DIRTSPORTS WORLD FEBRUARY 2020 ISSUE 1 VOLUME 1

By the time you read this, you already know who won the 2019 SCORE International Baja 1000. What you probably don’t know is what it took the hundreds of teams just to make it to the race. Long days of prerunning and learning sections of the race course just to be competitive. Endless weeks of twelve to eighteenhour days, prepping the race vehicle for the battle. Hours of logistics planning go into the race to make sure team members have hotel rooms to sleep in. Planning for the proper

tools and spare parts that will be needed on the chase trucks. Planning where those chase trucks will be needed during the race. How much fuel will be used during the race. How many gallons of fuel will be needed at each pit stop. How many pits will be required to finish the race. Are there enough chase trucks to even

make the race happen? These are questions and thoughts that keep crew chiefs and team owners awake at night. Racing the Baja 1000 is not just about showing up and trying to win. You really can’t just show up with your race suit and helmet and expect to be successful. A team needs a well-executed plan before the race even begins. Teams who have extensive

experience racing in Baja for years know this formula for success. However, just because you have all your ducks in a row, you are not guaranteed a Baja 1000 victory. Drivers and codrivers have to do plenty of homework. They spend countless hours pre-running their section. Baja is known for its majestic views, but also has unforgiving terrain. Keeping drivers and codrivers fresh and alert is key. One mistake can quickly take your race vehicle out of contention for potential win or worse, end your day. Successful teams have mechanics and crew chiefs that check every nut, bolt and hose clamp on the truck before the race. If they are lucky, the little race ending demons and gremlins stay away. Gremlins that somehow cause parts to fail, transmissions to break and mysterious electrical issues that one can spend hours chasing with no solutions.

Once the race started, it was all sunny skies. Teams put their pit plans into action. Unlimited horsepower Trophy Trucks rolled off the start line and into the dirt. SCORE did a ceremonial start for the fans in Ensenada, then held a second official start just a few miles away in order to bypass a flooded wash. As the day wore on, strategy became key. In the Trophy Truck class, a couple of very well-known Ensenada locals were moving towards the front. Alan and Aaron Ampudia had put themselves in contention for their first ever Baja 1000 overall win. Battling competitor Tavo Vildolsola, the Ampudias managed to put a huge lead on the rest of field. In the early morning hours and through the complete darkness of Baja, their Trophy Truck (originally Pink) now Brown with Baja mud came roaring across the finish line for the victory they had spent years dreaming about.

As the hours ticked on and the sun rose once again over the Baja Peninsula, other teams finished the race, some winning their class. For some, those pesky demons and gremlins showed up, ending their day. Others were able to get fixed and finish one of the toughest races on the planet— the Baja 1000. If you were a winner, or just simply finished the race, you probably had the formula figured out and all those long hours to get ready for battle paid off.

Some of the biggest names in off-road have raced at Crandon. Legends such as Jimmy Johnson, Ivan Stewart, Robby Gordon, and Curt LeDuc, just to name a few. For several, the 50th anniversary of Crandon would be their biggest retirement party. Scott Douglas, Ross Hoek and others have decided to hang their helmet up to make way for a younger generation. Winning a World Championship at Crandon is much like winning the Super Bowl. It is a racers biggest achievement. They join an elite club with bragging rights for years to come. Their picture goes on a special wall at the racetrack. It lets everyone know they have joined the exclusive membership.

Crandon’s organizers outdid themselves for the 50th anniversary party. It all began with the annual parade through downtown. The parade paid tribute to the fifty years of racing. Plenty of legends were on hand to

help celebrate. If that wasn’t enough, Kid Rock was brought in to perform a huge concert and help kick the weekend of racing off.

For those that closely follow short course off-road racing, the truck counts have been up and down in the last few years. The weekend of racing at Crandon saw some of the biggest truck counts in all classes in years. Dozens of racers made the several hundredmile trek from the west coast to be part of the action. All vying for a Crandon Championship ring and bragging rights, along with membership to that exclusive winner’s club. They even brought back the “Good Old Boys” race. If it had four wheels and an engine, they modified it for racing. Retired taxi cabs, old Chevy hot rods, beater mustangs and two-door jalopies.

To win against today’s talent, it takes much more than showing up. You need solid equipment, seattime and a strategy to get out front. Crandon is considered one of the fastest tracks on the circuit. When the green flag drops for the famous land rush start, you better be ready to grab the holeshot in turn one. Twenty other racers around will be doing the same thing and you can get smashed like a can crusher in a matter of seconds, possibly ending your race. Sunday’s World Championship races saw no shortage of talent.

In Pro-2, Jerett Brooks proved he was the fastest. Brooks, who is from Alpine, California beat out Crandon local Keegan Kincaid and multi-time Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath. In the Pro-4 class, Wisconsin native CJ Greaves brought everything back home with a championship win. West coast racers dominated again in Pro-Lite with Christopher Polvoorde grabbing the championship and Cole Mamer along with Jimmy Weitzel rounding out the podium. The final race of the day brings the most excitement and of course money. $50,000 on the line for the Cup winner, an engraved shotgun and a year’s worth of bragging rights.

The race pits Pro-2 against Pro- 4. For the 50th, because of east and west coast motor rules, there would be three separate starts. It was 10 laps of hard door-to-door racing with truck body parts flying everywhere. Carnage would cause several trucks to pull off the track and call it a day. In the end, RJ Anderson would reign supreme, taking his first Crandon Cup win at the legendary track. Anderson joins the elite club of winners who have

conquered the track at Crandon. Anderson has spent many hours at Crandon, learning lines and doing his homework to become a faster racer. That homework finally paid off with one of the biggest wins in Anderson’s racing career. Anderson joins the legacy of future racers paving the way for the next generation and 50 more years of racing at Crandon International Raceway.