RENO, NV NOVEMBER 30, 2010 The Torchmate Racing team ran the #601 Truck in the 2010 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 and gave back to the community participating in the Baja Support Run IV at a local orphanage. Their race was cut short, but the Baja experience is irreplaceable. “It’s Baja, and it’s racing. If it was easy everyone would do it,” shrugged team manager JT Taylor. “The team put a valiant effort into the entire race, and we were bit by a mechanical problem that was insolvable in the middle of the desert.”
The Torchmate team took on a new look and growl for the 2010 race with a fresh wrap and exhaust system. The truck looked fast with a bright Torchmate Plasma Arc flying down the side, a special design by Bill Brindle of B3 Kreativ, Editor of Dirt Sports Magazine Marty Fiolka and Torchmate Team Owner Bill Kunz. Also before the race, both the Class 6 truck and the chase Ford Raptors were upgraded with a Magnaflow Exhaust “that significantly helped with the tone and performance of the trucks,” commented JT Taylor.
With no flats on the BFGoodrich Tires for the entire race, the teams first obstacle was at RM4 when the torque converter failed, and while trying to get off course to get it fixed, they broke the rear upper link. Help was waiting at RM8 where they quickly fixed both problems and Greg Jones and Nick Socha continued in traffic, dust and fighting to get around stuck vehicles. Their next obstacle was a broken drive shaft around RM220. Mark Leverett and Brad Lovell went to assist them on course, with a local savior Pepe, who helped fix the truck. The team did an early driver change and with Leverett behind the wheel, they only had first gear and the check point at Coco’s Corner closing rapidly. At the end of their day, it was the harmonic balancer that failed which took out all the power units at the front of the car.
The entire Torchmate team supported raceday efforts and pre-race they supported the Rancho El Milagro Orphanage just north of Ensanada. The team joined the Wahoo’s Baja Support Run IV with Magnaflow Exhaust where they helped unload over $16,000 dollars in goods and then grabbed paint brushes and painted a kids dormitory. “Those kids were the main reason that I personally made the trip to Ensenada this year,” said owner of Torchmate Bill Kunz. “The kids were really excited to see and hear the trucks, and I am so happy that we were able to actually make a difference.”
The Torchmate/Magnaflow/BFGoodrich team consisted of Bill Kunz, JT Taylor, Greg Jones, Robert Wilson, Nick Socha, Mark Leverett, Brad Lovell, Matt Magliacano, and Marty Fiolka.