SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
(25 November 2008)
– The 2008 SCORE Baja 1000 was marked by relentless terrain
diversity and technical sections not seen in years. Fresh
from an important victory at the Primm 300, General Tire’s
Team KORE was poised to tackle the course.
“We felt like this was
going to be our race; everything was lined up for the win.
Our success at Primm proved we have the speed to beat anyone
in our class,” said John Zambie.
But after just a few miles
of racing, bad things started happening. With Rodolfo
“Rudy” Iribe at the wheel and Zambie in the right seat,
while passing another vehicle, a low-hanging oak tree took
the Power Wagon’s upper light bar clean off. They had to
get off the course and salvage the remaining lights, then
stop again at their first pit to offload the lights to the
crew. This put them not only behind the entire Stock Full
class, but also many other race vehicles.
Rudy drove hard, making up
time, passing everyone except Chad Hall in the H3. It was a
dark and dusty night with no wind. At Race Mile 284,
minutes behind Chad, Kent Kroeker and Frank Martinek took
over driving duties.
“There was no time to
replace the upper light bar. We just had to suck it up and
race with the Soltek LED’s we had on the bumper. They have
great coverage, but limited range, so we were constantly
overdriving them. It was kind of scary sometimes, but you
do what you have to,” said Kroeker.
Kroeker had been suffering
from the stomach flu all week. Near the end of the San
Felipe whoops he remarked to Martinek that he was not safe
to drive the truck to the finish because he was starting to
“gray out.” Martinek radioed ahead to the pit to have Rudy
get ready to drive again.
A driver swap and some
minor repairs at Race Mile 400 put the Power Wagon back in
the fight. Heading up the beach toward Santo Tomas Rudy had
the truck minutes from the lead. Approaching Erindera, they
hit a huge, man-made booby trap – a giant hole dug with a
back hoe.
“There was nothing we
could do. We were doing about 60, so Rudy just down shifted
and pinned in. We hit the other side so hard it bounced the
truck about ten feet in the air. We rode the front end,
looking at the ground for a long time. I was amazed we
didn’t cartwheel,” said Martinek.
Soon parts started flying
off the truck. First the front drive shaft, then a brake
caliper. With no four wheel drive, they got mired in deep
silt. Digging for hours while Chase brought parts to make
repairs, their chances for the win disappeared.
“Chad drove a perfect race
and deserves that win 100%. We had some weird luck, but
getting second in this year’s Baja 1000 was like my driving
experience: Yeah, I’m glad I didn’t puke in my helmet, pass
out and yardsale the truck, but it still made me throw up in
the pits,” said Kroeker.
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For more information
contact: KORE
P.O. Box 2628
Valley Center CA 92082
760-749-8687
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