JONES, MORGAN, SAMUELS TOP 50TH
ANNIVERSARY BAJA 500
A
fter winning the season-
opening San Felipe 250,
SLR (Slam Life Racing) Hon-
da's Justin Morgan and Mark
Samuels took that momentum
and—adding Justin Jones to the
mix—ran away with the 50th BF
Goodrich Tires SCORE Baja
500, round two in SCORE's
World Desert Championship.
The 50th edition of the storied
race saw 321 entries line up, with
the motorcycles starting at 3:30
in the morning in the heart of
town in Ensenada. From there,
they faced the longest (at 542
miles) and likely the toughest
500 course in race history, with
187 of those entries making it
back to Ensenada within the 22-
hour time limit. Jones, Morgan,
Samuels completed the distance
in 11 hours, 54 minutes and
58 seconds, making them the
seventh-fastest vehicle behind a
half-dozen SCORE Trophy trucks
with Rob MacCachren the fast-
est of those in 11:21:15.
As winners of the previous
round, Morgan and company got
to start first, which proved to be
an advantage with dust hang-
ing in the still night air longer
than during daylight hours. The
pace aboard their Monster En-
ergy/Lava Propane/Fly Racing
CRF450X proved to be unmatch-
able day or night, as they eased
away from the field with each
mile.
"Everybody was in a good
mood and it was stress-free and
we were really happy the whole
time," Morgan said. "I think that
played a big factor.
"I did the first 240 miles and I
did as good as I think I could've
possibly done. I kept it really
IN
THE
WIND
P40
(L-R) Mark Samuels, Justin Morgan
and Justin Jones topped the 50th
running of the Baja 500 and are now
two for two in the SCORE World Desert
Championship with two rounds to go.
