As the race wore on into the night, the temperature dropped. For Baja, it was downright cold! A bit of a wind added to the chill factor. By the middle of the night, less than a third of the racers had crossed the finish line. It was going to be a long, hard, cruel, cold race.

Dawn broke on Saturday, with only a few hundred people remaining in the baseball stadium, compared to the thousands on hand to see Steve Hengeveld bring the Campbell/Hengeveld 650 Honda across the line in first overall position.

Steve Hengeveld at the finish line.

After that, a whole cluster of bikes started rolling in, with the bulk of them coming in between that time and 22 hours or so. What this indicates is that the team of Campbell and Hengeveld is in another level that no one else can come close to when it comes to racing in Baja.

This becomes even more apparent when one considers that the winning four-wheeler, the Class 1 Unlimited car of Doug Fortin/Charlie Townsley took 16:24:02 to complete the course, a solid 45 minutes behind the bikes. When you consider that some of the exotic Trophy Trucks cost a quarter million dollars or more, have 750 horsepower, a yard of travel and a top speed of 140 miles per hour, and cannot run close to the pace of the bikes, your head must shake a bit in wonder.

In retrospect, approximately one-third of the vehicles in the race are almost twice as fast as the remaining two-thirds. We realize that there are limited classes and all sorts of machinery machining, but perhaps it's time that SCORE took all this into consideration and designed a shorter/alternate course within the race course.

All things considered, this particular Tecate/SCORE Baja 1000 was wildly successful. SCORE issued 305 media credentials, the most ever. The crowd at contingency and at the start was staggering! All along the course, thousands upon thousands of spectators gathered everywhere the course crossed a road, or had a decent access road back into the course.

Ah yes, the course. Most agreed that this was one of the toughest - if not THE TOUGHEST - course ever. You might ask why?

The reason is that with off-road racing getting more difficult than ever to happen in the southwestern US states, more and more racing is shifting to Baja. Much of the Baja 1000 course this year was run over terrain that had many races already run on it this year. Beat up and whooped-out was the word. Indeed, the course was hammered! If nothing else, it was a true test.

RACE NOTES

BF Goodrich equipped Class 1 Buggy of Doug Fortin and Charlie Townsend Jr. at Race Mile 205

• BF Goodrich was pumped about the results. Not only did they get the four wheel overall victory (Doug Fortin and Charlie Townsley, Jr. drove their Class 1 buggy to their second overall SCORE Baja 1000 victory on BFGoodrich Baja T/A KR tires.)
  
  
• In all, teams using BFGoodrich tires finished first in 13 of the 14 classes in which they competed.

-Class 1 and Overall - Doug Fortin (Baja T/A KR)
-Trophy-Truck - Mark Miller (Baja T/A KR)
-Class 3 - Don Moss (Baja T/A)
-Class 5/1600 - Marcos Nunez (All Terrain T/A KO)
-Class 5 - Joe Heger (Baja T/A)
-Class 7 - Craig Turner (Baja T/A KR)
-Class 7S - Bob Graham (Baja T/A)
-Class 7X - Daniel Fresh (Baja T/A)
-Class 8 - Dave Sykes (Baja T/A KR)
-Class 9 - Eric Fisher (All Terrain T/A KO)
-Class 10 - Kory Halopoff (Baja T/A)
-Class 12 - Brian Ickler (Baja T/A)
-Full Stock - Chad Hall (Baja T/A KR)

• For the first time in the SCORE Baja 1000, two teams raced on the company's new 39-inch Baja T/A®KR race tire. The larger Baja T/A KR features a larger air chamber for greater potential shock absorption, a key element in maximizing speed and suspension performance in the larger Trophy Truck class.
• Anderson / Evans motor sports Car 1047 led a majority of the Baja 1000 with only 4 miles to go from the finish line, had the transmission lock into 2 gears. Leading Kory Holopoff and Harley Letner by 1/2 hour and 8th car on course; total disappointment hits team. While cruising to finish line, Guy Evans has transmission lock into two gears. Team worked on transmission for several hours to try and get transmission to release, but where unable to get unlocked.
• Johnny Campbell and Steve Hengeveld had an average speed of 51.58 miles per hour for the 808-mile course on their XR650. It also stretched Campbell's Baja 1000 win streak to seven in a row and gave Honda its 14th overall motorcycle victory, also extending a record. In addition, eight of the first 10 bike finishers relied on the XR650R, resulting in four Pro-class wins out of five (of course, the 650 isn't eligible for the 250cc class).

  1x Johnny Campbell at Race Mile 205

• Though Campbell and Hengeveld finished the three-race SCORE Desert Series with a perfect record for the second consecutive year, don't think that their Baja 1000 win was easy. Campbell was fourth off the line and grabbed the lead just 20 miles later. Early in the race, however, he hit a sizeable rock that sat hidden in the shadows, destroying the front wheel. "I never even knew it was there," he said. "I've been down that road a hundred times, but I hit it going really, really fast! Right when I hit it, I thought it was over with." Fortunately, Campbell didn't crash, but besides the mangled wheel, he suffered a jammed thumb on his throttle hand, an injury that would affect him the rest of the day. "It kind of dampened my ride because I had a really good rhythm going and everything was working really good until then," he lamented. Still, Campbell managed to limp the bike onward until he could get the broken wheel replaced by the heads-up crew from the next pit. After that, "Basically, I just had to maintain and ride 75 percent because my thumb was hurting pretty bad," he said, and he handed the bike to Hengeveld after 205 miles.
• Coming on strong and determined to overtake them, the Chris Blais/Chuck Dempsey/Andy Grider/Beau Hayden team actually passed Campbell/Hengeveld when the defending champs stopped for a scheduled tire change.
• That lasted only until they reached the bottom of the course near Chapala Dry Lake and turned north, with Hengeveld moving back into the lead for good. "When I passed them at Chapala, my goal was just to ride as hard as I could to San Matias Pass (a distance of nearly 170 miles) because I figured I could put some time on them," Hengeveld explained. "When I got to San Felipe (about 120 miles later) I had six minutes and kept building."
• Third overall and first in Class 40 for riders 40 or older went to Craig Adams, Rich Binkley, Chris Haines, Bob Johnson, Jack Johnson and Paul Ostbo. It marked the 20th Baja 1000 for Haines and gave him his 10th class victory.
• Class 30 winners Gerardo Rojas and Sergio Vega took fourth overall by just three seconds over Class 40 runners-up Jeff Kaplan, Jim O'Neal and Tim Withers.
• Honda made its official return to ATV off-road racing by winning Class 25 (Open ATV) and taking first overall ATV at the 36th-annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 with the brand-new, never-before-raced TRX450R. The come-from-behind win over several larger-displacement machines was backed up by a second TRX450R ridden to fourth place, despite an early race crash that left the rider with a broken collarbone - though he managed to nurse the damaged bike and himself 20 miles to the next pit.

  An excited Honda Engineering team after capturing the win on the new TRX450R

• The winning team consisted of veteran racers Poncho Castro, Doug Eichner, Tim Farr (Honda's official factory-supported ATV racer for 2004), John Gregory and Marc Spaeth, who covered the 808-mile course in 18 hours, 27 minutes, 34 seconds, at an average speed of 43.78 miles per hour. That was quick enough to earn them 16th overall vehicle of the 272 original starters.
  
• This marked the second consecutive victory for a factory-backed Honda ATV in the 1000 after last year's rather surprising 1-3 finish by a pair of virtually stock Rincon sport-utility quads. Unlike last year, however, the pair of TRX450s was widely expected to vie for the win this time.
• Mile marker 388 on the hill before the drop into the silt bed before the fish camp where check six was located. 2:30 P.M. 11x leads the field of bikes being chased by 1x only 45 seconds behind. First quad through was 12A John Gregory trailing him by over 23 minutes, 2A Gilberto Santana.
• More mile marker 388 reports: 6:32 P.M. Trophy Truck #81 of Mark Miller and Ryan Arciero quickly getting pressured by the car #107 of Scott McMillin. They both powered through the silt and out onto the beach, no problem. Scott was first on corrected time.
• First ten car at 388 was was Eli Yee mixed in with most class 1 cars and trophy trucks. First Protruck was SMD with Matt Scaroni driving, as he took the left road in the silt bed and had no trouble powering through the silt. First 12 car through was Gus Vildolsola Jr., quickly followed by car #1212 Brian Ickler, who had a little trouble in the deep silt, but was quickly towed out. 9:06 P.M.
• Mike Julson showed up at mile 388 with a broken lower A-arm and no wheel, and was warned of the deep silt bed, but he said: "Well, I'm going to try running through it; we'll see what happens". When he reached the bottom of the hill, he got stuck in the silt and Jim and James from Mango Racing volunteered to drag Julson across the silt bed with their Jeep Cherokee.
• 10:54 P.M., the rider from quad 5A arrived on an XR 650 after someone gave him a ride from RM 384 in the canyon, after his Banshee seized up. He had no radio contact with his crew.
• Bob Sutton in BC-6 was the first Baja Challenge to 388. The second BC car (number unknown) dropped into the silt bed around 1 A.M. on Saturday and was stopped. Nearly half an hour, later Jesse James in BC-1, dropped into the silt bed. Nearly five hours after dropping into the silt, Jesse James powers himself through the silt bed.
• A 5-1600 is seen stuck in the distance way off course near the beach. He had been struggling to get unstuck for over two hours. The pit crew for quad 5A showed up to pick up its rider, and he told them the Banshee was hidden in some bushes at race mile 384 down in the short canyon.
• At 6:00 A.M., the observers broke camp to leave the silt area. At that time, there were over 4 Baja Challenge cars in the silt, either stuck or broken. There was also the Protruck from HRP stuck in the silt, the Class 11 of Eric Solorzano, and Trophy Truck #15.
• During contingency on Thursday the engine overheated on the California Tomatoes Chevy Blazer! At about 7 PM we began to tear apart the engine and discovered 4 burnt valves. At 9:20 PM I was able to convince the guy at Auto Zone to open his locked door so I could talk to him. Eventually he called a guy who called a guy who came to the store to look at our burnt valves. We went to his family's "machine shop" and began searching for good valves and guides amongst the piles of junk and the 5 gallon buckets. Using worn out antiquated tools our engine builder, Dennis, was able to scrounge the needed parts by 11:30 PM. We then proceeded back to Estero Beach and the car and rebuilt the top 1/2 of the engine by 4:30 AM. At 6: 30 AM we were at Tech Inspection ready to go!
• Doug Fortin and Charlie Townsley Jr. also won this race overall (4-wheel) in 2001. They are the only team to beat the SCORE Trophy-Trucks for the overall (4-Wheel) in this race in the 10-year history of the class.
• Also, Steve Hengeveld rode 427 and Johnny Campbell 381 miles for the winning bike team.
• The 272 official starters in this year's race represented the largest field since 1991 for starting and finishing in Ensenada.
• This race was the 62nd in the 10-year history of the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck division and a record 24 trucks started the race.
• Quotes from 449x Chris Haines/Bob Johnson/Craig Adams/Paul Ostbo/Jack Johnson team: Bob Johnson: "It was fun, but foggy. I could barely go in second gear through certain sections. Things went well, but the bike wasn't running that well, so we nursed it in.
• 349x Sergio Vega/Gerardo Rojas/Julio Cesar AbrilVega: "Very happy, a lot of surprises." They should be happy, as it was the highest finish ever by a Mexican bike racer. Good job, guys.
• 306x Mouse McCoy noted: "Baja is really an amazing place. It's not about winning or losing, it's about being down here doing it with your friends. I experienced this race with my best friends in the world taking care of me and nothing could be better than being here. It's an experience I will have with me for the rest of my life. A lot went on out there inside my brain. It's you, your bike and the desert. I was riding solo for 18 hours. The one thing that I will always be able to have is the fact I know I never gave up. Baja is a big deal, and I had it covered. I was coming in and my hands were numb; I couldn't use my hands. They shut off , so I couldn't use them. I hit a rock and endoed big time. After I crashed, I was laying there in the desert waiting for someone to run over me. I crawled back up and kicked my bike over and knew nothing was going to keep me from getting to the finish line. Then the fog set in at Tres Hermonos and I couldn't see 5 ft. in front of me. My front brake was blown out and I flipped down that mountain, I had no idea how I got out. I just knew I had to make it. My goal was to get 3rd overall. When I hit Honda pit 13, they said 3rd was a few minutes ahead. At that point, I was really worn out, but I kept pushing. Thanks for letting us race in this country."
• The first four wheel winners, Doug Fortin/Charlie Townsley had this to say: Fortin: "Feels great to win this race! There was dust in your eyes the whole time. At 4:30 p.m., it was a nightmare - no breeze. Driving into the sun was horrible. On mile15, I was pulled over for the first time on the highway with Herbst and several others. This course was tougher than in 2001. The first 325 miles was incredible - a race in itself.
• Co-driver Townsley: "No problems, just a long day. I got beer poured on me at the bridge. Doug and I will be teammates for life."
• 101x Joe Desrosiers/Mark Daniels/Larry Gross/Julian Gurra. Daniels: "This race is for Andy Specht who passed away November 1 from a motorcycle accident while training for this race. He was going to race the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 with us, so we did it for him. Thanks to all our sponsors. We had some electrical problems earlier, but got everything buttoned up. We lost about 20 minutes, but when we found out the problem, we were rockin' and rollin'. Changed one set of lights that we broke, but it was no big deal. Tom Maggard built the motor and by far it is one of the best bikes I've ridden. It's flawless."
• Quotes from #1 Ed and Tim Herbst - Ed: "Lost the race, but won the war. We may not have won, but we were the 3rd truck halfway, and finished 2nd in class and 3rd overall. We lost our driveline and were able to change it, but 8-10 cars got by. We picked it back up and we are here. Course is awesome. Neat, neat, neat course! Lot's of fog, rocks and water, though."

  #81 Trophy Truck Winner Mark Miller

  
  
• Thoughts from # 4 Gus Vildosola/Rob MacCachren - Vildosola: "After Valle de Trinidad, we got lost and that killed us. No mechanical problems - Rob had none either. Didn't really like the course. It was twisty, windy, and you had to slow down to find out where you were."
• Quotes from #107 Scott /Andy McMillin - Andy: "Everything was good; no problems all day until we got to mile 77. On the way in and lost power steering. We went 15 miles without power steering. It took 45 minutes to change. Pretty happy with 2nd place. It's my second race and I'm confident with going into next year. I know the car will finish good. I'll be racing with my dad next year.
• 500x Richard Jackson/Bob Wadlow/John Rogers/Guy Wilson/Mark Force - Jackson: "It was a rough course. After the start we ran into a dozen in coming cars on the road. There is always surprises."
• Quotes from #738 Bob Graham/Mike Horner - Horner: "Bob started and I finished. He got stuck in the silt bed. It was a silt party out there. I lost the power steering."
• One of the most amazing streaks in Baja racing continues to grow. The amazing Ron Bishop, riding in the over-50 class, has ridden every Baja 1000 race since day one. Helluva rider!

  Rod Hall's Stock Fullsize Hummer H2

• Rod Hall competed also comlpeted, matching Ron Bishop's streak. Rod is a 17 time class winner at this classic event.
• There was a three-generation family competing. The McMillin group, led by 74-year-old Corky, his son Mark, and Scott's son, Andy, all raced in the Open buggy class.
• Two racers had to be air lifted to a hospital after being seriously injured in single-car crashes. Vic Bruckman and Brandon Piorek both suffered back injuries when their SCORE Lite buggies flipped in the same hole at different times.
• Legendary J.N. Roberts looked fresh at the end of the race. The former Husky desert ace and his son both competed.

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