#WesMiller

Race morning started off really well with confident riders feeling good about their sections. The #1A Matlock Racing/Team Honda quad was the third quad to leave the start line. Wayne Matlock was off to a good start on the first 21 miles that is infamous for being full of booby traps and extreme dust and this year would be no exception. At one point, Matlock commented how surprised he was at how close he was to the quad in front of him without knowing it because the dust was too thick to see until he was right on the other quads rear bumper. At race mile 21, all the quads were coming through in the same order as they started.

Matlock handed the #1A Honda off to new team member Dofo Arellano. The rider change was very quick and it was a good thing because with the thick dust the quads were stacked up pretty tight. With Arellano off and running, Matlock jumped in the chase truck and head down to the Ojos Negros road crossing at race mile 39 to see Arellano come through. It did not take long for the lead quad team, #3A, to come through. Hot on their heels was the #2A Can-Am team, followed by the #5A Yamaha team. At that point, Arellano was missing and the team suspected that something must be wrong. After waiting for awhile a few more quads passed by and finally Arellano pulled in. He had come into an off-camber turn a little too fast, went off the road, and flipped the quad pinning himself under it. He first yelled for help from the nearby spectators then he realized that they could not hear him nor see him. He managed to get out from under the quad. Once it was right side up he was able to get it fired up after about 20 kicks. The quad was flooded from being upside down. Now with the quad running and back on course he had some time to make up. He had fallen back to sixth place. Arellano rode smooth and fast for the rest of his ride to race mile 100 and managed to push through the dust to fourth overall quad. He handed the quad off to Josh Caster at Honda pit 2 a little over eight minutes down from the #2A Can-Am team.

On Nov. 18, more than 275 entries would start the 2011 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico with the expectations to finish the race and be the first to cross the finish line. The #1A Matlock Racing Team of Wayne Matlock, Wes Miller and Josh Caster was the first ATV team to cross the finish line after an extremely rough 705 miles through the Baja landscape.

With a rough start earlier in the year at the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 and Tecate SCORE Baja 500, the Matlock Racing team was looking forward to a trouble free race. The team spent months preparing for the upcoming race and their goal was to take the overall win once again and seal the points lead for the championship and the #1A plate.

The whole team headed south across the border a week before the race to begin pre-running each of their sections. Matlock and Miller would head to Ensenada as a base for pre-running their sections and Caster would head to San Felipe. Weather was harsh early in the week of pre-running with heavy rains leaving huge mud puddles and washouts along most of the course. All of the team would have to pre-run in the extreme weather to get the course completely covered.

Wes Miller, founder of H-Bomb Media and the Bomb Squad, took to the red-soil trails of the Outback as he managed to finish second after two grueling days of racing. Tattersall’s Finke Desert Race is considered by many to be Australia’s version of the Baja 1000 and was held June 11-13. GBC Motorsports provided Miller with X-Rex tires to help him tackle the rough Aussie terrain as he competed with some of the fastest racers in the southern hemisphere.

Miller has plenty of experience in off-road racing, winning four Baja 500s in as many years as well as two Baja 1000s and three straight SCORE championships. Most recently, Miller helped teammates Wayne Matlock and Josh Caster win the Open Pro ATV Class in the 2011 Baja 500, just a week before the Finke Desert Race was set to begin. The team is leading in points in the 2011 SCORE season and is poised to win another championship.

Following a quick turnaround Miller and his crew spent the week in Alice Springs, Australia building a quad from the ground up. As title sponsor for Miller’s endeavor, GBC Motorsports provided X-Rex tires for the race.

Bomb Squad Racing has announced that 2010 AMA ATV MX champion Josh Creamer will be leaving the Bomb Squad WORCS team to race the New England Motocross series for the powerhouse Motorworks/DWT team.

“We’d really like to keep Josh out here racing the WORCS series, but when a factory level team comes knocking it’s hard to stand in the way of that”, says H-Bomb Media guru Wes Miller. “We lost one of our key sponsors a few weeks before the Havasu round, so it’s been quite a scramble getting back on the gas. We worked hard and had things pulled back together… but this deal came along and it’s a really good situation for Josh. We would have loved to finish out the WORCS season , but Josh’s heart is in Motocross, and this is a good resolution all the way around. Winning Primm was icing on the cake for the Bomb Squad. Now we’re going to re-focus on our Baja efforts, the Moore Brothers, and making great television.”

Though Creamer’s roots were in ATV motocross, he adapted quickly to the world of WORCS racing. After a hard fought fourth place finish at the opening round in Taft, Calif., Creamer came back to take the win at the second round in Primm, Nev.

“The Bomb Squad guys were great,” says Creamer. “They really busted their butts to make things happen for me, and I really appreciate it. I want to thank Wes and those guys for being cool about this opportunity with Motorworks/DWT. I look forward to really going after the New England Motocross title. After all, it’s in my back yard.”