Starting the race sixth of the Trophy Trucks to leave the start line, BJ Baldwin kept up a blistering pace, and with no mechanical breakdowns, scored his second consecutive Baja 1000 victory and second consecutive SCORE Overall Point Championship this past weekend at the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. Baldwin “iron-manned” the race, driving his is Monster Energy/Toyo Tires Chevy Silverado for the entire 883.1-mile course solo.

Starting and finishing in the port city of Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico; this year’s winding course was highly technical, with 251 competitors dealing with massive fields of rocks and continuous obstacles. Baldwin finished first of the four-wheel vehicles with a time of 18:36:10. Only one motorcycle finished ahead of him in overall elapsed time. 

At the finish line, Baldwin said, “I got by Andy McMillin when he was in Rob’s (MacCachren) truck while in the tight technical stuff at mile 540. Andy kept me honest. Andy was bullying me around and Rob MacCachren was bullying me around when he got back in the truck.

“This race course is tight and technical and not something I’m particularly good at. I’m better at fast roads and backing it into corners between 85 and 110 miles-per-hour. The tight, technical stuff isn’t nearly as much fun as rotating the truck at very high speed. I just ground it out and I’m surprised that we are here. We had a good day.

“Any time I saw him (MacCachren) I just put this thing on the chip and let it eat up the bumps. Andy and Rob put on a hell of a race and it was a fist fight for the last 50 miles. He is ruthless.”

Rob MacCachren finished in second place in his Ford F-150 with an overall elapsed time of 18:43:28. Troy Herbst, with Ryan Arciero co-driving, came in third in their Ford F-150, with an overall elapsed time of 19:15:3. Stay tuned to Off Road Xtreme for the full race story and a full gallery of photos!

Photos courtesy Toyo Tires and Stuart Bourdon.