Three Yokohama Tire- sponsored off-road drivers who captured class championships in last year’s SCORE Baja 500 are heading back to dusty Ensenada, Mexico, to again compete in the June 5-7 event.
Heidi Steele, who took the Class 7SX title in ’08, has moved up in class this year and will race in two divisions: Class 6 (with co-driver Ross Savage) and Class 7 (with co-driver Rene Brugger).
Steele, the overall 2008 champion in Best of the Desert and the SCORE Desert Series, was recently named Dirt Sports magazine’s Driver of the Year. She’ll compete at Baja in both classes on off-the-shelf Yokohama Geolandar M/T+ tires on a Ford Ranger. Steele is currently in first place in Class 6 and third in Class 7.
Cameron Steele, the other half of off-road racing’s “power couple,” will once again battle Baja in the highly competitive Trophy Truck class. Steele, a two-time SCORE Person of the Year and television commentator, will be driving the No. 16 Desert Assassins Chevrolet Silverado outfitted with Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S-R tires.
Besides Heidi Steele, other returning Yokohama-sponsored racers who won the Baja 500 last year include defending SCORE Lite class champion Rick St. John and Adam Pfankuch, the ’08 Class 1-2/1600 winner. Pfankuch is switching classes this year and will be sharing driving duties with St. John in SCORE Lite.
Yokohama will have one more driver in the Baja 500 field: Rookie Justin “Bean” Smith, who will take over the reins in this year’s Class 1-2/1600 race. He is currently tied for No. 1 in the class and tied for third in the overall SCORE standings.
“We’ve got a talented, hungry group of drivers in this year’s Baja 500,” says Mark Chung, Yokohama’s director of corporate strategy and planning. “Many of them won last year and we think they’ll be highly successful this time around, too. We know our tires are up to the challenge and can conquer the tough terrain at Baja and help bring back some championships.”
After Baja, the next SCORE race for Yokohama-sponsored teams is the Primm 300, Sept. 11-13 in Primm, Nev.
For more information, visit www.yokohamatire.com.
