Morgan/Samuels/Jones earn overall motorcycle win, Kristen Matlock first overall UTV;
Other class winners include Vanderwey in SCORE TT Legend,
C. Parkhouse in Class 1, Creel, Cafro, Tagle, Burroughs, Lesle, Proctor,
Racan, Pinuelas, Leslie, Muncey, Septien, Salvatierra, Kennedy, Robles Jr
As five stars of the sport dueled in the simmering desert heat Saturday, San Diego’s third-generation desert racer Dan McMillin teamed with Las Vegas’ Justin B. Smith to earn a hard-fought overall and SCORE Trophy Truck victory at the BFGoodrich Tires 52nd SCORE Baja 500, presented by 4 Wheel Parts. The race was held this week for just the second time in its storied history in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico.
McMillin, 32, and Smith, 36, split the driving in the grueling race through the rugged Baja terrain with temperatures hovering in the 90s with 60% humidity along the Sea of Cortez, covering the 493.00-mile desert race course in eight hours, 29.17 seconds with an usually high average speed of 58.08 miles per hour. They pair the No. 23 McMillin Racing Chevy C1500 built by Mason Motorsports.
With significant Biosecurity Protocols established, approved and initiated because of the COVID-19 pandemic including no spectators for the contingency, start and finish line area at the Eldorado Ranch resort in San Felipe, it was the first SCORE Baja race since last November’s SCORE Baja 1000.
The pandemic-abbreviated two-race 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship will conclude Nov. 17-22 in Ensenada at the 53rd BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 500, presented by 4 Wheel Parts.
BACK TO BAJA
San Felipe is the peaceful village on the Sea of Cortez, 125 miles south of the U.S. Border at Calexico, Calif. Both 2020 SCORE races will be held on Mexico’s magnificent Baja California peninsula for the fifth consecutive year.
FINAL FLAG
When the final checkered flag fell, a total of 129 vehicles left the start line early Saturday morning with racers from 19 U.S. States along with host country Mexico, Bolivia, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands and New Zealand.When the course closed at 4:06 a.m. PT on Sunday, there were 77 official finishers for a very high 59.69 finishing rate, especially considering the difficulty of the race course. The results were made official following complete data tracking review of the devices on each vehicle in the event on Sunday morning.
THE SHOW
Competition included classes for cars, trucks UTVs, motorcycles and quads for the internationally-televised BFGoodrich Tires 52nd SCORE Baja 500, presented by 4 Wheel Parts.
The race will be televised on a delayed basis as a one-hour special on the ABC Network World of X Games programming and syndicated internationally to as many as 25 countries. The shows are produced by SCORE in association with prominent SoCal company BCII TV. Announcers for this racer were SCORE Live streaming host Rat Sult and champion motorcycle racer Mark Samuels.
BIG BLUE M MACHINE
With a legacy started by the late family patriarch Corky McMillin, Daniel McMillin added to the Big Blue M rich history with his first career victory in the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division for hi-tech, 950-horsepower unlimited custom trucks. Mark Racing earned two podium placements as Daniel’s brother Luke McMillin finished third overall and in SCORE Trophy Truck.
Running in a pack of five monsters of the desert for the majority of the race, the duo pulled away at the end. After penalties were assessed by SCORE adjusting the finishing times of nearly all finishers, McMillin/Smith earned a victory margin of five minutes, 34 seconds over the second-place truck. Daniel McMillin started the race and ran to race-mile 329 where Smith got behind the wheel and powered to the finish line at the El Dorado Ranch resort.
With his victory, McMillin also earned at US$25,000 contingency bonus from long-time SCORE sponsor and race title sponsor BFGoodrich Tires offered to the winner of this year’s race. It marked the 33rd victory for BFGoodrich Tires-shod overall winning race vehicles.
Besides his late grandfather Corky, Daniel McMillin’s champion family members include his brother Luke McMillin, who finished third overall and in SCORE Trophy Truck in this year’s race, his dad Mark McMillin, his uncle Scott McMillin, and his cousins Andy McMillin and Jessica McMillin.
EL DORADO RANCH S/F
Following planning with and approval from city and state governments, SCORE International had all the official pre-race activities and the start/finish line compound for this year’s SCORE Baja 500 held in a restricted area at the prominent El Dorado Ranch resort with no spectators allowed.
HEALTH & SAFETY
Because of the significant health and safety Biosecurity protocols developed by SCORE in conjunction with and the approval of state and local health authorities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, all race-week festivities and the start/finish line compound were restricted access only and closed to the general public.
Spectators following health and safety protocols were allowed in the open areas around the 493.00-mile race course and they were encouraged to adhere to the protocols. The start/finish line area was abnormally quiet except for the music playing, the announcers interviewing the finishers for SCORE Live streaming followed by socially distanced media interviews.
THE PODIUM
The lead pack of five SCORE Trophy Truck warriors were in each other’s dusty tracks most of the race. Including in the group were D McMillin, Tim Herbst/Pat Dean, Dan’s brother Luke McMillin, brothers Alan and Aaron Ampudia along with Robby Gordon.
Joining Daniel McMillin, who has won in other classes in SCORE races, on the 52nd SCORE Baja 500 podium were Las Vegas’ Tim Herbst/Pat Dean and Daniel’s younger brother Luke McMillin, 27, who also lives in San Diego.
From another of the legendary racing families in SCORE racing history, Las Vegas’ Tim Herbst, 57, and his second driver Pat Dean, also of Las Vegas, finished first unofficially but the review of their data tracking device automatically gave them a couple of time penalties that ultimately cost them the top spot.
With veteran Dean driving from the start to race mile 280 and Tim Herbst handling the wheel the balance of the way, the pair recorded an adjusted time of 8:34:51 in their No. 19 Monster Energy Terrible Herbst Motorsports Herbst-Smith built Ford F-150.
Daniel McMillin was unofficially second until the No. 19 truck was penalized more than McMillin was with onetime penalty.
San Diego’s Luke McMillin, 27, another third-generation desert racer, mixed it up with his older brother Daniel throughout the race, finishing in third place overall and in SCORE Trophy Truck with a time of 8:45:15 in the No. 83 Mark Racing Racer-built Ford F-150.
SAMUELS WINS OVERALL MOTO
Riding the No. 1x Honda CRF450X, Mark Samuels, 30, and his three-rider team and his three-rider team raced to the overall motorcycle victory for his ninth consecutive overall motorcycle win in the SCORE World Desert Championship and his fourth overall win in this race. The trio crossed the finish line in 10:50:11 at an average speed of 44.76mph.Morgan split the riding with Justin Morgan, 30, Yucca Valley, Calif. who won his fifth overall motorcycle crown in the last six years in this race and Justin Jones, Murrieta, Calif. who won his second consecutive SCORE overall motorcycle title in this race.
Mark Samuels started and quickly switched to Justin Morgan. Justin Morgan rode to race mile 236. Mark Samuels rode from race mile 236 to race mile to 395. Justin Jones rode from race mile 395 to race mile 459. Mark Samuels rode from race mile 459 to the finish.
For Honda, it was their 22nd overall motorcycle victory in the SCORE BAja 500.
FIVE OF TOP 12 OVERALL SCORE TROPHY TRUCKS
Besides podium finishers D. McMillin, Tim Herbst and L. McMillin, five of the top 10 overall finishers were also SCORE Trophy Trucks along with three from Trophy Truck Spec and two from the unlimited
Class 1 for open-wheel desert race cars.
Finishing fourth overall and in SCORE Trophy Truck was Ensenada brothers Alan Ampudia and Aaron Ampudia (No. 10 Ford 150 built by ID Designs) while eighth overall and fifth in SCORE Trophy Truck was Robby Gordon, Charlotte, N.C. (No. 77 Chevy Silverado (Custom).
--TROPHY TRUCK SPEC
With three finishers in the top 10 overall 4-wheel vehicles, winning Trophy Truck Spec was the team of Santiago Creel, Mexico City/Jorge Sampietro, Ensenada (No. 260 Jefferies-Chevy). Second in the class and ninth overall was the team of William Hedrick Jr and William Hedrick, both of Vicente Guerrero, Mexico (No. 295 ID-Chevy), and third in their class and 10th overall was Clay Lawrence, Banning, Calif. (No. 285 LMS-Chevy).
--CLASS 1
Winning Class 1 and finishing fifth overall was Cody Parkhouse and his father Brian Parkhouse, Long Beach, Calif. (No. 127 Jimco-Chevy). Finishing second in Class 1 and seventh overall was the team of Brendan Gaughan, Las Vegas/Buddy Feldkamp, Redlands, Calif. (No. 162 HMS-Chevy). Parkhouse is a second-gen desert racer as are Gaughan and Feldkamp. Gaughan, who won his class in last year’s SCORE Baja 1000, is in his final year of NASCAR Cup racing with one race left on his farewell tour.
OVERALL UTV
Defeating 36 total UTVs to win the overall UTV win title and her Pro UTV NA (Naturally Aspirated) in this year’s race was Kristen Matlock, 39, Alpine, Calif., a racing mother of two and wife of PRO UTV FI star Wayne Matlock, who are from Alpine, Calif., with a winning time of 10:49:02 in her No. 2971 Polaris RZR XP4 1000. No stranger to the SCORE winner’s circle and podium, she amazing once again drove solo to the victory.
McMILLIN COMMENTS
Enjoying his victory celebration at the finish line, Smith said,
“Dan McMillin started the race and he did a phenomenal job, got us the truck in the top-five. He did great, so when we got in we just tried to play it smart, push what we could push and bring it to the finish. We tried to go fast when we could go fast and just save the truck when we had to do it.”
“Our goal here was to get a good starting spot for the SCORE Baja 1000 and it looks like we’re there. We played it smart and we will start the SCORE Baja 1000, the granddaddy of them all, in a good spot. The whole team did awesome and I’d like to thank all of them for the great job and also to thank SCORE for making this happen. There were a lot of doubts out there and they put on a great race for us in the lovely town of San Felipe, so it was good.”
SAMUEL STATES
Leading his team to its ninth consecutive overall and Pro Moto Unlimited race, Samuels said at the finish line,
“That was a really brutal SCORE Baja 500. The heat, how hard it is on your bike and everything connected to it, it was really, really tough. There was a great turnout, spectators were everywhere (except at start/finish). It was awesome to see that, we weren’t sure how the turnout would be, but there was a ton of spectators cheering us on and it felt great. There’s nothing like the SCORE Baja fans and nothing in the world like racing in SCORE Baja races. We really appreciate everything that Mexico and SCORE did to make this event happen and succeed. Viva Baja.”
KRISTEN COMMENTS
The first lady of SCORE desert racers, Matlock joyfully expressed at the finish line,
“I started at the very back of the class and ended up passing all the UTVs from all four classes, including my husband (Wayne Matlock, No. 2971 who finished third in Pro UTV FI). He was leading the race for the majority of the day until race mile 395.”
“The last hundred miles is when I knew I had the overall lead and therefore I decided to take it a little bit easier, but every time I slow down it throws me off my rhythm a little bit, so I was still pushing it, but being careful to make sure I would finish. It was an awesome day, we didn’t have any trouble and nailed all of the lines we wanted to nail.”
“I’m stoked, I can’t even express it in words. I was really nervous when I heard the SCORE Baja 500 would be in San Felipe just because of the whoops and that training down here is pretty rough and I was concerned about the vehicle. It was definitely trying at times, but we pushed as hard as we could, we took care of the car and our bodies and it all worked out well in the end. We love Baja and it is so awesome to be back SCORE Baja racing here. We can’t wait for the SCORE Baja 1000 in November.”
SCORE TT LEGEND
In the SCORE Legend class for SCORE Trophy Truck drivers over 50 years old, Phoenix’s Nick Vanderwey survived the carnage in his class of five starters to win his class as the substitute driver for driver of record Clyde Stacy, Bristol, Va., in their RPM Racing No. 5L Chevy V16 built by Geiser Brothers. Vanderwey drove from the start to race-mile 360 and Jeff Geiser took it from there to the finish for the team’s second straight victory in the SCORE Baja 500.
MAIN COURSE
The race featured a course, finalized and plotted by SCORE President/Race Director Jose A. Grijalva of 493.00 miles. It ran both North and South of San Felipe in a counterclockwise direction on the East side of the Baja California peninsula.
The historic race course was another memorable example of all that Mexico’s Baja California has to offer, including high-speed dirt trails, sandy, rocky and silty natural terrain, dry lake beds, majestic Baja washes and canyons, stretches along the ocean with elevations from sea level to over 3,000 feet. The course was another jewel reflecting the stark beauty of Baja California.
There were three physical full-stop checkpoints and 198 virtual checkpoints. Checkpoint 1 is at race mile 155.63 (Laguna Salada), CP2 is at rm278.11 (Laguna Amarga) and CP3 is at rm459.11 (Camino altura Percebu). There were just six speed zones for a total of only 8.65 miles.
Much of the course ran through Laguna Salada as well as going through parts of four of Baja California’s infamously magnificent washes: Amarillas, Chanate, Huatamote and Azufre.
All Sportsman classes along with Pro classes 7SX, 11 and 9 ran an abbreviated course of 433.34 miles.
Source SCORE International
