2009 SCORE BAJA
1000 ATV / UTV Race Report
November 19-21
- Ensenada, Mexico, 672.85 miles
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SCORE
BAJA 1000
ATV / UTV Race Links |
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1A
Harold Goodman, Wes Miller, Wayne Matlock
& Josh Caster claim 2nd straight SCORE
BAJA 1000 Pro ATV Win & Class Championship |
Ensenada, Mexico (11/29/2009)
– After years of scanning the Internet and
awaiting phone call updates from the SCORE BAJA
1000 from my home in Maryland, I finally made the
long journey cross country and down to Mexico with
the 1a Matlock Racing Team to experience the BAJA
1000 first hand chasing after the 1a team of Wayne
Matlock, Harold Goodman, Wes Miller, and Josh Caster
as they went on to win their 6th consecutive Overall
ATV victory in the SCORE series and their 2nd straight
BAJA 1000 Overall ATV win on the Honda TRX 700XX.
I arrived in Ensenda, Mexico on Thursday, just
before sunset and as the Contingency day in the
city was wrapping up with all the race teams driving
through town for Tech Inspection prior to the
start of the race early Friday morning, and the
city streets wer packed with spectators and high
powered race machines prepared to conquer the
672.85 mile off-road loop through the BAJA peninsula.
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The
streets of Ensenda, Mexico are packed on
Contingency Day for a glimpse at the race
machines along with the many dancers including
the Coca-Cola ladies
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By 5AM, Friday morning, the entire Matlock Racing
Team was up and preparing to head out with Wayne
Matlock heading to the starting line in downtown
Ensenda while rest of the team headed to various
points along the loop waiting for their turn on
the track.
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All
the racers line up along the street in their
assigned spot waiting for their time to
start the race, and for the 2008 Class 24
Champions, the 100a of Craig Christy started
the race |
The Pro Motorcycles were the first off the line,
and the Pro ATVs left the starting line at 7AM
with the 2a Yamaha Raptor team leading the way
off the starting line, and 30 seconds later, Wayne
Matlock left the line on the 1a Honda TRX 700XX
with each ATV released with a 30 second gap between
each of them.
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1a
Wayne Matlock appears through the dust as
he heads to the pits to swap with Josh Caster
bat Ojos Negros |
6a Nick Nelson wrecked in the first
40 miles, so they needed to make adjustments
before Jorie Williams heads out of the pits |
By the time Matlock left the line, I was already
on my way to Ojos Negros near the 40 mile mark
with Josh Caster to take over for Matlock, and
by 8AM, Matlock appeared through the dust leading
the way followed by the 5a Mexican Team lead by
Felipe Velez and 4a Team lead by 4a Greg Row.
Several minutes later, the 6a lead by Nick Nelson
came into the pits, and he had already suffered
a wreck, which sent him over the bars, so after
a quick look over, Jorie Williams took over for
Nelson.
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