in class. Mark Weyrich started and drove the first 230 miles and Gary Weyhrich drove to the finish.) – Our run went
all right. Mark (Weyhrich) started and went to San Matias and he was fifth truck on the road there. We were catching Rob (MacCachren) and Nick
(Vanderwey) and our motor started cutting out on the coast and we barely got it in here; it died on us a couple of times. I think it is air filters or
something. We had no flats, though. The top three guys broke away right off the bat and Mark was stuck behind three guys for 150 miles before those
three checked out, but that's part of it.
TIM HERBST, No. 19 (Sixth in class. Larry Roeseler drove the first 270 miles and Herbst drove to the finish.) – We had a long day but we really
didn't have too many problems. (My navigator) really managed the transmission heating problem we had and kept us from running way hard sometimes but
other than that we ran pretty flawless today. It's good for us to hopefully get a top-three finish on time and it's good to finish one – it's been a
while. We had a little heating problem on the transmission so we tried to make sure we didn't overheat it and had to back down at certain times. It's
always good to be back in Baja.
ROBBY GORDON, No. 77 (Eighth in class. Gordon drove the entire race.) – It was good. There were a lot of people out there having fun. We didn't
pass anybody. That's the reality of it. With Trophy-Trucks today you don't pass anybody. You can't; it's physically impossible because even a slow car
causes so much dust that you can't pass. I couldn't pass somebody for 100 miles. I followed Kory (Scheeler) for about 200 miles about 100 yards back.
I had to change a right-rear (tire), but it is in the system because as soon as I changed the other right rear, I plugged in and the air started going
down. We stopped, unplugged it and went with it. It is our own central air system but we still fight with it a little bit in the CV joints. It was a
good course, just tough to pass.
JESSE JAMES, No. 54 (Ninth in class. James drove the entire race.) – The truck is just so fun to drive. The last 50 or 100 miles, it was like I was
riding my bicycle when I was 8 years old. It was awesome. I try not to overdrive and be stupid. I do breathing exercises whenever I can to try and
stay calm. I've already proven that I can drive it until I wreck or blow it up, so I'm trying to do it a different way. First and foremost, my
co-driver Smitty is just awesome. He is ‘eyes, ears and go faster.’ I just had ankle surgery four weeks ago so there is a point where my foot is
killing me and I took a little break coming down through the mountains and he said ‘get your second wind and let's go.’ We did it and he talked me
across the finish line. We had two flats and a dry brake problem on both pits stops and lost about 10 minutes in the pits but almost everyone that
passed us, we caught and passed them back. He started getting ticked off but I said just be patient dude, you watch, we are going fast and if they are
going to go a little bit faster than us, they're going to get a flat or wreck. Low and behold, all three trucks that passed us, except for MacCachren,
were on their lid or had flats.
CLASS 1
STEVEN EUGENIO, No. 122 (First in class. Eugenio started and handed over to Adam Pfankuch at race mile 300.) We had some overheating issues as soon
as we got to the bottom of the summit. The dummy sensor kicked in and we probably lost about 20 minutes from the bottom of the summit to Borrego with
that. I gave it to Adam (Pfankuch) about 13 minutes down and at Santo Thomas, he was right there within seconds of being (in the lead) on corrected
time. I know he got held up a little bit with some Trophy-Trucks through Uruapan, but it looks like it played out in our favor.
JUSTIN DAVIS, No. 104 (Second in class. Davis drove the entire race.) – We just cruised around. We had no flats or problems. We just cruised around
and made it to the finish. It's all we wanted to do today. Only problem was that our spare tires fell out of the back but we made it around. We
pre-ran down here for a week and a half and it helped a lot getting through the dust. We caught a lot of bikes near the summit and slowly picked them
off.
DAMEN JEFFERIES, No. 110 (Third in class. Jefferies drove the entire race.) We were right there two minutes out at Santo Tomas and I got off the
asphalt and blew that corner and I had no brakes. I got into Santo Tomas and everything was perfect, I drive the asphalt section and I go to turn and
I blow right through the corner. I completely lost my brakes and I drove from there to here with no brakes. Other than that, it was perfect. The car
got hot on the desert side but that was it. I pre-ran that last section so much I thought I got it. Things are getting better; we’re getting closer
(to a win).
MIKE CHILDRESS, No. 113 (Fifth in class. Childress drove the entire race.) It went really well. At mile 235, we had the lead and we were the first
Class 1 car on the road. We just missed one corner and I had to shut the car off to put it in reverse and back up a little bit and when we went to
start it, the starter wouldn't work. We had to change a starter and that took about 30 minutes and then we were trying to make up time and I was in
the dust of a bike and got a flat. I went to jack it up and the jack broke. Everything to fix everything was just bad today. Our team did great and my
(navigator) did a great job.
RANDY WILSON, No. 102 (Sixth in class. Jeff Quinn started and drove to mile 210 and Wilson drove to the finish.) It went really well. We didn't
have any problems at all. Just the last 20 or 30 miles I got dirt in my contacts and I'm getting old, you know? The car worked absolutely perfect all
day. I got hung up by a couple of Trophy-Trucks and it got me behind and I lost some time there. He (Jesse James) didn't hold us up enough that I
couldn't get around him. We had a good time. This course is always a challenge. You think you are doing pretty well until you cross the highway coming
in here and then the last 30 miles of this race is just a mess with all the spectators.
CLASS 1-2/1600
LUKE MCMILLIN, No. 1600 (First in class. McMillin started and drove to mile 230 and Justin Smith drove to the finish.) We had no problems at all.
We got the lead early and we followed 1601 (Eliseo Garcia) and we knew we had him on time all the way up to Mike's Turn and then Justin (Smith) got
in, passed him right away and put 30 minutes on the field. He cruised it home and we did it. The day couldn't have gone better; we got the lead and we
held it. The course was rough. I did most of the rough stuff and into Borrego is brutal, but it was fun and it works for us. We went through a lot of
dust but no other problems.
BRIAN WILSON, No. 1608 (Second in class. Kyle Quinn started and drove to race mile 210 and Wilson drove to the finish.) After we left San Vicente,
you run a nice long straightaway and you make a hard left-hand 90 degree turn at the top. We made that and it is real soft and silty and there was a
dirt bike just ahead of us. I was watching him to see what he was doing and we caught a lip and when up and over right in front of the locals so we
got out and sat there and watched the whole entire video tape while we waited for our guys to come and bring us oil. We were down for about 45
minutes. It's been a great day.
QUENTIN TUCKER, No. 1614 (Third in class. Miles Wyatt started and drove to race mile 235 and Tucker drove to the finish.) We have absolutely no
rear brakes, all front. One of the Wilson cars (1603 Brad Wilson) rolled over in front of us and blocked the road. We were chasing him for quite
awhile until he rolled over and blocked the road.
CLASS 5
CODY KELLOGG, No. 501 (First in class. Kellogg shared driving duties with Rick Wilcoxson and Troy Johnson.) Co-driver Troy Johnson said: No flats,
no (mechanical) problems at all. We got stuck on one of the hills and we were there for about 20 minutes and then we got to another hill and we were
there another 20 minutes while another car was stuck in a ditch. Other than that, it was great.
CLASS 6
MARC BURNETT, No. 601 (First in class. Burnett drove the entire race.) We had little problems here and there. We hit a cow at the beginning of the
race. I just clipped it, so it was not that bad; she got lucky. It was flawless, really, for the most part. The truck was awesome and we didn't have
one flat all day which is just awesome for us. We did get stuck at the end of the race because the locals dug a hole. We got stuck for a good 40
minutes. They had a fire and we couldn't get around it and it was pretty bad. We were stuck in a big mud hole. I paid a guy $100 to tow me out. We
were coming up on a lot of traffic in the race and with the dust, we hit a couple of holes but we got lucky. This is the first time with the new truck
and it's awesome.
CLASS 8
JUSTIN MATNEY, No. 802 (First in class.) It was rough out there. The fog started rolling in and we got caught behind a couple Class 1’s but other
than that, the race went really well. There was just a lot of silt. Other than that, it was really great.
CLASS 10
SERGIO SALGADO, No. 1000 (First in class. Salgado started and drove to race mile 240 and Gustavo Pineulas drove to the finish.) We had no problems
and no flats. It seems like a perfect race. We did a good job. I was in front of a pack for half an hour when I got out and Gustavo (Pineulas) did his
job. The last thing we knew was that second place was an hour behind us.
PETE PIGOTT, No. 1007 (Second in class. Pigott started and drove to mile 233 and Jose Arzate drove to the finish.) We lost a front A-arm and were
down for close to an hour. The course is difficult but fun. There's nothing like desert racing, it is absolutely spectacular. There is no way to
describe it to people who haven't been here and haven't done it before. It is fun, fun, fun – especially when you get a good race. Overall, it was a
big success.
SCORE LITE
RAFAEL NAVARRO IV, No. 1209 (First in class. Navarro shared driving duties with Vic Bruckmann and Rafael Navarro III.) It went great. No flats the
whole day. We had a lot of dust in Uruapan but other than that it was a pretty straightforward clean run. We passed two Trophy-Trucks that had issues
but other than that it was clean running. The water crossing sections were really rutted out.
Co-driver Vic Bruckmann said: We just had problems with dust and passing the Class 10 and 12 cars. I passed all the Class 10 cars except for the
lead car at Borrego. I hit a couple of them pretty good; I didn't want to but they don't like to move.
Co-driver Rafael Navarro III said: My plan was just to ferry it across and take it easy and not get into any trouble. We just drove consistent and
kept it clean and took care of the car.
ZAK LANGLEY, No. 1207 (Second in class. Langley started and drove to mile 228 and Bernie Carr drove to the finish) Co-driver Bernie Carr said:
Well, I got the car and the skid plate was half on it so the guys wrapped it up there. We had to tighten up the front end and our CV boot was ripped
and we risked it and drove all the way here with a ripped right rear CV. We had one flat at mile 410 and we've just been told we have one now (at the
finish). We had a good run and we had some battles. We inherited this thing in sixth place and we just booted it and it was a hot rod.
SAMUEL ARAIZA, No. 1212 (Fifth in class. Araiza started and drove to mile 130 and Ernesto Cervantes drove to the finish.) Co-driver Ernesto
Cervantes said: It was a really good race until we broke a rocker arm and lost a half an hour. After that we had two flats. Before Ojos Negros, we got
back to third place but then broke a CV axle. It was really rough.
CLASS 7-2
WES BEVLY, No. 725 (First in class. Bevly started and drove the first half and Ron Stobaugh drove to the finish.) Co-driver Ron Stobaugh said: It
went pretty well; it was almost a flawless day. I think I tried to avoid a motorcycle and got stuck. Jesse Jones saved our night and pulled us out so
we owe him one for that. Wes Bevly did the first half and I don't think he ever got out of the car. He did fantastic and gave us a big lead. This is
the second one in a row for Pistol Pete's Baja Lite and I can't be more proud to drive this thing.
PRO MOTORCYCLES
CLASS 22
KENDALL NORMAN, No. 1x (First in class and first overall motorcycle to finish. Norman rode the first 200 miles, Quinn Cody rode until 43 miles to
finish and Norman rode the final 43 miles.) – The thing is, it is always going to be a really aggressive race between us (and Colton Udall) because we
have the same support, we've got the best bikes and the best pits so it's always going to be a dogfight. I can't complain. My ride went really well
but it was really slow getting started. We had no mechanical issues on the bike and our pits were great and I have no complaints.
COLTON UDALL, No. 0x (Second in class. Udall rode first 100 miles. David Kamo rode from race mile 100 to 211 and Udall rode from race mile 211 to
the finish.) – I got on the bike at Borrego and I was seven and a half minutes down and I just pinned it the best I could and caught Quinn (Cody) on
the 1x bike and I paced him on the highway and into the dirt I pinned it and we pretty much battled and I kind of rode around him and I knew that if
he had my dust that he couldn't get by me in that section so I tried to open up a little bit of lead because I knew that when Kendall got back on I
was going to be tired and he was definitely going to be pulling the time back in. Like you all saw, he pretty much came in at the same time I did. I'm
pretty smoked tired. Something happened with (a rear exhaust can) and we had to change it and it just set us back a little bit. He (Kendall Norman)
was pretty much pulling me since the pit when he got on. I think he was probably pinning it down the wash and I was braking because I didn't know what
was under the bridges because it is dark and I didn't want to hit anything and do a big ol' flip or something. He caught me there and then on the
asphalt but I wasn't worried because I knew I started behind him.
CLASS 21
TREVOR INSLEY, No. 104x (First in class. Insley shared riding duties with Max Eddy Jr., Matt Eddy and Bill Gilbert.) JCR built our motor and the
bike ran awesome today. This was a total team effort and after the many issues we had in San Felipe in the 250, it was nice to get down here and do
well. I went down one time but I got right back up and got going. I had no mechanical issues and the bike ran flawlessly. The motor was flawless all
day. We put a game plan together based on riders’ abilities.
CLASS 30
FRANCISCO SEPTIEN, No. 300x (Second in class. Septien shared riding duties with Scott Myers, David Fry and Jason Trubey.) Co-rider Scott Myers
said: I can't remember the last time I was that sick (before the race). I didn't ride or get out and do as much as I wanted. I went to the hospital
and got some IVs and Francisco (Septien) hooked me up and got a good nurse over and took good care of me. I felt better and woke up on race day and
was 110 percent and felt awesome so I can't thank him enough. I felt no after effects of being sick. I had an IV on Thursday night and one on Friday
night and got my fluids back and they gave me some stuff for my stomach. I thought it was food poisoning but I’m not sure. I'm just glad I got to
ride. I'm not sure if I made a bad tire choice. I put on a tire that I really liked but it was gone at mile 100. David Fry had to ride all the way
over the summit and got a flat tire and it put us behind and we chased all day.
CLASS 40
JEFF KAPLAN, No. 400x (First in class. Kaplan shared riding duties with Ron Wilson, and Brett Helm.) We had a great day. Nothing went wrong and the
bike was incredibly good. The course was fun but there was a little bit of traffic coming in. A Class 11 car and I almost came together. He was going
out still and it was kind of scary. We just went on a fast trail ride today and just kind of cruised. We knew we had a big lead in our class and
that's all we wanted to win today. We weren't trying for a big overall (win) so we didn't push hard. We just did everything that we wanted to do.
CLASS 50
JIM DIZNEY, No. 505x (First in class. Dizney shared riding duties with David Potts, Charlie Marshal, Doug Smith and Raymond Spore.) Co-rider Spore
said: That was fantastic; I had a lot of fun. It was pretty challenging coming in with the locals. I used most of the locals to guide me but then
there was a group of beer drinkers that pointed me (in the wrong direction) and I just had to follow the tracks.
CLASS 60
DONALD LEWIS, No. 600x (First in class. Lewis shared riding duties with Sam Dempsey, Bob Gates, Will Rogers, Jim O’Neal and Jim Dizney.) There are
always a lot of difficulties out there. We got knocked over by a car – one of my favorite things to do out there. I wasn't planning on doing the run
in and that was very unusual because I've never done it before and I spent about a third of my time going half speed. We were racing until about mile
420 and I brought it in from there. The course was surprisingly difficult. I think it was harder than last year but maybe it is just me. Our lights
weren't the best but other than that the bike was a beautiful bike.
PRO ATVs
CLASS 25
WAYNE MATLOCK, No. 1A (First in class. Matlock started and shared riding duties with Josh Caster and Wes Miller.) We've won four in a row now in
Class 25. We got the class win today but we didn't get the overall. We always come here to get the overall but we'll take the class win. You can't get
them all. We've got to go win the 1000 overall.
Co-driver Josh Caster said: It was going good and at the bottom of the summit I had about a 10-minute lead on the next quad and broke an upper ball
joint. I sat down at mile 20 for about 40 minutes until I could get the satellite phone out and I realized we had (a spare ball joint) in the front
pack and got it put back together and got going again. I pushed all the way until we got back into the front. I think Wayne (Matlock) took the lead
back coming up from Borrego to San Matias and then we got on and started pulling away from there.
CLASS 24
BRANDON BROWN, No. 100A (First in class and first overall ATV to finish. Brown shared riding duties with Jorie Williams, Kenny Sanford, Chris
Kristensen and Ritchie Brown.) We kind of struggled through it all day. The locals dammed up one of the creeks out there and Jorie Williams, our
starter, flooded the thing out. It has been popping and crackling all day long and it won't run in the mid-range. It never would really clean out and
it died about 10 times in the last five miles on me. Luckily, it was starting every time so everybody just gutted it out and took care of it. I can't
complain; if we didn't screw it up somehow, this is our third in a row. I'm just stoked to be the first quad in. Every time we come down here the
program is better, I manage better, they work better, the bike is built better and how that happens I just don't know. They're awesome. The thing is
borderline bullet proof because it just ran for well over 400 miles borderline. I’m just stoked to persevere through another one. Hopefully we can
come back and give them a run again.
TMW - 6-6-2011 at 09:30 AM
This is from Mark McMillin:
Daniel had a good race with Cameron riding over the summit. With one flat at RM 45, changed by a McMillin pit, they went over the summit with no
problems. They were up in the front pack at Mikes Road where Chuck Hovey and Casey got in the car. Here’s where the stories started. They finished
7th in class after the following. One flat tire, no big deal. Then the battery caught fire and they had to get it out of the car. It continued to
reignite even after they put it out. The car ran fine with one battery after 25 minutes of down time. Then some spectator tossed a dead rattlesnake
in the car and it wrapped around the A pillar. Casey and Chuck argued on who was going to touch it and toss it out while driving. Then they got to
the finish line where while being interviewed on their adventure they produced a baby owl out of the inside of the car. It woke up and flew away,
never to be seen again. Good race with good stories guys.
wessongroup - 6-6-2011 at 02:12 PM
Thanks for all the insight ... and agree... all just seem to get better... a bit hard to believe how far things have come.. from the 60's
David K - 6-6-2011 at 09:53 PM
This was the truck that our son Josh prepped at Stewart's Raceworks:
CLASS 6
MARC BURNETT, No. 601 (First in class. Burnett drove the entire race.) We had little problems here and there. We hit a cow at the beginning of the
race. I just clipped it, so it was not that bad; she got lucky. It was flawless, really, for the most part. The truck was awesome and we didn't have
one flat all day which is just awesome for us. We did get stuck at the end of the race because the locals dug a hole. We got stuck for a good 40
minutes. They had a fire and we couldn't get around it and it was pretty bad. We were stuck in a big mud hole. I paid a guy $100 to tow me out. We
were coming up on a lot of traffic in the race and with the dust, we hit a couple of holes but we got lucky. This is the first time with the new truck
and it's awesome.