NASCAR star Robby Gordon and Andy McMillin turned in a virtuoso performance to dominate the 39th Baja 100 in their
Red Bull Chevrolet CK1500 by more than three-quarters of an hour – despite starting down in 31st place.
Achieving his pre-race ambition, the victory is Gordon's third on the event and 19-year-old McMillin's first in the granddaddy of all off-road races. It also marked a maiden Baja 1000 success for one of Gordon's primary sponsors, Toyo Tires, who knocked BFGoodrich off its 21-year perch as the overall winner of one of racing's premier events.
“We had a flawless run,” Gordon acknowledged after seeing off nearest rivals Larry Roeseler and Troy Herbst to the tune of some 47 minutes. “We had absolutely no issues. Andy did a great job, I'm really happy he was able to get his first win with us and I'm pumped that we got a win on Toyo Tires.
“I'm glad we finally won this thing again – it has been a long time since we won the 1000. We are really, really happy with the progress we have made with our off road programme.”
Gordon, who started right towards the back of the field of 36 Trophy Trucks, drove the first 725 miles of the 1,050.83-mile course before giving way to McMillin. Gordon took the overall lead on adjusted time after approximately 450 miles, and had passed every four-wheeled vehicle in the field after 600. In all nearly 450 cars, trucks, motorcycles and quads started the race.
The Baja 100 began in Mexico and finished almost 19-and-a-half hours later at the southern end of the Baja California peninsula.
Gordon's navigator on the event was Andy Grider, the ex-motorcycling champion who will also navigate for the former Champ Car ace on January's Dakar Rally. McMillin was assisted by long-time Gordon navigator Gregg Till.
“We could barely see out the front window to the nose of the truck for the first eight hours because of all the dust,” Gordon said. “We started so deep in the field that we were basically driving blind until we got out in front.
