Despite incurring 20 minutes in time penalties, Colton Udall, Mark Samuels and Justin Jones are confirmed as the 2015 Bud Light SCORE Baja 1000 Champions.
Colton Udall didn’t look nervous as he wheelied his way down Boulevard Costero to the finish line in front of the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in downtown Ensenda, Mexico, but perhaps there was a small reason to be worried.
The 29-year-old Udall already knew what race sanctioning body SCORE knew, that he and his Ox Motorsports Honda team would be incurring some time penalties that could possibly ruin the team’s bid for its first Baja 1000 victory since forming from the ashes of the Johnny Campbell Racing Honda Baja 1000 team in late 2013.
“I missed two vcps [virtual checkpoints],” Udall muttered while cooling down on the finisher’s podium. Without getting into the particulars, he added, “I didn’t do it on purpose. I know that rules are rules, but I race the only way I know, and there are just some things they do out here that shouldn’t be part of the game in my opinion.”
In the end, however, Udall, along with teammates Mark Samuels and Justin Jones were confirmed as the official motorcycle winners of the 48th running of the Baja 1000 by SCORE today. SCORE added 20 minutes in penalties to Ox Motorsports Honda’s on-course time of 16 hours, 9 minutes and 8 seconds, leaving them with an offical time of 16:29:08, which dropped their average speed in the 821.38-mile race from 50.85 mph to 49.82 mph.
SCORE rules require the race teams to follow the prescribed race course, and score assigns numerous virtual checkpoints as well as physical checkpoints to make sure that the teams do not stray from the course. Failure to pass through a physical checkpoint is grounds for disqualification, but SCORE is more lenient when it comes to missing a virtual checkpoints. It was the determination of SCORE that Udall missed two of them and levied 10 minutes for each infraction. However, because the second-running 45X Honda team of Francisco Arredondo, Shane Esposito, Ryan Penhall and Roberto Villalobos also incurred multiple penalites, Ox Motorsports retained the overall win. On the other hand, the 45X team saw its official overall finishing position drop from second overall to third overall, behind the THR Motorsports/Monster Energy/Precision Concepts Kawasaki team of Ricky Brabec, Max Eddy Jr., Justin Morgan and David Pearson. The Kawasaki team was not penalized.
Udall started and rode to race mile 133. Jones took over at that point, went to race mile 356 where Samuels got on the bike and rode to race mile 563 and Udall got back on for the final section of just under 259 miles. The win gave Honda its 25th overall win in the SCORE Baja 1000, but it was the first for the Ox Motorsports team, which also earned its first SCORE Desert World Championship.
“Taking back the 1x (as season point champion) is a lot of hard work, and our team has been working super hard all year to get this done, so it feels amazing,” Udall said. “I started ninth off the line and kept pushing away and got by a bunch of guys except for Shane Esposito on the 45x (Rider of record-Francisco Arredondo). Justin (Jones) passed him when he crashed. We nailed our pits, hung our lights perfectly and everything went really good. Surprisingly any issue we had we patched up really well. It was continuous miles and staying focused because if your head breaks down you make a giant mistake and the bike gets bent up.”
48th Bud Light SCORE Baja 1000
Baja California, Mexico
Official Results, Certified November 22, 2015
Open M/C (450cc or more):
1. 5x Colton Udall, Yucca Valley, Calif./Mark Samuels, Yucca Valley, Calif./Justin Jones, Murrieta, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 16:29:08 (49.82 mph)
2. 1x Ricky Brabec, Hesperia, Calif./Max Eddy Jr, Barstow, Calif./Justin Morgan, El Cajon, Calif./Dave Pearson, Panaca, Nev., Kawasaki KX450F, 16:54:28 3. 45x Francisco Arredondo, Guatemala/Ryan Penhall, Corona, Calif./Shane Esposito, Menifee, Calif./Roberto Villalobos, Tijuana, Mexico, Honda CRF450X, 17:08:18
4. 3x Mark Samuels, Yucca Valley, Calif./Ray Dal Soglio, Scottsdale, Ariz./Brian Adams/Daymon Stokie, Australia, Honda CRF450X, 18:34:49
5. 21x Dustin McCarthy, El Cajon, Calif./Gavin McCarthy/Lance Lewis, Honda CRF450X, 19:53:47
6. 14x Raul Hernandez, Tijuana, Mexico/Rodolfo Patron/Miguel Munoz/Larry Serna/Tijuana, Mexico, KTM 450XCW, 20:49:16
7. 81x Joseph Jepsen, Salt Lake City/Michael Goldman, Ogden, Utah/Shawn Strong, American Fork, Utah, KTM 450XCF, 20:59:07
8. 13x Ricky De la Pena, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Paul Lopez/Tony Gera, Santa Cruz, Calif., Austin Miller/Troy Vanscourt, Honda CRF450X, 21:14:33
9. 35x Nicholas Gust, Pescadero, Calif./Don Campbell, Daly City, Calif./Mike Vetter, South San Francisco, Calif., KTM 450XCF, 22:32:17
10. 7x Joseph Wingfield, Lookout Mountain, Tenn./Jackson Wingfield, Lookout Mountain, Ga./Jared Wingfield, Chattanooga, Tenn./Braxtan Gallian, Cave Creek, Ariz., Honda CRF450X, 24:45:41
(Starters: 12, Finishers: 10)
Limited M/C (449cc or less):
1. 111x Chad Thornton, Farmington, N.M./Tim Fitzpatrick, Yerrington, Nev./Alan Cameron, Reno, Nev./Mark Weirich, Bozeman, Mont./Grant Statley, San Diego/Travis Flateau, Corona, Calif., KTM 350XCW-F, 21:01:22 (39.07 mph)
2. 100x Fernando Beltran, Ensenada, Mexico/Emmanuel Verdugo/Abraham Mena/Fernando Tavarez/Carlos Miranda, Ensenada, Mexico, Yamaha YZ250, 27:43:24
3. 122x Ruben Alamo, Manzanillo, Mexico/Santiago Creel/Tono de la Vega/Abel Burgueno, KTM XCW350-F, 31:07:38
(Starters: 4, Finishers: 3)
Class 30 (Riders over 30 years old):
1. 300x Mark Winkelman, Cedar Hill, Texas/Jim O’Neal, Simi Valley, Calif./Kevin Murphy, Camarillo, Calif./Jason Trubey/Aaron Tuck, Brawley, Calif./Chuck Dempsey, Oak Hills, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 21:08:55 (38.84 mph)
2. 318x Jeffery Pillon, Canada/RJ Clapp, Canada/Andrew Beselaere, Canada/Frank Cantin, Canada, Husqvarna 510, 25:46:07
3. 301x Christopher Schultz, Kamuela, Hawaii/Geoff Hill, San Diego/John Bach, Brea, Calif./John Canton, Coronado, Calif., Honda CRF450X , 29:06:23 (Starters: 3, Finishers: 3)
Class 40 (Riders over 40 years old):
1. 411x Colie Potter, Las Vegas/Sterlyn Rigsby, Temecula, Calif./Dave Glass, Menifee, Calif./Lendon Smith/Robert Lightfeldt, Hemet, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 21:22:22 (38.43 mph)
2. 404x Jano Montoya, Winter Garden, Fla./Francisco Septien, Ensenada, Mexico/Gerardo Rojas, Vicente Guerrero, Mexico/Kirk Russell, Los Barriles, Mexico/Stefano Caputo, San Felipe, Mexico (Italy), KTM 450XCW, 22:46:47
3. 400x Paul Thomas, Bonita, Calif./Giovanni Spinali, Lake Forest, Calif./Mike Carter, Aliso Viejo, Calif./Lance Schoonmaker, Mexicali, Mexico, Honda CRF450X, 23:08:11
4. 444x Kyle Abney, Albuquerque, N.M./Paul Luce, Albuquerque, N.M./Scott Eck, Albuquerque, N.M./Herman Johnson, Rio Rancho, N.M./Joe Marquez, Corrales, N.M., KTM 500XCW, 23:27:41
5. 424x Jeff Powell, Reardan, Wash./Todd Powell, Spokane, Wash./Rick Mianecki/Craig Janett, Royal City, Wash./Matt Worbes, Bend, Ore., Honda CRF450X, 23:58:51
6. 409x Stephen Sanders, Henderson, Nev./Bill Witt, Henderson, Nev., Honda CRF450X, 25:45:38
7. 403x Oscar Fazz, Yuma, Ariz./Kenji Gauthier, Rosamond, Calif./Steve Gallegos, San Fernando, Calif./Yvan Perroud, France/David Fifer, Alpine, Calif., Kawasaki KX450F, 31:20:37
(Starters: 7, Finishers: 7)
Class 50 (Riders over 50 years old):
1. 501x Marc Prince, Malibu, Calif./Eric McKenna/Steve Williams, Tehachapi, Calif./David Potts, Burbank, Calif./Doug Smith, Upland, Calif./Kris Goolsby, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Bob Johnson, Oceanside, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 22:02:00 (37.28 mph)
2. 513x Juan Azanza,Guadalajara, Mexico/Guillermo Gomez, Guadalajara, Mexico/Jose Rivas, KTM 450XCW, 24:22:44
3. 505x Daniel Argano, San Luis Obispo, Calif./Joseph Zabala, Los Osos, Calif./Timothy Hayes, San Luis Obispo, Calif./Robert Eaton, San Luis Obispo, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 25:11:01
4. 556x Donald Blake, Mission Viejo, Calif., Husqvarna FE510, 26:57:03
(Starters: 4, Finishers: 4)
Class 60 (Riders over 60 years old): 1. 611x Richard Jackson, Acton, Calif./Mark Force, Bakersfield, Calif./Bob Wadlow, Hemet, Calif./Jim Libby, Anchorage, Alaska/Gregg Hawks, Hesperia, Calif./Robert Koch, Leona Valley, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 26:32:27 (30.95 mph)
(Starter: 1, Finisher: 1)
SCORE Ironman (Solo Riders): 1. 740x Boe Huckins, Pueblo West, Colo., KTM 450SXF, 27:29:23 (29.88 mph);
2. 715x Jeff Benrud, Raeford, N.C., Honda CRF450X, 28:33:33
(Starters: 7, Finishers: 2)
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