PHOENIX, AZ, Dec. 8, 2011 –Now that the dust has settled and the silt has been washed away, the Vanderwey brothers, of Flying Dutchmen Racing, have had time to review the 2011 Baja 1000 race and evaluate all that went right and how very little went wrong along the racecourse.

“Curt LeDuc started the race for us, sixth off the line and by approximately mile 250, he had us in second place,” said Nick Vanderwey, the Flying Dutchmen driver of record. “Larry Vanderwey got it to me, still in second place and by approximately mile 500, we were in first place and we held that
position and crossed the finish line first,” he added. “Unfortunately we were beat by corrected time and #31 of McMillin Racing took first place by 2min 35 secs.” Nick and the #84 Trophy Truck came in 2nd overall and 2nd in Trophy Truck.

After nearly 700 miles of racing, the Flying Dutchmen’s race temporarily came to a stop because a spectator car got high centered and stuck on the racecourse. After waiting for about a minute, Nick was forced to carefully push the car off the berm and out of the way. He was just seven miles from the finish at this point with Andy McMillin quickly closing the gap between them.

“I want to thank all our sponsors for their support and for making this race possible,” Nick said. The Flying Dutchmen are sponsored by: BF Goodrich; KC HiLights; King Shocks; Dougan’s Racing Engines; Rancho Drivetrain Engineering; Tubeworks; TrailReady Wheels; All Start Electric and “got milk?”

The Vanderweys ran the race on the new 42” BF Goodrich race tires. They were the only team racing on the 42”s. The huge tires are mounted on special 20” TrailReady beadlock wheels. “Those 42” BFGs have so much traction and can go over any rock. They are incredible,” Nick explained. “The KC lights were a great asset. They got us through the most treacherous nighttime sections of the 1000.” The night run comprised 2/3 of this year’s Baja 1000, so lights were a key component of a successful finish. “The KC lights were perfect for the night race,” he said, “and the King Shocks performed flawlessly,” he added.

The Vanderwey brothers Nick, Larry, John and Mike, comprise the Flying Dutchmen race team. They have been desert racing for 20 years. The #84 Trophy Truck was built in-house by Flying Dutchmen Racing. Nick, Larry and former Trophy Truck champion, Curt LeDuc, all drove the #84 in the 2011 Baja 1000.

September 9-10, 2010 – San Felipe, Baja, Mexico. The Flying Dutchmen Racing team will again be bringing the #84 “got milk?” Trophy Truck with its distinctive black & white dairy cow paint scheme to Baja to challenge the best that the sport of Desert racing and the Baja terrain have to offer. This team will be racing pedal to the metal at speeds approaching 130 mph across the desert in pursuit of an overall win.

New for this race will be the special 42” BF Goodrich racing tires mounted on 20” TrailReady beadlock wheels. The giant tires will help to smooth out the huge bumps that San Felipe is famous for. The TrailReady beadlock wheels have been custom designed to handle the stress of the larger tires and the increased speeds in the roughest sections that they afford.

The #84 Trophy Truck was designed and built in house at the race shop in Buckeye, AZ tapping Nick Vanderwey’s talents as a mechanical engineer, Nick is also the driver of record for this team. Other talent has been tapped as well; The engine is an all aluminum 454 cubic inch monster that makes more than 800 HP built by Dougan’s Racing Engines. The bulletproof transmission is supplied by Rancho Drivetrain Engineering. The massive 4.5″ diameter shocks needed to tame the Baja come from King Racing Shocks. And for this race, Nick Vanderwey will share driving duties with Curt LeDuc, a veteran driver with many overall wins and a Trophy Truck championship under his belt.

The Flying Dutchmen Racing team started racing in 1992 and have had much success racing in Baja, having accumulated 13 class wins and 3 season championships in the production based, Class 8 truck class. Last season they finished 3^rd overall for the season last year in the Trophy Truck class.

This season the team has consistently been at the front of the pack in the Trophy Truck class. In the two previous Baja races they drove to a 4^th place finish in the San Felipe 250 and to 3^rd in the Baja 500. With the new 42” BF Goodrich Tires and 20” TrailReady Wheels the overall win is likely at the Challenge of Champions

In Seven Pro Classes

17 SCORE racers remain in hunt for Toyota Milestone Awards
Heading into 43rd Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race

Nearly 300 entries expected in Mexico for 2010 SCORE Desert Series race Nov. 16-20

LOS ANGELES—Following the fourth of five races in the 2010 SCORE Desert Series, 17 of SCORE’s toughest drivers remain in the hunt to earn 2010 SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards.
Leading the way are three racers in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division and four in Class 1-2/1600 for 1600cc VW-powered open-wheelers and along with five racers in SCORE Lite.

The three SCORE Trophy-Truck drivers who have completed every race mile so far this season are: Andy McMillin, National City, Calif. (No. 31, Ford F-150), Jesse Jones, Litchfield Park, Ariz. (No. 76, Ford F-150), and Nick Vanderwey, Phoenix (No. 84, Chevy Silverado). The talented trio are also the top three in the current SCORE Overall and SCORE Trophy-Truck point standings.

Nearly 300 entries are expected to compete in 28 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes for cars and trucks in the upcoming 43rd Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. The season finale of the five-race 2010 SCORE Desert Series will be held Nov. 16-20 in Mexico. It will start in Ensenada, Baja California and finish over 1000 miles later in La Paz, Baja California Sur, near the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. Pre-race festivities will be held in Ensenada on Nov. 16 and 17, the race will start on Thursday, Nov. 18 and the awards celebration will be held at 4 p.m. Pacific Time on the Malecon in downtown La Paz on Saturday, Nov. 20.

The computerized drawing for start positions, by class, will be held Saturday, Oct. 9, at the SCORE headquarters in Los Angeles.

Toyota is presenting these prestigious awards to the world’s toughest desert racers for the 25th consecutive year. The Toyota Milestone awards will go to those pro car and truck drivers who finish every required mile in the five-race 2010 SCORE Desert Series, the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Series.

“Toyota is proud to honor the world’s best desert racing drivers,” said Les Unger, national motorsports manager at Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. “For a quarter of a century, Toyota has had the privilege of presenting the SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards to the toughest racers on the planet.”

2010 SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards
(17 Racers have completed every required mile after 4 rounds of five-race 2010 SCORE Desert Series)

SCORE Trophy-Truck
Andy McMillin
Jesse Jones
Nick Vanderwey
Class 1
Kory Halopoff
Class 1-2/1600
Luke McMillin
Hiram Duran
Kyle Conlon
Arturo Velazco
Class 6
David Caspino
Heidi Steele
Class 7SX/7
Elias Hanna
SCORE Lite
Brent Parkhouse
Justin Davis
Lee Banning
Dave Calloway
Samuel Araiza
Stock Full
Joe Bacal

After much speculation and five days of review, I do not think words can explain the absolute astonishment I felt upon hearing the official results of the 2009 Baja 500.  Finally Sal Fish, President of SCORE International, has followed through on his promise of “putting teeth back into the sport.” The official results of last week’s Baja 500 were announced this morning and there were some major changes in the finishing order and results.

It looks like the proverbial silt has hit the fan at SCORE International!  After the well-publicized review of the IRC Tracker data, sixteen of nineteen finishers in the Trophy Truck Class have been penalized for course deviations or exceeding the mandated highway speed limit of 60 MPH.   Course deviation penalties, according to the SCORE website, were located at “one or more of-San Vicente (full or half), Uruapan Cemetery, Mile 375.”

With fingers pointing at the leaders, Robby Gordon and BJ Baldwin, it is now apparent that others were in violation of the rules as well.  In all fairness, some may have been following a competitor into the “cheater” lines and were unaware of their wavering from the course.  Speeding violators really have no alibi…the IRC data does not lie.

Sal Fish president of SCORE International talking to reporters

In today’s announcement, Robby Gordon was handed down a 90 minute penalty for the video-documented “illegal pit” on the highway section near Llano Colorado and a 10 minute penalty for exceeding the 60mph highway speed limit.  After factoring in the penalties, Robby Gordon’s No. 77 Monster-sponsored ride swapped finishing positions with the No. 71 General Tire truck of Rick D. Johnson.  Officially, Rick D. Johnson is now the winner of the Baja 500 Trophy Truck class while RG now claims the seventh position.

“I think it is going to bring integrity back to the sport and it is something that needed to happen.  It is a bittersweet victory.  This isn’t exactly how I would have liked to have claimed first place but I feel confident that we will all be on a level playing field from this point forward.” remarked Rick D. Johnson (RDJ) and he further added, “I still cannot believe it.  When one of the guys told me this morning that we had won the Trophy Truck class of the Baja 500, I thought they were kidding!”

Of the nineteen finishers in the Unlimited Truck Class, six gained position, seven lost position and six remained unchanged.  Kudos to the Trophy Truck drivers of the No. 84 truck of Nick Vanderway / Curt LeDuc, the No. 24 of Adam Householder, and the No. 11 of Greg Nunley for running the entire course with no apparent violations!

Nick Vanderwey, owner of the easily identifiable No. 84 “Got Milk” Trophy Truck, traded off driving duties with brother, Larry Vanderwey and long-time desert and short course racer, Curt LeDuc.  Earning a second place podium finish, the lack of apparent rules violations is impressive considering the driving duties were shared by three separate racers.  “We are all very excited with the 2nd place finish!  Prior to the race it seemed as though SCORE was putting an emphasis on rule violations and we would all be closely watched.  Larry, Curt and I made sure to keep our truck within the limits.  I believe today’s announcement will be good for the sport and the 60mph highway speed limit is necessary for the safety of the racers and local traffic,” commented Vanderwey.

Despite a sixty minute penalty for course deviation, the driving team of Roger Norman and Larry Roeseler maintained their respectable third place finish.  Looking back at this year’s San Felipe 250, Norman was the most prominent and vocal protester of Robby Gordon’s alleged course cutting and Roger’s penalty for the same violation was quite a surprise.  A review of the IRC tracking data would be interesting to determine if it was Norman or Roeseler who deviated most from the course resulting in the penalty.

An official statement by Roger Norman reads:

Roger Norman shows his IRC Tracker Course deviation

“Wow, I’m in shock. My hats off to SCORE, Sal Fish and all those involved. I did not think for a second that they would go to this level of enforcing the current rules. At San Felipe I was one of many who came forward regarding something that has been a big issue for many decades – major course cutting that can change the results of an event in a big way.

Going into the Baja 500 there were some changes to the rules regarding speed on the highway but I do not think anybody knew that the rules were going to be so well enforced for this event. Before the start of the Baja 500, Andy Grider (Gordon’s co-driver) and I spoke to Sal about major short cuts and their locations to make sure there would be a DQ for anyone who used them.  Sal confirmed that anyone who used them would be disqualified.  I never thought to ask about lines that do not make a difference on time. At the vineyards in San Vincente I was behind BJ and I saw him on the lower road. I followed him on the second half of it because it paralleled the course. Again, even though I was penalized 60 minutes for it, I am happy to see it. Sal just needed to take us all out to the woodshed… it’s all good. One thing is for sure, I will not make that mistake ever again.

This was a tough issue that needed to be dealt with and SCORE put a lot of time into it. I’m sure there will be changes coming for the rulebook regarding grey areas, contradictory rules, media helos versus non media helos and Mexico standards versus US standards. I’m sure we will all pay closer attention to Sal at the driver’s meetings and attention to the rules will give everyone an equal shot at winning.”

Included in Norman’s official statement was a Google Earth image of the alleged course cutting with Roger’s comment, “The photo I attached is of the area where I deviated from the marked course.”

Rising to an official fourth place finish was the No. 2 Trophy Truck of “Pistol” Pete Sohren.  When asked about his thoughts on the results Pete remarked, “From tenth to fourth place really means nothing to me but the fact that SCORE is enforcing the rules to even the playing field for the different size budgets is a step in the right direction.  I don’t like to wait almost a week for the results but if that is what it takes to analyze the data and keep people from cheating then I am all for it.  When I win, I won’t have to worry about the wait!”

In discussions with RDJ yesterday (prior to the official results announcement) he mentioned he had not intentionally or knowingly cut course but there was one section of the highway where he may have gone over the posted speed limit.  “When you are in race mode it is hard to keep it under 60mph on the asphalt but for the most part I think we ran a clean and honest race.  It will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow.”

The official results grid reflected a minor 5 minute penalty handed down to Johnson for exceeding the highway speed limit.  The two major offenders of the highway speed limit were the No. 74 Trophy Truck of Rob Bruce with a 140 minute penalty while the No. 28 Trophy Truck piloted by Alan Pflueger was handed down a 71 minute violation for the same infraction.  Johnson’s minor penalty pales in comparison to the above named offenders.  I would almost guess RDJ’s violation truly was a mere oversight (as he claimed) while Bruce’s and Pflueger’s were apparently intentional.

Winning some and losing some seems to be the theme for General Tire as SCORE International “Unleashed the Fury” with the unexpected penalties for rules violations.  General’s newly sponsored driver, BJ Baldwin, has fallen from an unofficial second place podium to an official eighth place finish.  Tony Talbert, Light Truck Product Manager of General Tire, declined to comment on either sponsored driver or the official results, “Until the dust settles.”

BJ Baldwin's 2nd place finish was adjusted to 8th place after review of GPS tracking device

After the race and prior to the official results announcement, BJ Baldwin stated, “I took the exact same lines as I did in last year’s 500.”  In a follow-up conversation, BJ was very candid with his thoughts on the SCORE ruling.  “I am not ashamed of my performance.  I am not a cheater and nothing has changed in the way I drive and the course that I have taken in the past five years of racing the Baja 500.  I think this decision to penalize 85% of the Unlimited Classes makes us all look like fools in the sport and makes SCORE International look bad.  I have a professional team and we are professional racers and I believe SCORE has handled this issue in an unprofessional manner.  The lines I took that were off the beaten path were not necessarily shorter or provided me an advantage.  I was following Robby Gordon’s dust most of the day and took the necessary lines to try and pass him.  How does an established trail with no wrong way markings become a deviation from the course?  I also do not think that Robby Gordon should be penalized for his pitting violation.  There were numerous pitting infractions by many of the other teams and unless you are going to penalize everyone equally then it is an unfair ruling.  Regardless of the actions by SCORE, I would like to extend my congratulations to both Harley Letner for earning the overall and Rick D. Johnson for the trophy truck win!”

Robbie Pierce, driver of record for the No. 35 Trophy Truck, was handed down the largest penalty of 150 minutes for course deviation.  In sharp contrast to BJ Baldwin’s sentiments, Pierce stated, “I spoke with Sal Fish yesterday and he seemed distraught with the controversy.  I told him I whole-heartedly believed that credibility needed to be restored to the sport and if I was to be penalized for any violations, then so be it.  I support SCORE’s ruling 100% and will race how they want – whether that is checkpoint-to-checkpoint or by IRC data.”

The unprecedented action by SCORE International creates a barrage of unanswered questions and controversy.  Was Robby Gordon’s 90 minute “illegal pit” penalty for fueling on the highway and while on course?  Was the ruling a combination of one or two violations and what was the exact formula for these time penalties?

According to an excerpt of Rule GP3 of the SCORE rule book:

“The following schedule of penalties is a guideline used by SCORE in levying penalties to competitors.  These guidelines are a minimum only….”

(9) Intentional Short coursing.
***Disqualification.

(10) Illegal stationary pit or illegal support crew violation.
***One (1) position.

(11) Pitting in restricted area.
*** Disqualification.

Following the letter of the law of the SCORE rule book, RG’s pitting violation is grounds for disqualification.   Intentional short coursing is also grounds for disqualification according to schedule item No. 9 of GP3.  One could only imagine the repercussions of DQing 11 of the 19 competitors in the premier Trophy Truck class!  However the penalties were arrived at, one thing is for certain – SCORE International did not play favorites.

Highway speed infractions are specifically outlined on the SCORE International website.  The details of the penalty grid can be seen at:SCORE International Highway Speed Limit for Baja 500 One point, which can be argued by race competitors, is GPS units are not accurate gauges of actual ground speed.  While I do not recall the exact disclaimer on the popular Lowrance GPS unit used in many of the race vehicles, I do know the gist of the disclaimer states the information provided is “for reference only.”  Will race vehicles be forced to install accurate speedometers to gauge actual race speeds in order to abide by the rules?

What constitutes “short coursing” is not as clearly outlined in the SCORE rule book and this grey area provides room for additional controversy.  Is there an allowable deviation for obstacles blocking the official race course?  The No. 11 Unlimited Truck piloted by Greg Nunley created an early bottle-neck at race mile 17 and forced competitors to deviate from the course in order to navigate their way around the course block.  The chosen line around Nunley’s broken truck could easily be argued that it was not a “cheater line” but instead a necessary detour.

The age old question as to which is the faster of two four-wheeled Unlimited classes still remains unanswered.  Harley Letner claimed the overall win in his No. 114 Class One with a 2 minute and 34 second lead over Rick D. Johnson’s No. 71 Trophy Truck.  Letner completed the Baja 500 with an elapsed time of 9 hours, 5 minutes and 47 seconds while Johnson earned a first place finish in the Trophy Truck class and second overall finish with an elapsed time of 9 hours, 8 minutes and 21 seconds.  Eliminating the five minute speed penalty, Johnson would have also taken the overall.  In any case, Letner’s hard-fought finish and his overall title are well-deserved considering he ran an apparently clean race and successfully navigated his way through the ranks of the Trophy Trucks and early race obstacles.

As the remainder of the IRC tracking data is reviewed and the official results are posted, it will be interesting to see how the next few days play out.  Posting only the official four-wheel Unlimited Class results, the SCORE International website indicates, “More Classes Soon as Review Continues.”  Will the Honda bike teams experience the same results shake-up the Trophy Trucks and Class Ones experienced?  Anyone who has seen Dana Brown’s acclaimed documentary, “Dust to Glory” can attest to the Honda team’s creative course selection.

Further commenting on the results and the course deviation issue, BJ Baldwin remarked, “It scares me to think about tomorrow and the penalties the lower classes and motorcycles will be awarded.  The celebration at the finish line by the racers and the crew has been replaced with going back to the hotel room, showering and waiting five days for results.  How do we have awards ceremonies?  Does Robby Gordon need to ship back his trophy?  Why would enthusiasts (who cannot make it to the races) sit at home and track the dot on the screen when the results can change overnight?”

Whether you agree with the penalties or not, for many teams it is a “careful what you wish for lesson.”  It is now obvious Baja racing will never be the same.  The technology to track the alleged course cutting and speed violations is now available and apparently will be an integral part of future SCORE desert races.  One thing is certain, many teams and racers are anxiously awaiting the remaining official results….until then, I am sure the forums will be alive with speculation!