Josh Baldwin Fights from the Back of the Pack to Take Fifth

Newport Beach, California. - Baldwin Racing’s Josh Baldwin overcame a random draw start position that saw him beginning the race at the back of the pack of  34 SCORE Trophy-Trucks to finish fifth both overall and in class in the Tecate SCORE Baja 250. “We arrived in Baja a week prior to the race and pre-ran the course a full four and a half times so we felt confident that we had done our homework,” said Josh Baldwin after the race. “Knowing that our truck handled extremely well in the big whoops in San Felipe, we had felt that we would have an advantage. Once we found out that the race was moving to Ensenada, we had no idea what to expect,” continued Baldwin.

Taking the starting line with a heavy load of fuel, Baldwin and co-driver Brent Bauman settled into a comfortable pace, staying committed to a race plan that prioritized patience and running a steady, problem free race. “We knew how important it was to finish in the top ten SCORE  Trophy-Trucks to be eligible for the draw for those first ten spots in the Baja 500, so wanted a clean race and a strong finish,” stated Brent Bauman. “We also knew that there was going to be a lot of dust, so we made passes when we could and didn’t push unless we were in clean air.” 

Already facing spectator and chase team traffic at the mile 17 road crossing, they were slowed to a halt by law enforcement officials who gave the right away to non-race vehicles. The 840hp Baldwin Racing Ford F-150 was forced to follow traffic along the highway at just 20 miles per hour. Once off the highway, their race was back on as they moved quickly through the sand washes that they had been prepared for. The team was able to pick up the pace making clean passes of slower, broken and stopped trucks from Heroes De La Independencia to Valle De Trinidad. As they headed toward the coast light on fuel, the truck was working the best it had all day.

A quick splash of fuel at race mile 158 and thumbs up from their pit crew gave them all they needed to make one last push towards the finish line. As they raced from Erendira to the Santo Tomas finish line, their scenery alternated from blinding dust to clean open air along the Pacific. A few miles from the finish, they came upon a race vehicle that appeared to be on fire. The duo slowed to confirm that the crew was safe and them sped ahead to complete the race in 4:07:02

“It was an incredible problem free day. With no issues whatsoever, we had a perfect race and our team is pumped up about this season,” said Baldwin. “Everyone from our chase team to our very dedicated crew was a part of this finish. This truck is 12 years old and that it outran and out performed much newer trucks on a course that was both fast and technical really shows how amazing our crew is.” He continued, “These guys worked their butts off all week. Going into this race I know that we had done everything possible to prepare ourselves. Now we’re looking forward to starting and racing with the fastest trucks in the class at the Baja 500.”