Racing is supposed to be about winning, going out and enjoying something that you have a passion about. For fans and teams of desert racing, there is also a dark side that no one ever wants to think about.

The 2016 Baja 500 took place June 3-5 starting and finishing in Ensenada, Baja California. Everyone was excited for the race as usual for many teams only making the trip to Baja for this race and the Baja 1000 each year.

The race started like any other event. Teams knew from prerunning the course was going to be brutal, but the weather for the weekend was also going to be in the triple digits. The Trophy trucks for the first vehicles off the line after the motorcycle and quad classes earlier in the morning.

There was an accident with one of the trophy trucks entering the wash from the starting line. It left teams waiting to start for over an hour. Word would later come that the truck slid down the ramp and into a group of spectators. It would be announced that an eight-year-old boy would pass after being transported to the hospital.

Happening around 10:30 am PST this already put a dark cloud on the race because this is something no one wants to see or hear about. The rest of the vehicles left the starting line and headed on their way to conquer the Baja terrain.

Bryce Menzies, Rob MacCachren, and Apdaly Lopez all battled for the front in the Trophy Truck class. Troy Herbst in the new No. 91 Terrible Herbst Motorsports truck that was built in the 50 days leading up to the race, made its way from starting 28th to the top ten.

The heat was terrible, and the words that were coming from The Weatherman were not good. It had been announced that two motorcyclists had passed away doing what they loved. This was truly a sad day for off-road racing in Baja. Other teams had stopped to help and do anything they could to help each other out.

The day continued and in the end Gus “Tavo” Vildosola Jr. came out on top of the Trophy Truck class finishing the 477.52-mile Baja course in eight hours, 20 minutes and 55 seconds, averaging 56.86 miles per hour.

Vildosola said, “In the first 100 miles we were just navigating by instruments. We couldn’t see anything and we were behind a bunch of trucks. I knew I had to be very patient and thankfully I was. I wasn’t pushing hard in the dust and I was waiting for my moments. We survived the heat and I might be a little bit dehydrated and I’ve got a headache, but we are good. We never got out of the truck and only stopped for 27-second pits three times. We had absolutely no issues and as a result of being a couple of pounds lighter, we were able to push a little bit in the desert and make up time.”

The Herbst were able to take a truck that wasn’t even started six weeks ago and take it to the top five, finishing fourth. Ryan Arciero said, “That was a tough race. We had to be patient through San Felipe because it was so hot and we started seeing high temperatures in the engine. SCORE laid out an incredible course and this race isn’t for sissies. We are glad to be at the finish line. This truck was built in 50 days and we come here, do this, and we get it here to the finish line. When we could push we were pushing hard. We had a little issue with the engine because it was cutting out on us.”

There was still plenty of success and plenty of champions during the race, but the fatalities during the day overshadow everything that had happened.

SCORE released a statement after the race in regards to the fatalities:

“The closing time on the race course was delayed by one hour, 10 minutes as SCORE and local officials worked in the aftermath of an accident early during the start of the cars, trucks and UTVs involving a race truck within a half mile of the start.

Racer Todd Pedersen, Orem, Utah, while negotiating a turn entering the Ensenada wash and attempting to avoid some fans, eventually hit three spectators. An eight-year-old boy was fatally injured in the accident, according to police on the scene. He was transported to an Ensenada hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The boy’s mother was hospitalized and is reported in stable condition at a hospital in Ensenada with head and leg injuries. The identities of the two victims were not released.

In the first racer fatality, Pro Moto Unlimited rider Travis Livingston, 34, of Palmdale, Calif., crashed at race mile 288.9. When SCORE medical personnel arrived, while attempting to stabilize him, Livingston went into cardiac arrest and could not be revived.

In the second racer fatality, Sportsman Moto rider Noah Evermann, 34, of Alaska, was found dead near his motorcycle at race mile 180.9 by another race team.

No further information was released regarding all three accidents as all three are still being investigated by Ensenada Municipal Police.”