Which brings us to the SCORE International Baja 1000, one of off-road racing’s most iconic events. Not just because it’s among the world’s toughest, but because of the people who run it: Backyard bucket-listers in hand-hewn buggies to fully bankrolled pros in half-million dollar trophy trucks and everything in between.

Red Bull TV’s new series “Driving Dirty,” premiering Nov. 14, has you riding shotgun with five of them including Kent and SaraMae Kroeker of KORE. Check out the trailer for Driving Dirty- The Road to the Baja 1000 and get a closer look at how KORE and four other race teams take on the Baja 1000.

The post KORE Joins Teams in Driving Dirty appeared first on KORE Off Road.

These short videos explain the basics of KORE suspension installation on 2003-2013 Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500 4×4’s. The first video is for front installation and the second is for the rear. Installation videos are boring, so we threw in some guns (not included with the kit).

Front Installation

Rear Installation

The post 2003-2013 Ram Suspension Installation Videos for Dodge 2500 and 3500s appeared first on KORE Off Road.

The post Ram 1500 Minotaur Experience appeared first on KORE Off Road.

Read more about the event and audacious off-road truck featuring KORE Suspension in this press release from PreFix…

If you build it, they will come. And…they did!

Team Prefix built an off-road course called the “Minotaur Experience” for this year’s 45th Anniversary of the Barrett-Jackson event in Scottsdale. Over 100 tons of dirt was hauled in to construct the track, which included a series of obstacles designed to challenge the capabilities of the Minotaur RAM truck conversion. Our white Minotaur demo truck, which had already completed a 20,000 plus mile promotional tour, taken part in a road rally, and even driven across the United States twice, was used to give more than 3,000 people rides on the course. Each lap of the course concluded with a jump that launched all four tires off the ground, surprising guests with an unexpected soft and controlled landing, courtesy of the precision engineered KORE suspension. Over 1400 laps and jumps were completed with this one vehicle! Amazing!

“Tequila Lime” Minotaur Highlights Prefix Paint in Scottsdale

The custom painted Minotaur was a great attention-getter inside the exhibit halls during the 2016 Barrett-Jackson event. The Minotaur RAM 1500 conversion that was displayed indoors featured every possible option available on Minotaur. Custom paint, Viper side exhaust, 6.4L HEMI 392 upgrade, 20” wheels, and more. A variety of customers are now deciding on their very own color choice, including one who wants to have the first “Plum Crazy” Minotaur. Be sure to check out the PREFIX website to find the dealer nearest you to place your order.

The post Kent Kroeker Introduces the Minotaur to the Masses appeared first on KORE Off Road.

Before the race, Kent Kroeker said, “Our decision to race a production-based vehicle in the Trophy Truck class was driven by two questions – how good is our engineering and how good is our team? Where would we place if we put a Minotaur in the ring with with the fastest, most aggressive, and technologically advanced off-road vehicles ever built.”

Product development has always been the hallmark of KORE’s race program. The punishing terrain of Baja is KORE’s proving ground for suspension designs, motor programs and tuning ability. Some companies simply design and then sell products. KORE races with the parts they sell, putting KORE designs to extreme tests that a consumer could never imagine. The ultimate expression of this process is a truck anyone can buy at a Chrysler/Dodge dealer – The Minotaur, a custom Ram 1500 built in Detroit by Prefix Corporation, equipped with KORE’s race-inspired suspension.

Before the race, KORE’s Crew Chief, Josh Nelson said, “Just like the Minotaur you can buy at the dealer, we built the race variant to Class 8 standards from a stock, Ram 1500 chassis – because our race truck is production-based, it lacks some advantages of a tube frame chassis Trophy Truck or Class 1 race car. Regardless, we believe that we will put on a good show at the 1000.”

The KORE race Minotaur is a formidable beast. Powered by Arrow Racing Engine’s 980 horsepower, “512 Gustav” V10 motor, this pickup is capable of attacking the roughest off road terrain at speeds up to 145 mph.

The Baja 1000 is known as “the worlds toughest race.” The 2015 Baja 1000 stood out as the toughest yet. The course was tight, technical and loose due to numerous silt beds and endless stretches of deep sand over much of the course. Out of 239 entrants, only 124 made it to the finish line.

“This is Baja racing, so we always expect problems,” said Mike Nelson, Kroeker’s Navigator, “But there was no way we could predict the weird stuff that happened to us.”

At the start, while waiting for the green flag, Kroeker and Nelson lost the ability to transmit on the radio and had to rewire the cab using tape, zip ties and a pocket knife. Then after the first 30 miles, the GPS failed and provided no course data for the rest of their section.

Nelson said, “When everything works perfectly for hundreds of miles of testing, these glitches can be frustrating. Without GPS, we missed checkpoints and strayed off course, resulting in hours of penalties, but the weirdest thing was the axle seal.”

Kroeker and Nelson had a good run, bringing what they thought was a functional truck to the driver swap at the halfway point. As they arrived at the pit, Kroeker mentioned to Nelson that he could smell differential fluid. Inspection revealed no visible leaks. As the crew was changing the rear tires, Chase Driver John Scripps noticed a small leak in the right axle seal. This could have caused a brake fire, ending the race – or worse. The team jumped into action, disassembled the hub and bearing assembly, revealing that a wooden stick had punctured the seal, a one-in-a-million chance.

“In all my years of racing, I’ve never seen a failure like this,” said Josh Nelson, “I couldn’t duplicate this if I was trying to put a stick in there by hand. It cost us about an hour to fix, but it could have ended our race if we hadn’t addressed it.”

During the pit, KORE team members went to work. Chase driver Tim Gatto repaired wires that had been damaged by cactus, disabling the driving lights, James Lamb repaired the GPS, and Ian Kelbly helped remove the hubs and drive plate.

Darren Skilton and Josh Nelson then got into the race Minotaur and drove off into the night, immediately tackling the most difficult section of the race – the silt beds prior to El Crucero. Darren had spent a week of prerunning to find the correct lines through the deep silt that claimed the race of many competitors. A remote pit staffed by KORE team members Nick Baroldi and Josh Schoenfeld pre-staged in the danger zone with extra fuel and tow equipment, but they may not have been able to help.

“It was like a graveyard in there,” said Skilton. “Stuck vehicles littered the course everywhere. Having almost 1000 horsepower to pull you through certainly helps, but one wrong decision and we would have been in there all night.”

Driving and navigating flawlessly, Skilton and Nelson never got out of the truck during their entire section of the course. The next morning, after 12 hours of punishment, they brought the the first Minotaur in history across the finish line of the Baja 1000.

“This was a tremendous Baja 1000. We had some bad luck with the GPS and axle seal causing many hours of penalties and downtime. Nevertheless, beating the winning Class 8 truck by 10 hours and getting 19th in the most competitive class while racing the toughest race in the world is a great accomplishment – and an authentic statement about the DNA of the Minotaur, the KORE Race Team, and the dedication and commitment of our partners,” said Kroeker.

About KORE
KORE Racing (koreperformance.com) is comprised of Military, Police, Professional Mechanics, Entrepreneurs and the best volunteers that America has to offer. KORE RACING is proud to be partnered with Prefix Corporation, Arrow Racing Engines, Ole Buhl Racing, Baja Designs Lights, U.S. Optics Rifle Scopes, McRee’s Precision Rifle Stocks, Kelbly’s Precision Rifles, Jamar Brakes, FST Filters, Fox Racing Shocks, BFGoodrich Tires and Barrett-Jackson Auctions.

About Minotaur
The Minotaur RAM truck conversion from Prefix Performance was engineered from a Baja Racing heritage, designed from the same DNA found in championship desert race trucks. The Minotaur conversion elevates the RAM off-road truck to a new level of excitement, capability and style.

The post Kent Kroeker and Darren Skilton Pilot Prefix Minotaur™ to Beat 21 Unlimited Class Teams in 2015 SCORE Baja 1000 appeared first on KORE Off Road.

“Whatever it Takes” has been the team motto of Mills Motorsports ever since its birth in 2012. When the Mills Family joined forces with Baja Champion Kent Kroeker of KORE Off-Road for the 2012 Baja 1000, they went on to win the race and overall points championship in Spec Trophy Truck. Fast-forward two years later and Mills Motorsports has now earned a SCORE-International points championship in Class 8 and a second championship in the SPEC Trophy Truck Class. In one of the most strenuous and demanding Baja 1000’s the team has ever faced, and most importantly the strongest test of will to honor the “Whatever It Takes” motto, Mills Motorsports put two race trucks on the finish podium in La Paz.

What happened in the ten days of pre-running leading up to the journey from Ensenada to La Paz foreshadowed the commotion that eventually ensued on race day. The 1,275 miles were split into two sections with a North and South team taking responsibility for their respective areas. Unlike many teams that field one hundred or more people to support a single truck, the Mills team only uses 30 crew members, each highly-seasoned “Baja Operators” including SCORE Mechanic of the Year Nominee, Mike Kerr.

The week and a half was spent getting accustomed to the unexpected course conditions due to the hurricane that plagued Baja Sur. While learning the terrain, the Mills team rolled two pre-runners, including the Geiser Trophy Truck that Taylor Mills will race next year.

Despite the setbacks during pre-running, the team felt confident heading in to race day. The primary effort was the #841 SPEC Trophy Truck that started as a Brenthel Trophy Truck but has been extensively modified by KORE Off-Road. The second truck was the venerable “Gustav.” This truck is Mills’ #824 SRT-10 Dodge Ram Class 8, powered by a 512 cubic inch, all aluminum Viper motor that cranks 900 horses.

Originally, each of the four drivers, Darren Skilton, Taylor Mills, Alan Roach and Mike Meeks, were to drive 600+ miles each. As in battle, where no plan survives the first contact with the enemy, things can change with a blink of an eye in Baja.

Mills called in Darren Skilton and co-driver Josh Nelson to pilot the #841 SPEC TT off the line in Ensenada. Undoubtedly, the objective was to win the race but in a horrifying event that no team ever wants to go through, the game plan went south after just 103 miles.

While trying to pass Billy Wilson at RM 103, Skilton got tangled with him and rolled the truck end over end at almost 100 mph. The crash tore off the right front corner, ripped apart the steering and exploded the fuel cell. Darren was taken to the hospital with a concussion and Josh suffered minor injuries.

Josh wandered around the crash site – a classic yardsale – for a moment, picking up miscellaneous parts, starter motor, steering pump and alternator to name a few, wondering how these parts could have been jettisoned from the truck.

The truck was declared irreparable and was “out of the race.”

Ben Myers ran point for the Northern logistics to Valley de Trinidad and as lead chase, made the decision to spur the team on. Myers himself had no spare arms or steering components, just a transmission and rear gears. The spare parts for the truck were at Mills’ first pit at RM 158.

Tim Gatto drove four hours to the crash site, bringing the spare components to fix the truck. The team righted the truck and drained the oil that had collected in the cylinders. Josh determined later that the parts he had been picking up were the spares from the rear of the truck. Once the motor proved able to fire, the welding and fabricating began and in roughly 8 hours, the truck was back up and running.

Kroeker, banded as an alternate driver, remained collected and hopped in the aching truck. By RM 472, Kroeker noticed that the transmission was failing. The Mills team rallied yet again and replaced the transmission and Kroeker pushed on, bringing a bent but functional truck to Taylor Mills and Josh Huff at RM 650.

At this point, the strategy shifted to hitting all the checkpoints and VCPs to get points for a finish. Taylor and Josh, with the exception of getting stuck in the silt one time, were able to keep a steady but quick pace and finish under the time limit, securing 4th place in Spec TT, a Milestone Award for Taylor and a 2014 SPEC TT Championship.

46:29:04 is what it took for the #841 to see the checkered flag but in doing so, Mills Motorsports, as a team, undoubtedly earned the points championship in SPEC Trophy Truck.

Nearly thirteen hours earlier, teammate Mike Meeks was the only Class 8 driver to cross the finish line. Alan Roach and James Jeleniowski had a flawless run from the start to El Arco, where they handed an unscathed Class 8 race truck to Driver of Record, Mike Meeks and co-driver Matt Nelson.

The highly experienced and vetted duo took the #824 to the finish for a dominating win. There were no other finishers in Class 8. This secured a Points Championship for Meeks as well. After winning the San Felipe 250, Imperial Valley Desert Challenge and the Baja 1000, nobody in Class 8 was even close.

What Mills Motorsports accomplished at the 2014 Baja 1000 would be deemed impossible by any other Baja race team. Mills Motorsports would like to thank all of their sponsors that support them throughout the year. Next year the Mills Motorsports Team will campaign one and sometimes two unlimited vehicles, one of which will be a Trophy Truck, with Taylor Mills and Kent Kroeker driving.

Baja Designs Lights – Incredible performance for a race that takes place mostly at night.

Arrow Racing Motors – 512 Gustav in the Class 8 now has 4,300 race miles and still puts out 940 HP.

Jamar Brakes – The best stopping power and the best personalized tuning and race support in the world.

BFG tires – Outstanding pit support. They fed the team and stayed open late so they could fuel and make the finish with only hours to spare. Zero flats over 1,275 brutal miles.

FST Fuel Filters – The best filters on the market. The Mills team runs them on all race trucks and prerunners. The most surface area and flow, least restriction and highest level of filtration.

Fox Racing Shocks – The best shocks and race support in the business – on all Mills racecars.

KORE – For its superb vehicle dynamics engineering, tuning and support personnel.

The post Mills Motorsports Bests Baja and Secures SCORE Points Championships in SPEC Trophy Truck and Class 8 appeared first on KORE Off Road.

The post KORE Off-Road testing 6100 Renovation Jan 30, 2013 appeared first on KORE Off Road.

Ride along in the 800HP beast along the silty sandy roads through Baja

The post Class 8 KORE Dodge Ram POV Baja appeared first on KORE Off Road.

RIPP Supercharged 2009 2010 RAM Runner KORE Off Road and Dyno Test.

The post RIPP Supercharged KORE Ram appeared first on KORE Off Road.

This Baja racing inspired suspension system transforms any 4th Generation Ram 1500 2WD into an off-road specialist capable of tackling any terrain. The KORE Tactical Series offers 14 inches of wheel travel front and rear and increases width of vehicle to 90 inches for greater stability at high speeds. Suspension provides unsurpassed road handling and comfort over unimproved surfaces.

Provides up to 4” of lift and clearance for 35×12.5” off road tires.

KORE Tactical Series Suspension Kit includes:

• Front 3.0 inch Fox Internal Bypass billet piggy back reservoir coil-over shocks
• Rear 3.0 inch Fox Internal Bypass piggy back reservoir shocks
• Upper and lower A-Arms
• High-angle tie rods
• Front and rear weld on shock mounts
• CV axle extensions
• Sway bar end links
• Sway bar brackets
• Coil springs
• and all hardware.

Unique Ram Suspension System

This suspension system is unique to the off road industry because unlike other suspension kits that use poly bushings and uniballs for their pivot points, the KORE Tactical Series uses OE style, rubber bushings and OE style ball joints. These maintenance-free parts are not affected by road chemicals, resist wear, are quiet, long lasting and provide NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) protection that is unmatched in a high-performance off road product.

Note: Increased front track width requires the use of fiberglass front fenders – 3” rise and 3” width increase. KORE recommends Front Fenders Width Increase on Ram – KTS0065 for the perfect fit. Wider rear bedsides are also recommended, but not required. Use KTS0066 for Quad Cab and KTS0067 for Crew Cab. Requires 17×8-9” wheels with 4.5” backspace (not included). Cutting and welding required for installation.

The post Kore Introduces the new Tactical Series appeared first on KORE Off Road.