It’s that time of year again to get ready to head on down south of the border for some great off road racing. We do not mean for the Baja 1000, but for its smaller brother, the Baja 500. This year’s race is set to be just as great as all the rest, getting ready to take place June 3rd to the 8th.
This year, Bryce Menzies looks to defend the crown against fan favorites BJ Baldwin, Rob MacCachren, Robby Gordon, and Tim Herbst. Between MacCachren, Gordon and Herbst, they have 34 individual race and eight season championships in the SCORE Trophy Truck class.
With a total of 30 vehicles ready to start in the Trophy Truck class this year, the competition will be tight and should hold a lot of close battles throughout the entire race. Anything can happen to anyone at any time and every second on the sideline will come back to haunt these racers.
Prerunning the course is something that teams take for granted, and this year a couple weeks before the green flag drops, the course was altered due to the recent rainstorms they had in the area. The course was modified to go around Laguna Solada, adding an additional 15 miles to the race, and pushing the total distance to 510.58 miles.
This year’s Baja 500 starts and finishes in Ensenada. The course will take drivers from one side of the peninsula almost all the way to the other side, while driving miles from the California-Mexico border, all the way down to near San Felipe.
Check out SCORE International Off-Road Racing for live tracking information on the day of the race. The green flag drops at 5:30 am PST for motorcycles and quads, and then at 10:00 am PST for all other classes, with the Trophy Truck class heading off the line first.
With a 20-hour time limit and the near eight-hour winning race time for Bryce Menzies in last year’s event, the first Trophy Trucks should cross the finish line a little after 6:00 pm PST. With it being an interval start, it is not always the first truck across the line that wins; each driver will be racing the clock as soon as they push the pedal to the floor.
This looks to be one of the best Baja 500 races in a while, with all the best drivers in off-road racing going head to head. this will be one event that you will want to follow and see which driver can make it across that finish line the fastest.