San Felipe, Baja California Mexico – Bevly Wilson Racing kicked off their 2017 SCORE International Offroad Racing Series season with a tough 250 mile sprint race in San Felipe, Baja, Mexico. The San Felipe terrain contains plenty of rocks and ruts, but is renowned for its miles of brutal whoops. The undulating piles of sand that vary in height and frequency pound competitors mercilessly and act to expose any weaknesses in their vehicles. Despite the brutal conditions, Bevly Wilson charged through the pack from their 12th place starting position to take the second spot on the podium. They used a combination of speed and durability to get to the top. Only race winner Rob MacCachren, who started on the pole, was able to outpace them.
Chase Laven did his usual meticulous prep job on the Team’s STEEL-IT / Jimco Trophy Truck, so the team was confident before time trials on Thursday. While driver Billy Wilson and Maxima Racing Oils Owner Danny Massie sat in line to qualify, they witnessed several drivers crash on the challenging 4 mile long course filled with deep sand. The team won the race last year from a 10th place starting position, so they decided to run a prudent pace during qualifying; they would save their ammo for the race. They qualified 12th and had a still fresh truck for the race.
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Official Results from SCORE San Felipe 250
After contingency on Friday, they took the truck out to the dunes for a final test and tune session before the race. As usual, the truck drew a large group of fans who watched them flying through the dunes and then gathered around to get photos and autographs. With a strong truck and the encouragement from fans, the team was anxious to start the race in the morning.
“Right off the start we were in thick dust,” said Billy Wilson, “We could not see anything and hit a tree at 70 miles per hour. A branch hit my arm so hard, I thought it was broken. We were throwing branches out of the cab that you could have used for firewood.” They knocked the body panels off the truck but otherwise, it was fine.
“That’s why we use the best parts available,” Wilson continued, “The support and components we get from STEEL-IT® Polyurethane Coating, BFGoodrich Tires, King Shocks, Jimco, Kroyer Racing Engines, KC Hilites, Impact, Maxima Racing Oils, FK Rod Ends, Trailready Beadlock Wheels, Bink Designs, and Rugged Radios makes the difference when you really need it. The branches broke our GPS antennae’s so Byron Seed had no navigation. He had to hold the Lead Nav unit in his hands the rest of the race.”
The first 20 miles were very intense, but they eventually got into a pocket of clean air and started to pick people off. They stopped very briefly at mile 40 to pull the broken hood off, but otherwise had no issues after hitting the tree. At mile 130, they pulled into the Jimco pit and got fresh tires and fuel in 32 seconds. “We opened it up on the dry lake bed,” says Wilson, “We hit the rev limiter on our Kroyer Racing Engine a couple times as we ran 140 miles per hour for 10 miles. There are sand berms on the lake bed if you get off line, but we spent time tuning with King Shocks before the race, so our suspension just soaked them up. There were a lot of broken trucks out there, but we had a flawless run with no flats to our BFGoodrich Tires.”
Bevly Wilson Racing is looking to finish strong this season after their stunning rookie year, runner up points finish in the Trophy Truck class last year. The team’s second place podium in San Felipe puts them right back at the top of the points standings in the SCORE International series.
Photography By: Bink Designs