57th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 Post-Qualifying Quotes

Post-Qualifying Quotes, November 12, 2024 (As interviewed by Paul Hanson, Isaac Flores; transcribed by Cindy Clark)

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Gabriel Garcia, Gabriel@SCORE-International.com

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Gabriel Garcia, Gabriel@SCORE-International.com

 

57th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000

 

Post-Qualifying Quotes, November 12, 2024

(As interviewed by Paul Hanson, Isaac Flores; transcribed by Cindy Clark)

 

SCORE TROPHY TRUCK

CHRISTOPHER POLVOORDE, No. 1 (DOR Bryce Menzies. Polvoorde qualified first.) - - It was good. It is always a little scary qualifying another man’s truck, but overall pretty good. A couple small mistakes. It is just so much different; such a different package than what I am used to, but I am thankful to Bryce for allowing me, for trusting me. It was a little nerve wracking. It does feel good to be here in one piece. I don’t know if it was our best run, a couple mistakes on my part, but I think it is good. I am very excited. This is a dream team. I grew up watching Bryce. And now I’m sitting here and he comes on the radio and says ‘Nice Job, bud’. It is a pretty surreal moment. Pre-running has been good. My section was very fast. Overall it is a pretty fun section. I have enjoyed pre-running in my AWD SCORE Trophy Truck, so I am spoiled. I think we have a good team.

 

ANDY MCMILLIN, No. 23 (DOR Dan McMillin. Andy McMillin qualified third.) - - It went good. Nothing to report. I was smooth and kept the truck on the track. Everything ran really good. This McMillin truck on BFGoodrich tires is absolutely awesome. I think we have a good weapon for race day. This truck is amazing. My cousins do a great job in their shop, getting us ready for the race. We are ready to put it to them on Friday. 

 

TOBY PRICE, No. 46 (Price qualified fourth.) - - It wasn’t too bad, a little tricky. I might have been a little too cautious in a couple turns. We got the truck here in one piece, didn’t tear anything up. All in all we are ready for the race. It is a long race and anything can happen. The truck is really good and responsive. Mason Motorsports brought us an amazing piece. If we can keep the wheels turning, we should be pretty healthy. Pre-running has been smooth. Everything should be pretty decent. We will wait to see what the rest of the race brings to us.

 

RAY GRIFFITH, No. 89 (DOR Mike Walser. Griffith qualified fifth.) - - It was good. Being towards the back of the pack, it was super chewed up, extremely soft and rutted, so it was busy out there. I got Rod here next to me and he was ripping the notes and kept us clean the whole time. It was not a conservative run, but not a wild run. We have a good truck for race day. The truck feels really good. We want to start up front, but want to have a good truck. I’ll start the race, then the boss, Mike Walser, will jump in for the finish. The course is fast but rocky. The coast is fast. We will have to pay attention to tires.

 

JUSTIN LOFTON, No. 46 (Lofton qualified sixth.) - - It was a good lap. It sounds like we are currently sitting third, but there is still some fast guys to go. The course is deteriorating a little bit, maybe some new lines are starting to show up that I could have straightened out, but all in all it was a good lap. I am happy with how Jason Dudley did in the right seat and I had some fun. I am looking forward to 864 miles on Friday. The right seat person is so important as fast as we are going now, the confidence that your navigator portrays in his voice, about what the corners are, lets you carry that much more speed. We are doing good, having fun. There is a lot of things showing up in pre-running, some gotchas, definitely lots of lines. I took a tree out. The course is a lot of fun, great layout. It will be interesting to see how much will change from the last time I pre-ran to when I take the green on Friday.

 

ALAN AMPUDIA, No. 10 (Ampudia qualified seventh.) - - It went bad. We got a flat early on. We ran the course on the flat. It was the front right tire so it couldn’t turn left. When we came to the curve, I tried to drive it the best I could. I think I placed sixth, so not too bad. I was bummed because it was a great course and we wanted to go for it, but it’s alright. Friday will be a long day and we are going to give it our all.

 

TAVO VILDOSOLA, No. 21 (Vildosola qualified eighth.) - - It was an extremely clean run. We got through it without any major mistakes. Blew a couple corners. It is very technical. There is a lot to remember. As long as we are in the top five, hopefully, that is the plan. I hurt myself in the practice lap, so I was being a little cautious. Everything was clean. I start the race on Friday, get out, then get back in and finish.

 

CAMERON STEELE, No. 16 (Steele qualified twelfth.) - - Qualifying went alright. It was slippery, which we knew. We took a gamble on setup. Not exactly sure that it worked. My goal was to have a good car for the race. We didn’t have any monkey business. We just ran our regular setup. Maybe in the top twenty, we will see. The race course is super fun, there is some tricky sections. Pre-running is key, especially as fast as we run in a SCORE Trophy Truck. Our pre-run has been solid and we are going back out to pre-run right now.

 

SCORE TROPHY TRUCK LEGENDS

RICKY JOHNSON, No. 1L (DOR Gustavo Vildosola. Johnson qualified first.) - - I wonder if I get bonus points for pulling Ryan Arciero out. I feel bad for him but we are all brothers; we help each other out. We tried a short-course set up, but it was bottoming out too much so we went back to race course set up. I feel more comfortable with that. The course is beat up. The g-outs are bad. It could have been faster, but it could have been slower. I am ready for the SCORE Baja 1000. I pre-ran the southern part. I think we got it down pretty good. I start on Friday. Just relax and drive consistent and strong all day. 

 

LARRY ROESELER, No. 85L (DOR Clay Lawrence. Roeseler qualified third.) - - That was fun. There were some cool jumps, but it was tricky. There was a lot of traction in places, but then it was loose, a little twitchy, a handful. Great qualifying course. The truck is good.  We are ready for the SCORE Baja 1000. It is the main event for us, the granddaddy of our season. We always look forward to it. This race course has everything thrown at us. It is going to be the driver and vehicle that can be consistent, not get stuck, keep air in the tires, stick to the game plan. Super rocky, super silty, variety of stuff. I never take it for granted. Just got to know when to let the reins go and when to pull back.

 

DAVID PAYNE, No. 61L (Payne qualified fifth.) - - I’d saying qualifying went average. There were a lot of tight turns, lot of messy stuff I just wanted to get through. I got iced up in the beginning with someone else getting stuck, so we had to sit there for ten minutes, so that made me do some thinking. But we got through it. If I would have seen it a few times, it would have been better. Pre-running has been going well. Our section is awesome. We blew an engine in the pre-runner so we need to get back out there and so some more pre-running.

 

RYAN ARCIERO, No. 19L (DOR Tim Herbst. Arciero qualified sixth.) - - Qualifying went crappy. As soon as we got into the trees, we got into a big G-out and the truck unsettled and it threw the truck into the berm, into the soft silt and then we were stuck and off the track. We had Ricky pull us out and we got back going. The truck is good. It will be a long race. I will start and I get the beach and Tim will finish.