"Black Rhino/RacerX Motorsports' Sponsored Athlete Sean Cook’s Race Report from the 47th Bud Light SCORE Baja 500"
06-17-15 El Cajon, CA- The team once again traveled south of the border the weekend of June 4th-7th to Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico to compete in the SCORE Baja 500. They drew the 17th starting position, which was not exactly where Black Rhino/Racer X Motorsports sponsored athlete Sean Cook was hoping to start this Baja adventure.
The team was joined by some new faces; mainly fellow Polaris racer Lacrecia Buerrier and her husband Eric. The team arrived in Baja on Thursday afternoon and got right down to business. They made a last minute check over of the car and prepared for tech and registration the next day. Thursday evening, drivers Sean Cook and Jesus Leon took the Polaris RZR out into the hills for a little night testing. Both drivers reported no problems with the car; all systems were a go.
Friday morning came early for Sean and his son/co-driver Brendan Cook. The pair headed into Ensenada at 0330 to secure a spot near the front of tech. Even at that early arrival they were still 15th in line for tech. As the sun came up and the crowds gathered, it was time for tech to begin. The team pushed the car through the streets of Ensenada, meeting thousands of fans along the way. They gave out stickers and plenty of great tasting SPEED Energy Drinks. As the morning wore on, the team finally found themselves in tech. The car proceeded through without any problems and by 2pm the team was back at the beach house preparing for the next day, race day.
Saturday morning came early for the team; they were up, loaded and in Ensenada for the start of the race by 0800. Since this was a large loop race the team split up into 3 chase teams. 2 of the teams headed out early and made their way up to mm140 to await the first service on the race vehicle. As the starting order worked its way to the UTV class, the race was halted due to a class 10 vehicle that had lost his brakes right off the starting line causing him to veer into the crowd. After a one hour delay the race was back on. Jesus Leon and co-driver Steve Medley started the race. The two made their way through Ensenada without any issues, but as they approached the outskirts of Ojos Negros they were caught in a backlog of vehicles stuck on the hillside. After another brief delay Jesus piloted the Polaris around the blockage and was back in the race. At about mm30 as the pair was coming into Ojos Negros, Jesus had an issue with a large rock on the passenger side rear. Steve radioed in that they had suffered a broken trailing arm and radius rod. Luckily, Sean, Brendan and Gina were still in Ojos waiting to see the car through. Sean and Brendan were able to locate the race vehicle on the road heading down the hill into Ojos. They hiked into the car and assisted with the repairs needed to get the #1930 back into the race. Once repairs were completed the car raced back into the desert heading north toward the Rumarosa grade. Unfortunately, the car experienced the same failures a few more times throughout the evening and into the early morning hours.
Chase One, with Sean, Gina and Brendan, had made their way around the course and set up their pit at mm240. At 0100 the race vehicle finally rolled into mm240. The team performed their planned service on the car but at about 0115 the weatherman came across the radio advising check point two would be closing at 0130. The team realized that they had only 15 minutes to get the race car almost 30 miles in order to stay in the race. The decision was made to call the race; as difficult as that was, it was the smart thing to do. The team was running out of spares and they could not fully understand the damage that had been caused at the first breakdown. Post race inspection revealed the car must have experienced an impact with a large rock on the passenger rear. The team loaded up the race vehicle and headed back to Ensenada and then headed back to California.
The team is already hard at work making the necessary repairs. The team plans on attending the AVE race in Cal City on July 18, then onto Vegas 2 Reno in August.
As always the team would like to thank all their family and friends for supporting them and of course all their generous sponsors who make all this possible; SPEED Energy Drinks, GBC Motor Sports, Hellwig Motor Sports, KING Shocks, Precision Builders, Black Rhino / Racer X, CryoHeat, L & L Powder Coating, Twisted Stitch Seats, Torco Oils, Optima Batteries, Madigan Suspensions, OMF Wheels, Ram Mounts, Muzzy Exhausts, Factory UTV, Fabtech Suspenion, Airaid Filters, Racer Tech, Fabwerxs, Rigid Industries, Wetsounds, Grizzly Coolers, Polaris Industries, One Stop CNC, D&D Graphx, Napa Auto Parts, BRE Racing, Red House BBQ, Dirty DNA Clothing, Alba Racing, Hill Media, Driven Steering Wheels and Summer Brothers.
BLACK RHINO/RACERX MOTORSPORTS
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