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Menzies, Polvoorde storm to SCORE Baja 1000 redemption

Like the honed competition sphere of all top-level endurance races across the globe, the days of conserving the equipment to win the ultimate battle are long gone. The 2025 edition of desert racing’s oldest, toughest and most prestigious event once again proved that winning the annual SCORE Baja 1000 has morphed into a virtual sprint race with little margin for error. 

Such was the case for veteran Bryce Menzies and rising star Chrisopher Polvoorde, who successfully leveraged their pole position and clean air to claim the overall Baja 1000 victory. The duo combined forces in the No. 94 Red Bull/Optima Battery/Toyo-backed all-wheel drive Mason Motorsports-built Ford Trophy Truck to outpace the rest of a tight field, taking 15h48m23.53s to cover an 854-mile Baja 1000 race course shortened 20 miles by race organizers due to heavy rain at the Ensenada finish. 

Combining the forces of Menzies Motorsports and Polvoorde Racing created the sport’s most powerful – but unlucky – combinations for long distance SCORE races. At last year’s Baja 1000 Polvoorde only made it 13 miles after starting on pole due to a transmission failure. Then at June’s BFGoodrich Baja 500 that heartbreak was repeated when Polvoorde and co-driver Mike Kim hit a hidden culvert and tore off their truck’s right-front corner only a few hundred yards off the start. 

Oren Anderson, Mike Kim, Christopher Polvoorde and Bryce Menzies (L-R) enjoy a winning moment after claiming overall victory at the 58th BFGoodrich SCORE Baja 1000.

“Redemption. That’s what this race was all about because last year was so tough,” explained Menzies from the finishing podium in downtown Ensenada. “Christopher and Mike (Kim) did an awesome job for the first half; they never got out of the truck. The top five guys were within 30 seconds all the way. When we got in the truck, we knew we had to push a bit with Alan right behind us. Toward San Matias I felt a vibration in the front differential that got worse. It finally let go so we had to back it down and just push for the finish. This feels really good after last year.” 

“It’s finally happened; the third time is the charm,” Polvoorde said, clearly enjoying the satisfaction of a first-time Baja 1000 victory. “This is so exciting after last year’s disappointment in only going 12 miles. This is epic.” 

Polvoorde said the win was a tribute to the late Mike Walser. It was Walser who first gave the gifted Polvoorde the chance to drive an all-wheel drive Trophy Truck and make the transition to desert racing after a sparkling career in off-road short-course competition. 

McMillin Racing fought hard throughout, but came up just short by the end in Ensenada, led home by their No. 83.

The legendary McMillin Racing team took the next two positions on the Baja 1000 podium. A little over 10 minutes behind Menzies/Polvoorde came Luke McMillin in the No. 83 Monster Energy/BFGoodrich-supported Mason Motorsports Ford he shared with Rob MacCachren. Cousin Andy McMillin arrived in Ensenada just over 25 minutes later in the team’s sister No. 23 Monster Energy/BFGoodrich Mason Ford, a ride he shared with Luke’s brother and driver of record Dan McMillin. 

McMillin’s No. 23 completed the team’s strong performance..

Delighting many Baja fans and locals, Robby Gordon and son Max finally had a great day in their radical twin-engine, twin-transmission Geiser-built Trophy Truck fielded by recent Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee Clyde Stacy. The father-son duo arrived back to a rainy Ensenada finish line just 24 seconds behind the McMillins to claim fourth place overall. Also happy with a great result was the team of Kevin Thompson and Harley Letner, who took the No. 70 Mason Ford to a fine fifth place overall. 

Most of this year’s race saw the top five trucks running together, separated by just seconds in most cases before the brutal Baja terrain took its toll in the final 100-mile stretch. 

For Alan Ampudia, the Baja 1000 was a heartbreaker as he went solo in a history-making attempt to win all four SCORE races in 2025. His No. 1 Toyo Tires/Monster Energy all-wheel drive Mason Motorsports truck was in the mix all day after earning a second-place starting spot, often leading on corrected time. A lengthy mechanical repair near the end cost Ampudia that record, but his sixth-in-class finish ensured the Ensenada native a back-to-back SCORE International overall championship. 

Another team leaving Baja heartbroken was the Australian pairing of Toby Price and Paul Weel. Their No. 46 Red Bull/BFGoodrich Mason Motorsports all-wheel drive was part of the leading pack all day and well into the night before running out of fuel at race mile 803, caused by an accidental short fill at a pit stop.  

Taking advantage of it all was Luke McMillin and co-driver Jason Duncan, who combined to post the drive of the day. A bent drive shaft was discovered during the driver change with Rob MacCachren, a repair that required 20 minutes of downtime. While all the leading pack waged an intense, but equal, battle in terms of pace, McMillin and Duncan tapped into years of experience, weeks of pre-running and literally thousands of rally notes to close the gap in the long night hours. For those watching their performance live via the RACER Network, the live audio and video stream was an education of higher learning. 

Other significant victories went to Brent Fox in his No. 282 Trophy Truck Spec (good for sixth overall), Sam Baldi in Trophy Truck 2WD (8th overall) and Gustavo Vildosola/Ricky Johnson in Trophy Truck Legends (12th overall).  NASCAR racer Brendan Gaughan teamed with Buddy Feldkamp to claim the Class 1 victory in an HMS-Chevy. 

The hotly contested Pro UTV Open category was again claimed by the factory SCI Motorsports Polaris team, this time with Cayden MacCachren (son of Rob MacCachren) and Ethan Groom sharing driving duties. They beat teammates Max Eddy Jr. and Dylan Schmoke by 46 minutes. The Polaris RZR R of Brandon Sims came in third. 

RESULTS