LaTijereta - 6-5-2016 at 01:05 PM
SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark
Vildosola Jr. blasts to overall, SCORE Trophy Truck victory
R. Wilson captures Class 1 at 48th annual SCORE Baja 500
Ox Motorsports’ Udall/Samuels top motos, Robles Jr first quad, Matlock first UTV
Winkelman captures two moto classes, other class winners include Eugenio, Dunne,
Montoya, Eugenio, Dailey, Ampudia, Bio, Flemate, Lutrell, Estrada, Cesena, Martinez, Hawley
236 starters in Rd 2 of four-race 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship in Ensenada, Mexico
ENSENADA, Mexico—Running his race with a different strategy after opening the season with a did-not-finish, Mexico’s Gus “Tavo” Vildosola Jr
thrilled his home country fans with a consistent charge through the northern part of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula to earn the overall and SCORE
Trophy Truck win at the internationally-televised 48th SCORE Baja 500 desert race. Starting and finishing in Ensenada, Vildosola bounced back from a
rare DNF to scratch out the victory in Round 2 of the four-race 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship.
The challenging international race was stunned by the loss of three lives during the race--two motorcycle riders and one spectator (see inset box
below).
The start/finish line for the popular early summer race was once again adjacent to the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center on Blvd. Costero in
the heart of Ensenada. Entries came from 24 U.S. States and 12 countries.
Vildosola Jr, of Mexicali, beat a field of 236 total starters including 31 vehicles in SCORE Trophy Truck, the sport’s marquee racing division
for high-tech, 850-horsepower, unlimited production trucks. Defeating of field that included the virtual who’s who of desert racing, Vildosola covered
the blistering hot 477.52-mile Baja course in eight hours, 20 minutes and 55 seconds, averaging 56.86 miles per hour in the No. 21 Vildosola Racing
Ford Raptor.
After qualifying 13th for the race, it was Vildosola’s sixth career FIVB SCORE Trophy Truck race win, his second class win and first overall
victory in the SCORE Baja 500.
TV TIME
The race will be televised on the CBS Sports Network with the premier showing at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 24. The show, produced with SCORE by
award-winning BCII TV of Los Angeles, will be a two-hour special, marking the first time this popular SCORE race has been broadcast in a presentation
longer than one hour.
SCORE STATEMENT REGARDING RACE FATALITIES
Regarding the three fatalities during the race, SCORE officials released the following information:
The closing time on the race course was delayed by one hour, 10 minutes as SCORE and local officials worked on the aftermath of an accident early
during the start of the cars, trucks and UTVs involving a race truck within a half mile of the start. Racer Todd Pedersen, Orem, Utah, while
negotiating a turn entering the Ensenada wash and attempting to avoid some fans, eventually hit three spectators. An eight-year old boy was fatally
injured in the accident, according to police on the scene. He was transported to an Ensenada hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
The boy’s mother was hospitalized and is reported in stable condition at a hospital in Ensenada with head and leg injuries. The identities of the
two victims were not released.
In the first racer fatality, Pro Moto Unlimited rider Travis Livingston, 34, of Palmdale, Calif., crashed at race mile 288.9. When SCORE medical
personnel arrived, while attempting to stabilize him, Livingston went into cardiac arrest and could not be revived.
In the second racer fatality, Sportsman Moto rider Noah Evermann, 34, of Alaska, was found dead near his motorcycle at race mile 180.9 by another
race team.
No further information was released regarding all three accidents as all three are still being investigated by Ensenada Municipal Police.
TOP 8 OVERALL ALL SCORE TROPHY TRUCKS
Keeping it close to the very end of the rugged race, Vildosola Jr was the third SCORE Trophy Truck to cross the finish line but on elapsed time
earned the victory with a common narrow margin.
The top eight overall finishers in the race were all SCORE Trophy Trucks and all ran penalty-free races.
Finishing second overall for the third time after crossing the finish line physically first in this race was Las Vegas’ Rob MacCachren in the No.
11 Rockstar Energy MacCachren Motorsports Ford F-150 in a time of 8:23:52. After winning last year’s race by just 51 seconds over MacCachren, third
overall and in SCORE Trophy Truck was Mexico’s Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez (Tecate) with a time of 8:25:22 in the No. 1 RPM Racing Chevy Rally Truck.
Finishing fourth overall and in SCORE Trophy Truck was Las Vegas’ Troy Herbst, who with co-driver Ryan Arciero, finished in 8:40:21 in the No. 91
Monster Energy Terrible Herbst Motorsports Ford F-150.
Completing the top five overall finishers and fifth in SCORE Trophy Truck was Andy McMillin, San Diego, in the No. 31McMillin Realty Ford Raptor
in 8:45:15.
Sixth overall and in SCORE Trophy Truck Saturday was Las Vegas’ Bryce Menzies with a time of 8:46:28 in the No. 7 Menzies Motorsports Ford
Raptor. Menzies, who had won this race overall three times in the last six years, qualified second and passed fast qualifier Robby Gordon, Charlotte,
N.C. around race mile 20 until relinquishing the physical lead around race mile 300 and falling back briefly before finishing four.
Seventh overall and in SCORE Trophy Truck was Andy McMillin’s cousin Dan McMillin, La Mesa, Calif., in 8:48:10 in the No. 23 McMillin Racing Ford
F-150.
This year’s SCORE San Felipe 250 winner Billy Wilson, Corpus Christi, Calif., finished eighth overall and in SCORE Trophy Truck with a finishing
time 9:02:14 in the No. 15 Bevly Wilson Motorsports Chevy Silverado.
Following complete data tracking review of the vehicles, BFGoodrich Tires, major SCORE sponsor for 41 years, were the tires of choice for seven
of the top 10 overall finishers in the race.
When the race course officially closed on Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m., 137 of 236 starters (58.1 percent) completed the course within the 21-hour
time limit to become official finishers. Both the start and finish line were located in the heart of Ensenada on Boulevard Costero adjacent to the
historic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center.
CLASS 1 SUPERLATIVE
For the second straight race, the Wilson family race team of Long Beach, Calif., led by Ronny Wilson defeated a talented group of 18 starters to
win the unlimited Class 1 for open-wheel desert race cars in their Chevy-powered Jimco driven on BFGoodrich Tires, finishing ninth overall in the
grueling race in 9:20:25.
UDALL WINS AGAIN
Riding the No. 1x Ox Motorsports Honda CRF450X, Colton Udall, Yucca Valley, Calif., roared to his second straight overall motorcycle victory this
season. Riding the first and last thirds of the race with teammate Mark Samuels, also from Yucca Valley, riding the middle third, they finished the
grueling race in 9:18.11, averaging 51.33 mph. The team started the year by winning the season-opening SCORE San Felipe 250 in February.
The win was also the 18th overall motorcycle victory for Honda in the SCORE Baja 500.
OVERALL QUAD
The fastest overall quad for the second straight year was the team led by Javier Robles Jr, Guadalupe Victoria, Mexico on the No. 1a Honda
TRX450R in a penalty-free time of 10:51:21. His co-riders were Josh Row, El Cajon, Calif./Felipe Velez, San Felipe, Mexico/Jose Meza Velez, San
Felipe, Mexico.
‘TAVO’ TALKS
Nearly exhausted at the finish line after diligently negotiating the challenging course, Vildosola Jr reflected, “In the first 100 miles we were
just navigating by instruments. We couldn't see anything and we were behind a bunch of trucks. I knew I had to be very patient and thankfully I was. I
wasn't pushing hard in the dust and I was waiting for my moments. We had a couple of good ones and passed a couple of guys running and a couple of
guys in the pits and finally we got in some clean air.”
“The competition is amazing. Apdaly (Lopez, No. 1) started third, Rob (MacCachren, No. 11) started fourth and we started 13th and getting through
the pack was difficult especially because the trucks in the (top starting positions) tens, elevens and nines aren't as fast as these guys so they held
us up a little bit. We were able to get around them but after that, the heat down in the desert was absolutely ridiculous.”
“We survived the heat and I might be a little bit dehydrated and I've got a headache but we are good. We never got out of the truck and only
stopped for 27-second pits three times. We had absolutely no issues and as a result of being a couple of pounds lighter we were able to push a little
bit in the desert and make up time.”
COLTON COMMENTS
Winning his second straight overall motorcycle titles to start the 2016 season with teammate Samuels, Udall had plenty to say following his
team’s victory. Udall said, “The heat was extreme. I've never really raced in anything hotter than that before in my life. I pretty much just raced
250 miles of 115-degree weather and my brain feels like it is cooked. The San Felipe section of the course is always the toughest and it was anything
you could do to just get through the section in the heat. The most important thing about a SCORE Baja race is knowing the course really well. You have
to prepare and you have to ride the course a bunch and that's the only way you'll be able to hold it wide open. For me (in preparing for long mileage)
I just do a lot of cycling. It helps me think. I have a lot of time to train and it keeps my heart really strong. When your body starts breaking down
then your mind controls it. As long as you don't run into a ditch you can cover a SCORE Baja race at the highest level if you're fit.”
“We had a really good race going on with the 45x bike (Francisco Arredondo.) They had a three-minute gap when I got on the bike and I pulled up
alongside of Ryan Penhall (co-rider 45x) and we were racing down the whoops in 115-degree weather and they are the gnarliest whoops in Baja. He hit a
rock or something and took a pretty bad digger so I had to turn around and help him out a little bit. In the SCORE Baja 500 the bikes usually win the
overall but we've had some unfortunate stuff happen to us in the the last couple of races.”
“We finally have something going that is really awesome and Mark Samuels and I built this (motorcycle). He rode an amazing race also. It feels
really good to win and in some of the races I'm not so confident that we will win but in this one I'm for-sure confident. I started eighth off the
line and just pounded through the dust. We had so much dust for what seemed like 100 miles.”
DOUBLE TIME
Mark Winkelman, Cedar Hill, Texas and Jim O’Neal, Simi Valley, Calif., had double the fun leading teams to win class motorcycle wins. The daring
duo won both the Pro Moto Limited and the Pro Moto 50 (riders over 50 years old), rode Husqvarna 350 bikes to the two class wins.
Joining Winkelman and O’Neal in Pro Moto Limited were Max Eddy Jr, Barstow, Calif./Austin Miller/Scott Myers, Encinitas, Calif./Grant Stanley,
Alpine, Calif. Joining the pair to ride to win in Pro Moto 50 were Louie Franco, Sherman Oaks, Calif./Jeff Kaplan, Thousand Oaks, Calif./Brian
Campbell, Bakersfield, Calif.
The wins give O’Neal a race-record 19 class wins and sixth for Myers,
MULTIPLE CLASS RACE WINNER & PRO UTV
In winning the Pro UTV FI class Wayne Matlock, Alpine, Calif., started first in a field of 14 starters and earned his fifth class win in the
SCORE Baja 500 in a Polaris RZR XP4 Turbo with a penalty-free time of 12:48:03. In a unique family racing effort, Matlock’s wife Kristen Matlock
finished third in the Pro UTV (naturally aspirated) class in a Polaris RZR XP1000.
THE UNBEATEN
With their class wins in the SCORE Baja 500, in addition to R. Wilson, Winkelman, Udall and Robles Jr, remaining undefeated after their second
wins in the 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship were Victor Cesena, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico/Gerardo Iribe, Santa Ana, Calif., (Class 5, VW Baja Bug),
Aaron Ampudia, Ensenada, Mexico/Alan Ampudia, Ensenada, Mexico, Ford F-150) and Noe Gutierrez, Ensenada, Mexico (Class 11, VW Sedan).
FIRST TIMERS
Several racers won for the first time in 2016. Besides Vildosola Jr, and Ronny Wilson, other first timers included Patrick Dailey, Bonsall,
Calif./Travis Clarke, Encinitas, Calif., who won Class 10 over a field of 26 starters in the class in a Raceco-Chevy, Steven Eugenio, Carlsbad,
Calif./Larry Connor, Miamisburg, Ohio (Trophy Truck Spec, Mason-Chevy), Ramon Bio, Spring Valley, Calif./Viry Felix, Ensenada, Mexico/Cisco Bio,
Spring Valley, Calif. (Class 1/2-1600, Tubular Design-VW), Oliver Flemate, Ensenada, Mexico (SCORE Lites, Downing-VW), Jeff Proctor, San Dimas,
Calif./Jason LaFortune, Upland, Calif. (Class 2, Honda Ridgeline), Dallas Luttrell, Las Vegas/Billy Goerke, Las Vegas (Class 7, Chevy S-10), John
Estrada, Glendale, Ariz. (Pro UTV, Polaris RZR XP1000), Carlin Dunne, Santa Barbara, Calif. (Pro Moto Ironman, Honda CRF450X), Rodolfo Martinez, El
Cajon, Calif. (Class 5/1600, VW Baja Bug) and Jano Montoya, Winter Garden, Fla./Francisco Septien, Ensenada, Mexico, (Class 40, KTM 450XCW).
[Edited on 6-5-2016 by LaTijereta]