November 19, 2005
The Cinnamon Ranch Ford Bronco of brothers, Don and Ken Moss,
completed the 38th annual SCORE Baja 1000 off road race on November
19 leading Class 3 and securing a fourth consecutive SCORE Class 3
series championship. This marks the 17th Class 3 event win for this
1979 Ford Bronco. The Mosses finished the 709 mile course in just
under 25 hours traversing the Baja peninsula through silt beds,
narrow rocky passes, dry lake beds and beach front trails. As one
of over 340 starters, the brothers triumphed to be one of only 163
finishers, giving the nearly 200,000 spectators a glimpse of
Bishop, CA’s homegrown champions. Don Moss guided the Bronco off the starting line
Friday and drove the first 200 miles, where it was brother
Ken’s turn to race the Bronco off through the night. Don took
over the driving duties once again on Saturday morning, bringing it
in for the win. The #300 entry was the third off the line in their
class of 6 starters and finished three hours ahead of only two
other finishers in the class. Given the technicality and difficulty of this
year’s course, the Moss brothers set their focus on finishing
and in the weeks prior to the race checked everything on the Bronco
while crew chief Dave Grundman finished fabricating a new axle
truss, to add some more strength and clearance to the Bronco.
However, despite their diligent preparation the rugged terrain
claimed two front springs; one at race mile 60 and one at race mile
210. “I’m sure our competitors thought they’d got
a break when they passed us early in the race as we made repairs,
but they didn’t get to enjoy it for long. We just reeled them
back in once we got rolling,” said Don. This Class 3 team has
also added yet another race finish without a flat to the BF
Goodrich record, as the tire company celebrates its 30th year in
SCORE desert racing. The Cinnamon Ranch team consisting of 19 crew
(which included the 7 drivers and riders) and 3 chase trucks came
from all over and included a motorhome of crazy kanuk’s.
Joining the team for the 2nd year was an insanely dedicated crew of
6 from Quesnel, B.C., Canada. The canadians covered the pit at
Borrego. “We never quite know what to expect from our
Canadian crew,” Don commented. “They even stopped off
in Sacramento to spend a day helping work on the Bronco before
continuing on their way to Mexico. They asked me what Borrego meant
in Spanish and when I told them it had something to do with sheep,
they said they’d bring Velcro gloves….just in case !
Seriously, these people travel a long way to help us out and I am
very appreciative and grateful. I hope our win made it
worthwhile.” Television coverage of this event will be
broadcast on a one hour special on December 10 on the NBC network.
A different one hour special will premier on the Outdoor Network on
Sunday, December 18 and yet another special will air in January on
the Discovery HD Network. All three shows will be co-produced by
Aura360. The Cinnamon Ranch Bronco is sponsored by River City
Differential – Rancho Cordova, CA; Deaver Springs –
Santa Ana, CA; King Shocks – Garden Grove, CA; Cinnamon Ranch
– Bishop, CA and BF Goodrich Tires. ###
|
