NOTE: SCORE International released its official results on Thursday, June 11, and there were a number of major changes to the finishing order. Click here to read more on the updates.

Robby Gordon took the overall truck win at the 41st Tecate SCORE Baja 500. Photo: Art Eugenio/Trackside Photo

Rockstars don’t exist only on stages. Rockstars also exist behind the wheel, and Robby Gordon proved this with his win this past weekend at the 2009 Tecate SCORE Baja 500. After earning the victory in Ensenada, Mexico, Gordon worked his way through the massive crowd surrounding his truck, provided a few brief quotes while people in his entourage pointed to their watches, and then he bulleted from the finish line to a nearby airport to fly to Pennsylvania for the NSACAR Pocono 500 starting the next morning. Gordon ran out front for most of the day, and late in the race his only real challenge came from BJ Baldwin.

“It was one of the better races we’ve had,” Gordon said of his battle with Baldwin, who finished 4 minutes and 45 seconds behind Gordon. “We started about a minute and a half apart from each other, and it was just who strategized their pits. I’m gonna say we beat them on pit strategy today.”

Strategy and knowing the gameplan well was a big part of Gordon’s victory today, especially considering he lost communication for the second half of the race.

“We didn’t have communication for the last 250 miles,” Gordon said. “You know, it was really hard. We gave up a bunch of time probably because of not being able to use true navigation. Still, we just paced it and kept it smooth. I had a couple strategies in place. Once I was first car on the road, I knew they had to get by me to beat me, and that would be hard to do. BJ got by me at one point, but he had a flat tire, and I knew he had to stop again too. We knew what their strategy was just by paying attention.”

BJ Baldwin and the team of Roger Norman and Larry Roeseler (who was awarded the BFGoodrich Motorsports person of the Year the day before) were the only two teams toward the end of the race that had a realistic chance of catching Gordon, though Baldwin and Gordon did manage to put a larger gap between themselves and the field in the last 40 miles.

BJ Baldwin lit it up his General Tires after taking second place at the Baja 500 behind Robby Gordon. Though he had some engine issues today, power was not a problem - the "on" switch still worked. Photo: Josh Burns

“Well, I was really focused on Colins, I was focused on MacCachren and then most of all Robby, because I think he’s the fastest guy out here,” Baldwin said. “My hat’s off to him. You know, Robby is a badass, and I totally look up to him. I’ve been watching him since I was a kid, and to take second to him I have no problem with that.”

Baldwin took the lead at one point, but after having engine issues (he described it as on or off) to sort through and a tearing through a brake line when he hit a rock at 112 mph, Baldwin had to choose between pushing for the win and possibly breaking or getting a solid finish.

“After the beach I had to consider that, because I only had front brakes,” Baldwin said of his dilemma to push for the win. “I think Robby Gordon is the baddest desert racer out there. I’ve never ridden with a guy that is capable of the things that he can do in a car, and I want to beat that guy.”

Finishing third in Trophy Truck was the team of Roger Norman and Larry Roeseler, who were leading the race at one point but ran into a few issues during the race but still had a solid finish.

"I was up in BJ's dust, and right after we got off the pavement at San Vicente, we started getting oil only on the driver's die that was spraying in my face," Norman told us after the race. "We ended up stopping four times to try and figure out what was wrong, but it just blew oil the whole time. We lost the front left shock, so that might have been it."

Robbie Pierce and teammate Mike Julson took fourth in Trophy Truck and sixth overall. Photo: Art Eugenio/Trackside Photo

Robbie Pierce and teammate Mike Julson took fourth in Trophy Truck and sixth overall, finishing 21 minutes and 55 seconds off the pace from Gordon.

"We had a good day. We felt like we stepped it up a notch today," Pierce said. "We had one flat but we were running fourth or fifth all day long. We just couldn’t reel in Robby or Baldwin or Larry. We’re really happy with fourth. That’s the next step. Before you can win one, you’ve got to start knocking on the door and that’s where we are."

Tim Herbst finished fourth in Trophy Truck and seventh overall at the Baja 500. Photo: Matt Kartozian/Durka Durka Photo

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The team of Brian Collins and Chuck Hovey finished sixth in Trophy Truck at the 500. Photo: Matt Kartozian/Durka Durka Photo

In Class 1, third-generation desert racer Harley Letner took the win. Though the 114 car of Letner was second to cross the finish line in the class, he finished just over two minutes ahead of Martin Christensen and teammate Armin Schwarz on corrected time.

“I loved the course,” Letner said at the finish line. “I think it was awesome. It’s got a little bit of everything.”

The 114 car of Harley Letner took the Class 1 victory.Photo: Matt Kartozian/Durka Durka Photo

Letner’s co-driver Kory Halopoff started the race and drove until race mile 225, and Letner finished the race while dealing with some brake issues.  

“Been nursing the front brakes the whole time,” he said. “They are completely gone now. It doesn’t stop for nothing."

Second-place finisher Schwarz, who drove the first 260 miles before handing the wheel over to Christensen, said there were not any major issues on the course, but they did get held up in some traffic.

"It was a good run," Schwarz said. "We had no real problems. We had one flat and we changed it quickly. We were a little bit unlucky with the dust. We got stuck behind some slower Trophy Trucks. You need some patience in the car. I think I was swearing too much under the helmet."

The team of Armin Kremer and Andreas Aigner took third in Class 1 and finished 18th overall in the race.

"Everything was fine and we drove really, really good," Kremer said after the race. "It was Andreas’ first time driving in Baja and he did a really good job."

Mike Lawrence took the win in Class 10 by over 25 minutes. Photo: Art Augenio/Trackside Photo

The winner of Class 10 was the team fo Mike Lawrence and Blake Kirkpatrick, who finished ahead of second-place Wil Higman in the class by over 25 minutes.

"We really didn’t have any problems today," Lawrence siad. "It was pretty smooth. It was really hot on the other side of the mountains. The silt was deep in several spots. We went with a different shaving pattern on the BFG tires. We just shaved the sides of the tires. The competition seemed to get a lot of flats and we didn’t have any today. It was a great run for us."

Rodrigo Ampudia Jr. and Rodrigo Ampudia Sr. took the win in Class 8 in Ensenada, Mexico. Photo: Art Eugenio/Trackside Photo

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JCR Honda racer Colton Udall finished second overall behind Kendall Norman by 1 minute, 5 seconds. Photo: Matt Kartozian/Durka Durka Photo

The Johnny Campbell Racing Honda team had a great day in Baja. Kendall Norman was the rider of record on the winning team on 4x JCR Honda CRF450X bike, as he crossed the finish line first and edged out JCR teammate Colton Udall by one minute and five seconds for the overall win. Norman’s team also included Timmy Weigand and Quinn Cody. Though Johnny Campbell was listed as a rider, he was only planning to ride if absolutely necessary.

“It’s just been a hell of a lot of hard work,” Norman said at the finish line. “I had a pretty darn clean ride.” When SCORE President and CEO Sal Fish asked him at the finish how many miles he rode, he quickly shot out “269,” and noted, “I could do more, but that’s enough for today.”

Udall and teammate Jeff Kargola (the freestyler rider known as "Ox") were just over a minute away from the overall win on their 15x JCR Honda CRF450X. It was Udall's first Baja 500 race, but he has a good amount of Baja experience having raced at the Baja 1000 and San Felipe race a few times.

“It was really rough, and on the way back in, the last 30 miles, it was absolutely brutal,” Udall said. “I rode the first 100 miles, my teammate rode over the summit (another 100). At Borego, 4x had a problem with their ignition cover, and we took the lead. I pinned it to the meadow, and 4x caught me, and at each pit we would come in within a minute every single time. The course, it was definitely tough, especially the last 30 [miles]. I made more mistakes in the last 30 miles than the whole race. I rode an epic race, and the last 30 miles … I pretty much lost it in the last 30 miles, because I made two big mistakes, and that was probably a minute right there.”

Wayne Matlock took the win in Pro ATV. Photo: Art Eugenio/Trackside Photo

In Pro ATV Class 25, the team of Wayne Matlock, Harold Goodman Jr., Wes Miller and Josh Caster took the overall win. Finishing 18 minutes and 25 seconds behind them in second place was the team of Santos Perez, Juan Sanchez, Raul Cano and Roberto Villalobos.

"It was awesome today. No one made any mistakes all day," Matlock said of the win. "Once we got into the lead, we didn't see any other quads."

The 432.51-mile Baja 500 course presented a number of challengers for man and machine over the course of the race. Photo Matt Kartozian/Durka Durka Photo

41st Tecate SCORE Baja 500 Results - 267 Staters, 195 Finishers: 195 (73%)

Trophy Truck - 21 Starters, 19 Finishers
1.Robby Gordon
2.BJ Baldwin
3. Roger Norman/Larry Roeseler
4. Robbie Pierce/Mike Julson
5. Troy Herbst

Class 1 - 18 Starters, 12 Finishers
1.Harley Letner/Kory Halopoff
2.Armin Schwarz/Martin Christensen
3.Armin Kremer/Andreas Aigner
4. Tim Herbst
5. Josh Daniel/Mike Voyles

Class 1-2/1600 - 21 Starters, 17 Finishers
1. Eric Duran/Hiram Duran
2. Arnoldo Ramirez/Misael Arambula
3. Dave Caspino/Mike Malloy
4. Cisco Bio/Leonardo Navarrete/Pancho Bio
5. Brian Wilson/Sammy Ehrenberg/L.J. Kennedy

Class 3 - 2 Starters, 2 Finishers
1. Darren Skilton/Clive Skilton
2. Gerardo Barragan/Francis Esteban

Class 5 - 3 Starters, 2 Finishers
1. Kevin Carr/Perry McNeil
2. Shaun Dunbar/Tony Steingraber

Class 5/1600 - 3 Starters, 2 Finishers
1. Alonso Angulo/Mario Reynoso
2. Miguel Rosales/Edmundo Fernandez
3. Marcos Nunez/Norberto Rivera

Class 6 - 3 Starters, 2 Finishers
1. Robert Pickering/Mike Childress

Class 7 - 11 Starters, 4 Finishers
1. Dan Chamlee/Tom Chamlee

Class 7SX - 4 Starters, 2 Finishers
1. John Holmes
2. Oscar Solaiza/Jim Hinesley

Class 8 - 6 Starters, 2 Finishers
1.Rodrigo AmpudiaJr./Rodrigo Ampudia Sr
2. Clyde Stacey, Bristol, Va./Justin Matney

Class 9 - 4 Starters, 1 Finisher
1.Daniel Reyes Jr./Julian Rivera/Hector Ortega

Class 10 - 10 Starters, 10 Finishers
1. Mike Lawrence/Blake Kirkpatrick
2. Will Higman
3. Tito Robles/Lobsam Yee

SCORE Lite - 6 Starters, 3 Finishers
1. Lee Banning/Lee Banning Jr
2. Brent Parkhouse/Brian Burgess
3. John Langley/Morgan Langley

Class 11 - 2 Starerters, 2 Finishers
1. Eric Solorzano/Robert Johnson
2. Rene Rodriguez/Lael Arenas

Stock Mini - 1 Starter, 1 Finisher
1. Gavin Skilton/Vlad Chioreanu

Pro Truck - 2 Starters, 1 Finisher
1. Rob Kittleson/Mike McNaughton

Pro Motorcycle, Class 22 - 15 Starters, 11 Finishers
1. Kendall Norman/Timmy Weigand/Quinn Cody
2. Colton Udall/Quinn Cody/Jeff Kargola
3. Connor Penhall/Chad Black/Cale Wallace
4. Ryan Penhall/Mike Childress/Steve Hengeveld
5. Ivan Ramirez/Alberto Heredia/Brendan Prieto

Class 21 - 13 Starters, 11 Finishers
1. Shane Esposito/Brian Pinard/Francisco Septien/Brent Harden
2. Carlos Casas/Noe Ibarra
3.Jeremy Purvines/Ron Purvines/Scott Glimp/Jason Trubey
4. Bill Boyer/Stuart Goggins/Nicholas Blais
5.Ronnie Wilson/Mike Blackman/Caleb Gosselar/Gerardo Rojas/Vicente Guerrero

Class 20 - 5 Starters, 5 Finishers
1.Hector Castillo/Sergio Valenzuela/David Gonzalez Jr./Rene Angulo
2. Jesus Rios/Joel Leal/Cuauhtemoc Beltran/Edgar Espinoza
3. Manuel Reyes/Javier Ochoa/Roberto Diaz/Ivanhoe Ochoa
4. . Marco Bernaldez/Francisco Aldrette/Emanuel Verdugo/Humberto Rivera
5. Anna Cody/Talya Dodson/Sarah Kritsch

Class 30 - 12 Starters, 12 Finishers
1. Mike Johnson, El Paso, Texas/Rex Cameron

Class 40 - 8 Starters, 6 Finishers
1. Scott Myers/Brett Helm/Lou Franco/Jeff Kaplan/Bob Johnson/Rick Johnson

Class 50 - 3 Starters, 3 Finishers
1. Jim O’Neal/Andy Kirker/Dan Dawson/Tim Withers/Craig Adams

Class 60 - 2 Starters, 2 Finishers
1. Richard Jackson/Bill Nichols/Mark Force/Dave Olen

Pro ATV, Class 25 - 6 Starters, 5 Finishers
1. Wayne Matlock/Harold Goodman Jr./Wes Miller/Josh Caster
2. Santos Perez /Juan Sanchez/Raul Cano/Roberto Villalobos
3. Nick Nelson/Brandon Brown/Jorie Williams
4. Adolfo Arellano/Alfonso Cota/Javier Robles Jr./Marc Spaeth
5.Travis Dillon/Shiloh Strunk

Class 24 - 11 Starters, 8 Finishers
1.Craig Christy/Steve Abrego/Dave Scott, Belen/Andy Lagzdins
2. Abraham Romero/Sigifredo Jimenez/Efrain Haros/Jose Castro
3. Luis Berumen/Sergio Lopez/Adrian Cruz/Christian Valles
4. . Jorge Acosta/Salvador Dominguez
5. Brian Harris/Barry Bennett Jr./Robin Fawcett

Class 26 - 2 Starters, 1 Finishers
1. Reid Rutherford/ Benn Vornadakis/Tony Valerio