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November 18, 2006
SCORE MEDIA
39th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 November 15-18, 2006 Ensenada, Baja California to La Paz, BC Sur Mexico Final round of the six-race 2006 SCORE Desert Series Post-Race Quotes
Pro Cars & Trucks SCORE Trophy-Truck 83 Andy McMillin (1st Place in class, 1st overall 4-wheel vehicle) Oh my God! No problems all day – not a single mishap all day. No flat tires, nothing. It was a perfect day. Robby gave me the lead first, physically and I just had to drive it. Mark post was behind us and he was only four minutes behind us and I guess he got stuck in that section up before Loreto, so we had like 15 or 20 minutes on them by the time we hit the highway at 8:50. So we just had to cruise it in. I definitely think that’s what won the race for us is the fact that…I knew Robby could drive the whole 1000 miles, so as far as he could go and how fresh he could be the whole way through, that was going to be key. So when the course started to get rough, that’s where I would get in and that’s where I would be a fresh driver and just do my thing. And I think it paid off in the long run, definitely. It wasn’t that bad. The whole way, we only passed about six or seven bikes. Not bad at all. We finished a lot faster than I thought we would. I thought it would be about 22, 23 hours, definitely. I was not expecting to finish in sunlight. My grandfather was with me all day in the truck and I asked him to keep me safe and not let me have any problems and he was listening to me. Now everyone in the family helps Daniel. Daniel’s next. Hopefully! Hopefully today! I would much rather win this race than all the others combined. This is the granddaddy of all races - the Baja 1000 in La Paz! How many people get the chance to witness this…since I was a baby, I’ve been coming down for pre-runs and stuff. I’ve been coming to La Paz all my life. I went out on the ’95 1000 pre-run, ’98 1000 pre-run, Baja 2000 pre-run, I rode with my dad in ‘02, then I drove in ‘04, now here I am in ‘06 in the winner’s circle! It feels great! Seriously, I was starting to weep when I turned onto the pavement when I saw my dad with his hand out the window… 97 B.J. Baldwin (2nd Place) I’m kind of tired, actually. We did pretty good. We played it safe and pretty conservative all day. I think we ended up second. I shared the driving with Tommy Bradley. They drove it from San Ignacio to Loreto and they did a great job. Going slow and taking it easy was the most challenging part of the course because you kind of have to baby your car until finish and then go racing if you need to. I was just trying to get to the end and trying to get the championship. We got one flat. They kind of had a little booby trap coming down from Valle de Trinidad. Right on top of the cattle guard, there was a big rock and if I was just to drive over it, it would knock my driveline out. So I tried to go to the right of it, and my truck wouldn’t knock over the post, so we just backed up and tried to jump over it. And we cleared it, but Brian Collins was right behind me and we took his trans-pan out. We had some problems with the light bar and some intercom and radio issues but nothing major. We had a pretty clean day. I’ve never been down this far. I liked the course a lot. It was a lot of fun – a lot more challenging! My dad actually had a mechanical failure on his truck. The water pump blew and he lost his motor. He was actually right behind me. He was making time on me and just lost the water pump. Tommy Bradley is a fantastic driver. He just took care of his section. I got most of my advice from Larry Ragland. He helped me out tremendously. I pre-ran with him most of the time I was down here and he helped me out a lot. He’s five-time Baja 1000 champion. My time goal was about 20 hours. I’m a little late – by about a minute twenty-five! The part that I only pre-ran once, I was concerned about because I had a hard time with my pre-runner. It was a section of silt about 10 miles long and I had kind of a rough time with pre-runner with it, but I just blew through it without a problem. It’s a lot different vehicle than my pre-runner. I did run into fog about 80 miles south of Loreto. 39 Ron Whitton (3rd Place) We made it! We had one problem on the highway. I was just going down the highway…almost as soon as we got in the car we got a flat. So I just changed it the last couple of minutes. Then in San Juanico, the guys didn’t have the pit where it was supposed to and I couldn’t’ find my pit. I had to turn around on the course and I couldn’t find my pit. I finally got in contact with them. They were farther down the road. We missed probably 15 minutes there. Then coming in, one of the silt beds, I saw a whole bunch of trucks stuck. There were about four trucks and a quad stuck. I barely missed a quad, hit a bush, went to the right, and ran over some cactuses. I saw on the GPS where the course interlinked. I had a good battle with my dad up by Loreto. He had to fuel. That’s when I passed him and never saw him again. I’d rather have a flat than get stuck for two hours. I was just being careful and straddled the cactuses and drove through them…and here I am! I’m just glad to get a good finish. I got in at San Ignacio, about mile marker 530. I’ve never driven this strip before. I had 500 miles to get used to it and it handled really well! This truck works a lot better than my dad’s for the bumps. 12 Brian Collins (4th Place) Co-driver, Chad Ragland: I’m in here because my dad got sick. I don’t really know why because I didn’t have time to talk to him. He just requested a driver change at race mile 850. So I got out of the car at 550 from number 80. Danny Anderson got in for me. Then I got on the highway to race mile 850 and got in for my dad in the number 12 car. So Danny Anderson is still in the car I started in. And I finished this one. And the reason I’m here is the guy next to me, Billy Gherke, one of the owners of Absolute Racing. I want to thank Mexico and all the fans. It means a lot to me. You guys are awesome. I love racing down here. The people cheered me on. I had no bad incidences out there at all. The fans were great and I’m very excited to be here in La Paz. I want you guys to know I appreciate you guys having us. I do this for pleasure and this is where I choose to come. [As Chad drives away] I don’t know how to start this car. It’s always been running when I got in! NOTE: Chad had a little recorder around his neck on which he took notes during the pre-run. He says they helped him during his race run. This is his first time in the Baja 1000. 85 Todd Wyllie (5th Place) Co-driver, John Marking: These things are so soft. They’re so easy to drive. You actually have to be careful because you get going fast on bumps and all the sudden, here comes Mr. Corner. We had some fuel system problems. I got in and tried to drive up that wash at Loreto. But I had to turn around and come back and do some work on the fuels pump. I got in at Loreto. They made me drive that nasty stuff. That’s not right to make a buggy guy do that! 4 Gus Vildosola (9th Place) Co-driver, Rob MacCachren: No trouble. When I got in, I was four and a half hours behind the first car. That’s all I know. 28 Alan Pflueger (14th Place) We had a great start. I think we were 29th and we just kept working our way up. We had an electrical problem. We pulled over at mile 250 and then we were physically fourth on the road. So it was a good day! It took us a while to figure it out but we just got going again and did what we could. The truck ran unbelievable. People were just cheering us on and we had a great day. We just had that one little hiccup that kind of threw a wrench in things. I think if that hadn’t happened, we would have been home now. Class 1 121 Troy Herbst (1st Place) Co-driver, Larry Roesler: That was brutal! Do I look tired. I could go without some dust for a while! Troy did a good job but he broke his Achilles tendon about 4 months ago, and I know he had a hard time driving. I got in at Coco’s Corner. I don’t know what we were then, maybe 20th on the road. With the dust, traffic and water, it was seriously one of the toughest Baja 1000s I’ve ever done. I’m not exaggerating. It was brutal! This was really, really tough. I’ve won 12 and I think I’ve ridden about 30 of them. The fog really wasn’t too bad. There was a little coming in. I saw the sun coming through and it made the last little part more fun, a little easier. It was mostly the dust and traffic. You can’t come through the dust, especially at night. There was zero wind. The car was fantastic. I had no flats. It was just gas and go at the pits. Everybody did a great job. You know, Troy and I won this overall the last two years and we did make it on the podium again and we won Class 1. Just to finish is a feat of its own. I think Troy may have had one flat tire. But I tell you what, the terrain that we go through, I can’t even believe the tires. It’s pretty amazing what they go through. I had a wave of water come through the windshield and just fill the whole cab with water. The water was deep. And of course, you don’t want to get stuck, but you don’t want to charge it too hard because you’ll suck water into the air cleaner and hydraulic the motor. It’s just really nerve racking. You do your homework pre-running and you know the good lines and the bad lines. With the 39” tires on this, you tend to think nothing is a problem, but the water was just deep. It was 8 and ½ feet. It was radical! But the car didn’t miss a beat. Troy Herbst ran the first half and Larry Rossler ran the second half of the race. 112 Mark Weyhrich (2nd Place) They backed into us at about 40 miles per hour! That’s probably why they got stuck in the silt– poetic justice. It looks like they tried to pass a motorcycle without letting him get out of the way and the guy dumped it and got stuck in the middle of the road, they hit the brakes and got stuck. That’s what caused the whole grid at mile 844. We were following Herbst for about 80 miles. We thought we finally got him and he was backing up and he ran smack into us! I think they had their ignition off so it caught Kenny by surprise. We came up on it and jammed on the brakes. Then we saw his amber so we stopped and he punched it going backwards. 125 Richard Boyle (3rd Place) Co-driver, Ron Brant: We had an electrical problem. When we hit the pavement, it wouldn’t run. It would start for a second and shut off for ten. Then start for a second. But we made it! I think there’s a loose fuse. Otherwise, Nothing major. I don’t know if Richard had any trouble. Richard Boyle started and went to San Ignacio. Then I got in. The biggest challenge was the handheld radio. Class 1-2/1600 1649 Sammy Ehrenberg (1st Place) Co-driver, Shane Reed: Sammy Ehrenberg started and went to El Crucero. Then L.J. Kennedy went from El Crucero to San Ignacio. Wayne Lacher went from San Ignacio to Loreto. I went from Loreto to the finish. Sammy got stuck at the wash and Cameron Steele showed him a little way to get through. Cameron’s Trophy-Truck was broken down and he’s a 1600 guy. Plus Cameron and Sammy were high school buddies, so that’s why he got through. Other than that, we had no problems. No flats, no mechanicals. It’s been a long time coming. We’ve been trying this for 20 years. We’ve got a lot of seconds and a lot of thirds, but never a first. To win our first at La Paz means a lot for our whole group. That’s what I was thinking when I came up on the finish line. 1604 Brian Burgess (2nd Place) This is not my first La Paz finish. I finished third here two years ago. That course was a lot smoother. This was pretty bad. We race every race and we got our butt kicked from San Juanito to 855. We absolutely got our butts kicked! That’s where it was absolutely brutal. Miles and miles of first gear rock turns. You wanted a break and you never got one. But now that I’m finished, I’m glad it was that rough. Out there, I wouldn’t want it that rough, but I’m glad it was. The biggest challenge was not sinking in the deep water crossings, not flooding the motor out. Class 3 300 Donald Moss (1st Place) Co-driver, Kenneth Moss: It went pretty good today – mostly yesterday. I had a good race up until the last 100 miles. We broke a track bar and lost all our turning system but we made it in on batteries. I was surprised about all the extra rough stuff. That section over by Loreto was fun. We got to go through the cactus fields. Note: Donald Moss and Kenneth Moss alternated driving; they split the course in fourths. Note: Class 3 champions since 2002 Class 5/1600 550 Marcos Nunez (1st Place ) It took me one hour to change the clutch. No other problems. Only the clutch. Co-driver, Norberto Rivera: Marcos Nunez started, then Edmundo Fernandez took over. We had a good race. Only we had to change the clutch at race mile 70. At the start of the race, there were about 21 1600s starting. The course is very difficult and hard on the body. I’m happy with the race. I’m happy being the champion again! Class 8 801 Nick Vanderwey (1st Place) We had a great day. No problems. One flat tire up north. The highlight is right now. Hour after hour when you keep beating it down, you just don’t know how lucky you are to get away. You’re so exhausted that the emotions just run in short spurts; jubilation, excitement. All the prep, all the time, all the SCORE people – it’s unbelievable. The people down by the beach with the flags were incredible. They were waving us on. Co-driver, Larry Vanderwey We were just keeping it together. I’ll tell you what – you had to hope it wasn’t your turn, your mile, your bush, your tree. And like we said, we just slipped through Baja’s fingers today. It’s incredible to be standing here with an in-tact truck with no problems. It’s unbelievable. This is the original. This is the one you always want. Nick Vanderwey and Mike Vanderwey went to San Ignacio. Then Paul Dennis and myself went from San Ignacio to here. Class 10 No. 1000 John Cooley (3rd Place) Co-driver, Chris Harrold: This is the first time coming to the finish line! Around here it was starting to get a little like San Felipe where they’re jumping out in front of the car but for the most part, the spectators were awesome. They were cheering us on, no booby traps, pointing us in the right direction. It was a lot of fun. It was great. Hopefully, I was really taking care of everything. The biggest problem we had was being able to see because we got blasted with mud, then we got all the silt and it was foggy. So we had to flip our shields up and the backsides of the shields got wet, then the front sides, then all the dirt coming off the car with the silt was just sticking in there. It was horrible. I’m trying to leave the shield up but the silt was getting in my eyes. SCORE Lite No. 1200 Tim Noe (1st Place) I drove the first 375 miles from the start to Bahia de Los Angeles. Tommy Watson went from Bahia de Los Angeles to Loreto. Gary Arnold went from Loreto to the finish. We had no problems at all. We made it the whole day with no problems at all. We were really out there just to finish the race because we only needed to get in eighth place to win the points championship for the third year in a row. So we just started going for it. For about the first twenty miles, we were conservative. But then it was full-on racing. We stick to our plan which is no plan! It hasn’t hit me yet. I’m sure it will when I walk around the corner. Gary Arnold brought it in. I started it. He wanted me to bring it the last fifty miles. I told him I’m tired, I’ve done my job for the day! Probably the biggest challenge for me was Frog Canyon in the mud. I’m not sure about the other guys. I’m sure we all have stories we’re not telling what we did wrong, you know – a few mistakes. 2004 was about the same as this year. 2005 was a loop race so it was totally different. I like coming down here. They should have this one every year. It’s a challenge. You know, the beautiful Mexico where we get to get away with everything we do. It’s fun down here. Stock Full No. 861 Josh Hall (1st Place) Darn it! I wanted to do it in less that 24 hours. Co-driver, Thad Stump: We had one problem that lasted about an hour and a half. We have something that resembles a disintegrated rag floating around in our fuel cell. So it’s warming up the strainers. We cleaned the pumps and strainers out one time. Now we can alternate fuel pumps and we can run on one fuel pump for about an hour until it gets plugged then we can switch to the other one. While that one’s running, the other one shakes itself free and all the lint and crap falls off the sieve. So we just go back and forth. Stock Mini, No. 762 Rod Hall (Third Place) Only racer to have raced in either a car or truck in all 39 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 races. Hall also has the most class wins in the event with 18. I put it on its side 12 miles into the race and cost us four hours of daytime. The toughest SCORE Baja 1000 ever, I thought I would never get out of the silt beds near El Datil, race marker 925. Protruck No. 236 Rick L. Johnson (1st Place) Jimmy Nuckles went second at Loreto. From there, Jimmy brought it home. But not before he got stuck with first place. We pulled our truck out and then we pulled Creagan out. It was actually a credible today for the entire Toyota Tundra Protruck number 236. We had a long race at the end with a lot of troubles but that’s what 1000 is about. There are a lot of unforeseen things. With Dane Cordone and Jimmy Nuckles and myself, when we’re co-drivers, we’re able to soldier on and bring it in to the finish. Hopefully in first place. This is the second time with the Baja 1000 into La Paz. This is sweet. Anytime you finish the Baja 1000, it’s sweet. Last year we lost it by a minute and 45 seconds. We finished second and lost the championship to Jimmy Nuckles who ended up beating us. So to bring down here in first place with Jimmy is an incredible feat. It’s very exciting. Hopefully this will get us right into the points depending on how Tavo finishes. If he finishes, it will be a very tight points race. The tracking unit helped us tremendously. We were able to have somebody sit at home and tell us how our truck was doing. The tracking unit is absolutely incredible. Anybody who didn’t run one lost out. It’s a great product and just from a safety standpoint, allows us to keep track of our vehicle. No. 203 Dave Creagan (2nd Place) They helped us when we got stuck because they called right away to see if we were okay. It was very good. The minute we stopped, they were already talking to us. The dirt was the biggest challenge. It was an awesome race but I’ve got to say the Mexican people out there cheering for you in the desert are the best. It’s awesome. SCORE did a really good job marking the course. It was a really good race. The truck worked good and those guys in front of us really are number one are great people, too. We got stuck and they pulled us out. He deserves it. The race was hard on equipment. You know, it’s a tough race! Obviously, there are not a lot of Trophy-Trucks here. I don’t know what the attrition rate is here but it’s got to be pretty serious. [What did you think as you came upon the finish line?] Oh thank God I didn’t blow it! Micron Baja Challenge BC 16 Steve Appleton (1st Place) No mechanicals, no flats, and never got lost. The two of us were in the car the whole time. We only got out twice to change drivers. Other than that, I’ve been sitting here for 24 hours. I don’t want to sit in this seat for a couple of months! I think I’m going to go ride my motorcycle for a while. I have more of dirt bike background. It’s kind of hard sitting in a seat for 24 hours. Neither one of us have driven cars before. It was perfect weather. Wasn’t too cold, never got foggy. We never got stuck one place. We couldn’t have done it better. No flats, nothing. Not one mechanical. When you get a Trophy-Truck running by you, you wish you had one of those. That will be our campaign next year, probably - or a Class 1. We probably will. I started 16th. I was in 3rd place at San Felipe and 1st place at Bahia de Los Angeles, and we never looked back. We’re like an old married couple. Our intercom didn’t work. We didn’t have one argument. We didn’t talk to each other the whole time. Hand signals. That’s it. We didn’t talk to each other. It was great being with my brother. It’s definitely an honor and a privilege. BC 14 Eustaquio Escandon, Sr. (2nd Place) Co-driver, Steve Hilbert: This is my third Baja 1000. I’ve done it twice in a car and once on a dirt bike in the 2000. I drove the last third, from just north of Loreto down to here. The first two sessions were Jaime Zunzunegui and Eustaquio Escandon in the first session; then Clark, the co-driver here and Richard Wadehouse were the second drivers. I liked this course. It was really fast. It was not as technical and rocky. But that’s a relative term in Baja. It’s a beautiful road. But you can’t at the view – not while you’re racing. We lost the motor and the transmission. It barely made it down the road here. I don’t know what’s wrong, but you have to be Arnold Schwarzenegger to get it from second to third or third to second. We were stuck and a Protruck hit us. We didn’t get any serious damage, but the front of his Protruck pretty bad. We were real stuck. But he almost got me out. He moved me forward five feet just by hitting me. Note: Tommy Cope was the driver of the truck that hit BC 14 Pro Motorcycles Class 22 No. 1x Steve Hengeveld (1st Place in class, First overall finisher) We didn’t come here to get second, we came here to win and that’s what we did tonight. I didn’t have any problems I just kept riding and I don’t’ think they had any problems either. The new sections were really hard but that’s what Baja is about. It’s not supposed to be easy, it’s supposed to be technical and that’s what we had here today. We all had our tough sections and it’s just a really good, tough course. This is my 5th Baja 1000 in a row and we made history tonight so I want to thank my other two riders Quinn Cody and Mike Childress. It takes a team to do this and we did it tonight. All the Mexican people, thanks for cheering us on, letting us race here, and really supporting us. We look forward to seeing you out on the track. This is the best race in the world! We have a good team, we worked really hard. We made history tonight to win the first Baja 1000 for the 450x and for breaking Johnny Campbell’s win-streak and continuing mine with five in a row. I got on the bike at mile 700 and the bike still ran flawlessly, like it’s brand new to the finish line. That stuff was bad! Dude, I saw a full on accident right in front of me on the highway. I had to hit the breaks or I was going to get caught up in it! Co-driver, Mike Childress I have the best two teammates here tonight. We all did our jobs. We all came here and accomplished what we needed to. Thanks for letting us tear up their peninsula here this whole day, all the people were awesome. It’s great to see and hear them here, screaming and yelling. It really makes you feel good. I started the race this morning and I rode the first 333 miles to El Pasero. Quinn Cody rode to mile 724 and Steve rode from there to the finish. I passed everybody by the time I got to mile 45. Our other teammate, our other 450x team, hit a booby trap in the dust and crashed. I stopped to make sure he was all right and stayed with him for a few minutes. Then I inherited the lead at mile 45 and never looked back. It’s nice having a wide-open course. I mean the course was a rough one this year. The hurricanes and weather have done some damage this year, but our 450x got us to the finish with zero problems. Our time was about right - I guessed it at 19 hours, so it’s a little quicker. But when Sal did the course, he definitely challenged us a little more going to La Paz – it’s a lot tighter - but that’s what we’re here for. Co-driver, Cody Quinn I wasn’t really worried about getting caught. I just had to adjust my style. I was trying to be conservative because we had a big lead and I didn’t want to make any mistakes. That didn’t really work for me so I decided to pick it up my and ride my normal pace and get comfortable on the bike and everything went flawless. No issues the whole ride. I’ve been pre-running – I went over my whole section six times and I had it pretty much wired, so it was just like I expected except our race bike was about 10 miles per hour faster than my pre-runner so there was maybe a little bit of backing out of the throttle here and there. Other than that, everything went perfect. We made it, got our lights on right in time and basically did what we expected and everything went really well. No. 6x Robby Bell (2nd Place) I hit a booby trap around mile marker 40 or 42 something. It was just like a 2-foot tall curb or square or something that some guys built. I was behind 2x still. And he hit it and went down and then I was in his dust and I had no chance. I hit it. I cartwheeled and broke my chest protector off and lost my fanny pack. But the bike was totally straight. At first I was a little dingy and I started going backwards on the course. Then I saw Mikey coming so I got straightened out. So I got going straight again. It broke my goggles when I crashed so I rode with no goggles to Pit One. Once I got goggles, they duct taped my visor straight. Then I slowly picked it up as I felt better. I kept it pretty close, like within 10 or 12 minutes to Mikey. Until just after Puertecitos, I got a rear flat and had to ride with a flat for like 20 or 22 miles. So I lost tons of time there. We got the flat changed. When we got going again, I was like 45 minutes behind. I gave it back to Kendall at altrazera. Then we met him at Vizcaino, at the highway, and we heard he broke his hand. So I had to get back on the bike and ride from Vizcaino all the way to race mile 724. I had no idea where I was going and it was at night and it was kind of sketchy at times, so I had to ask for directions a couple of times, but I got it back to Johnny in one piece. I knew it was at least 45 minutes, or close to an hour as soon as I got back on the bike. I wanted to keep the streak going for Johnny, the goals had to change and I tried to make it a Honda 1-2, and finish the race to get the 1x plate. I just played it safe, made sure I didn’t get lost, didn’t go down, didn’t have any problems and give the bike to Johnny in one piece so we could finish the race. Co-driver, Steve Hilbert: The first long silt bed, I got crossed up in and I started going sideways. Then, I missed a turn, east of Ciudad Constitution on a really fast road and I looked down at something. The road kept going straight but we veered off at the last twisty section before 17, and I said ‘whoa, there are no markings!’ I came out good, though. My tires are just a little low in the back. My team did what they were supposed to do. I’m very proud. We got delayed by a couple of patches on a flat tire. I got the bike about 7:50 pm and had about 325 miles to go. That was probably the toughest part of the course because it’s at night and it was demanding – really technical. So at that point in the race I decided to bring it in because we were so far down that it’s hard to make up that much time. So I paced myself. I was on the bike for a lot of hours. I just rode it in and I’m happy to be here. The 450x is a phenomenal machine. I was so pleased with the way it worked. It was really fast, light and easy handling – all the rocks, turns and elevation changes in my section. The 450x was an awesome machine. It takes a lot less effort than other bikes I’ve ridden. Robby Bell rode from the start to mile 333. Kendall Norman was supposed to ride from 333 to 724 but he got off and hurt his hand. Robby had to get on somewhere near San Ignacio and ride the second half of his leg. So he brought it down to me at Checkpoint 7, mile 724.5 and I got on there and went to La Paz. I don’t know any details [about Kendall’s hand] because I heard everything third-hand information. Something happened early in the race – Robby hit a booby trap just outside Ojos Negros, so right away we had a problem. I’m glad Robby’s here – he was able to get back on the bike because he went down pretty hard. I guess Mikey had to pick him up, so we’re fortunate. No. 16x Allan Donaldson (5th Place) The whole thing was just mentally tough. I’ve been riding for about 25 years and this is my first time in the Baja 1000. [What got you started?] The movie (Dust to Glory). No. 18x Anna Cody (20th Place, solo rider) I have been through a battle. I made it! I’ve been riding since 6:30 yesterday morning. I stopped about 20 minutes at a pit to refuel and hydrate and go on. It was tough – the toughest SCORE race I’ve ever done. It’s such an awesome feeling. I just said a little prayer to my former teammate that we did it and I wish she could be here with me. I’ve always wanted to solo it to La Paz. Note: Has become the first woman to ride solo on a motorcycle in the Baja 1000. Class 20 No. 151x Charles Schnell(1st Place) Co-driver, Nancy Emde: Racing is part of our family tradition and I’ve always wanted to race the Baja 1000. I did the last section from Punta Conejo to here. It was pretty rough. It’s nice that it’s over. It’s been a long hot day. Everything went according to plan. Unbelievable. I have three grown children; three daughters and a son. There were a lot of things going on out there and we had a lot of fans. The biggest challenge was probably the sand washes that had the big washouts in them. It’s hard to go fast when they have a lot of those. I’m glad it’s over. It’s been a long night and a long morning. But I’m ready for next year! Class 30 No. 300x Gerardo Rojas (1st Place) No. 307x Ron Wilson (2nd Place) We’re just happy to finish today! We kind of got buried in the back of the pack. One of our partners did a little damage to the back of the bike about half-way. So we got pushed back to about 13th. I don’t know what happened. We’re the non-crashers of the two. To break up the ride, there were four of us and we just basically split it in quarters. I did about the last 300 or so, Tim did about 300, the two guys in front of us did a little bit less. Scott Meyers started. Then he gave it to Steve Garnett. I think both of them are seeing double right now! I actually got to ride through some water which was nice for a change. It was fun. It was definitely a fun course for sure. It was challenging which is good. Good, good, good! Class 40 No. 400x Jeff Kaplan (1st Place) It went really well out there. We got the bike in great shape. We were sixth overall and just passed a few guys. Then we caught up to the third team but couldn’t quite get through their dust. So we just hung tight and I think we beat them on time because just finished two minutes behind them. The bike was incredible. It didn’t miss a beat all day. No problems. I tipped over right before the finish in the dust, but very slowly, though. Everything else was smooth. [How did you break up the ride?] Up north, I can’t tell you. From San Ignacio, it was Randy Morales and Jeff Cheats and myself. The starter was Lou Frankel. He just rode 70 miles and I’m guessing he passed a lot of people because we stated about 50th and we got to 4th overall. My guess is Louie passed a ton of people. So they did all the work in the north end. It went well. Those guys did a good job. We didn’t have to do much but hold it…pick off a few more. This is one of the roughest 1000s. It’s like the old days, like the ‘70s. It’s similar to what we used to run before the runs were real fast and easy. This is what it used to be like. I’ve never seen this much water down here. It made it nice. It made it fun. We earned it this time! Class 50 No. 500x Jim O’Neal (1st Place) Co-driver, Bobby Hanson: I was just telling my partner, Andy, that we had a real bad day yesterday but a real good day today. So when the sun came back up, everything seemed to work out. I think we got the class win! We’re real happy even though we had rough times last night. I bent a rotor and took us way behind. But at Pit 14, they put a new wheel on it and everyone picked back up and now we’re here. On Thursday, we missed the rider change, so he had to do the real rocky section from La Barista toward Loreto which he wasn’t supposed to do. That was supposed to be part of my section so we had a few frantic cell phone conversations to work that out. So bobby hadn’t ridden that section yet and didn’t even know where we were going to do our exchange, so he had to track the rider down and practically drag him off the bike to let him know. We lost about 40 minutes in the whole thing but it worked out. Basically that extra section was the only part that wasn’t pre-run. Co-driver, Greene: No matter how much you plan, things change. And you have to be able to move with those changes to make something like this happen. If you can’t adjust to it, then that’s where you have a problem. Because everybody has problems somewhere in races. The team pulled together and adjusted to the problems and made it work. At night, it’s just a matter of getting through it. Everything looks basically the same anyway. The only problem is nothing looks familiar so you don’t know how far you’ve gone or how far you’ve got to go. If I could do it without GPS on the bike, you just keep going until you get to your finish. The problem I had was I was stranded because my truck was someplace else so I had to hitchhike to Santa Rita. That’s where I ended up finding my truck again. It was a fun night, a tough night. Class 60 No. 601x Donald Lewis (1st Place) I’ll tell you, it was an amazing event. I enjoyed every minute. I’ve been down here pre-running. I ran my section five times. I think we did a great job preparing for this. It was just a wonderful experience. There were eight of us that rode. I thought there would be an injury or two, but there wasn’t. All of us just made it through. No major problems at all. We did it. We cleaned the clock. We’re the first class 60 team ever to do it. I loved every bit of it. It was just terrific. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Honest to God, we’re proving that you can redefine what is possible. You’re life is not over when you’re sixty. We’re the first ever Class 60 team. It was a terrific experience. Pro ATVS Class 25 No. 7a Danny Prather (1st Place) That was an awesome course! Man, those rocks were gnarly! It was a good time. I just looked back and saw that I had a truck behind me. We just barely beat them…good times!! It was a perfect race. We changed a couple of rear tires to keep them fresh. All the guys did what they need, we came here to win. Mike Cafro started and took it to Ojos; He gave it to Dana Skreech in Puertecitos; Mike Cafro got back on and took it to Bahia de Los Angeles; Levi Marana took it to San Ignacio; Mark Speath to north of Loreto; I took it Loreto down to Ciudad Insurgentes; Levi got back on to, rode to Santa Rita and I took it from Santa Rita home, back to the finish line. I knew that the next team was coming. I kept looking back. He was getting close for about the last 30 miles. I could feel him. There’s a fast stretches and I knew he’d be coming in soon. I’m surprised he didn’t catch me earlier. But I’m glad he didn’t, man. I hate getting passed by those guys. I’ve never won a Baja 1000 and this is by far the best one to win. Going down to La Paz is just awesome. I can’t even explain it. Everybody had some issues, but we were spared this one and we pulled it off. It feels good, man. It’s a sweet win, a great win! I’m hoping we win some money! No. 4a Jeff Hancock (2nd Place) Co-driver, Larry Hancock: It was pretty fun. We had a tight battle for probably the first 500 or 600 miles and we broke an A-arm. Luckily we were close enough to a road we got an A-arm and a front shock in, put that back on but we lost about an hour or an hour and a half. You know, other than that, no major problems all day. Jeff Hancock started. Kyle Pethens ran through San Felipe. Jeff got back on and ran down to Bahia de Los Angeles. I got on, then Kyle got on. I brought it in the last 100 miles. It was great fun. The logistics is probably the most challenging part, just getting the trucks coming down. When you’re on a bike, you just ride as fast as you can. That’s all you know how to do. But, you know just getting the stuff where it needs to be. Just having a team that can get that stuff really helps. SPORTSMAN SPT M/C>250cc No. 211x Carlos Gonzalez (1st Place) Another vehicle cut in front of us. He broke my concentration a little because I’m not used to having a car catch up to me. And it’s something that scared me a lot. That gave me a little extra pressure along the way. All the people of La Paz, especially kids, were cheering me on and it made me forget that I was tired. No. 236x Paul Crandell (2nd Place) Everybody rode their part of the course. It was a total team effort. Everybody did their 100 or 200 mile sections. It was unbelievable. I actually like riding better at night now. I hadn’t ridden at night until next. Now, riding at night goes a lot faster. No. 250x Colie Potter (14th Place, solo rider) I hit a bunch of rocks but it ran great all day. The bike ran perfect. I had to pull way down deep here at the end, but its fun. I love to ride motorcycles. I only took gas breaks and stopped for food. I didn’t sleep or anything. I took like four 15 minute breaks. I think my time was pretty good. The new section up by San Ignacio – I haven’t done that part before. I never pre-ran it. There was a little bit of people in the water, a little bit of carnage. But I actually got around it okay. But on the silt, the sand was all chewed up and it was silt everywhere. There were a lot of buggies and Trophy-Trucks stuck. So you kind of had to pick your way through the weeds. But it wasn’t bad. I really liked seeing Javier, that canyon out of Loreto. It’s a beautiful view, especially at sunrise. It was good. Gonzaga Bay is nice. This city is nice. Nobody got hurt and my goal was achieved. I’ve never raced on a team. It’s just satisfaction for me. A lot of people don’t know what it’s like unless they actually do it. I really have to pull down deep. It’s a lot of mental work. Not as much physical. I mean you have to know how to ride, but in the wee hours, it’s all mental. 238x Alastair Hilson (17th Place, solo rider) I feel trashed! The whole thing was the best part of it. The course, the pre-running. Sal does such a good job. After a couple of beers, I might do it again. I’m trashed! The Mexicans are the most supportive people. It’s great! They keep you going. I didn’t have any problems. It was a good, except the silt and rocks. It was brutal, especially the last 300 miles of silt. I don’t know what would feel better – to win or just to finish. It’s two different people. One’s doing it for time the other’s doing it for satisfaction. SPT ATV No. 54a Craig Christy (1st Place) Co-driver, Jessica McCreary: It was great! It was awesome. I’ve been down here every single week for the last few months to train. We’ve been down each other’s throats and now it paid off. For me, seeing the sunrise was really nice. That was the best part. I think it really helped coming over the hill and seeing all the girls light up, realizing that I’m a girl. I’m like ‘YEAH!’. That was cool. The most challenging part was having to go to the bathroom. I really hated stopping. Everything was challenging. They’re always tough. Actually, they were really nice in this race. This is my first time coming in within the time limit! Each of our riders did about 250 miles. SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, 702.735.7123 39th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 November 17, 2006 Ensenada, Baja California to La Paz, BC Sur Mexico Round 5 of the six-race 2006 SCORE Desert Series Post-Race Quotes Pro Cars & Trucks SCORE Trophy-Truck 83 Andy McMillin (1st Place in class, 1st overall 4-wheel vehicle) Oh my God! No problems all day – not a single mishap all day. No flat tires, nothing. It was a perfect day. Robby gave me the lead first, physically and I just had to drive it. Mark post was behind us and he was only four minutes behind us and I guess he got stuck in that section up before Loreto, so we had like 15 or 20 minutes on them by the time we hit the highway at 8:50. So we just had to cruise it in. I definitely think that’s what won the race for us is the fact that…I knew Robby could drive the whole 1000 miles, so as far as he could go and how fresh he could be the whole way through, that was going to be key. So when the course started to get rough, that’s where I would get in and that’s where I would be a fresh driver and just do my thing. And I think it paid off in the long run, definitely. It wasn’t that bad. The whole way, we only passed about six or seven bikes. Not bad at all. We finished a lot faster than I thought we would. I thought it would be about 22, 23 hours, definitely. I was not expecting to finish in sunlight. My grandfather was with me all day in the truck and I asked him to keep me safe and not let me have any problems and he was listening to me. Now everyone in the family helps Daniel. Daniel’s next. Hopefully! Hopefully today! I would much rather win this race than all the others combined. This is the granddaddy of all races - the Baja 1000 in La Paz! How many people get the chance to witness this…since I was a baby, I’ve been coming down for pre-runs and stuff. I’ve been coming to La Paz all my life. I went out on the ’95 1000 pre-run, ’98 1000 pre-run, Baja 2000 pre-run, I rode with my dad in ‘02, then I drove in ‘04, now here I am in ‘06 in the winner’s circle! It feels great! Seriously, I was starting to weep when I turned onto the pavement when I saw my dad with his hand out the window… 97 B.J. Baldwin (2nd Place) I’m kind of tired, actually. We did pretty good. We played it safe and pretty conservative all day. I think we ended up second. I shared the driving with Tommy Bradley. They drove it from San Ignacio to Loreto and they did a great job. Going slow and taking it easy was the most challenging part of the course because you kind of have to baby your car until finish and then go racing if you need to. I was just trying to get to the end and trying to get the championship. We got one flat. They kind of had a little booby trap coming down from Valle de Trinidad. Right on top of the cattle guard, there was a big rock and if I was just to drive over it, it would knock my driveline out. So I tried to go to the right of it, and my truck wouldn’t knock over the post, so we just backed up and tried to jump over it. And we cleared it, but Brian Collins was right behind me and we took his trans-pan out. We had some problems with the light bar and some intercom and radio issues but nothing major. We had a pretty clean day. I’ve never been down this far. I liked the course a lot. It was a lot of fun – a lot more challenging! My dad actually had a mechanical failure on his truck. The water pump blew and he lost his motor. He was actually right behind me. He was making time on me and just lost the water pump. Tommy Bradley is a fantastic driver. He just took care of his section. I got most of my advice from Larry Ragland. He helped me out tremendously. I pre-ran with him most of the time I was down here and he helped me out a lot. He’s five-time Baja 1000 champion. My time goal was about 20 hours. I’m a little late – by about a minute twenty-five! The part that I only pre-ran once, I was concerned about because I had a hard time with my pre-runner. It was a section of silt about 10 miles long and I had kind of a rough time with pre-runner with it, but I just blew through it without a problem. It’s a lot different vehicle than my pre-runner. I did run into fog about 80 miles south of Loreto. 39 Ron Whitton (3rd Place) We made it! We had one problem on the highway. I was just going down the highway…almost as soon as we got in the car we got a flat. So I just changed it the last couple of minutes. Then in San Juanico, the guys didn’t have the pit where it was supposed to and I couldn’t’ find my pit. I had to turn around on the course and I couldn’t find my pit. I finally got in contact with them. They were farther down the road. We missed probably 15 minutes there. Then coming in, one of the silt beds, I saw a whole bunch of trucks stuck. There were about four trucks and a quad stuck. I barely missed a quad, hit a bush, went to the right, and ran over some cactuses. I saw on the GPS where the course interlinked. I had a good battle with my dad up by Loreto. He had to fuel. That’s when I passed him and never saw him again. I’d rather have a flat than get stuck for two hours. I was just being careful and straddled the cactuses and drove through them…and here I am! I’m just glad to get a good finish. I got in at San Ignacio, about mile marker 530. I’ve never driven this strip before. I had 500 miles to get used to it and it handled really well! This truck works a lot better than my dad’s for the bumps. 12 Brian Collins (4th Place) Co-driver, Chad Ragland: I’m in here because my dad got sick. I don’t really know why because I didn’t have time to talk to him. He just requested a driver change at race mile 850. So I got out of the car at 550 from number 80. Danny Anderson got in for me. Then I got on the highway to race mile 850 and got in for my dad in the number 12 car. So Danny Anderson is still in the car I started in. And I finished this one. And the reason I’m here is the guy next to me, Billy Gherke, one of the owners of Absolute Racing. I want to thank Mexico and all the fans. It means a lot to me. You guys are awesome. I love racing down here. The people cheered me on. I had no bad incidences out there at all. The fans were great and I’m very excited to be here in La Paz. I want you guys to know I appreciate you guys having us. I do this for pleasure and this is where I choose to come. [As Chad drives away] I don’t know how to start this car. It’s always been running when I got in! NOTE: Chad had a little recorder around his neck on which he took notes during the pre-run. He says they helped him during his race run. This is his first time in the Baja 1000. 85 Todd Wyllie (5th Place) Co-driver, John Marking: These things are so soft. They’re so easy to drive. You actually have to be careful because you get going fast on bumps and all the sudden, here comes Mr. Corner. We had some fuel system problems. I got in and tried to drive up that wash at Loreto. But I had to turn around and come back and do some work on the fuels pump. I got in at Loreto. They made me drive that nasty stuff. That’s not right to make a buggy guy do that! 4 Gus Vildosola (9th Place) Co-driver, Rob MacCachren: No trouble. When I got in, I was four and a half hours behind the first car. That’s all I know. 28 Alan Pflueger (14th Place) We had a great start. I think we were 29th and we just kept working our way up. We had an electrical problem. We pulled over at mile 250 and then we were physically fourth on the road. So it was a good day! It took us a while to figure it out but we just got going again and did what we could. The truck ran unbelievable. People were just cheering us on and we had a great day. We just had that one little hiccup that kind of threw a wrench in things. I think if that hadn’t happened, we would have been home now. Class 1 121 Troy Herbst (1st Place) Co-driver, Larry Roesler: That was brutal! Do I look tired. I could go without some dust for a while! Troy did a good job but he broke his Achilles tendon about 4 months ago, and I know he had a hard time driving. I got in at Coco’s Corner. I don’t know what we were then, maybe 20th on the road. With the dust, traffic and water, it was seriously one of the toughest Baja 1000s I’ve ever done. I’m not exaggerating. It was brutal! This was really, really tough. I’ve won 12 and I think I’ve ridden about 30 of them. The fog really wasn’t too bad. There was a little coming in. I saw the sun coming through and it made the last little part more fun, a little easier. It was mostly the dust and traffic. You can’t come through the dust, especially at night. There was zero wind. The car was fantastic. I had no flats. It was just gas and go at the pits. Everybody did a great job. You know, Troy and I won this overall the last two years and we did make it on the podium again and we won Class 1. Just to finish is a feat of its own. I think Troy may have had one flat tire. But I tell you what, the terrain that we go through, I can’t even believe the tires. It’s pretty amazing what they go through. I had a wave of water come through the windshield and just fill the whole cab with water. The water was deep. And of course, you don’t want to get stuck, but you don’t want to charge it too hard because you’ll suck water into the air cleaner and hydraulic the motor. It’s just really nerve racking. You do your homework pre-running and you know the good lines and the bad lines. With the 39” tires on this, you tend to think nothing is a problem, but the water was just deep. It was 8 and ½ feet. It was radical! But the car didn’t miss a beat. Troy Herbst ran the first half and Larry Rossler ran the second half of the race. 112 Mark Weyhrich (2nd Place) They backed into us at about 40 miles per hour! That’s probably why they got stuck in the silt– poetic justice. It looks like they tried to pass a motorcycle without letting him get out of the way and the guy dumped it and got stuck in the middle of the road, they hit the brakes and got stuck. That’s what caused the whole grid at mile 844. We were following Herbst for about 80 miles. We thought we finally got him and he was backing up and he ran smack into us! I think they had their ignition off so it caught Kenny by surprise. We came up on it and jammed on the brakes. Then we saw his amber so we stopped and he punched it going backwards. 125 Richard Boyle (3rd Place) Co-driver, Ron Brant: We had an electrical problem. When we hit the pavement, it wouldn’t run. It would start for a second and shut off for ten. Then start for a second. But we made it! I think there’s a loose fuse. Otherwise, Nothing major. I don’t know if Richard had any trouble. Richard Boyle started and went to San Ignacio. Then I got in. The biggest challenge was the handheld radio. Class 1-2/1600 1649 Sammy Ehrenberg (1st Place) Co-driver, Shane Reed: Sammy Ehrenberg started and went to El Crucero. Then L.J. Kennedy went from El Crucero to San Ignacio. Wayne Lacher went from San Ignacio to Loreto. I went from Loreto to the finish. Sammy got stuck at the wash and Cameron Steele showed him a little way to get through. Cameron’s Trophy-Truck was broken down and he’s a 1600 guy. Plus Cameron and Sammy were high school buddies, so that’s why he got through. Other than that, we had no problems. No flats, no mechanicals. It’s been a long time coming. We’ve been trying this for 20 years. We’ve got a lot of seconds and a lot of thirds, but never a first. To win our first at La Paz means a lot for our whole group. That’s what I was thinking when I came up on the finish line. 1604 Brian Burgess (2nd Place) This is not my first La Paz finish. I finished third here two years ago. That course was a lot smoother. This was pretty bad. We race every race and we got our butt kicked from San Juanito to 855. We absolutely got our butts kicked! That’s where it was absolutely brutal. Miles and miles of first gear rock turns. You wanted a break and you never got one. But now that I’m finished, I’m glad it was that rough. Out there, I wouldn’t want it that rough, but I’m glad it was. The biggest challenge was not sinking in the deep water crossings, not flooding the motor out. Class 3 300 Donald Moss (1st Place) Co-driver, Kenneth Moss: It went pretty good today – mostly yesterday. I had a good race up until the last 100 miles. We broke a track bar and lost all our turning system but we made it in on batteries. I was surprised about all the extra rough stuff. That section over by Loreto was fun. We got to go through the cactus fields. Note: Donald Moss and Kenneth Moss alternated driving; they split the course in fourths. Note: Class 3 champions since 2002 Class 5/1600 550 Marcos Nunez (1st Place ) It took me one hour to change the clutch. No other problems. Only the clutch. Co-driver, Norberto Rivera: Marcos Nunez started, then Edmundo Fernandez took over. We had a good race. Only we had to change the clutch at race mile 70. At the start of the race, there were about 21 1600s starting. The course is very difficult and hard on the body. I’m happy with the race. I’m happy being the champion again! Class 8 801 Nick Vanderwey (1st Place) We had a great day. No problems. One flat tire up north. The highlight is right now. Hour after hour when you keep beating it down, you just don’t know how lucky you are to get away. You’re so exhausted that the emotions just run in short spurts; jubilation, excitement. All the prep, all the time, all the SCORE people – it’s unbelievable. The people down by the beach with the flags were incredible. They were waving us on. Co-driver, Larry Vanderwey We were just keeping it together. I’ll tell you what – you had to hope it wasn’t your turn, your mile, your bush, your tree. And like we said, we just slipped through Baja’s fingers today. It’s incredible to be standing here with an in-tact truck with no problems. It’s unbelievable. This is the original. This is the one you always want. Nick Vanderwey and Mike Vanderwey went to San Ignacio. Then Paul Dennis and myself went from San Ignacio to here. Class 10 No. 1000 John Cooley (3rd Place) Co-driver, Chris Harrold: This is the first time coming to the finish line! Around here it was starting to get a little like San Felipe where they’re jumping out in front of the car but for the most part, the spectators were awesome. They were cheering us on, no booby traps, pointing us in the right direction. It was a lot of fun. It was great. Hopefully, I was really taking care of everything. The biggest problem we had was being able to see because we got blasted with mud, then we got all the silt and it was foggy. So we had to flip our shields up and the backsides of the shields got wet, then the front sides, then all the dirt coming off the car with the silt was just sticking in there. It was horrible. I’m trying to leave the shield up but the silt was getting in my eyes. SCORE Lite No. 1200 Tim Noe (1st Place) I drove the first 375 miles from the start to Bahia de Los Angeles. Tommy Watson went from Bahia de Los Angeles to Loreto. Gary Arnold went from Loreto to the finish. We had no problems at all. We made it the whole day with no problems at all. We were really out there just to finish the race because we only needed to get in eighth place to win the points championship for the third year in a row. So we just started going for it. For about the first twenty miles, we were conservative. But then it was full-on racing. We stick to our plan which is no plan! It hasn’t hit me yet. I’m sure it will when I walk around the corner. Gary Arnold brought it in. I started it. He wanted me to bring it the last fifty miles. I told him I’m tired, I’ve done my job for the day! Probably the biggest challenge for me was Frog Canyon in the mud. I’m not sure about the other guys. I’m sure we all have stories we’re not telling what we did wrong, you know – a few mistakes. 2004 was about the same as this year. 2005 was a loop race so it was totally different. I like coming down here. They should have this one every year. It’s a challenge. You know, the beautiful Mexico where we get to get away with everything we do. It’s fun down here. Stock Full No. 861 Josh Hall (1st Place) Darn it! I wanted to do it in less that 24 hours. Co-driver, Thad Stump: We had one problem that lasted about an hour and a half. We have something that resembles a disintegrated rag floating around in our fuel cell. So it’s warming up the strainers. We cleaned the pumps and strainers out one time. Now we can alternate fuel pumps and we can run on one fuel pump for about an hour until it gets plugged then we can switch to the other one. While that one’s running, the other one shakes itself free and all the lint and crap falls off the sieve. So we just go back and forth. Stock Mini, No. 762 Rod Hall (Third Place) Only racer to have raced in either a car or truck in all 39 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 races. Hall also has the most class wins in the event with 18. I put it on its side 12 miles into the race and cost us four hours of daytime. The toughest SCORE Baja 1000 ever, I thought I would never get out of the silt beds near El Datil, race marker 925. Protruck No. 236 Rick L. Johnson (1st Place) Jimmy Nuckles went second at Loreto. From there, Jimmy brought it home. But not before he got stuck with first place. We pulled our truck out and then we pulled Creagan out. It was actually a credible today for the entire Toyota Tundra Protruck number 236. We had a long race at the end with a lot of troubles but that’s what 1000 is about. There are a lot of unforeseen things. With Dane Cordone and Jimmy Nuckles and myself, when we’re co-drivers, we’re able to soldier on and bring it in to the finish. Hopefully in first place. This is the second time with the Baja 1000 into La Paz. This is sweet. Anytime you finish the Baja 1000, it’s sweet. Last year we lost it by a minute and 45 seconds. We finished second and lost the championship to Jimmy Nuckles who ended up beating us. So to bring down here in first place with Jimmy is an incredible feat. It’s very exciting. Hopefully this will get us right into the points depending on how Tavo finishes. If he finishes, it will be a very tight points race. The tracking unit helped us tremendously. We were able to have somebody sit at home and tell us how our truck was doing. The tracking unit is absolutely incredible. Anybody who didn’t run one lost out. It’s a great product and just from a safety standpoint, allows us to keep track of our vehicle. No. 203 Dave Creagan (2nd Place) They helped us when we got stuck because they called right away to see if we were okay. It was very good. The minute we stopped, they were already talking to us. The dirt was the biggest challenge. It was an awesome race but I’ve got to say the Mexican people out there cheering for you in the desert are the best. It’s awesome. SCORE did a really good job marking the course. It was a really good race. The truck worked good and those guys in front of us really are number one are great people, too. We got stuck and they pulled us out. He deserves it. The race was hard on equipment. You know, it’s a tough race! Obviously, there are not a lot of Trophy-Trucks here. I don’t know what the attrition rate is here but it’s got to be pretty serious. [What did you think as you came upon the finish line?] Oh thank God I didn’t blow it! Micron Baja Challenge BC 16 Steve Appleton (1st Place) No mechanicals, no flats, and never got lost. The two of us were in the car the whole time. We only got out twice to change drivers. Other than that, I’ve been sitting here for 24 hours. I don’t want to sit in this seat for a couple of months! I think I’m going to go ride my motorcycle for a while. I have more of dirt bike background. It’s kind of hard sitting in a seat for 24 hours. Neither one of us have driven cars before. It was perfect weather. Wasn’t too cold, never got foggy. We never got stuck one place. We couldn’t have done it better. No flats, nothing. Not one mechanical. When you get a Trophy-Truck running by you, you wish you had one of those. That will be our campaign next year, probably - or a Class 1. We probably will. I started 16th. I was in 3rd place at San Felipe and 1st place at Bahia de Los Angeles, and we never looked back. We’re like an old married couple. Our intercom didn’t work. We didn’t have one argument. We didn’t talk to each other the whole time. Hand signals. That’s it. We didn’t talk to each other. It was great being with my brother. It’s definitely an honor and a privilege. BC 14 Eustaquio Escandon, Sr. (2nd Place) Co-driver, Steve Hilbert: This is my third Baja 1000. I’ve done it twice in a car and once on a dirt bike in the 2000. I drove the last third, from just north of Loreto down to here. The first two sessions were Jaime Zunzunegui and Eustaquio Escandon in the first session; then Clark, the co-driver here and Richard Wadehouse were the second drivers. I liked this course. It was really fast. It was not as technical and rocky. But that’s a relative term in Baja. It’s a beautiful road. But you can’t at the view – not while you’re racing. We lost the motor and the transmission. It barely made it down the road here. I don’t know what’s wrong, but you have to be Arnold Schwarzenegger to get it from second to third or third to second. We were stuck and a Protruck hit us. We didn’t get any serious damage, but the front of his Protruck pretty bad. We were real stuck. But he almost got me out. He moved me forward five feet just by hitting me. Note: Tommy Cope was the driver of the truck that hit BC 14 Pro Motorcycles Class 22 No. 1x Steve Hengeveld (1st Place in class, First overall finisher) We didn’t come here to get second, we came here to win and that’s what we did tonight. I didn’t have any problems I just kept riding and I don’t’ think they had any problems either. The new sections were really hard but that’s what Baja is about. It’s not supposed to be easy, it’s supposed to be technical and that’s what we had here today. We all had our tough sections and it’s just a really good, tough course. This is my 5th Baja 1000 in a row and we made history tonight so I want to thank my other two riders Quinn Cody and Mike Childress. It takes a team to do this and we did it tonight. All the Mexican people, thanks for cheering us on, letting us race here, and really supporting us. We look forward to seeing you out on the track. This is the best race in the world! We have a good team, we worked really hard. We made history tonight to win the first Baja 1000 for the 450x and for breaking Johnny Campbell’s win-streak and continuing mine with five in a row. I got on the bike at mile 700 and the bike still ran flawlessly, like it’s brand new to the finish line. That stuff was bad! Dude, I saw a full on accident right in front of me on the highway. I had to hit the breaks or I was going to get caught up in it! Co-driver, Mike Childress I have the best two teammates here tonight. We all did our jobs. We all came here and accomplished what we needed to. Thanks for letting us tear up their peninsula here this whole day, all the people were awesome. It’s great to see and hear them here, screaming and yelling. It really makes you feel good. I started the race this morning and I rode the first 333 miles to El Pasero. Quinn Cody rode to mile 724 and Steve rode from there to the finish. I passed everybody by the time I got to mile 45. Our other teammate, our other 450x team, hit a booby trap in the dust and crashed. I stopped to make sure he was all right and stayed with him for a few minutes. Then I inherited the lead at mile 45 and never looked back. It’s nice having a wide-open course. I mean the course was a rough one this year. The hurricanes and weather have done some damage this year, but our 450x got us to the finish with zero problems. Our time was about right - I guessed it at 19 hours, so it’s a little quicker. But when Sal did the course, he definitely challenged us a little more going to La Paz – it’s a lot tighter - but that’s what we’re here for. Co-driver, Cody Quinn I wasn’t really worried about getting caught. I just had to adjust my style. I was trying to be conservative because we had a big lead and I didn’t want to make any mistakes. That didn’t really work for me so I decided to pick it up my and ride my normal pace and get comfortable on the bike and everything went flawless. No issues the whole ride. I’ve been pre-running – I went over my whole section six times and I had it pretty much wired, so it was just like I expected except our race bike was about 10 miles per hour faster than my pre-runner so there was maybe a little bit of backing out of the throttle here and there. Other than that, everything went perfect. We made it, got our lights on right in time and basically did what we expected and everything went really well. No. 6x Robby Bell (2nd Place) I hit a booby trap around mile marker 40 or 42 something. It was just like a 2-foot tall curb or square or something that some guys built. I was behind 2x still. And he hit it and went down and then I was in his dust and I had no chance. I hit it. I cartwheeled and broke my chest protector off and lost my fanny pack. But the bike was totally straight. At first I was a little dingy and I started going backwards on the course. Then I saw Mikey coming so I got straightened out. So I got going straight again. It broke my goggles when I crashed so I rode with no goggles to Pit One. Once I got goggles, they duct taped my visor straight. Then I slowly picked it up as I felt better. I kept it pretty close, like within 10 or 12 minutes to Mikey. Until just after Puertecitos, I got a rear flat and had to ride with a flat for like 20 or 22 miles. So I lost tons of time there. We got the flat changed. When we got going again, I was like 45 minutes behind. I gave it back to Kendall at altrazera. Then we met him at Vizcaino, at the highway, and we heard he broke his hand. So I had to get back on the bike and ride from Vizcaino all the way to race mile 724. I had no idea where I was going and it was at night and it was kind of sketchy at times, so I had to ask for directions a couple of times, but I got it back to Johnny in one piece. I knew it was at least 45 minutes, or close to an hour as soon as I got back on the bike. I wanted to keep the streak going for Johnny, the goals had to change and I tried to make it a Honda 1-2, and finish the race to get the 1x plate. I just played it safe, made sure I didn’t get lost, didn’t go down, didn’t have any problems and give the bike to Johnny in one piece so we could finish the race. Co-driver, Steve Hilbert: The first long silt bed, I got crossed up in and I started going sideways. Then, I missed a turn, east of Ciudad Constitution on a really fast road and I looked down at something. The road kept going straight but we veered off at the last twisty section before 17, and I said ‘whoa, there are no markings!’ I came out good, though. My tires are just a little low in the back. My team did what they were supposed to do. I’m very proud. We got delayed by a couple of patches on a flat tire. I got the bike about 7:50 pm and had about 325 miles to go. That was probably the toughest part of the course because it’s at night and it was demanding – really technical. So at that point in the race I decided to bring it in because we were so far down that it’s hard to make up that much time. So I paced myself. I was on the bike for a lot of hours. I just rode it in and I’m happy to be here. The 450x is a phenomenal machine. I was so pleased with the way it worked. It was really fast, light and easy handling – all the rocks, turns and elevation changes in my section. The 450x was an awesome machine. It takes a lot less effort than other bikes I’ve ridden. Robby Bell rode from the start to mile 333. Kendall Norman was supposed to ride from 333 to 724 but he got off and hurt his hand. Robby had to get on somewhere near San Ignacio and ride the second half of his leg. So he brought it down to me at Checkpoint 7, mile 724.5 and I got on there and went to La Paz. I don’t know any details [about Kendall’s hand] because I heard everything third-hand information. Something happened early in the race – Robby hit a booby trap just outside Ojos Negros, so right away we had a problem. I’m glad Robby’s here – he was able to get back on the bike because he went down pretty hard. I guess Mikey had to pick him up, so we’re fortunate. No. 16x Allan Donaldson (5th Place) The whole thing was just mentally tough. I’ve been riding for about 25 years and this is my first time in the Baja 1000. [What got you started?] The movie (Dust to Glory). No. 18x Anna Cody (20th Place, solo rider) I have been through a battle. I made it! I’ve been riding since 6:30 yesterday morning. I stopped about 20 minutes at a pit to refuel and hydrate and go on. It was tough – the toughest SCORE race I’ve ever done. It’s such an awesome feeling. I just said a little prayer to my former teammate that we did it and I wish she could be here with me. I’ve always wanted to solo it to La Paz. Note: Has become the first woman to ride solo on a motorcycle in the Baja 1000. Class 20 No. 151x Charles Schnell(1st Place) Co-driver, Nancy Emde: Racing is part of our family tradition and I’ve always wanted to race the Baja 1000. I did the last section from Punta Conejo to here. It was pretty rough. It’s nice that it’s over. It’s been a long hot day. Everything went according to plan. Unbelievable. I have three grown children; three daughters and a son. There were a lot of things going on out there and we had a lot of fans. The biggest challenge was probably the sand washes that had the big washouts in them. It’s hard to go fast when they have a lot of those. I’m glad it’s over. It’s been a long night and a long morning. But I’m ready for next year! Class 30 No. 300x Gerardo Rojas (1st Place) No. 307x Ron Wilson (2nd Place) We’re just happy to finish today! We kind of got buried in the back of the pack. One of our partners did a little damage to the back of the bike about half-way. So we got pushed back to about 13th. I don’t know what happened. We’re the non-crashers of the two. To break up the ride, there were four of us and we just basically split it in quarters. I did about the last 300 or so, Tim did about 300, the two guys in front of us did a little bit less. Scott Meyers started. Then he gave it to Steve Garnett. I think both of them are seeing double right now! I actually got to ride through some water which was nice for a change. It was fun. It was definitely a fun course for sure. It was challenging which is good. Good, good, good! Class 40 No. 400x Jeff Kaplan (1st Place) It went really well out there. We got the bike in great shape. We were sixth overall and just passed a few guys. Then we caught up to the third team but couldn’t quite get through their dust. So we just hung tight and I think we beat them on time because just finished two minutes behind them. The bike was incredible. It didn’t miss a beat all day. No problems. I tipped over right before the finish in the dust, but very slowly, though. Everything else was smooth. [How did you break up the ride?] Up north, I can’t tell you. From San Ignacio, it was Randy Morales and Jeff Cheats and myself. The starter was Lou Frankel. He just rode 70 miles and I’m guessing he passed a lot of people because we stated about 50th and we got to 4th overall. My guess is Louie passed a ton of people. So they did all the work in the north end. It went well. Those guys did a good job. We didn’t have to do much but hold it…pick off a few more. This is one of the roughest 1000s. It’s like the old days, like the ‘70s. It’s similar to what we used to run before the runs were real fast and easy. This is what it used to be like. I’ve never seen this much water down here. It made it nice. It made it fun. We earned it this time! Class 50 No. 500x Jim O’Neal (1st Place) Co-driver, Bobby Hanson: I was just telling my partner, Andy, that we had a real bad day yesterday but a real good day today. So when the sun came back up, everything seemed to work out. I think we got the class win! We’re real happy even though we had rough times last night. I bent a rotor and took us way behind. But at Pit 14, they put a new wheel on it and everyone picked back up and now we’re here. On Thursday, we missed the rider change, so he had to do the real rocky section from La Barista toward Loreto which he wasn’t supposed to do. That was supposed to be part of my section so we had a few frantic cell phone conversations to work that out. So bobby hadn’t ridden that section yet and didn’t even know where we were going to do our exchange, so he had to track the rider down and practically drag him off the bike to let him know. We lost about 40 minutes in the whole thing but it worked out. Basically that extra section was the only part that wasn’t pre-run. Co-driver, Greene: No matter how much you plan, things change. And you have to be able to move with those changes to make something like this happen. If you can’t adjust to it, then that’s where you have a problem. Because everybody has problems somewhere in races. The team pulled together and adjusted to the problems and made it work. At night, it’s just a matter of getting through it. Everything looks basically the same anyway. The only problem is nothing looks familiar so you don’t know how far you’ve gone or how far you’ve got to go. If I could do it without GPS on the bike, you just keep going until you get to your finish. The problem I had was I was stranded because my truck was someplace else so I had to hitchhike to Santa Rita. That’s where I ended up finding my truck again. It was a fun night, a tough night. Class 60 No. 601x Donald Lewis (1st Place) I’ll tell you, it was an amazing event. I enjoyed every minute. I’ve been down here pre-running. I ran my section five times. I think we did a great job preparing for this. It was just a wonderful experience. There were eight of us that rode. I thought there would be an injury or two, but there wasn’t. All of us just made it through. No major problems at all. We did it. We cleaned the clock. We’re the first class 60 team ever to do it. I loved every bit of it. It was just terrific. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Honest to God, we’re proving that you can redefine what is possible. You’re life is not over when you’re sixty. We’re the first ever Class 60 team. It was a terrific experience. Pro ATVS Class 25 No. 7a Danny Prather (1st Place) That was an awesome course! Man, those rocks were gnarly! It was a good time. I just looked back and saw that I had a truck behind me. We just barely beat them…good times!! It was a perfect race. We changed a couple of rear tires to keep them fresh. All the guys did what they need, we came here to win. Mike Cafro started and took it to Ojos; He gave it to Dana Skreech in Puertecitos; Mike Cafro got back on and took it to Bahia de Los Angeles; Levi Marana took it to San Ignacio; Mark Speath to north of Loreto; I took it Loreto down to Ciudad Insurgentes; Levi got back on to, rode to Santa Rita and I took it from Santa Rita home, back to the finish line. I knew that the next team was coming. I kept looking back. He was getting close for about the last 30 miles. I could feel him. There’s a fast stretches and I knew he’d be coming in soon. I’m surprised he didn’t catch me earlier. But I’m glad he didn’t, man. I hate getting passed by those guys. I’ve never won a Baja 1000 and this is by far the best one to win. Going down to La Paz is just awesome. I can’t even explain it. Everybody had some issues, but we were spared this one and we pulled it off. It feels good, man. It’s a sweet win, a great win! I’m hoping we win some money! No. 4a Jeff Hancock (2nd Place) Co-driver, Larry Hancock: It was pretty fun. We had a tight battle for probably the first 500 or 600 miles and we broke an A-arm. Luckily we were close enough to a road we got an A-arm and a front shock in, put that back on but we lost about an hour or an hour and a half. You know, other than that, no major problems all day. Jeff Hancock started. Kyle Pethens ran through San Felipe. Jeff got back on and ran down to Bahia de Los Angeles. I got on, then Kyle got on. I brought it in the last 100 miles. It was great fun. The logistics is probably the most challenging part, just getting the trucks coming down. When you’re on a bike, you just ride as fast as you can. That’s all you know how to do. But, you know just getting the stuff where it needs to be. Just having a team that can get that stuff really helps. SPORTSMAN SPT M/C>250cc No. 211x Carlos Gonzalez (1st Place) Another vehicle cut in front of us. He broke my concentration a little because I’m not used to having a car catch up to me. And it’s something that scared me a lot. That gave me a little extra pressure along the way. All the people of La Paz, especially kids, were cheering me on and it made me forget that I was tired. No. 236x Paul Crandell (2nd Place) Everybody rode their part of the course. It was a total team effort. Everybody did their 100 or 200 mile sections. It was unbelievable. I actually like riding better at night now. I hadn’t ridden at night until next. Now, riding at night goes a lot faster. No. 250x Colie Potter (14th Place, solo rider) I hit a bunch of rocks but it ran great all day. The bike ran perfect. I had to pull way down deep here at the end, but its fun. I love to ride motorcycles. I only took gas breaks and stopped for food. I didn’t sleep or anything. I took like four 15 minute breaks. I think my time was pretty good. The new section up by San Ignacio – I haven’t done that part before. I never pre-ran it. There was a little bit of people in the water, a little bit of carnage. But I actually got around it okay. But on the silt, the sand was all chewed up and it was silt everywhere. There were a lot of buggies and Trophy-Trucks stuck. So you kind of had to pick your way through the weeds. But it wasn’t bad. I really liked seeing Javier, that canyon out of Loreto. It’s a beautiful view, especially at sunrise. It was good. Gonzaga Bay is nice. This city is nice. Nobody got hurt and my goal was achieved. I’ve never raced on a team. It’s just satisfaction for me. A lot of people don’t know what it’s like unless they actually do it. I really have to pull down deep. It’s a lot of mental work. Not as much physical. I mean you have to know how to ride, but in the wee hours, it’s all mental. 238x Alastair Hilson (17th Place, solo rider) I feel trashed! The whole thing was the best part of it. The course, the pre-running. Sal does such a good job. After a couple of beers, I might do it again. I’m trashed! The Mexicans are the most supportive people. It’s great! They keep you going. I didn’t have any problems. It was a good, except the silt and rocks. It was brutal, especially the last 300 miles of silt. I don’t know what would feel better – to win or just to finish. It’s two different people. One’s doing it for time the other’s doing it for satisfaction. SPT ATV No. 54a Craig Christy (1st Place) Co-driver, Jessica McCreary: It was great! It was awesome. I’ve been down here every single week for the last few months to train. We’ve been down each other’s throats and now it paid off. For me, seeing the sunrise was really nice. That was the best part. I think it really helped coming over the hill and seeing all the girls light up, realizing that I’m a girl. I’m like ‘YEAH!’. That was cool. The most challenging part was having to go to the bathroom. I really hated stopping. Everything was challenging. They’re always tough. Actually, they were really nice in this race. This is my first time coming in within the time limit! Each of our riders did about 250 miles.