Traverse City, Mich. – Radar Tires, Mike Johnson and Mike Majesky were the runner-up Class 10 finishers at the SCORE International Imperial Valley 250 on Saturday, April 26. This result marks the third SCORE International Class 10 podium for Bronson Motorsports and fourth SCORE Class 10 podium for Radar Tires over the past two seasons. Official results were delayed in order for SCORE International to compile data to determine final results of the race.
Radar Tires’ second place finish with Majesky and Johnson was seventh overall, only behind four Trophy Trucks, one Class 1 buggy, and Class 10 winner Mike Lawrence.
In March 2013, Johnson and Majesky finished third at SCORE San Felipe 250. Then in June, Johnson won the SCORE Baja 500. In March, Cody Robinson and Roberto Romo won the SCORE San Felipe 250 Class 10 race.
Johnson and Majesky, co drivers of the Bronson Motorsports No. 1031 Radar Tires Buggy started from the 16th position in Class 10. Majesky hit the three-lap, 82-mile course like a man on a mission.
His mission: race to the front. Mission accomplished.
As he crossed the start/finish line to start the second lap, Majesky was physically third on course in Class 10. According to tracking and scoring, he was running first on corrected time with a three minute lead on the Class 10 field.
Running strong and pulling away from the field, Majesky approached the start of the third lap, this time he was second on course, with a seven minute lead on corrected time.
The Bronson Motorsports team originally scheduled a pit stop for the end of the second lap. Since Majesky had a solid lead, the team opted to keep him in the buggy since he was very familiar with the course having done two pre-runs earlier in the week and just completed two race laps.
Approximately 30 miles into the third and final lap, Majesky hit a rock which punctured the left rear tire. He changed the tire and that seven minute lead vanished. Majesky was running second when he turned the buggy over to Johnson for the final half lap. Johnson ran the remainder of the race and finished in second place and seventh overall.
“Radar Tires has been in two SCORE races this year and we have a win and a second place finish,” said Scott Rhodes, Vice President of Sales for Omni United North America. “It is great to see Mike Johnson and Mike Majesky back on the podium. The Imperial Valley 250 was a rocky race, literally, and our Radar Renegade tires battled the elements and only suffered from one flat tire among the three Class 10 buggy teams running them. Majesky raced from the back of the field to first in 80 miles, which is a testament to the tires, racing equipment and driver skill. We’re thrilled to have another SCORE podium finish.”
Mike Majesky
“We fixed all the gremlins and the buggy was incredible; far superior and faster than the competition. Everybody is back to watching the Bronson Motorsports team. We’ve definitely caught the attention of the field after starting 16th
and then leading the race with 80 miles complete.
“There was so much dust on the course; it was like a Sahara sandstorm out there. It was unreal from a visibility standpoint. You couldn’t see 50 feet in front of you from time to time. I think I did a good job hitting all the 106 virtual checkpoints on that 82-mile loop.
“The Radar Tires were incredible. This was a very rough, rocky course and I’m not quite sure how I got that flat tire. We were racing on difficult terrain and probably hit at least 1,000 big rocks every lap. When the team looked at the tires at the fuel stop, they looked perfect. That’s why we didn’t change any tires because at 164 miles into the race, the Radar tires looked great. If the tires had looked worn, we would have changed them. Our Radar Renegades showed almost no wear.”
Mike Johnson
“Mike did the lion’s share of the race and that was a last minute strategy call. We kept him in because times were so tight between the top five in class that we didn’t want to take the chance on losing time with a driver change pit stop. So we stretched the fuel stop to the end of the second lap, which bought us some time.
“When it was near the end of the third lap, I got into the buggy and finished the race. I ran about a half a lap, I definitely had the easy job today. Watching the race unfold with Mike doing as well as he was, from a strategy standpoint, it was the smart thing to keep him in as long as we could. We definitely out-strategized everyone. Unfortunately 30 miles into his last lap, he got a left rear flat and then we had some brake problems at the end. I decided not to attack but to bring it home intact.
“Things are moving in the right direction. We didn’t finish the 250 or last year’s 1000, so finishing second at this event is huge. We’re on the box, we earned valuable points and we’re moving in the right direction.
“Mike did an amazing job today starting as far back as he did. This was a very difficult navigational race due to the dust. We had a disadvantage today being far back in the field, so finishing where we did is rewarding. I’m not disappointed at all. We definitely caught the attention of the field and we’ve made the competition nervous again.
“Thanks to Radar Tires for its help. Cody Robinson, another Radar Tires buggy, was running strong throughout the race and had a mechanical issue that damaged the suspension. We were going for that 1-2 podium for Radar Tires. We were the top two buggies for three-quarters of the race.”
Robinson Romo Racing
SCORE San Felipe 250 winners Cody Robinson and Roberto Romo led the Class 10 pack off the line on Saturday afternoon for the Imperial Valley 250. Hoping that first position would bring them some good luck, the second 250-mile event of the season didn’t fare as well for the No. 1016 Robinson Farms/Romo Race Prep Buggy. During Saturday’s race, the Robinson Romo Racing team broke an A-arm mount on the third and final lap. The team was able to weld the damaged component and finish the event in ninth place.
“The buggy equipped with these Radar Renegades R5 tires ran flawless for the first two laps and kept us out front; we were running well, right up there with Mike Johnson and Mike Majesky,” said Robinson. “We had no flats all day long and were in a good position to win this race until the mechanical failure on Lap 3. We were able to weld the broken A-arm mount and finish the race. We are going to make some changes to the buggy and attack at the Baja 500.”
Richards Performance Muffler
The Richards Performance Muffler team of Richard Glaszczak and Patrick Dailey, co-drivers of the No. 1073 RPM Buggy didn’t fare as well as Johnson/Majesky or Robinson/ Romo.
Glaszczak started the race from the 10th position in Class 10. He ran a race-high of third place and then trouble struck the team. Shortly after completing the first lap, an engine mount broke and caused the engine to separate from the transmission. The team was unable to continue and withdrew from the race.
“I was happy to team-up with Richard again; he runs a great program,” said Dailey. “We will hopefully race together in the future. I’m very happy that Richard gets such great support from Radar Tires.”
Next up for Radar Tires in long course off road racing is the 46th Annual Tecate SCORE International Baja 500. Defending race winner Mike Johnson looks for a back-to-back Class 10 win the weekend of June 5-8.