49th SCORE Baja 500

SCORE’s 49^th Baja 500 race, held June 1-4, saw Trophy Trucks dominate the top ten overall finishers list. A third to half of the competitors in each division were unable to finish the grueling 500 mile course in the northern portion of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. One of the more than 230 competitors was running Subaru’s entry into the desert racing world, the Crosstrek, although they were one of those that didn’t finish the race.

Trophy Trucks Dominate Top Ten Overall Finishers

The SCORE Trophy Truck Series is desert racing’s marque division encompassing unlimited production trucks producing upwards of 850 horses. Last year, because of the fact that there wasn’t a mass start, the overall and Trophy Truck winner wasn’t the first competitor across the finish line. This was also true this year.

1. Andy McMillin of San Diego in his Geiser Brothers truck with a time of 10:03:03.88
2. Bristol, Tennessee’s Justin Matney in a time of 10:06:35.528 in his Hummer
3. Rob Maccachron from Vegas in his Ford with a time of 10:06:44.577

SCORE TT Legends

Everybody got a medal in the SCORE TT Legends division since there were only three competitors in the class. The class winner was also the eighth vehicle overall to finish the race.

1. El Centro, California’s Larry Roeseler came in at 10:33:06.686 in his Chevy
2. Also in a Chevy, Phoenix’s Nick Vanderwey clicked off an 11:24:56.539
3. Clyde Stacy also from Bristol, driving a Geiser Brothers entry crossed in 14:24:29.442

Class 1

The winner of Class 1 crossed the finish line in 23^rd overall place.

1. Clocking a time of 11:43:32.475 was Brian Wilson of Long Beach, California
2. Goodyear, Arizona’s Mike Malloy clocked 12:38:00.752
3. A time of 13:02:19.002 was clocked by Al Torres from California’s Imperial Valley

Trophy Truck Spec

Almost half of the Trophy Truck Spec competitors were unable to finish the Baja 500 this year. Of those that did finish, Elias Hanna finished just ahead of Class 1’s Wilson with an overall finish of 22^nd.

1. Finishing in 11:42:50.530 was Ensenada, BC, Mexico’s Elias Hanna in his Chevy
2. Toyota driver Andrew Myers from San Marcos, California finished in 11:48:25.945
3. In a Geiser Brothers truck, Laveen, Arizona’s Lee Banning ticked off a 14:16:01.517

Class 10

Only eight of the 17 Class 10 competitors managed to cross the finish line this year. The winner of the class came in 24^th overall.

1. Brawley, California’s Broc Dickerson in his Alumi Craft crossed the line in 11:44:14.663
2. Driving a Chevy, Cody Reid from Apple Valley, California finished in 12:04:28.346
3. Also driving an Alumi Craft, Temecula, California’s Rafael Navarro IV clocked a 12:16:14.284

Class 8

Five competitors entered the race in Class 8 and only two of them managed to finish it. The class winner drove his Ford to a 44^th overall finish.

1. San Vicente, Baja California’s Rick Sanchez crossed the finish in 12:59:08.497
2. Noah Ostanik, from Carlsbad, California took his Ford to a time of 18:56:14.536

Class 1 / 2 1600

Four of the nine competitors in the VW-engined Class 1 / 2 1600 scored DNFs and one was disqualified. The winner of the class scored a 65^th overall finish.

1. Mexicali’s Roberto Romo finished in 14:28:03.060
2. Rick Boyer from Bakersfield took his buggy to a 16:36:10.313
3. From McAllen, Texas, Oscar R. Alvarez crossed in 17:01:20.165

SCORE Lites

The Lites winner crossed the line two seconds after Romo for a 66^th overall finish. Exactly half of this field failed to finish.

1. Simi Valley’s Matt Ferrato took his VW to a time of 14:28:05.124
2. From Ensenada, Oliver Flemate drove his VW to a finishing time of 14:34:22.187
3. Miguel Bonilla of Hermosilla, Sonora

Class 7

Class 7’s winner drove his Chevy to an overall finish of 73^rd. Everyone in this class that finished was on the podium at the end of the race because only three of the eight starters finished.

1. Dallas Luttrell from Salt Lake City finished in 14:56:37.575
2. Carpinteria, California’s Daniel Chamlee drove his Ford to a 17:55.39.709 finish.
3. Glendora’s Jeff Proctor in his Honda finished in 18:05:59.505

Pro UTV Forced Induction

Only three of the field of 25 from this class failed to finish. The top three were all in Polariz RZRs.

1. Justin Lambert from Bakersfield crossed in 13:17:00.940
2. Branden Sims, out of Prescott Valley, Arizona tripped the lights in 14:06:23.259
3. Fallbrook, California’s Mike Cafro’s time of 14:18:13.511 earned him third place in the class

Pro UTV

Eleven drivers entered in the Pro UTV class, but only four were able to finish, all of whom were driving Polariz RZRs. The class’s winner finished 90^th overall.

1. Reno’s J,T, Holmes finished with a time of 16:10:31.955
2. San Diego’s Adrian Orellana finished up in 16:20:26.284
3. Fort Lauderdale’s Don Whittington had a time of 17:44:19.815

Pro Truck and Baja Challenge

Both of these classes only had a single competitor. Larry Nash won the Pro Truck class with a time of 17:37:09.982. Marco Gonzales from Glendora finished in 18:12:26.053 in a Subaru.

Class 7sx, Class 11, and Class 1500 Sportsman Unlimited Buggy

These three classes all had small entry fields. 7sx only had three entries, with Alonso Gonzalez of Ensenada in his Ford taking first in a winning time of 19:49:05.084. Second place also went to a Ford, driven by Sean Whalen of Draper, Utah with a time of 19:56:24.063. Pancho Blo was the only one from the Class 11 field of four to get his VW across the finish line. He had a winning time of 19:02:53.609. Ricardo Rodriguez from Ensenada was the only entrant in the Class 1500 Sportsman Unlimited Buggy. His 19:59:21.000 earned him first place.

Pro Moto Unlimited

Only one of this field’s eight entrants failed to finish. The class’ top four finishers were all on Hondas.

1. Francisco Arrendondo, from Guatemala, took his Honda to an 11:04:52.803
2. Scottsdale’s Ray Del Soglio, took second in 11:30:25.931
3. From Yucca Valley, Mark Samuels finished in 11:35:29.493

Pro Moto Limited

Five of this class’ six entrants finished.

1. Riding a Husgvarna, Jim O’Neal from Simi Valley finished in 12:08:25.655
2. Ulises Fierro of Tijuana rode his KTM to a 12:19:49.298
3. On a Yamaha, Fernando Beltran of Ensenada rode to a 12:49:40.488

Pro Moto 30

1. Tony Wenck, Winterset, Iowa, Yamaha, 12:50:11.770
2. Glenn Scherer, Asbury, New Jersey, Honda, 13:05:46.025
3. Ryan Liebelt, Reedley, California,. Yamaha, 13:12:59.026

Pro Moto 40

1. Jano Montoya, Winter Garden Florida, KTM, 12:22:47.330
2. Colie Potter, Vegas, Honda, 13:22:46.812
3. Kevin Johnson, Boulder City, Nevada, Husqvarna, 13:33:17:259

Pro Moto 50

1. Giovanna Spinali, El Cajon, Honda, 12:59:57.252
2. Robert Gates, Victorville, Kawasaki, 13:12:36.491
3. Marty Gomez, Ransburg, California, Honda, 15:11:33.461

Pro Moto Ironman

1. Jose Armando Carrasco, Rosarito, Suzuki, 15:14:56.967
2. Francisco Teran, Ecuador, Husqvarna, 19:08:59.193

Pro Moto 60

1. Mark Hawley, Anaheim, Honda, 16:10:49.153
2. Donald Lewis, Manchester, Connecticut, Honda, 16:59:37.837

Pro Quads

1. Said Sanchez, Tijuana, Honda, 12:57:24.072
2. Don Higbee, Casper, Wyoming, Can-Am, 15:10:16.950

Sportsman Moto

1. Adam Garcia, Ensenada, Yamaha, 13:40:42.614
2. Carlos Silva, Mexicali, Honda, 13:52:39.098
3. Alberto Morales, Guadalajara, Honda, 14:10:45.657

Sportsman Quads

1. Juan Dominguez, Yuma, Arizona, Honda, 12:48:53.153
2. Erik Ruiz, Tiajuana, Yamaha, 13:37:27.503
3. Israel Jiminez, Tijuana, Honda, 14:13:02.777

Subaru Enters Crosstrek Desert Racing Version-Scores DNF

Subaru has been working on their Crosstrek for some time and they’ve been entering it in rally races for most of that time. This marks the first time they have entered their boxer engine Crosstrek in the Baja 500. While the Grabowski Brothers Dusty and Parker weren’t able to finish the race in it, they were upbeat about their performance and how the rest of their desert reason season is headed.