In the space of a week Team Toyo racers have won two of the biggest prizes in North American off-road racing, with BJ Baldwin taking out the SCORE Desert Series with victory in the Baja 1000 and NASCAR legend Robbie Gordon adding the Stadium SUPER Truck Championship to his long list of motorsport titles.
Baldwin and navigator Johnny Nelson were the first four-wheel competitors to complete the 1400 kilometre endurance loop of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, with an overall time of 18 hours 36.10 minutes.
The Toyo-tyred Chevrolet Silverado trophy truck held off a strong challenge from Rob MacCachren, who finished just over seven minutes behind.
The result was a vindication for Baldwin after the controversy over his belated win in the 2012 event, which he was awarded post-race after rival Gustavo Vildosola was disqualified for an improper pit stop.
“This year’s Baja 1000 was the most difficult race I’ve ever done,” Baldwin said.
“Mentally and physically it was just a brutal race especially since I drove the entire race myself. Most teams have two or three drivers.
“All of the other teams had at least one flat and most had several flats. Thanks to our Toyo Open Country M/Ts we didn’t get any flats which helped me conserve my energy since we didn’t have to get out of the truck to change tyres.”
It was Baldwin’s second consecutive Baja 1000 victory and third in a row for Toyo Tires.
The result also gave “Ballistic” Baldwin the 2013 overall points championship in the three-event series run by SCORE in the Baja region.
Baldwin won the 2012 SCORE championship and then finished second in the 2013 Baja 500 race in June, behind overall winner and fellow Team Toyo racer Robbie Gordon.
The victory came just days after Gordon and several of the other truck racers in the Baja also competed in the final round of the inaugural Stadium SUPER Truck championship, which was held on a temporary course in the parking lot in front of the landmark Caesars Palace casino in Las Vegas.
Toyo Tires-equipped vehicles dominated the heat races, as Team Toyo’s Kyle LeDuc won Heat 1.
At the end of Heat 2, Robby Gordon walked away with the win and closed the margin for the championship against Rob MacCachren.
In the final, Gordon secured the points needed to take the hard-fought championship when he finished second on the podium behind first-placed PJ Jones.
“We couldn’t have had a better close-out to the season, with the title coming down to the very last race between Rob MacCachren and myself,” said Gordon.
Robbie Gordon was the instigator of the new series, which was aimed at combining Baha-style off-road racing with the aerial thrills of stadium motocross competition.
The 14 races featured identical specification 450kW trucks competing on specially-constructed courses either in stadiums, or on paved street courses with metal ramp jumps.
The only variable between the trucks was their tyres.
“I was excited to win the SST championship and put another championship notch on the belt for Toyo Tires,” said Gordon.
“Being able to build a vision such as this series, to construct these trucks, and then to piece the whole thing together and actually win the championship is pretty rad,” he said.
