Badassmav Baja 1000 updates ?

[badassmav]

we now have 18 Entries in the Pro UTV class and when I was in the Back I saw a G Floating around too !! what do you say Reid youll owe me two at the finish line ?

Damn you Moneybags! Check's in the mail. You earned it fair and square. 2k it is. That's a lot of Stout. For some reason, my excitement upon arriving home has dwindled. Good night and congratulations on your win. I told you it was on the way, even if it took 3 or 4 of you to do it. Good strategy. I'm glad it was you that got 1st place. I know you worked hard for it. But, I'm more glad that you didn't accept my bonus bet offer! Looks like it's back to Busch for me. I just can't stand prosperity.

 

[Johnny]

Thank You Reid and Congrats to you and Marc I don't know how he did it but you guys got it done again ... when he passed us at 700 ish I about shit .. full race report coming soon

 

[badassmav]

Thank You Reid and Congrats to you and Marc I don't know how he did it but you guys got it done again ... when he passed us at 700 ish I about shit .. full race report coming soon

Was it you guys that I saw passing us in the pits in Lareto as I was performing scheduled maintenance on our car? I know your car and ours saw each other a couple of times during the race. I really am happy that you got your win, even at my expense. You deserve it. You and that Simms guy waste no time in running up front since you both joined the ranks of the pro 1900 UTV class. Not bad for an old guy!! PM me an address where you want your winnings "shipped" to. Our car, and the preparation and average age of its components, just weren't 100% ready for 1200+ miles. Awesome that you guys dominated the top position(s) all race long.

 

[crazywatson]

Congratulations on Winning the championship!

 

[badassmav]

Congratulations on Winning the championship!

Thanks Steve! It would have been a bummer to leave La Paz empty handed. It was earned, finishing this race. That's for sure! It was the first timke I ever had to wrench on the car during a race since we started racing it last year. I spent at least 5 hours on it overall.

 

[tatum]

Congrats to the Monster Mav team on the championship! You guys earned it and Marc is lucky to have you.

 

[jaggedx]

pretty incredible battle, Johnny, Awesome job! you overcame some issues (as did everyone) and kept it up front all the whole time. We were in the hunt for sure and even made a strike but just didn't get it done. We ran the 1932 into the ground and in the end were okay with 2nd place. Good job BAMAV! you did the math and knew that all you needed to do was finish and to spar with the front runners could have cost the championship. Good strategy.
Have to give huge credit to every finisher, This was a killer race.

Feels good to say that we have a peninsula run under our belt.

Great class with great competition!

Cant wait till 2015!

 

[Bajaxp]

pretty incredible battle, Johnny, Awesome job! you overcame some issues (as did everyone) and kept it up front all the whole time. We were in the hunt for sure and even made a strike but just didn't get it done. We ran the 1932 into the ground and in the end were okay with 2nd place. Good job BAMAV! you did the math and knew that all you needed to do was finish and to spar with the front runners could have cost the championship. Good strategy.
Have to give huge credit to every finisher, This was a killer race.

Feels good to say that we have a peninsula run under our belt.

Great class with great competition!

Cant wait till 2015!

X2, what he said ^^^^

 

[500 MIKE]

Hey Reid, I see you are back, let me know when you guys are up for another visit. I will be happy to bring some cold refreshments to help celebrate the points title with you. !!
Mike

 

[NIKAL]

2014 has been an awesome year for the UTV desert racing class. The UTV class has consistently had some of the largest class turnouts in both BITD & Score.

Then starting with the Baja 500 which IMO was ground breaking for the UTV class. That single race turned some heads and IMO was the race that opened many peoples eyes and forced several others to admit that maybe these UTV do have a place in the sport. Plus it showed that Polaris could be beat with Can Am winning the Baja 500.

Then we saw a huge set back with the closed minded people at the BITD V2R when we had several UTV's get hit by faster Trophy Trucks & class 1's. Several wanted this to prove why UTV's should not be on a desert race course with the other 4 wheel classes. But every cloud has a silver lining and 90% of the opened minded people who commented still seemed to feel the UTV had a place in the sport, and agreed they need to start in their proper position in the 4 wheels class. So that in itself is a big deal and I think will be much better for the UTV class in the future. So I would call this a win too!

Then we go to the Baja 1000 which was not only a point to point race, but was one of the longest Baja races ever. Once again the UTV class had a solid turnout of cars. Going into this event we had several story lines going. We had the team of Marc Burnett in his Can Am going for the Championship, and he was going to attempt to do it solo. You had the class favorite Jagged X team whom all expect to do well and contend for the win. They chose to use drivers from both their BITD & Score line up. Then you had well known teams like UTV Inc. Cognito & Sapington all out there trying to build their version of dream teams to beat the two more favored teams. Some teams like UTV inc & Speed Energy chose to debue new cars at this event. Once again showing this class is not slowing down.

At the finish line it was a new "somewhat" independent team, UTV inc who took the win with the favored Jagged X team finishing only 2 minutes behind after 38+ hours & 1275 miles. Then a few hours later the warn & beaten Monter Mav of Marc Barnett crosses the finish line. He did not win the battle, but he had won the war & Score Championship. 8 out of 19 UTV's finished the Baja 1000 which was par with the finishing rate of the other classes, once again showing the UTV's and their teams are becoming stonger & more reliable.

In the end everything played out perfect! A privateteer Polaris team beat the odds and won the Baja 1000. Showing everyone else that it can be done without factory support or a with a limited budget. Then you have the factory Polaris team who shows professionalism at every event and is a great representative of the UTV sport. With them having a close connection with Polaris, it will assure this class continues to grow. And last but not least we had another manufacture come in and for the most part dominate the Score season. Can Am was clearly out numbered when counting how many Polaris were entered at each event, yet they were able to win the Championship which is very important for the growth of the sport.

Lets hope 2015 can be as good and shows as much growth & support as we saw in 2014. Lets hope we see other manufactures and teams jump in with both feet and try to dethrone the current Champs and the always powerful Polaris brigade.

And lets not forget all the hard work UTV Underground has done with Polaris to showcase the sport of UTV'ing with all the great videos, Official race result stories and killer vidoe's like XP1K2.

 

[///Airdam Clutches]

This is just my opinion, BUT i think since the trophy trucks run the race in a little under 24 hours, why dont they split the 500 and 1000 up next year a little differently. give the bikes and ATV and UTV a day head start to get ahead of the trophy trucks. the ATV/UTV and bikes are the hardest to navigate thru rough terrain, they would have an advantage going down the course BEFORE the trophy trucks before the silt beds become 3ft deep and the wash outs get 2-3ft deeper than they were when these guys were pre-running

thursday allow the bikes and ATV and UTV to go

6am - bikes hit the road - gives a full day of daylight and puts them on par for finishing the following morning before lunch

9am - ATV hit the road - gives them a full day of racing and a full night, puts them on par to finish late friday afternoon/early friday night

12noon - UTV hit the road. on a clean and clear course, not having to run against VW bugs and toyota 4runners and after the trophy trucks which mutilate the track, the UTVs will run a faster pace, have a much faster average MPH, on a cleaner and fresher track. this would give the UTVs a fair head start over the trophy trucks and allow the UTVs to finish the race friday night at worst case early saturday morning

Friday start letting the bigger cars and trophy trucks to run.

6am - let the tube buggies and VWs run
9am - let the production classes run
12noon - let the trophy trucks go. - allows the trophy trucks to come thru and annhialate the course after everyone else has gone and has a head start. the trophy trucks leaving at noon on friday puts them on course to finish the race at lunch time saturday, well behind the UTV and ATV classes so the TTs arent running folks down and running over people. plus their race ending on saturday, with the vast majority of the other racers finishing on friday night and early saturday morning, puts the majority of the finishers friday night and all day saturday. gives the weekend to party and celebrate.

in my opinion, letting this type of race run in this fashion would make it

1) faster pace for the bikes and ATV and UTV
2) take less stress off the drivers minds not having to worry about a trophy truck right on their asses throughout the day and night since the trophy trucks are a full 24 hours behind them
3) give the guys more of a free air and smoother racing conditions with less traffic and a smoother track.

i have watched every race video of baja posted, i have been watching it for years. i see how bad the silt gets, i have aerial images loaded on my computer and was following the racers on topo maps and aerial maps and could see when the guys hit the silt beds, full throttle they were maintaining 35mph. the silt, after the trophy trucks destroy the track, is insurmountable and almost impassable for most all of the ATV/UTV. luckily the bikes get free air, and check out first, and maintain a good enough pace that they stay out front and dont have to navigate the track after the TTs come thru.

i think a spread like what i listed above would allow the UTV to maintain a faster pace, with less grueling conditions, and picking up the pace, being spread out away from the trophy trucks keeps the drivers safer and more at ease not worrying about a TT running them down and crashing on the back of their cage and catching their car on fire like what happened to the monster mav at V2R

 

[NIKAL]

This is just my opinion, BUT i think since the trophy trucks run the race in a little under 24 hours, why dont they split the 500 and 1000 up next year a little differently. give the bikes and ATV and UTV a day head start to get ahead of the trophy trucks. the ATV/UTV and bikes are the hardest to navigate thru rough terrain, they would have an advantage going down the course BEFORE the trophy trucks before the silt beds become 3ft deep and the wash outs get 2-3ft deeper than they were when these guys were pre-running

i think a spread like what i listed above would allow the UTV to maintain a faster pace, with less grueling conditions, and picking up the pace, being spread out away from the trophy trucks keeps the drivers safer and more at ease not worrying about a TT running them down and crashing on the back of their cage and catching their car on fire like what happened to the monster mav at V2R

By doing this you are actualy taking a step backwards and proving that UTV's are not worthy of being credited as being apart of the car & truck class. There is nothing "Bike" about a UTV and they should not be compared or looked at as one. A UTV is 100% a car or buggy. And because of this they belong in the car & truck ranks. If they were to move the UTV's with the bikes (Like BITD does or did) and start them a day ahead, all you are doing is showing the neah sayers that they were right and the UTV's don't belong in the sport.

Class 11, class 9, (Which JoeyD knows nothing about!!!

) class 5/1600, class 7s & all other slower & sportsman classes still start behind all the big fast cars & trucks, and they have to challenge all those extra deep silt beds, rutted roads and sometimes impassible hills. Yet that is just what you do, and we should not be looking to move any limited class because the course is to tough.

BTW what happend at the V2R will not be happening again as BITD has finally seen the light and will be starting the UTV's in their proper spot within the Car & truck classes. The reason you saw what you did is because BITD was starting the UTV's with the bikes hours before the 4 wheel vehicles took the green flag.

 

[Bajaxp]

By doing this you are actualy taking a step backwards and proving that UTV's are not worthy of being credited as being apart of the car & truck class. There is nothing "Bike" about a UTV and they should not be compared or looked at as one. A UTV is 100% a car or buggy. And because of this they belong in the car & truck ranks. If they were to move the UTV's with the bikes (Like BITD does or did) and start them a day ahead, all you are doing is showing the neah sayers that they were right and the UTV's don't belong in the sport.

Class 11, class 9, (Which JoeyD knows nothing about!!!

) class 5/1600, class 7s & all other slower & sportsman classes still start behind all the big fast cars & trucks, and they have to challenge all those extra deep silt beds, rutted roads and sometimes impassible hills. Yet that is just what you do, and we should not be looking to move any limited class because the course is to tough.

BTW what happend at the V2R will not be happening again as BITD has finally seen the light and will be starting the UTV's in their proper spot within the Car & truck classes. The reason you saw what you did is because BITD was starting the UTV's with the bikes hours before the 4 wheel vehicles took the green flag.

Good post Todd!

 

[///Airdam Clutches]

I am definitely not saying that the UTV can not navigate the rough stuff, i know for certain they can and yes they are an amazingly fast growing class, letting them go 3 hours before the trophy trucks like at V2R is a bit shorter of a span than this 1000 was. if you spread them out like i listed it gives almost every class a more secure race. The UTV will absolutely finish the race and can navigate regardless of them leaving first, or last, i follow almost every race series there is, and a properly equipped UTV can go anywhere a TT or rock bouncer or dirt bike will go. can they navigate it yes. should they be getting run over and racing with/against trophy trucks, i dont think so. there is a big difference in a 5500-6000lb machine barreling down on you at 100+mph when you are a sitting duck in a 2000lb machine with 1/10 the power and a nearly 60mph top speed difference. yes a UTV is a bunch of tubes and a production engine. so are the tube buggies. but there is quite a bit of difference in 100hp and 15" of actual wheel travel in a 2000lb machine and some of the actual tube buggies that have upwards of 400hp and 20" of wheel travel in a 2500-3500lb machine. theyre both caged with tubes, but its still a whole lot of difference.

is a UTV an awesome machine - check
is a UTV fast in the desert - check
is a UTV fun to race - check
is a UTV a great class to race - check
is a UTV a capable race machine - check

should a UTV race side by side with the trophy trucks - nope <<-- just my opinion

 

[Bajaxp]

I am definitely not saying that the UTV can not navigate the rough stuff, i know for certain they can and yes they are an amazingly fast growing class, letting them go 3 hours before the trophy trucks like at V2R is a bit shorter of a span than this 1000 was. if you spread them out like i listed it gives almost every class a more secure race. The UTV will absolutely finish the race and can navigate regardless of them leaving first, or last, i follow almost every race series there is, and a properly equipped UTV can go anywhere a TT or rock bouncer or dirt bike will go. can they navigate it yes. should they be getting run over and racing with/against trophy trucks, i dont think so. there is a big difference in a 5500-6000lb machine barreling down on you at 100+mph when you are a sitting duck in a 2000lb machine with 1/10 the power and a nearly 60mph top speed difference. yes a UTV is a bunch of tubes and a production engine. so are the tube buggies. but there is quite a bit of difference in 100hp and 15" of actual wheel travel in a 2000lb machine and some of the actual tube buggies that have upwards of 400hp and 20" of wheel travel in a 2500-3500lb machine. theyre both caged with tubes, but its still a whole lot of difference.

is a UTV an awesome machine - check
is a UTV fast in the desert - check
is a UTV fun to race - check
is a UTV a great class to race - check
is a UTV a capable race machine - check

should a UTV race side by side with the trophy trucks - nope <<-- just my opinion

We are not racing side by side with trophy trucks....we start last in SCORE.

 

[BiggJim]

The only thing thats needs to change about the starting order is for them to put us in front of the classes we beat, BEHIND the unlimited vehicles

 

[badassmav]

Sorry Johnny. I cleared some room for your PM. Go ahead and shoot it on over.

 

[Johnny]

Thank You

Baja 1000 1st Place Winner
Johnny Lightning
Team UTVinc
Empty Money Bags
1656 N Banning
Mesa Arizona 85205


My Friends Call Me Lucky

 

[badassmav]

Thank You

Baja 1000 1st Place Winner
Johnny Lightning
Team UTVinc
Empty Money Bags
1656 N Banning
Mesa Arizona 85205


My Friends Call Me Lucky

Have you heard of that guy that is so rich that he wipes his ass with 100 dollar bills? Lucky for you, I found out where he lives and raided his trash can. I wonder if this can be considered money laundering?

 

[Johnny]

oh shit stinky money ... Thanks for everything Reid I know that being able to run ideals past you and the friendly advice you gave me was a factor in my win .. You and Marc are 100% in my book if I can ever help please feel free to ask ... and Congrats on the Over Points Win