Wow guys thank you for the support, I just now had the chance to read through the threads where you were following the race. I appreciate each of you rooting me on more than you know. I am clearly the underdog trying to work my way up through the ranks. I will continue to work my butt off and continue to keep up the results. Once again you guys keep me motivated to do what I love
Thank you!
Sims Motorsports #1913 SCORE Baja 500
Race report/recap
I sit here 3 days after my return from the Baja 500 and somehow muster up the energy to write my race recap. To say that I am exhausted would be an understatement I had to go right back to work after returning from Baja at 11pm Sunday night. I look back at the experience and think to myself, worth it!!!!
I will begin by letting everyone know that this was not a planned race for me. I had planned on racing the BITD series only this year due to financial reasons. I am by no means wealthy so to be able to afford anything besides the BITD series was out of the question. I work for my dad at our Auto & Off Road shop where I have managed to build everything on my car from the chassis up. Lonestar Racing is the only outside help and they did supply me with the best long travel available. The opportunity arose after I made the podium at the BITD SS300 which was my 3rd podium in a row. After the race I was introduced to a gentleman that I had no idea who he was and he asked me if I was racing the 500. I replied no due to financial reasons. Long story short and a few emails later I was registered to race the SCORE Baja 500!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In my eyes a dream come true!
The Baja 500 confirmation came a week and a half before the race and I had not even cleaned my Rzr from the SS300. I literally needed to cram 3 weeks of “work” into a week and a half. I made a list that went like this: Prerunning- not a chance, find a place to stay- hopefully, find a crew- I’ve got my dad, friends, and Lonestar racing, Prep the car- sure I’ll make time after work and the one weekend I have left, and Paperwork- not a problem who needs sleep!!! Somehow I finished up everything and loaded my Rzr on the trailer Wednesday night to leave the following morning at 4am.
Thursday morning 4am came quick and it literally felt like I had just closed my eyes. This began our long trip to Ensenada which equated to about a 9 hour trip. I wanted to get to Ensenada early to get my cage SCORE tagged seeing that I wasn’t familiar with the SCORE rules. Everything went smooth and I now have a SCORE tagged cage. The rest of Thursday was spent settling into our beach house and planning our days to come. Thursday night around midnight the rest of my crew showed up and we decided to celebrate a little. We had a blast hanging out with the other 1900 class teams and they all really make us feel welcomed.
Friday!!!! Contingency day!!!! The day that my crew and I all really looked forward too! We all woke up early seeing that we had a day full of planned activities. My day started out by getting the Rzr in line early to make it through contingency with the other Team Polaris Rzrs. I had interviews and pictures all morning, and I love that part of the day! After the line started moving we were loaded up with goodies from Polaris to pass out on the stage. Our turn came to get up on the stage and talk about feeling like rock stars! We threw hats and stickers to everyone and literally had one of the most memorable moments in my life! What a great day that I got to spend with my dad, friends, crew, and other teams.
Saturday, race day…… Excited and nervous I woke up feeling great! I knew I had a long day ahead me seeing that I was going to “ironman” the Baja 500. I ate and drank cautiously but I wanted to make sure I was hydrated. We trailered over to the area where we got in line. My crew dropped my co dog and me off wished us good luck and went to their assigned pit stops. As Jake and I sat in my car I turned on my Gps and realized that it had no markings besides a pink line that started at Rm 32 and ended at Rm 415. At this point I’m sitting in line thinking great no pre running, and a Gps file that is missing the first 30 miles and the last 30 miles, and my co dog and I are both iron manning FTW!!! We came this far and I decided not to worry and to drive our own race. Green flag drops and all I can think is I have to floor it!!!!! Into the wash over the jump what a feeling! Crowds everywhere going wild there hasn’t been another feeling like it. Up out of town and we pass our first car, sweet! Then we get passed by Justin Sheakley in the Cognito car that was clearly on a mission. From the start line to the first of many traffic jams was flawless. Pull distance on people in my class and get to a jam where everyone catches back up was very annoying. We finally got through the first 2 jams on our way to the 1st pit. We came in for fuel and left in 4th position physically I think. From the 1st pit at Rm 80 to the 2nd pit at Rm180 we ran flawlessly and enjoyed that section the most. Entering pit 2 at Rm 180 we were physically 2nd and about 15 miles behind the Monster Mav from what I understood. Hammer down from pit 2 until we reached the infamous traffic jam at like Rm220 where there were drivers and co drivers out of their cars walking around and talking. I knew the Monster Mav had to be through this spot because I couldn’t see him anywhere and I could see the entire traffic jam. The issue was an off camber hill climb filled with silt that no one with 2wd could seem to make. There was a local with a 4x4 Ford pickup that was backing up to each vehicle and attempting to tow out. Finally after about 30 min of not moving I squeezed through some vehicles that weren’t starting and drove right up the hill. All excited I made it about another ¼ mile where I ran into the same issue. I had to pull a trophy lite out of the way before I could proceed. Once I made it through it was clean air for me seeing that everyone else was way ahead. We made it to Rm 240 and the car would not go over 30mph. We hopped out of the car and removed the air filter that literally weighed 10lbs. I banged the filter on the ground and literally made a mound of silt. We slapped the filter back on and hopped back in the car. Back to race speeds again we headed towards pit 3. Pit 3 went smooth and we took fuel, air filter, and food as fast as possible. At this point from what I understood is that the Monster Mav was about 20ish miles ahead and I was gaining. We headed South East toward San Felipe into the stuff I like whoops and fast wide open desert. Everything went smooth through there and we came back into pit 4 for a fuel only stop. At this point from what I understand we closed the gap to about 8 miles and there was still a chance. As we left pit 4 I thought to myself do I push really hard to try and catch the Monster Mav or do I play it safe and take the 2nd. I made the decision to play it safe and back off a little. As we neared Ensenada I also lost my last 30 miles of Gps. Most of the course markers had been knocked down and I got lost a handful of times and had to turn around. We made it back into the wash and at the point felt really good about a finish. We rounded the corner to a lit up stage and pulled up on it for our 2nd place finish! What an accomplishment that my team had never been to Baja, my co dog and I for Iron manning it, lack of pre running, and terrible Gps data. We really look forward to what the future has in store for us!
I want to thank everyone involved with this operation that allowed me to live out a childhood dream: My Dad and owner of Northern Arizona Auto & Off Road, Polaris RZR Team Polaris, Lonestar Racing, Fox Shocks, Itp Tires & Wheels, Team UtvUnderground, Mad Media, Rugged Radios, Rigid Lights, Factory Utv, Star Island Motorsports, and Jagged X without these companies this would still be a dream. To all of you I thank more than you know.
Branden Sims #1913