2016-score-baja-1000-photos-utvunderground-com068

UTV OVERALL RESULTS – FINISHERS

1. Rhys Millen Huntington Beach, CA 1967 Pro UTV * 1 POL  22:06:46.316 (CLASS WINNER)

2. Branden Sims Prescott Valley, AZ 2913 Pro UTV Forced Induction 1 POL  22:33:51.473 (CLASS WINNER)

3. Kristen Matlock Alpine, CA 1954 Pro UTV * 2 POL  23:11:47.120

4. Wayne Matlock Alpine, CA 2971 Pro UTV Forced Induction 2 POL  23:30:47.748

5. Brandon Schueler Phoenix, AZ 2919 Pro UTV Forced Induction 3 POL  24:00:13.313

6. Cory Sappington Peoria, AZ 2904 Pro UTV Forced Induction 4 CAM  24:03:01.179

7. Justin Lambert Bakersfield, CA 2918 Pro UTV Forced Induction 5 POL  24:09:14.347

8. Derek Murray Eastvale, CA 2917 Pro UTV Forced Induction 6 CAM  25:14:04.905 (CLASS CHAMPION)

9. Dodge Poelman Murrieta, CA 1962 Pro UTV * 3 POL  26:53:30.770

10. Alonso Lopez Murrieta, CA 1949 Pro UTV * 4 POL  27:07:18.867 (CLASS CHAMPION)

11. Daniel Parker Glendale, AZ 1907 Pro UTV * 5 POL  28:43:42.443

12. Ben Bischoff Celista, BC 1923 Pro UTV 6 POL  29:20:30.072

*Penalty Applied

LINK TO FULL 2016 SCORE BAJA 1000 RESULTS

Voss helps ‘Rockstar’ MacCachren roar to 3-peat Overall, SCORE Trophy Truck triumph at 49th SCORE Baja 1000

Udall team captures overall M/C crown; Ronny Wilson claims Class 1, Rhys Millen tops Pro UTV;
Robles Jr grabs Pro Quad; Winkelman-2 M/C classes, Other class winners include Davis, Lewis, Proctor,
Sims, Gera, Roberts, Ruvalcaba, Avina, Celiceo, Sanchez, Montoya, Cesena, Campbell, Petter, Hawley

ENSENADA, Mexico—Methodically mastering a radically rugged course and a celestial field of challengers, Las Vegas’ Rob MacCachren rolled like a Rockstar, with an assist from co-driver Jason Voss, driving to the overall and SCORE Trophy Truck victory Saturday at the internationally-televised 49th annual SCORE Baja 1000. The victory in the Granddaddy of All Desert Races gave the veteran MacCachren a three-peat in the world’s toughest, roughest, longest and most prestigious continuously-held desert race.

When the results became official after review of the data loggers in each finishing vehicle by SCORE race officials on Sunday morning, the MacCachren/Voss duo had rocketed to a memorable race around the northern part of Mexico’s mysterious and majestic Baja California peninsula. The daring duo finished the mentally-draining, physically grueling, vehicle-destroying 854.50-mile race that started and finished in Ensenada in 17 hours, 12 minutes and 58 seconds while averaging a solid 49.63 miles per hour in the No. 11 Rockstar Energy MacCachren Motorsports Ford F-150.
In winning the iconic Granddaddy of all Desert Races for the third straight year, they defeated a field of 270 starters in cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads. The starting grid included 31 starters in the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division for high-tech, 850-horsepower unlimited production trucks.

Season finale of the four-race 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship, this year’s competition was a loop race, starting and finishing in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, 65 miles south of the U.S. Border at San Diego.

OVERALL PODIUM
Racers from Mexico and Las Vegas finished second and third overall behind USA’s MacCachren/Voss duo. For the second straight year, Mexico’s Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez of Tecate, just 21 who won last year’s SCORE Trophy Truck season point championship, finished second in the No. 1 RPM Racing Chevy Rally Truck splitting driving with his father Juan C. Lopez in a time of 17:39:45 with an average speed of 48.38 mph. Third overall and in SCORE Trophy Truck in the new No. 91 Monster Energy Terrible Herbst Motorspors Ford F-150 was Las Vegas Troy Herbst and Ryan Arciero, Foothill Ranch, Calif. in 17:42:10 at 48.27 mph.

UDALL’S MOTORCYCLE MAGIC
What originally was planned as a solo ride in the Pro Moto Unlimited class, went to a two-rider effort on Monday, ended up with a five-team effort to help the injured rider of record Colton Udall, Yucca Valley, Calif. finish the 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship undefeated with four straight victories.

With a whole lot of help from his friends after he was injured while pre-running on Tuesday night, taking the overall and unlimited class win for the fourth time in the last five years in this race was the Ox Motorsports team led by Colton Udall, Yucca Valley, Calif. Suffering a severely broken left collar bone while pre-running near Borrego Tuesday evening, Udall quickly adjusted his rider list for his 1x Honda CRF450X, moving one rider from his Ox Motorsports 3x motorcycle and quickly recruited two additional riders to pick up the slack for his 1x team. Regular teammate Mark Samuels, Yucca Valley, Calif., added additional miles to his racing sections, Australia’s Daymon Stokie was moved from the 3x team to the 1x and Udall recruited two addition riders who weren’t planning on racing this year in Justin Jones, Murrieta, Calif. and David Kamo, Boise, Idaho.

SCORE rules call for a rider of record to either start or finish a race, Udall wanted to win the race and the season point championship so he returned to Ensenada after surgery in San Diego to start the race and ride to the first turn some 100 yards from the start to fulfill that requirement.

Udall’s championship winning team rode their Honda over the rugged course to a winning time of 18:16:43 and an average speed of 46.75 mph. In splitting up the race, Udall gave the motorcycle to Kamo who rode to race mile 90. Jones took over at that point, went to race mile 300 where Samuels got on for the first time and rode to race mile 520. Stokie then took it to race mile 780 where Samuels got back on for the final victory ride to the finish. The win gave Honda its 26th overall win in the SCORE Baja 1000.

While Udall has now earned four overall race wins in the SCORE Baja 1000, Samuels and Kamo have won three each and this was Jones’ second straight.

After his team’s fourth win of the season, Udall commented, “These guys did an awesome job. I really see a difference in how people treat me. They say “What’s your team going to do without you?” We are going to win. We have a great team and it’s not just me. I took myself out of this race unfortunately. Mark, David, Daymon and Justin all rode an amazing race. These guys battled really hard against the 45x (Francisco Arrendondo) and unfortunately they (Arrendondo) had a mechanical issue but our guys rode really well and brought it home. That’s what it takes when it comes to the SCORE Baja 1000. You have to have a bike that is good and you have to have your riders all come together.”

“They didn’t need me. When I was pre-running down in Borrego I made a bad decision and had to pass a guy in the dust. I took myself where I shouldn’t have gone and ended up over the handlebars and stuck my shoulder into the ground and it broke. Fortunately I had people like Robby Gordon pulling me out of the desert and helping me out.

“I crashed on Tuesday night, had surgery on Wednesday afternoon and I was back down here on Thursday. About three and a half hours after I crashed we were already thinking about what our strategy was going to be for the race. We moved Daymon Stokie up from the 3x bike to the 1x bike and fortunately David Kamo was down here and came out of retirement. He is a three-time SCORE Baja 1000 champion and we earned those championships together. He raced about 90 miles and it took some of the work away from Mark and we got it done. We moved some things around and our team is solid. The way I helped on race day was by making sure every I was dotted and every T crossed.”

CHAMPIONSHIP RUN
In earning the overall victory of the SCORE Baja 1000, MacCachren recorded his record 14th career SCORE Trophy Truck race win and Voss picked up his second career SCORE Trophy Truck race win.

MacCachren started his tri-fecta run in the SCORE Baja 1000 in 2014 with Andy McMillin and Jason Voss as additional drivers and last year won his second straight with A. McMillin. MacCachren, a six-time motorsports All-America driver who now has nine SCORE Baja 1000 class wins including four overalls, started the race and drove the first 498 miles and turned over the wheel physically in the talented Voss to drive the rest of the way to the finish line.

ROB MAC QUOTES
Said MacCachren after the race, “It is a good feeling. My first overall SCORE Baja 1000 win was in 2007 to Cabo and the feeling I got winning that race was second to none. We had a flawless day with 854.50 miles of the most brutal desert in Baja. We had over 80 people down here helping us with this race. We had 11 chase trucks and four fuel stops and lots of people at home rooting us on. It was a really good day.”

“We qualified fifth and hung out with everybody in the race and it slowly materialized. When we were first on the road we had an alternator wire that had broken off so we had to get that fixed. That put us down for about nine minutes. After that we were fourth on the road and we started working our way back up. Around mile 475 the Riviera truck (No. 3 Mark Post) and one of the Herbst trucks (No. 91 Troy Herbst) was still in front of us but they pulled over to pit so we went on by.”

“I gave the truck to Jason at mile 498. He was first on the road from there and just nailed it. He went across the cross-over road and gained five minutes on everybody. Waiting at the finish line we felt really good but nervous wondering if the truck was going to make it. The competition is so tough that you’ve got to push the truck and cross your fingers that it is going to make it. Larry Ragland won the overall in SCORE three races in a row and he was always somebody I looked up to and respected. I saw him this morning and I shook his hand and said “I’ve been thinking about you all day because of three-peat and I hope I can do that.” I’ve wanted to do that for a long time and we got it done. The course here is brutal.
“For the SCORE Baja 1000 you really have to be on your A game. You have to have all of your logistics and people put together and it was great putting two teams together to get enough resources to be able to do this race and be competitive. We had to have seven chase trucks on one side just to stay with the truck because the truck is moving along faster than the chase trucks and we don’t want to push them. The loops in the bowtie area were incredibly rocky and some other teams had flats and we capitalized on that.”

“It makes me hungry to win another one now. As every win happens you want another and next year being the 50th anniversary, winning that one would be special. My first SCORE Baja 1000 win was in 2007 and that was the 40th anniversary. Strategy starts 365 days before the race but I can say that before this race even started I was working on my 2017 plans. We have our motel rooms done here (Ensenada) and in La Paz. I’ve already spoken with Jason about helping in 2017 so hopefully that happens.”

PRO UTV OVERALL WINNER
Winning the overall Pro UTV race was Drifting champion/Hollywood stuntman/Pike’s Peak Hill Climb record holder Rhys Millen of New Zealand. Racing in the Pro UTV (naturally aspirated) class, Millen split the driving with France’s Stephan Verdier, a Global Rally Cross/X-Games/Drifting star racer. They recorded a winning time of 22:06:46, averaging 38.64 mph in a Polaris RZR XP1000.

The impressive duo defeated not only 16 starters in their class for naturally aspirated UTVs, but also 21 starters in the faster Pro UTV FI (forced induction) class to earn their overall Pro UTV victory as well.

QUAD WINNER
Winning the overall quad title for the third straight year was the veteran team led by Mexico’s Javier Robles Jr of Guadalupe Victoria. The Robles Jr team covered the course on a Honda TRX450R in 20:49:12, averaging 41.04 mph. Co-riders with Robles Jr on this difficult challenge were Josh Row, El Cajon, Calif./Felipe Velez, San Felipe, Mexico/Jose Meza Velez, San Felipe, Mexico on a Honda TRX450R.

TOP FIVE OVERALL
Completing the overall podium and the top five fastest times were all SCORE Trophy Truck racers. Finishing third in SCORE Trophy Truck was the team of Troy Herbst, Las Vegas/Ryan Arciero, Foothill Ranch, Calif., in a time of 17:42:10 in the new No. 91 Monster Energy Terrible Herbst Ford F-150. Fourth overall was Mexico’s Gustavo ‘Tavo’ Vildosola in 18:02:30 in the No. 21 Vildosola Racing Ford Raptor and fifth overall in 18:09:42 was the team of Mark Post, Las Vegas/Ed Herbst, Las Vegas/Kyle LeDuc, Temecula, Calif. in the No. 3 Ford F-150.

PERFECT SEASONS
The four class point leaders who enter this year’s SCORE Baja 1000 undefeated in their respective classes in four races in the 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship were Colton Udall, Yucca Valley, Calif. (Pro Moto Unlimited, No. 1x Honda CRF450X), Javier Robles Jr, Calexico, Calif. (Pro Quad, No. 1a Honda TRX450R), Victor Cesena, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (Class 5, No. 500 unlimited VW Baja Bug) and Mark Winkelman, Cedar Hill, Texas (Pro Moto 50, No. 507x Honda CRF450X).

TWIN WINS
In addition to his team’s win in Pro Moto 50 to give him a perfect 4-0 record in 2016, Winkelman also won the Pro Moto Limited class with another capable team. Racing to victory with him in the limited class were O’Neal/Austin Miller, Austin, Texas/Grant Statley, La Jolla, Calif./Schuyler Shoonmaker, Alpine, Calif./Mark Bradford, Santa Clarita, Calif.

MORE CLASS WINNERS
Among the other racers winning a class for the first time in 2016 were Ronny Wilson, Long Beach, Calif. (Class 1, Jimco-Chevy), Rod Lewis, San Antonio, Texas (Trophy Truck Spec, Jimco-Chevy), Justin Davis, Chino Hills, Calif. (Class 10, Custom-Chevy), Branden Sims, Pescott Valley, Ariz. (Pro UTV FI, Polaris RZR XP4 Turbo), Gustavo Avina, Ensenada, Mexico (Class 5-1600, VW Baja Bug), Rich Roberts, Prescott, Ariz.(SCORE Lites, Foddrill-VW), Jeff Proctor, San Dimas, Calif. (Class 2, Honda Ridgeline).

Rick Sanchez, San Vicente, Mexico (Class 8, Chevy Silverado), Bill Weber, Las Vegas (Baja Challenge, BTC-Subaru), Aaron Celiceo, San Diego (Class 7, Toyota Tacoma), J. David Ruvalcaba, Ensenada, Mexico (Class 1/2-1600, VBR-VW), Noe Gutierrez, Ensenada, Mexico (Class 11, VW Sedan), Shannon Campbell, Gilbert, Ariz. (Hammer Truck Unlimited, Custom-Chevy) Tony Gera, Santa Cruz, Calif. (Pro Moto Ironman, Honda CRF450X) and Mark Hawley, Anaheim, Calif. (Pro Moto 60, Honda CRF450X).

HALL-MARKS ALL OVER BAJA
This year’s race commemorated the achievements of legendary desert racers like Rod Hall. Hall, who turns 79 on Nov. 22, won Stock Full in the Rod Hall Racing Hummer H1 Alpha. Hall now has a race record 24 class wins (including one overall win in 1972) and he is is the only racer who has competed in all 49 SCORE Baja 1000 races.

Helping Hall, of Reno, Nev. reach another milestone in his illustrious career were his son Chad Hall, Reno, Nev., who now has 10 class wins, motorsports executive Frank DeAngelo, Greenville, S.C. and Shelby Hall, Rod’s granddaughter. Hall was diagnosed last December with Parkinson’s disease but has confirmed that he will go for his 25th class win in next November’s epic 50th SCORE Baja 1000 which will start in Ensenada and finish in La Paz.

SCORE BAJA 1000 MULTI CLASS WINNERS
Among the racers adding to their SCORE Baja 1000 legacy of multiple class wins with their class victories this year and their new totals were: Rod Hall (24 total class wins, Stock Full), Jim O’Neal (14, Pro Moto Limited and Pro Moto 50), Jeff Kapland (13, Pro Moto Limited and Pro Moto 50), Chad Hall (10, Stock Full), Rob MacCachren (9, SCORE Trophy Truck) and J. David Ruvalcaba (6, Class 1/2-1600), Lou Franco (6, Pro Moto Limited and Pro Moto 50), Justin Davis (4, Class 10) and Colton Udall (4, Pro Moto Unlimited).

HUSBAND/WIFE SECONDS
Both driving solo in the two Pro UTV classes, Wayne Matlock and his wife Kristin Matlock of Alpine, Calif. both finished second in their respective classes after each started first. Wayne drove a Polaris RZR XP4 Turbo in the Pro UTV FI class while Kristin was behind the wheel of a Polaris RZR XP41000 in Pro UTV.

BFGOODRICH TIRES UNMATCHED
BFGoodrich Tires is celebrating over four decades as a major player in SCORE Baja racing. In addition to being the official tire of SCORE International for four decades, BFGoodrich Tires has produced the tire of choice for 28 of the overall 4-wheel vehicle winners in the SCORE Baja 1000, including 28 of the last 31 years that featured a record-run of 20 straight from 1986 through 2005.

In total, BFGoodrich Tires has now be the tire of choice for the overall 4-wheel vehicle winner in 87 SCORE Baja races including 31 in the SCORE Baja 500.

BFGoodrich Tires also provides unmatched pit support for pre-registered racers using their tires with five full-service pit areas along the race course out of and back into Ensenada along with complete radio relay the entire 854.50 miles.
BFGoodrich Tires also awarded $10,000 contingency bonus to this year’s SCORE Baja 1000 overall winners MacCachren and Voss who raced exclusively on their durable tires.

GLOBAL INTEREST
In addition to the 33 States represented on the entry list, racers came from 18 countries. In addition to the United States, entries came from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Costa Rica, England, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, New Zealand, Thailand, Venezuela and the US Territory of Guam.

SCORE COURSE ‘SUPREMO’
As it has for over four decades, SCORE put together another agonizingly memorable race course, this one for a loop race, with all of the foreboding, unforgiving terrain that the northern state of the majestic Baja California peninsula has to offer. SCORE CEO/President Roger Norman and SCORE Race Director Jose A. Grijalva designed and finalized this year’s SCORE Baja 1000 race course.

Starting and finishing in the heart of Ensenada in front of the historic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center, the course traveled in a counter-clockwise direction. It included the approximate 30 mile stretch to Ojos Negros which is used in both directions. Outgoing, the course went south from Ojos Negros through Santo Tomas and then ran along the picturesque Pacific Ocean for over 100 miles and then back across to the center of Baja California Norte.

The 854.50-mile course covered both sides of the peninsula and included four checkpoints and 122 viritual checkpoints. There were also a total of 14 speed zone restriction areas for a total of approximately 115 race miles.

The race had its traditional start from Ensenada to Piedras Gordas, then out to highway 3 around Rm 20.7 and went to Km33 and get back on the dirt. The course went past Rancho Grijalva to El Mezcal (Rm 39.6) and headed to Uruapan using La Lagrima Rd, a different road than in past years.
From Santo Tomas, the course went to the coast of the Pacific Ocean at La Calabera and ran down nearly 100 miles to San Quintin, Nuevo Odisea and then to El Rosario. The course traveled zig zag up the well known hill La Vivora, el Arenoso, and looped around from San Juan de Dios at approximate Rm305 to El Metate Rm 340, Los Martires Rm 363 and back to San Quintin on the east side of the highway and ran north to Col. Vicente Guerrero, Jaramillo and Colonet.

The course traveled a new route from Colonet to Llano Colorado and across to Valley de Trinidad. The race course went along the highway from San Matias to Villa del Sol then crossed the highway at El Chinero, north to Coabuso Junction and then out to Borrego, up Highway 1 and up the goat trail to checkpoint 4 Nuevo Junction. From there it went on to Catarina then back to Ojos Negros and from Ojos Negros back to the finish line.
The four checkpoints were located at Santo Tomas (CP 1–race-mile 88.15), El Rosario (CP 2–rm249.92), Vicente Guerrero (CP 3–rm469.15) and Nuevo Junction (CP 4–rm751.04).

DONE DEAL
After review of the data logging devices used by each vehicle in the race and with time penalties assessed accordingly for course deviations and/or speeding on short pavement sections used as part of the official race course, the results were declared official by SCORE International officials early Sunday morning.

As the finish line in Ensenada closed Saturday, Nov. 19 at 6:37 p.m. PT for motorcycles/quads and closed early Sunday at 1:02 a.m. PT for cars. trucks and UTVs, there were XXX official finishers in the 49th annual SCORE Baja 1000, it was obvious that another memorable and colorful chapter has been added to the legacy of this popular desert race in the magnificent Baja peninsula. The total number of finishers (162) was 60.0 percent of the total starters giving testimony to the extreme ruggedness of this year’s race course.

A total of 270 starters left Ensenada in two major groups—motorcycles and quads on Friday morning starting at 6 a.m. (PT) and cars and trucks starting at 10:30 a.m. (PT) Friday.

All vehicles had a 36-hour time limit from the time each left the start line in the elapsed-time race.

BEGINNING TO END
This year’s race started for the 42nd time and finished for the 24th time in Ensenada. The start line and finish line was once again be adjacent to the iconic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in the heart of Ensenada with the first and last several spectator-friendly miles running up and back down the Ensenada Arroyo.

CBS SPORTS NETWORK COVERAGE
All races in the four-race 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship, along with the special SEMA SCORE Baja 1000 Experience and qualifying for the SCORE Baja 1000 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway are once again airing in the USA and Canada on the CBS Sports Network. The spectacular shows feature not only SCORE Trophy Truck coverage, but also top action and highlights from many other classes of trucks, cars, UTVs, motorcycles and quads – making sure that the most exciting footage and most compelling stories continue as part of each race event broadcast.

Capping off the 2016 broadcast season, the SCORE Baja 1000 broadcast on CBS Sports Network will air as a full two-hour special for the second straight year.

ON THE AIR
2016 CBS Sports Network Original Broadcast Schedule (subject to change, check local listings)
· SCORE San Felipe 250 (first telecast-Sunday, April 17, 9 p.m. ET)
· SCORE Baja 500 (first telecast-Sunday, July 24, 9 p.m. ET)
· Rosarito Beach SCORE Desert Challenge (first telecast-Sunday, Nov. 13, 9 p.m. ET)
· SCORE Baja 1000 Qualifying @SEMA SCORE Baja 1000 Experience (first telecast-Sunday, Dec.18, 9 p.m. ET)
· SCORE Baja 1000 (two-hour special) (first telecast-Sunday, December 25, 9 p.m. ET)

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