Nick Nelson's
2010 SCORE BAJA 1000 ATV Race Adventure ::Continued::
Wayne
Matlock's Team had their fair share of issues
this year, but they still salvaged a 2nd
Place finish to claim the SCORE Class 25
Championship & retain their 1a plate
for 2011
Brandon left the pit in a hurry, having barely even
beat Kenney their due to the fog. Harold Goodman
came through that same pit just less than twenty
minutes behind us, and he was on a headhunt giving
it all he had. At the next pit in Santa Rita approximately
50 miles later Brandon was still down a headlight
but going strong and the sun was about to come up.
We swapped him some new goggles as his were hammered
from the moisture and a fresh K&N lid, and he
was off. Harold came through just six minutes later
and still on a mission.
Brandon pitted at the final Honda Pit in Punta Conejo
and his lead had grown back up to over 20 minutes.
The final push to the finish was under way and Brandon
was able to keep a good pace while still babying
the bike to insure its finish. We made it 1061 miles
to La Paz in 24 hours 54 minutes and 8 seconds.
Crossing the finish line apporximatele an hour and
fifteen minutes behind the 2a of Felipe Velez and
20 minutes ahead of Matlock. Three and a half hours
ahead of the 2nd place class 24 finisher.
The
MXN Team's Brandon Brown completed the race
& claimed the Overall ATV Win for the
Class 24 Team with adjusted time & penalties
After some beers and celebrating we went to the
beach house to celebrate some more and get some
much needed rest before the next days awards celebration.
We all drove back into La Paz for the Awards and
as we arrived we were reminded that once again anything
can and does happen during the Baja 1000. As much
to their surprise as well as ours, the 2a Mexican
team had received a time penalty for speeding in
the 60 mph mandated pavement section and we had
edged by them by 19 seconds for the Overall ATV
Win.
Once
the race is over, it was time for some R&R
along the coast line
While the drive to La Paz and back to pre run may
be miserable, it is actually pretty darn enjoyable
cruising back at your own pace after winning the
Baja 1000. The team was able spend the next week
enjoying all that Baja has to offer, fishing and
swimming along the way home. For a final kicker
we met up with at Carmen Cafro’s San Felipe
beach house for an amazing thanksgiving. Even celebrating
our win with a few Baja 1000 winners from the past
including Carmen Cafro, Lance Schoonmaker, Earl
Thigpen, Mike Cafro, and class 10 winner Ben Schlimme.
Congrats
to the MXN Team & Nick Nelson on the
Overall ATV Win
A special thanks to our entire pit crew including
but not limited to “chase 1” My very
understanding wife and maybe the only one on the
planet who wants to win as much as I do. Paulina
Nelson, Brad Aboltin, Sadie Bender, Bill Nelson,
Big Frank Quiroz, Mike Kelley, Mike Cafro, Jerod
Mclure, Kalani Corn, Jaime, Baja Willie, Jeff Stambaugh,
Lisa Stradley, Doug and Bird, Rob Allen. We couldn’t
have done it without you guys.
MXN Team Sponsors:
Moto X Nutrition, Pro Caliber Motorsports, S&S
Motorsports, Maxxis, Klim, HMF, Teixeira Tech, Scott,
Fullbore Innovations, Fox Shox, HiPer, Spider Grips,
Powermadd, Crower Performance, Hot Rod Fabrication,
K&N Filters,Uni Filters, Maxima Oils, Rekluse,
PWR, Blingstar, IMS, Wiseco, UPP, Trail Tech, Team
Money$hot, Kelley Blocks, UniversalHumanAthletics.com
& Quad75.com
