Ensenada, Baja California - The mystic of the Baja Peninsula overtook this year's Baja 500 as the world's toughest off-road racers battled a race course that has been deemed by some as the most difficult Baja 500 race course in the past ten years. Only 52% of the 345 starters finished the race and four classes had no official finishers. For the first time ever - the race course was routed uphill from Simpson's Wash instead of downhill creating the largest bottleneck of broken race cars in recent history. Another bottleneck was in the area of Race Mile 240 behind Mike's Sky Ranch where the race course traverses several ridge tops before descending to the gorgeous Mike's Sky Ranch. SCORE Officials extended the race time limit by two hours after reports that 40 to 50 racers were stuck at two steep bottlenecks on the race course.

The trials and tribulations of defeat and triumph were heard on the SCORE Operations radio frequency as "The Weatherman," Bob Steinberger, relayed race radio traffic from high atop Mt. Diablo as race teams were in search of their race cars and drivers. One driver said, "There is a 40-car blockage at Simpson's and what are we suppose to do?" Some of the four wheel classes had no finishers because they were unable to negoatiate the race course.

The course was tough, steep and technical for the four wheeled vehicles and just as challenging for the two-wheeled classes. Early reports from the field were some motorcycle teams had tremendous difficulty ascending Simpson's Mountain and others climbed it like they were transformed into mountain goats.

However, that was not the case for the Class 22 Winners - Mike Childress and Mouse McCoy. Extensive prerunning at Simpson's Mountain put Childress/McCoy in the driver's seat for this race. This privateer team took on the factory supported teams at Honda and KTM in search a Baja 500 victory and that's what they captured. Mike Childress, 14x: “ It’s my first time ever to win a SCORE race. I’ve been doing this since I was 14 and it was a dream to win a race and now I did it."

Mike Childress teamed up with Dust to Glory star, Mouse McCoy, and they took on the biggest names in off-road motorcycle history, the Baja racing legends, Johnny Campbell and Steve Hengeveld. This winning Honda Red Rider team has captured more Baja wins in the past ten years than most teams combined, however this year was different as the Honda Red Riders were beat for the second time in a row at a SCORE Baja race.

Childress and McCoy worked tremendously hard prior to the race prerunning for weeks since the opening and selecting the best lines on the course. Their hard work definitely paid off as they started from the back of the pack in downtown Ensenada and rocketed to the front of the pack taking control of the race early.

McCoy said, “Mike was the last bike off the line and he passed everyone before he gave me the bike. Our strategy was there was a really tough stretch so if I was fresh through it, it would help. It was really a tough course – it was a true Baja course. We had a flawless ride. Johnny (Campbell, 1x) congratulated us on the race. Johnny is such a class act, he is a real competitor. We talked about strategy. They usually get out in the lead and control the race. This time we got the lead and we had a helicopter leading the way for us, it was beautiful. The helicopter kept us informed so we controlled the race.”

Childress has been working hard towards this big win for a couple years after suffering through some tough times as he's made his climb up the ladder in the desert racing motorcycle ranks. A big crash last year sidelined him for a short time as he recovered, but his determination to be a Baja Champion shined big this weekend with a win at the prestigious Baja 500.

Childress commented, " We were in fourth early on. Mike’s Sky Loop was the hardest part. I passed Johnny (Campbell, 1x) at Santa Tomas and never looked back. Mouse McCoy ran the 1000 all by himself and I thought what better guy to get than him to ride with."

The unseating of the Honda Red Rider team by a privateer team in a Baja race may be the sign of the times. Honda's Team Captain, Bruce Olgevie, has led the army of Honda Red Riders for decades during many winning campaigns, but the unseating of the champions in the last two SCORE races has many raising their eyebrows. At the first Baja SCORE race of the 2005 season in San Felipe, Baja California - KTM's Andy Grider and Chris Blais beat the Honda teams to score an impressive big victory. Now here at the prestigious Baja 500, the privateer team of Childress and McCoy captured victory and many other teams are seeing that the factory support Honda Red Rider team can in fact be beat.

Honda's Johnny Campbell said, “It was a tough day – I made some mistakes. In Baja you have a lot of different obstacles. The key to success is overcoming these obstacles. This is two times losing in a row. Nobody is the king forever. It was important for us (Honda) to beat KTM. We went from our first objective of winning the race to our second one – keeping the points lead.”

Johnny Campbell and Steve Hengeveld are certainly two of the best off-road desert racing ambassador's to represent the off-road racing world to the general public. They have consistently made big strides for the off-road racing industry in the last decade and are a class act.

Steve Hengeveld said at the finish line, "I started and finished the race. Eight miles out I crashed. We lost time fixing the radiator. At Uruapan I stopped because I ran out of water. That’s where Johnny got on the bike. At the bottom of Mike’s road, I got back on the bike to the finish. Today didn’t go like we wanted it to, but at least we got the points.”

In Class 21, Tim Morton and Alfredo Contreras once again teamed up to battle the defending Class 21 Champions - DP Racing. Morton and Contreras claimed victory for the second straight SCORE Baja race. Morton and Contreras won the SCORE San Felipe 250 race in late February and made a big charge here in Ensenada at the Baja 500 scoring back-to-back victories. Contreras said, “It was pretty good, the bike was perfect. I had one small crash. Compared to last year this was a safer course. Tim (Morton) started the race, and there were five people riding, so it was a sprint for everyone. We led from the beginning, nobody passed us.”

Class 25 Pro ATV saw Josh Federick, Cyle Chislock and Levi Marana ride their Honda TRX450R to victory in 10:16:14 averaging 48.80 mph.

The four-wheel vehicle divisions were led by NASCAR's Robby Gordon driving the Red Bull #83 SCORE Unlimited Production Trophy Truck who claimed top honors by capturing victory at what has been described as one of toughest ever Baja 500 races. Gordon battled head-to-head with 2004 SCORE Trophy Truck Champion - Jason Baldwin beating him by a mere 7 minutes and 25 seconds. Baldwin told ORC staffers at the finish line they had three flat tires saying, "We came out of Mikes down the hill and there were nails everywhere...we ended up having 3 flats. We wanted to race Robby to the finish since we were so close all day, but we'll have to to wait for the next race."

Robby Gordon's Saturday race was only one of two races that he had on the schedule this weekend. Gordon's double-duty racing efforts also had him racing in the NASCAR race in Dover after the Baja 500. Gordon started 39th at Dover and ended up in 29th position after a long weekend of double racing duty.

Gordon's Co-driver, Gregg Till commented, “We had zero problems all day. We never got out of the truck, we just had two pit stops. Robby drove a stellar race. I predicted eight hours and four minutes, and it was 9:08, so it was a little slower than we expected.”

Defending Baja 500 Champion - Alan Pflueger suffered transmission woes at race mile 142 that sidelined him for a short period of time as his crew changed out the tranny. However, after the transmission change he drove only 10 miles before having his second transmission problem of the day. The crew changed yet another transmission before he was able to get back into the race.

Defending Baja 1000 Champions - Mark Miller/Ryan Arciero suffered a massive accident that some have regarded as incredible to have survived. Debris was scattered about two hundred feet from impact to the rest point of the Trophy Truck. The accident happened approximately ten miles west of the BFG Pit at Jamau and reports are no one was seriously injured. Miller and Arciero are the defending 2004 Baja 1000 Champions as well as the 2003 Baja 1000 Champions and both drivers have a long list of wins in off-road racing.

Finishing in third position in the elite class of Trophy Trucks was Mark Post/Curt LeDuc only fourteen minutes off the winning pace. Post recounted, "I was following those guys (Robby Gordon, 83 and Jason Baldwin, 1) all day. We were on Andy’s (McMillin, 102) tail for the last 150 miles. It was a very tough, technical race; lots of rain ruts and rocks, and many ways to end your day. Curt (LeDuc, co-driver) did a fabulous job in the middle of the race. It was a good, clean day. I got caught in the dust in the beginning. Those guys got a lead and we just couldn't’t make it up.”

In Class 1, the McMillin legacy continues to grow as young gun Andy McMillin teamed up with his dad, Scott McMillin to take charge of the march towards the 2005 Class 1 Points Championship with back-to-back wins in the 2005 off-road desert racing season. Scott McMillin set the pace early as he led the field through race mile 74.4 with a blistering pace. Andy took over the controls at RM 174 and showed his top gun skills through the tough stuff at Simpson's and down Mike's road into the Pine Forest. Andy McMillin later said, "We didn’t have too many breaks. We did have some trouble with first gear. It was a rocky course. I just let the race come to me. This is a dream season for me. My dad started the race and drove to mile 174, where I picked it up to the finish.”

Mike Julson/Bob Lofton were on pace running in second position to Andy/Scott McMillin before a trailing arm came apart as they approached the Pine Forest around race mile 300 and they destroyed an axle as well as many other parts sidelining them for the rest of the day. Julson had run great off the line starting in fourth position in the huge list of Class 1's before his race was ended by mechanical failure.

Defending Class 1 SCORE Champions John Marking and Tom Geviss left the start line and past ten cars before disaster struck and they grenaded an axle on the FOX/Viejas Casino Class 1 car. Geviss said, "We were on fire off the line and in the first 30 miles we made a bunch of passes, but when our axle exploded we were done. This is the first DNF in this car in the eight races I've been in the car and we'll be back."

In Class 1/2 1600 - Rob MacCachren and Bryan Freeman won amongst the biggest amount of entries in this Baja 500. With 38 1/2 1600 cars starting in the field only 18 finished. Bryan Freeman nearly drove the entire race as MacCachren handled double duty by driving the #4 Vildosola Trophy Truck. Freeman handed the car over to MacCachren with forty miles to go and he gave him a ten minute lead. MacCachren said, "I only drove this vehicle for the last twenty miles. Brian Freeman drove the rest of the time. I got in and had a 10 minute lead, that’s all I know. Bryan Freeman did almost the whole ride. The traffic was so bad coming into town, it’s bumper to bumper the last 12 miles into town. I drove the trophy truck from mile 142 to the finish. This course is so tight and twisty.”

Freeman, driving in only his third ever desert race in Mexico has raw talent that is second to none. He commented, “The other cars were just falling off. I wasn’t driving hard, the race just came to us. I got to Simpson, around mile 205, and waited one hour. There were probably 15 cars ahead of me. I was leading physically right after mile 115, and they all caught up to me. I took it easy the whole day, just made sure not to do anything stupid. There are so many things that can get you out there.”

Class 10 Winner Lobsam Yee powered his single-seat Jimco Class 10 to a big win here in Ensenada with Honda powered built by Ken Major at Major Performance. Yee commented, "For the last twenty miles of the race we were stuck in first gear. We built a new car, a two-seater, for this race and brought it down to test yesterday. We were up all night finishing it. We didn’t like it during testing in San Felipe, so we drove back home and brought back our single-seater to race in. It was a nice course. We lost the alternator at one point and had to change it.”

Class 7 had 11 starters and only five finishers and were led by winner Doug Siewert who covered the course in 14:11:28 averaging 32.95 mph in his Chevy S-10.

The legendary off-road racing Ledesma racing family came back to Baja to race the Baja 500 in Class 5/1600. Throughout the 80's and 90's, the family name Ledesma was well-known in the off-road racing world. And they brought back some big memories as they devastated the field of 5/1600 class cars with a stunning 1 hour 16 minute win over the next nearest competitor. In second position was the all to familiar Marcos Nunez followed by the San Felipe 250 winner - Tito Arambula. The 5/1600 class had 23 starters and only 8 finishers. ORC Staffer - Tim "Desertbull" Sanchez raced for the first time in the Baja 500 and eventually became part of the many teams stuck at Simpson's Mountain in the carnage.

Driving the #574 car, Sanchez reported on The Weatherman frequency they had suffered a blown clutch in the car they call "El Robi." Sanchez later said, "We were one of many teams that succumb to the race conditions at Simpson's Mountain. Mateo Pabloff/Pabloff Racing & Fabrication drove the first 142 miles and handed me the car in excellent position and we were on a great pace until we reached Simpson' s and were 20 cars deep in line awaiting a chance at a run up the hill. Eventually, we had ORC friend John Griffin/Griffin Motorsports in his Hummer pull in front of us in line and he agreed to strap us to the top so we wouldn't damage our car in the climb up the hill. We were on our way and about 1/2 way up the top he stopped to push another car out of the way and they had to unstrap us for positioning. He pushed the other car forward and it straightened out onto the course and took the pushing all the way up Simpson's Mountain leaving us high and dry about 1/2 way up. We put the car in gear on the steep incline but we could never get a decent run at some speed to pick up momentum for the climb up the mountain. We couldn't go down because off all the broken carnage and the long line at the bottom of the hill awaiting their turn at the ascent. Eventually, I burned out the clutch in our many attempts at getting up the hill."

Pro Truck Winner Jimmy Knuckles battled with longtime rival - Montana's Al Hogan throughout the entire race. Knuckles ended up winning by a slight margin of only 22 seconds. Both racers endured the harshest race course in a long time. Hogan's run was great until he became stuck in a huge rain rut only five miles from the finish in the foothills of Ensenada. The race course winds through the lush Ensenada foothills and the winter rains created havoc in many places with rain ruts up to five feet deep in places. Hogan was stuck for some 15 minutes in the last five miles of the course and was beat by Knuckles by only seconds. That's Baja racing at its toughest.

Defending Class 8 Champ - Todd Wylie soloed this race and suffered a couple setbacks but forged ahead at a good pace and kept the truck together all the way to the end where he claimed another Baja victory. Class 8 had 8 starters and only two finishers. Nick Vanderway took second place driving his GMC truck and rolling across the finish line 13 minutes after Wylie.

Class 5 Unlimited Champion - George Seeley rolled to victory earning yet one more notch in a Baja racing history.

In Class 3 there were 4 starters and not one team finished, as was the case in Stock Full, Stock Mini and Class 11.

Stock Full had 5 starters, Stock Mini had 1 starter and Class 1 had 4 starters, none of which finished.

At the Simpson's bottleneck two class 11 cars had chase crews standing by with 4WD vehicles to strap them up the steep rocky climb. Both chase vehicles suffered extensive body damage at they pulled the stock VW sedans up the vertical climb and towards the back side of Mike's Sky Ranch. One Class 11 team approached Simpson's Wash at nearly midnight on Saturday night some 12 hours after starting in downtown Ensenada and approached the Simpson's Wash. However, after much debate they decided not to tackle the doomed hill littered with broken race cars, dejected drivers and drove away.

However, only a few hundred yards from Simpson's Wash and while climbing a short rocky outcropping heading backwards on the racecourse towards Valle Trinidad defeated by the race course, they smashed their car into a huge boulder rendering them stuck amongst the carnage at Simspon's.

The 2005 Baja 500 tested man and machine to the extreme limits and the champions have been crowned. It'll start all over in only a few months as teams are already preparing for the big daddy of all off-road desert races, the Baja 1000!