SAN DIEGO, CA, Jan 13, 2016 – In yet another epic Baja 1000, Team KORE (Kroeker Off Road Engineering) not only battled the most challenging and technical Baja 1000 in recent years, KORE also threw down the gauntlet and took on 46 of the best Unlimited Class teams in the world of professional off road racing – doing so in a production-based pickup truck called Minotaur™. (more…)
Author: MadMedia
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Tavo Vildosola Wins Best in the Desert’s Henderson 250
Dougans Racers Take Three of Top Four Spots in the BITD Finale
Tavo Vildosola made the decision to race Best in the Desert’s Henderson 250 just days before the green flag dropped. After an 11th place qualifying time, Tavo and navigator Javi Valenzuela kept to their well known strategy of speed and intelligence and barreled their way to the front to finish +00:00:56 ahead of Dougans teammate Tracy Graf for the overall win at the Best in the Desert finale.
Vildosola first raced in Henderson in 2006 and won. Nine years later, Vildosola picked up right where he left off to polish off a magnificent 2015 race season. Vildosola captured three overall wins in the SCORE-International series for Dougans Racing and multiple podiums in both SCORE and BITD events and proved that the #21 is one of the most feared vehicles in desert racing.
#58 Tracy Graf finished behind Vildosola for his best finish of the season. If there’s one thing Graf displayed all year it was consistency. Graf started the year with a 7th place class finish at the Parker 425, then went on to finish 16th in class at the Mint 400 in arguably one of the most competitive fields in off-road racing history. From there, Graf continued to make strides towards the podium with a 12th place class finish at the Silver State 300, 10th place class finish at Vegas to Reno and 7th place class finish at the Blue Water Desert Challenge. Graf’s 2nd place finish in the final race of the season landed him 4th overall in season points and capped off a very solid year for the #58.
Steve Olliges finished third in overall season points with his 4th place finish at the Henderson 250. Olliges was just over nine minutes off Tavo Vildosola’s winning pace. Olliges was on a mission after a 13th qualifying position and wasted no time on pummeling to the front. With the 4th place finish, Steve also secured the 2015 Camburg Award, given to the fastest driver over every mile of every race in the Best in the Desert racing season.
#95 Scott Whipple took home 7th in class and 10th overall at Henderson to finish the 2015 BITD overall points chase behind Tracy Graf in fifth place. Whipple and co-driver Scott Gailey cruised the #95 Canidae Trick Truck through the 240 mile course after an average qualifying run started in the middle of the pack.
#62 Ryan Poelman, whose Supercross.com was presenting sponsor, finished 9th in class.
Jerry Whelchel in the #37 YouTheory truck finished behind Poelman in 10th in class.
Mike Cook in the #75 Space Monkey Trick Truck was Dougans’ final finisher in 14th in class
#1537 Eduardo Laguna, #28 Jonathan Swift and #4 Justin Matney did not finish.
2015 was a trademark year for Dougans Racing Engines. With overall wins at the Parker 425 (Gary Weyhrich), San Felipe 250 (Tavo Vildosola), Mint 400 (Justin Lofton), Baja Sur 500 (Lalo Laguna), Baja 500 (Apdaly Lopez), Imperial Valley 250 (Tavo Vildosola) and Henderson 250 (Tavo Vildosola), the racing proves that Dougans is the elite choice in off-road racing.
Photography by Jason Zindroski
About Dougans Racing Engines
Dougans Racing Engines (www.dougansracing.com) specializes in high performance engines for the top off-road competitions including the Best In the Desert and SCORE racing series. With over thirty-five years in the industry, Dougans offers high quality engine packages for trophy trucks, Class 1 trucks, and prerunners. We build complete engine packages that have gained a reputation in the racing world as consistent, powerful, dependable winners. Along with our engine packages, we provide dyno testing and personal track support to ensure that our customer’s needs are met all the way to the finish line. At Dougans Racing, customer satisfaction is our top priority and we strive to keep you running hard and winning races mile after mile.
About Mad Media:
Mad Media (www.madmedia.com) is a San Diego based marketing and creative agency, with in-house film and television production. We craft authentic, culturally engaging brand messages, and deliver them across print, web, photography, and film platforms. Mad Media has been leading the online content revolution since 1995 producing major commercial, television, online content and viral film projects such as The Gymkhana Series and XP1K Series.
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The 2015 Mint 400 and UTV World Championship TV Shows to Premiere on NBC Sports in December
Mad Media produced documentary style shows premiere in over 80 million homes
November 11th, 2015 – San Diego, CA – Motorsports production powerhouse Mad Media led by directing team “The Martelli Brothers” announced premiere dates for their documentary style TV shows on The Polaris RZR Mint 400 presented by General Tire and the Polaris RZR UTV World Championship presented by UTVUnderground.com. Both will premiere on NBC Sports in December closing out the season of off-road racing. (more…)
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JIMCO Racing’s Jason Voss Wins the BITD Silver State 300
Three JIMCO Vehicles in the Top Five Overall
The Silver State 300 racecourse is run in the Eastern part of Nevada and can be considered one of the fastest racecourses of the series. Three hundred miles is all there is to muscle your way to the front. After earning top starting position, Jason Voss never surrendered his track position and took the overall win to close the gap in the 2015 overall points race.
Though clean air is an obvious advantage on fast roads that produce blinding dust, a flawless race is still required to take an overall as each race becomes closer and closer. Jason Voss did just that and won Silver State +00:02:24 over second place finisher, Rob MacCachren. The win marks Voss’ second consecutive Silver State 300 victory. After taking four BITD wins (Parker 425, Silver State 300, Vegas to Reno and Henderson 250) in 2014, Voss is now proving he owns one of the most reliable and consistent trucks in off-road and currently sits fourth in the overall points chase.
Two other JIMCO vehicles landed in the top five, including the brand new #1549 buggy of Sam Berri and current Class 1500 points leader, Cody Parkhouse. One point separated the two heading in to the race. Parkhouse missed out on the class win +00:00:38 behind 1500 winner CJ Hutchins. He was the first Class 1500 to finish line but Hutchins, having started eleven spots behind, won on corrected time. Though Parkhouse is yet to win in 2015, he is proving consistency can also give you the edge in overall points halfway through a season.
Despite his huge win at the Mint 400 earlier this year, Berri sits four points behind Parkhouse in the overall points lead. Berri was +00:02:35 off Hutchins’ pace and continues to astonish the class in his single seat JIMCO buggy. Just missing the top ten was JIMCO’s #1599 Todd Tuls. #1547 Pat McCarthy did not finish.
#92 Kevin Curtis powered through numerous issues all day and salvaged points as the last finisher of the race.
#94 Steve Strobel was sixteenth overall qualifier and was up front with the leaders through the fifth pit but ended up not finishing the race. At race mile 187, a mechanical failure in a remote, narrow part of the race track left the #94 stranded with chase crews unable to get the truck and make the necessary repairs needed to finish the race. Justin Lofton’s day ended almost as quickly as it began.
Sixteen miles in to the race rolled the #41 JIMCO Trick Truck cutting their day short. “Both John and I are doing well after our flip at Silver State. Big thanks to our Sparco Full contaminate seats, neck restraints and Jimco Racing Inc for building a safe truck. We will rebuild and be back faster than ever,” said Lofton.
Class 10 has been shaping up to be one of the most competitive classes in off-road racing. Twenty-one 10 cars started the race, including the #1025 and #1071 of Chad Dohrman and Jason Coleman. Fifty miles in to the race, the two led the field and were separated by only ten seconds. The run out front was short lived when Dohrman eventually dropped out due to mechanical issues.
Coleman pushed on but sat +00:04:55 off Class 10 leader and eventual race winner Cody Robinson at race mile 150. Coleman made strides to close the gap throughout the second half of the race but never enough to take the top spot from Robinson. Coleman seized the second place spot on the podium and now sits in second place in overall points in Class 10.Racing will resume South of the border for the 47th Bud Light SCORE Baja 500 from June 3rd – 8th.
About JIMCO Racing Inc.
Jimco Racing Inc is the largest off-road race car builder in the world. From American desert races to Baja races to the Tatts Finke Desert Race to the Dakar Rally, JIMCO has been manufacturing top of the industry off-road race vehicles since 1975. Twenty time SCORE Chassis Builder of the Year, JIMCO’s Trophy Trucks, Class 1, Class 10, Class 12, Class 1/2-1600, Pre-Runners, Pro-Lite, Pro 2 and Rally Raid vehicles are the industry standard that continue to produce wins and championships across all mediums of off-road.About Mad Media:
Mad Media (www.madmedia.com) is a San Diego based marketing and creative agency, with in-house film and television production. We craft authentic, culturally engaging brand messages, and deliver them across print, web, photography, and film platforms. Mad Media has been leading the online content revolution since 1995 producing major commercial, television, online content and viral film projects such as The Gymkhana Series and XP1K Series. -
RJ Anderson Battles Hard At Wild Horse Pass
Makes 3rd Podium Appearance Through 4 Rounds Of Racing
Riverside, CA 4/28/15 – It was a weekend of ups and downs for RJ Anderson and the RJ37 team in Chandler, AZ for rounds 3 & 4 of the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series (LOORRS). Coming into the weekend hopes were high. Rounds 1 & 2 in Lake Elsinore proved the team, trucks and driver were heading in the right direction with a great set up and solid performances in both Pro-Lite and Pro2. RJ and team were ready for competition at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Complex! (more…) -
Baja Designs Racers Justin Lofton and Sam Berri Victorious at the 2015 Polaris RZR Mint 400 presented by General Tire
The 2015 Polaris RZR Mint 400 presented by General Tire will undoubtedly go down in history books as one of the most competitive races in recent off-road history. Fifty-one Trick Trucks and thirty-four Class 1500’s rolled in to Sin City ready to throw down on the brutal Best in the Desert race course. After a momentary stoppage in the race due to a multi-vehicle collision, it was apparent that The Great American Off-Road Race would carry on past dusk, shifting the focus to visibility into the night. With the help of Baja Designs Off-Road Performance Lighting, Justin Lofton, Sam Berri and Brett Sourapas were able to push until the end and secure the Overall Victory and 1st place in Class 1500 and Class 6100, respectively.
After making the move up from Class 1500 to the Trick Truck Class, Justin Lofton has proven his newly built Jimco Trick Truck can race with the best. As if the deteriorating Mint 400 race course wasn’t tough enough, racers had to quickly shift to nighttime strategies after the first stoppage of a race in Best in the Desert history forced the race to push further into the night. A Baja Designs OnX6 Racer Edition Arc Series LED Light Bar guided Lofton over the finish line after completing the 400 mile course in just under six hours, 7 minutes ahead of the 2nd place finisher Robby Gordon.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Lofton said. “We set our sights on doing this and here we are. This race is the one you want to win.”
Similar to Justin Lofton, Sam Berri also has a brand new Jimco Class 1500 built for the 2015 season which has been outfitted with Baja Designs OnX6 Racer Edition LED Light Bars and Squadron Pro auxiliary lights. Berri ran a flawless race and was 1st to the finish line with an official time of 06:24:27.431.
“My crew came together. I couldn’t have done it without everybody who got involved in helping put this thing together and made it worth winning The Mint!” commented Berri at the finish line. “Baja Designs played a huge part in this win, allowing me to keep my pace into the night and hold off Parkhouse hot on my tail.”
The list of accomplished Baja Designs racers with strong finishes at the 2015 Mint 400 doesn’t stop there. Tavo Vildosola was a frontrunner the entire day and finished 5th overall. Tavo finished the race just seventeen minutes off Lofton’s pace. Dan, Luke and Andy McMillin also demonstrated the effectiveness of Baja Designs Lighting with 6th, 7th and 13th place overall finishes.
Hot off their win at the BITD Parker 425 earlier this year, TSCO Racing’s Gary Weyhrich finished with an impressive 8th place at the Mint 400. Baja Designs racers secured 8 of the top 10 positions in the combined overall rankings in addition to top tier finishes in Trick Truck, Class 1500 and Class 6100 placing Baja Designs in the forefront of the off-road lighting industry.
Trick Truck Top Ten Overall Results with Baja Designs Lights:
1st – #41 Justin Lofton
3rd – #6 Sourapas Motorsports
5th – #21 Gustavo Vildosola Jr.
6th – #23 Dan McMillin
7th – #83 Luke McMillin
8th – #98 Gary Weyhrich
9th – #1549 Sam Berri
10th – #1532 Cody Parkhouse
Fourteen seconds separated Berri from Baja Designs teammate, Cody Parkhouse. Parkhouse was fourth fastest at qualifying and went on to contest Berri as the two lead 1500 vehicles. Terrain conditions combined with Berri’s pace was too much for Parkhouse, who ultimately ended up in second place in Class 1500.#6119 Brett Sourapas secured Baja Designs a third win at The Mint in the 6100 Class with his dominating 06:48:47.691 run, over twenty minutes faster than second place. After winning the opening Best in the Desert race in Parker, AZ, this was Sourapas’ first finish at night in 2015. With the help of the farthest projecting LED light bar in the industry, Sourapas is now 2 for 2 after winning the 2015 Mint 400. Baja Designs advocates, #6103 David Kleiman and #6183 Jeff Terzo, rounded out the podium with 2nd and 3rd place finishes in the 6100 Class.About Baja Designs:
For 20+ years Baja Designs (BD) has engineered revolutionary ways to stay at the forefront of motorcycle and automotive lighting. The first product developed was a Dual Sport kit that made a pure off road motorcycle minimally street legal. This intimate knowledge of motorcycle electrical capabilities led to a natural evolution to engineer the first HID motorcycle race light. Owner/Lead engineer Alan Roach and Product Development Engineer Stephen “Tex” Mitchell were avid Baja 1000 motorcycle racers who were able to fine tune a motorcycle’s limited light optics to maximize rider comfort, speed and safety. As a result, Baja Designs (BD) has won every professional and amateur motorcycle and ATV Baja 1000 class for over 15 years.
As their engineers and racers advanced to truck and buggy racing, the next evolution began. The engineers quickly adapted their race winning HID motorcycle lights to their new race vehicles. With amazing speed, Baja Designs (BD) HID lights were adopted by the vehicle race community and could be found on the majority of Baja 1000 winning vehicles. In the process, Baja Designs (BD) engineers became well known as “The Scientists of Lighting” and were sought out by professional race teams to develop and aim their vehicle lighting.
LED lights were the next natural evolution of lighting and Baja Designs (BD) was the first company to develop a forward projecting LED light bar that was introduced and raced in the 2005 Baja 1000. That original LED light bar has evolved into a line of the highest performing and race winning LED lights on the market.
Revolutionizing industry leading lights is not just a job at Baja Designs (BD), but a lifelong passion for both their owners and employees. The Baja Designs (BD) product line is dedicated to being BRIGHTER, BOLDER, and BETTER, which is why they truly are “The Scientists of Lighting”.About Mad Media
Mad Media (www.madmedia.com) is a San Diego based marketing and creative agency, with in-house film and television production. We craft authentic, culturally engaging brand messages, and deliver them across print, web, photography, and film platforms. Mad Media has been leading the online content revolution since 1995 producing major commercial, television, online content and viral film projects such as The Gymkhana Series and XP1K Series.
