Luke McMillin has scored his first Baja 1000 in the #83 Trophy Truck. Luke battled all day for the lead with brother Dan and several other top Trophy Truck drivers. At one point near the end of the race, the Ampudia team was four minutes behind Luke on corrected time past the last checkpoint. Their trophy truck struck a rock on the course they weren’t able to see due to the dust, tearing off the front end just miles from the finish. Rob MacCachren took second.
We got some gnarly silt and some tough bumps out there. Part of the portion I drove was also part of the course of the SCORE Baja 500, so it was just rough. It’s hard to pick up your pace in a 1,000-mile race and don’t beat up the truck too much, so we tried to be strategic on that. It was a tough course, but a great course.
BF Goodrich handed Luke a bonus check totaling $25,000 for his win.
Cody Parkhouse won Class 1 after gaining a substantial lead. The Parkhouse team had to fix a few flat tires and a broken belt during the race. Jeremy Davis took a class 10 win for the Green Army Team. Jeff Bader was victorious in the Trophy Truck Spec class. Road racer Rhys Millen won class 7 and Elliot Watson claimed the Pro UTV win for Team Honda. Wes Miller also won in the Pro UTV forced induction class. Look for expanded Baja 1000 coverage including more on Luke McMillin and the Big Blue M in the upcoming December issue of DirtSportsWorld Magazine.
