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Score International Off Road Racing - ATV & UTV Race Reports

SCORE Tecate BAJA 1000 ATV Race Report
November 20 - 23, 2008 - Ensenada, Mexico
Most Photos By: DesertRacePhotos.com

Harold Goodman - Honda TRX 700XX - Score International BAJA 1000 ATV Race
8A's Harold Goodman was awarded the 2008 ATVA Athlete of the Year while he was racing the BAJA 1000
Ensenada, Mexico – This year, the current U.S. economic crisis actually played a roll in how the course was laid out. While there have been times that the race has been set up as a point to point race, there have been others where it has been set up as a looped course. This year, a looped course was the chosen format. On average the looped courses are generally a little bit shorter than point-to-point layouts but this year’s course was one of the shortest ever seen, with an approximate distance of only 630 miles. It was said that the course was kept shorter because officials were concerned that if the race were set up in a point to point format, the financial strain of traveling such a long distance with chase trucks, race vehicles and such would deter many teams from entering this year’s competition, therefore, it was decided a looped format was best.

The decision seemed to work as there were close to 400 teams from 39 states and 24 countries signed up to race, including last years Pro quad team of Mike Cafro, Danny Prather, Chad Prull, and Levi Marana who would be aboard the number 1A Honda 700XX. Marana would be the rider chosen for the start of the race. Levi ran flawlessly to mile marker 40 where Cafro took over. “We were in second in our class about 20 seconds behind the 8A team and at mile marker 95 we pulled ahead,” said Cafro.

SCORE BAJA 1000  ATV Race
SCORE BAJA 1000  ATV Race
The 2007 SCORE BAJA 1000 Champions, (1a Mike Cafro, Danny Prather, Chad Prull, & Levi Marana) made the switch to the all new TRX 700XX for 2008 along with the 8a Team of Wayne Matlock Wes Miller, Mark Spaeth, & Harold Goodman

The pass Cafro made on the 8A team, consisting of veteran Baja racers, Wayne Matlock Wes Miller, Mark Spaeth, along with 2008 ATVA Athlete of The Year, Harold Goodman was only the first in a series of several position swaps the two teams would make over the course of the race. “Everything went really well for us out there, except for in the big whoops section. Wayne was having some back pain and there was a bit of a suspension issue with the quad, so I took over for Wayne in that section,” said Goodman who ended up racing about 225 miles of the course.

Harold Goodman - Honda TRX 700XX  - Score International BAJA 1000 ATV Race
Harold Goodman charging through the desert with the 8a Team claiming the BAJA 1000 Win with a time of 14:47:25 followed by 1a just 9 minutes back after 630 miles of racing
The two teams battled back and forth, and it looked as if Cafro’s team would once again claim another Baja 1000 victory. “We had a pretty good lead until about half way through the race. Levi went for his second leg of the race and was up against Wes Miller, who was still about two minutes behind. We never saw Wes go by, but I guess he took an alternate line and got ahead of us,” Cafro stated.

Once ahead, the number 8A Honda 700XX began to increase its lead. The 8A team finished the race in 14:47 with an average speed of 42.69 MPH. Cafro and his team, who were hoping for a second Baja 1000 win, finished nine minutes behind the 8A team in second place in the Pro ATV class 25.
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