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2007 40th Tecate SCORE
Baja 1000
November 13-15, 2007
ATV & UTV Race Report
Danny Prather, Mike Cafro, Levi
Marana, March Spaeth, Dana Creech Win
Cabo San Lucas –
Marking the 40th annual running of the
SCORE Baja 1000, this year’s course stretched
the entire Baja peninsula. Starting on the main
streets of Ensenada, the participants would race
1296.39 miles down to Cabo San Lucas to finish one
the longest races in SCORE history. 239 finishers
out of the 424 entries completed the race within
the 53-hour time limit, giving this race the greatest
finishing rate of any other SCORE event.
With an early 6am start time the Pro motorcycles
would lead off the event. 1x wasted no time on
the course as Team Honda took the overall win
averaging over 53 mph with a finish time of 24:15:50.
Behind the Pro motorcycles, Class 25 and 24, the
Pro ATV’s, took to the course. Working their
way through the Mexican desert, teams settled
in for the journey hoping to run a flawless race
but always expecting the unexpected. Early on,
the 5a Factory Honda team would set the pace as
they distanced themselves from the rest of the
pro riders.
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| Can-Am's
Mike Penland |
Minor problems seemed to plague all the teams,
but some were struck harder than others. Hoyt
Penland, Mike Penland’s son, who was racing
in the Sportsman ATV class aboard his number 96A
Can-Am, was seriously injured in an ATV crash
around race mile 470 late Tuesday night with a
severe broken right leg. He was taken to La Paz
where he had a steel rod inserted into his leg
to mend it back together before returning state
side.
The 1a Temecula Motorsports ATV was set back
nearly two hours in the beginning due to a missed
pit stop for refueling, which was not the only
time they would run out of gas during the race.
While the 1a ATV was making up for lost time,
the Factory Honda 5a was starting to experience
their share of misfortune when the rear shock
broke while Wes Miller was in the driver’s
seat, costing the team valuable time. AS if that
wasn’t enough of a set back, the tranny
went out just before Keith Little was to hand
off the bike to teammate Harold Goodman. “Keith
thought the whole tranny was gone at first, but
he made it to the pit area and we determined we
only had 4th gear. We didn’t want to waste
any more time swapping out the clutch then, so
I took off with a spare clutch on me just in case.”
Stated Goodman.
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| 1a
Temecula Motorsports Team |
5a
Factory Honda |
Goodman would have the toughest go at it, as
he faced some of the most treacherous silt beds
in Mexico with only 4th gear. “There were
a few spots where it would have been a lot better
to have 2nd or 3rd gear, especially in the silt
beds.” Said Harold. Doing what he had to,
Goodman hammered through the silt beds leaving
him on the other end with a burnt out clutch.
In true Baja fashion, with an extra clutch pack
in his supplies and the help of the local “mechanics”
he completely replaced the clutch and was back
on course in sixteen minutes. “It was really
amazing that we were able to change out a clutch
in the middle of the desert with minimal tools
in the short amount of time that we did.”
Said Harold, still quite impressed with that accomplishment.
The unfortunate mechanical issues of the 5a
Honda ATV allowed the 1a Honda ATV to pass within
75 miles of the finish line and pull in a narrow
victory crossing the finish line only nine minutes
ahead of the 5a Honda team. “If it wouldn’t
have been for our clutch issues, we could have
been the first quad team across the finish line.”
Stated Goodman. “We had about a two-hour
lead over any other ATV’s and we were actually
running in 4th overall, but without a 5th gear
in the fast sections of the course, it really
effected our time.” He concluded.
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