6 minute read
SCORE Fabulous Flashback: 2022 SCORE Baja 400
BY DOMINIC CLARK, SCORE HSTORICAN
PHOTOS BY GETSOMEPHOTO.COM
Helping cap the week-long celebration of the 212th anniversary of Mexican Independence, Las Vegas’ Bryce Menzies repeated as overall and SCORE Trophy Truck winner at the third SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing Fuels. The race launched the second half of the four-race 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship.
Menzies qualified second behind eventual runnerup Luke McMillin and got around him when McMillin was stopped with a flat tire around race mile 65. And he maintained his lead to the finish despite losing his fourwheel drive and finishing with two-wheel drive.
Menzies stayed in front of the hungry field of 197 starters from that point in his Mason Motorsports-built All Wheel Drive No. 7 Menzies Motorsports Ford Raptor, posting an admirable error-free, penalty free winning time of seven hours, 59 minutes and 27 seconds with an average speed of 49.28 miles per hour over the challenging 393.82-mile course.
Under skies that went from cloudy to stunningly sunny, light winds with mild temperatures in the mid-70s Farenheit, finishers enjoyed the mostly temperate weather as well as the rugged race course.
Menzies led a parade of Mason Motorsports AWD SCORE Trophy Trucks to the podium as San Diego’s Luke McMillin and his older brother Dan McMillin, finished second and third overall on Saturday.
Racing in Pro and Sportsman cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads there were racers from 22 U.S. States and 14 countries. Joining the USA in the field were many racers from host country Mexico along with Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, England, France, New Zealand, Peru and Venezuela.
Switching from the unique Pro Moto Ironman class for solo riders after winning two straight season class point championships, Bolivia's legendary athlete and Dakar Rally veteran Juan Carlos Salvatierra won the Overall Motorcycle and Pro Moto Unlimited Class for the third straight 2022 race. Salvatierra won the SCORE Baja 400 with a four-rider team from three countries--two from the USA, and one each from Boliva and Mexico.
Salvatierra’s team from San Felipe and the SCORE Baja 500 was Mexico’s Arturo Salas and USA’s Shane Logan. Joining them for the SCORE Baja 500 has an additional rider on a four-nation team was Argentina’s Diego Llanos.
For the SCORE Baja 400 joining Bolivia’s Salvatierra was Salas, 19, from Tecate, Mexico, Logan, 20, from Lake Havasu City, Ariz. and the new member was Clayton Roberts, 20, Apple Valley, Calif.
Defeating 38 UTVs in four different classes and 23 in his own class alone, Austin Weiland, 29, El Cajon, Calif., was the Overall UTV and Pro UTV FI (Forced Induction) winner with a penalty-free time of 9:30:19 in his No. 2954 Can-Am X-3. He averaged 41.43 mph and won the UTV Overall by over 34 minutes.
Winning their respective classes for the second time in three 2022 races were Christopher Polvoorde, 21, Hemet, Calif. (Trophy Truck Spec, No. 204 Mason-Ford), Daniel Chamlee, 60, Montecito, Calif. (Class 7, No. 700 Ford Ranger), Eli Yee, 48, Tijuana, Mexico (Class 1/2-1600, PRCVW), Ramon Fernandez, 46, Ensenada, Mexico (Class 5, No. 507 Unlimited Baja Bug), Edward Muncey, 50, San Diego (Baja Challenge, No. BC4 BTC-Subaru), Giovanni Spinali, 56, El Cajon, Calif. (Pro Moto 50, No. 500x Yamaha YZ450FX) and Luis Ernesto Villafana, 39, Mexicali, Mexico (Pro Quad, No. 7a Honda TRX450R).
Other first-time 2022 SCORE class winners in this race included Brian Parkhouse, 63, Long Beach, Calif. (Class 1, No. 100 Jimco-Chevy), J. David Ruvalcaba, Ensenada, Mexico (Class 10, No. 1009 Alumi Craft-Honda), Mike Cafro, Temecula, Calif. (Pro Moto Open, No. 1876 Polaris RZR Turbo S), Miguel Cortez, San Diego (SCORE Lites, No. 1205 CurryVW), Kaden Wells, Hurricane, Utah (Pro UTV NA, No. 1995 Polaris RZR XP1000), Randy Emberton, Prescott, Ariz. (Pro UTV Stock, No. 3933 Polaris Turbo S) and Hector Sarabia, Ensenada, Mexico (Class 11, No. 1145, VW Sedan)
The challenging 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, majestic Baja washes and canyons, stretches along the seashore with elevations from sea level to 4,972 feet. The course was another jewel reflecting the stark beauty of Baja California.
It ran in a clockwise direction from Ensenada and back with two physical, full-stop checkpoints and 170 total virtual checkpoints.
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