All the Winners from the 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000

The dust has settled at the Baja 1000

Nov. 21, 2017 By Stephen Elmer. Photos by GETSOMEphoto.com

The 50th running of the Baja 1000, presented by BFGoodrich tires, is now in the books, and like every running of this insane race, there were massive achievements and much heartbreak. Read on to get the scoop on what went down in the Mexican desert.
 

READ MORE: Overwhelming Joy and Crushing Defeat Mark the 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000

Trophy Truck

Overall, the fastest vehicle to finish the race was the No.1 Trophy Truck of Apdaly Lopez, completing the 1134-mile race in a total of 19 hours, 53 minutes and 33 seconds, averaging a speed of 57 miles per hour. After finishing behind Rob MacCachren for the last two Baja 1000s, Apdaly finally clinched the win, helped by MacCachren's engine failure which caused him to drop out of the race. Apdaly Lopez started and drove to race mile 454. Juan C. Lopez drove to race mile 991 and then Lopez drove to the finish.

Behind Lopez in second place is Cameron Steele in the No. 16 Trophy Truck, completing the race almost one full hour after Lopez with an overall time of 20 hours, 52 minutes and 45 seconds. Steele's average speed was 54 mph.

In third position is the No.23 Trophy Truck is Dan McMillin, completing the race in 21 hours, 13 minutes and 10 seconds. In fourth is Billy Wilson with a time of 21:22:41, and rounding out the top five is Chris Miller, who finished the gruelling race in 22:20:09.

Pro Moto Unlimited

The first class to leave to line in Ensenada were the Pro Moto Unlimited dirt bikes, which means this was also the first class to make it to the finish line, and it was an exciting finish.

Watching the live tracker, you could see the 45X bike of Guatemala's Francisco Arrendondo leading for much of the race, though the 1X of Mark Samuels continually made up ground. In the final 100 miles, Samuels managed to pass Arredondo and cross the finish line first, the but the victory wouldn't stick thanks to an absence in judgement. As he crossed the finish line podium, the rider of the 1X bike recklessly pulled a wheelie, causing him to dump the bike and slide for a few hundred feet, hitting multiple people along the way and sending two people to the hospital.

READ MORE: Fastest Dirt Bike at the 2017 Baja 1000 Stripped of Win Thanks to Unsafe Riding Penalty

Thanks to the incident, SCORE hit the 1X with a 30 minute time penalty, which means that the 45X of Arrendondo is the fastest bike at this year's Baja 1000.

The five-rider team of the 45X BREMEN-Arredondo-Haines Racing Honda CRF450X managed to finish the race in 21 hours, 7 minutes and 17 seconds while averaging 54 mph. Francisco Arredondo started. Shane Esposito rode from Ensenada to San Felipe. Ty Davis rode to El Crucero. Max Eddy rode to Vizcaino. Davis rode to north of Loreto. Eddy rode for 30 miles to Loreto and Justin Morgan rode from Loreto to the finish.

After being hit with the penalty, the 1X Ox Motorsports Honda CRF450X's time moved up to 21 hours, 26 minutes and 47 seconds, enough to knock them from the lead into second spot.

Ian Young after crossing the finish line on the 1X bike

In third, the team led by Ray Dal Soglio, also of OX Motorsports, finished the race with a time of 23 hours, 2 minutes and 9 seconds.

Pro Moto Ironman

Arguably one of the toughest things to do at the Baja 1000 is to run the entire race yourself, with no driver changes. That is even more challenging when you're riding a dirt bike, quickly becoming an extreme test of a driver's physical and mental abilities. Proving this, just six out of 19 bikes that entered the Ironman class finished the race, and leading the way was Jeff Benrud.

Benrud completed the race, by himself, in 30 hours, 37 minutes and 13 seconds. "It was brutal," said Benrud after crossing the finish line in La Paz. "I was feeling really bad about halfway through then I ate a bunch of food and felt better. I got a good shot of adrenaline the last 80 miles with all of the Mexicans cheering me on and I knew I was in the lead. Lots of prayers to make sure I would get here. I'm kind of numb in an out-of-body experience now. This is the third year I've finished across the line first in the Ironman class but I've been penalized to second twice. The silt is tough for me. I'm short and fall down in silt and I hate silt. It is terrible. I was down seven or eight times in it."

Behind Benrud was the bike of Michael Skurkis, finishing the race in 31 hours, 48 minutes and 27 seconds, while the third place position goes to Jose Armando Carrasco, finishing in 35 hours, 11 minutes and 14 seconds.

"We are so happy I'm almost speechless," said Carrasco at the finish line. "We wanted to end the year on the best note but we had a few mechanical problems and then another issue where I fell asleep and fell into a cliff. Luckily nothing happened, I'm safe and the bike is good. It made us lose a lot of time. I couldn't be happier with all the help my team gave me."

Pro UTV Forced Induction

As the UTV class grows every year and gets more competitive, it's getting harder to sit on the podium in this class.

There were 43 starters in Pro UTV FI this year, while the team of Brandon Schueler took the win, finishing the race in 27 hours, 43 minutes and 44 seconds in a Polaris RZR XP4 Turbo. Pat Stone started and drove to race mile 388. Matt Park drove to race mile 750 and Schueler drove to the finish.

"The race was phenomenal," said Schueler. "Everyone was super polite and got out of the way and we got out of the way of everybody trying to pass us. Everything went really smooth."

Behind Schueler comes Justin Elenberg, finishing the race in 29 hours, 20 minutes and 20 seconds, while the podium is rounded out by Mike Cafro, who completed the Baja 1000 in 29 hours, 40 minutes and 30 seconds.

Class 11

One of the most impressive classes at the Baja 1000 is Class 11, as these racers use nearly stock VW Beetle's with the Type 1 1600cc engine. This class is not for the faint of heart, and this year, just two of the eleven VW bugs that started the race actually finished.

The winner was the number 1118 team lead by Pancho Bio, finishing the race in 41 hours, 58 minutes and 53 seconds. "The race course was really silty and chewed up," said Bio. "The big cars really tear up the course so it is tough for us to get through it. I've been racing for 35 years and this is probably my eighth BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000. Winning the 50th anniversary in a Class 11 is special and sharing it with my kids is an extra bonus."

In second, and the only other Class 11 car to finish the race is the 1121 team of Dennis Hollenbeck, finishing the race just in time, taking 47 hours, 58 minutes and six seconds.

Hammer Truck Unlimited

In the Hammer Truck Class, the team Casey Currie took the win with a time of 25 hours, 39 minutes and 47 seconds.

There were tons more competitors at this year's Baja 1000. See the photos below for all the other winners.

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