Josh Frederick and teammates...
Josh Frederick and teammates Cyle Chislock and Levi Marana won in the final miles.
The Temecula Motorsports/ Maxxis/ IMS TRX450R sponsored trio of Cyle Chislock, Josh Frederick and Levi Marana slid into their last pit stop in a frenzy. Doing so would cost them timetime they weren't sure they could afford since they were only a few feet behind the Wes Miller team's H-Bomb Films/Bomb Squad/Division 4 YFZ450 with less than 40 miles to go in the 37th annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500.
But what the Honda-mounted team didn't fully appreciate was that the Miller/Dana Creech machine was in damage-control mode with an unexplained engine problem and could only get half-throttle out of their bike.
The Creech/Miller Honda leads...
The Creech/Miller Honda leads here, but mechanical problems soon slowed them down to second place.
It wasn't enoughfor Miller. A fresher Frederick ended up passing Miller's ailing ATV in the final section to secure his team's second SCORE victory in a row and end up in the driver's seat for the SCORE Class 25 (Open Pro ATV) championship. The Frederick squad's time for the 419 miles was 10 hours, 16 minutes and 14 seconds.
Frederick simply said, "We had no problems."
Miller, on the other hand, had enough that it was a wonder his team led as long as they did. In addition to the engine problem, a hub issue cost an estimated 15-20 minutes at their Mike's Sky Ranch pit. He and Creech would finish in 10:20:25.
The Pinedo/Ruano/Sepulveda...
The Pinedo/Ruano/Sepulveda TRX450R inherited third place in the final section.
Of course, Miller/Creech had nothing to complain about compared to the Mike Cafro/Danny Prather/Jimmy Stephensen trio. They were third overall with 34 miles to go but ended up out of the money and out of the race with a DNF. That moved the Rafael Pindo/Francisco Ruano/Gerardo Sepulveda trio to third in class and third overall ATV in 10:21:02.
Joshua Edwards, Kirk Shreier and Shiloh Strunk teamed up to win Class 24 (250cc Pro ATV) in 10:57:05 on their KS Racing/Quick Sand/Nite Rider TRX250R, the fifth-fastest ATV time.
In all, 15 Pro quads started, and 10 finished. In the 10-team Sportsman division, Gil Castro and Guillermo Malpica led five finishers on their TRX450R, their time of 10:57:06 the sixth-quickest ATV.
Josh Fink and Kevin Thompson...
Josh Fink and Kevin Thompson were awarded last-place despite going over the 17-hour time limit.
Baja 500 ATV results
Class 25
1. Cyle Chislock/Josh Frederick/Levi Marana, Honda TRX450R; 10:16:14
2. Wes Miller/Dana Creech, Yamaha YFZ450; 10:20:25
3. Rafael Pinedo/Francisco Ruano/Gerardo Sepulveda, Honda TRX450R; 10:21:02
4. Javier Robles, Honda TRX250R; 10:45:21
5. Christian Hernandez/Eric Hernandez, Polaris Predator; 11:01:41
Class 24
1. Joshua Edwards/Kirk Shreier/Shiloh Strunk, Honda TRX250R; 10:57:05
Sportsman ATV
1. Gil Castro/Guillermo Malpica, Honda TRX450R; 10:57:06
2. Christian Valles/NA, Honda TRX450R; 12:05:45
3. Oscar Hale, Jr./Soren Meling, Honda TRX450R; 12:43:45
4. Fernando Amador/Jose Arce, Honda TRX400EX; 13:03:54
5. Paul Lopez/Carlos Mancillas, Honda TRX400EX; 14:17:25