Auburn Hills, Mich. — Just two-and-a-half weeks after Mopar® introduced the new 800 horsepower V-10 Competition Race Engine for drag racing at the 2011 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas, the off-road racing derivative of the crate engine made its debut in the 44th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, Nov. 18–19, powering Kent Kroeker and Alan Roach to the Class 8 win in the famed event.

Kroeker, owner of Kroeker Off-Road Engineering (KORE), shared the driving duties of the Ram 1500 with the Mopar V-10 Competition Off-Road Race Engine under the hood, with Roach, who hails from Escondido, Calif. The pair covered the distance of nearly 700 miles through the rugged desert of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula in just over 20 hours to record the Class 8 victory. Kroeker began the race and drove through the San Felipe loop, with Roach then taking the wheel for the remainder of the distance.

“What an amazing debut for the Mopar V-10 Competition Off-Road Race Engine to win at Baja,” said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO of Mopar, Chrysler Group LLC’s service, parts and customer-care brand. “Our off-road engineers have been working very hard on this engine and it certainly passed its first test with flying colors.”

The 2011 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 drew a total of 278 starters from 34 states and 16 different countries, in more than 30 different classes. The Class 8 division that Kroeker and Roach competed in with the Mopar V-10 Competition Off-Road Race Engine is comprised of full-size, two-wheel drive trucks.

“Winning the Baja 1000 means laser-focused excellence that can’t be demonstrated any other way,” said Kroeker. “The performance of the new Mopar V-10 was superb. We were the only vehicle in the Baja 1000 using Mopar power. Mopar engineers sculpted its characteristics around my description of what is needed to win in long-distance desert racing.”

Kroeker and his team put the Ram 1500 for Baja together in six weeks, as both the truck and the Mopar V-10 Competition Off-Road Race Engine made their competitive debut at what is considered the most grueling event in off-road racing.

Kroeker and KORE were instrumental in the development and creation of the Mopar Ram Runner, which was introduced at the 2010 Moab Jeep® Safari. The Mopar Ram Runner served as the Official Pace Truck of the Traxxas TORC (The Off-Road Championship) Series this season, where Mopar-powered Ram Truck drivers dominated, winning 27 total races and claiming the championship in all three PRO classes. With the debut of the Mopar V-10 Competition Off-Road Race Engine, the evolution of the Mopar off-road racing program continues.

The 800 horsepower Mopar V-10 Competition Off-Road Race Engine is hand assembled to exacting standards by race engine builders and features an aluminum block with aluminum cylinder heads. The Mopar V-10 Competition Engine is designed for the rigors of off-road racing and pulls 695 lb. ft. of torque with an operating range of up to 7,000 rpm. The race-calibrated engine includes a forged steel crankshaft with forged steel connecting rods and forged aluminum pistons with a compression ratio of 12.5:1. All rotating components have been balanced for maximum performance.