Matlock Racing Second at Baja 1000
After winning the San Felipe 250 and Baja 500 to start the season, Matlock Racing had its sights set on victory on the third leg of the Triple Crown at the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. However, some mechanical issues set the team to the back of the back early in the race. Still, the team fought back and managed to finish the race in second place, which was good enough to win the season championship and retain the plate for another year.
The riders spent over a week pre-running each of their sections of the course before the race and were very confident on race day. After weeks of testing, the Matlock Racing Honda TRX700XX was ready at the starting line with Wayne Matlock aboard. Matlock drew the second place starting position behind the quad of Felipe Velez and would chase him down nearly making the pass several times in the thick dust before handing the quad off to Josh Caster early in the race.
With Caster now aboard the quad he was off in hot pursuit. Soon after taking off Caster noticed a mechanical issue with the quad and stopped to make some adjustments. It was soon discovered the clutch had a major mechanical failure and would need a complete replacement. The call went out to the chase crews, who would have to reach the quad in a remote location well away from any access roads. Over two hours later the clutch was replaced and the quad was back on the road as the last quad on the course.
Now back up and running the team was able to start making up time on the leaders and closing the gap towards the front of the pack. Matlock would jump back on the quad for his second ride of the day near Gonzaga Bay and hit a large rock while making a pass, which knocked the foot peg and heel guard completely off the right side of the quad. After another stop to replace the foot peg bolts it was found the bolt had sheared off inside the frame. Matlock was able to get one bolt replaced and then joined the race once again until another pit could be found to weld the foot peg back on the quad. Once the foot peg was fixed the team continued to make up time on the leaders.
Wes Miller would jump on the quad near race mile 517 and would gain over 30 minutes on the leaders in his first section. While Miller continued to gain time on the competition Harold Goodman got prepared for his section further south. Both Miller and Goodman had flawless first rides and soon Miller reached the Pacific coast once again and into the fog. Miller would push his way into the fog before handing the quad off to Goodman once again. Goodman would start his second ride of the night in the middle of the fog so thick at some points he couldn’t see more than 5 feet in front of the quad. Due to the moisture in the air, freezing temperatures and early morning hours Goodman soon began to lose feeling in his hands. His goggles also began to give him trouble and he decided to ride without them almost 60 miles until he couldn’t see anymore before passing the quad off to Matlock. From this point on Matlock would ride to the finish and crossed the finish line just minutes off the leaders.
Even with over 2 hours of down time early in the race, the Matlock Racing team was able to make an impressive comeback to finish just under 15 minutes behind the leaders and the Overall win. The team clinched the season championship points and will retain the plate once again!
Matlock Racing would like to thank all its sponsors: Vey’s Powersports, PRM-ATV.com, Rich Morel Racing Motors, Precision Concepts, Houser Racing, Maxxis, Elka, JCR Honda, Big Gun Exhaust, KZ Trailers, Fly Racing, Renthal, IMS-Roll, Pro Honda Oil and Chemicals, IMS, DWT,OMF, Tire Balls, Quadtech, Streamline, Precision Racing Products, Baja Designs, Scott Goggles, Motion Pro, UNI Filters, DID Chains, Alpinestars, Hammer Nutrition, Premier Nutrition, Diamondback Rack, Rockwell Time, Division Four
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