Matlock Racing
SCORE San Felipe 250 ATV Race Report
After Multiple Mechanical Problems
the Team Finishes the Grueling ATV Race
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Matlock Racing
SCORE ATV Race Team of Wayne Matlock (right)
Wes Miller (center) & Josh Caster
(left)
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El Centro, CA (3/21/2011) - The
Matlock Racing Pro ATV Team of Wayne Matlock, Wes
Miller & Josh Caster crossed the finish line
after multiple mechanical problems at the 2011 Tecate
SCORE San Felipe 250 on March 12th in San Felipe,
Baja, Mexico.
The #1A Matlock Racing team prides themselves
on being well prepared when it comes to racing
in Baja. The 2011 SCORE San Felipe 250 was no
different as the team headed south of the border
to begin their prerunning. This course is always
known for endless miles of sandy whoops and after
a week of prerunning all the riders agreed this
course was going to be the roughest San Felipe
yet.
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During prerunning
Josh Caster experienced a high speed crash,
but was able to walk away from it with
only minor scratches and was able to finsh
prerunning later on that day
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During prerunning on the Thursday before the race,
Caster had a high speed crash due to a broken shock
bolt while riding one of his sections. Luckily he
walked away with only minor scratches and was able
to finish his prerun later that day. The rest of
the team had no issues while prerunning even with
the extremely rough course. As the week leading
up to the race wore on the course continued to get
rougher and the holes got bigger. On Friday before
technical inspection the team spent a little extra
time testing the race quad at race mile 7 near Zoo
Road. This section of the course is known for its
giant rock strewn whoops. A few last adjustments
and the riders agreed this may be the fastest and
best working quad they had ever ridden.
Caster would start on the #1A quad in the early
morning light, before passing the quad off to
Matlock. The #1A quad would start 5th off the
line and Caster made quick progress passing 2
quads before handing the quad to Matlock at Race
Mile 7.
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During the
race Wayne Matlock noticed that the rear
shocks were fading fast and had to slow
down his persuit for the lead
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Matlock took the #1A quad and was in quick pursuit
of the 2 lead quads, working to gain the lead
early in the race. Roughly 5 miles into his ride,
Matlock noticed the rear shocks were fading fast
and before long they had lost all the oil completely.
Matlock was forced to slow his pursuit of the
leaders and was loosing time in the process until
he could reach the next pit at Race Mile 25. In
the pit the crew was able to change out both rear
shocks before sending Miller out on his section.
Miller started out on his section knowing he
needed to make up the time lost due to the mechanical
problem early in the race. He pushed hard to gain
time at the northern end of the course. Working
his way thru the large sandy whoops of Borrego,
Miller started to notice the rear shocks fading
once again. Miller was also forced to slow his
pursuit of the leaders in an effort to keep the
shocks from losing any oil. Even with the mechanical
issues Miller was able to keep pace with the lead
quads before handing the quad off to Caster once
again at Race Mile 90.
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Wes Miller
also experieced the shocks fading, but
was able to keep up the with the leaders
before handing the Honda 700xx ATV off
to Teammate Josh Caster
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As Miller handed the quad off to Caster he noted
the rear shocks were fading fast with the extremely
rough course. Caster was off on his second section
and noticed immediately the quad was handling
differently than earlier that morning off the
start. 10 miles into his second ride the rear
shock on the right side lost all its oil forcing
Caster to complete the next 80 miles with a blown
rear shock. After reaching Race Mile 177, Matlock
and Caster changed the rear shocks once again
before Matlock could continue his ride to the
finish.
Matlock was off for his final ride with a third
pair of shocks and was now able to start gaining
time on the leaders now miles ahead. Matlock’s
second ride of the day went by quickly as he worked
hard to make up the lost time early in the race.
Luckily he would cross the finish line with no
other serious issues. Even with the multiple serious
mechanical issues and down time the team would
finish only 32 minutes behind the leaders.
The #1A Matlock Racing team is now looking forward
to the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 in June when they
will be looking for the Overall win once again.
For more information on Matlock Racing please
visit –
www.matlockracing-honda.com
Matlock Racing would
like to thank all their sponsors
Rocky Mountain ATV, Maxxis, Kicker, PRM-ATV.com,
Aerco, JCR, American Honda, Rich Morel Race Motors,
Vey's Powersports, Scott, Big Gun Exhaust, Precision
Concepts, Houser, Elka, KZ Trailers, Fly Racing,
Vortex, Renthal, IMS-Roll, IMS, DWT, OMF, Tire
Balls, Quad Tech, Streamline, Precision Racing
Products, Baja Designs, Motion Pro, UNI, DID,
Hammer Nutrition, Premier Nutrition, Bomb Squad
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