Quad Magazine’s Nick Nelson Wins The Baja 500

PLAYING BY THE RULES FINALLY PAYS OFF

Nick Nelson Leaving Ensanada at the start of the race!

Quad Magazine Associate Editor Nick Nelson and his team finally get the big “W” that has been eluding them for nine long years. After the biggest display of rule enforcement by Score International to date, the 5A Suzuki QuadRacer R450 went from an unofficial 3rd place finish to a solid 1st place, finishing forty minutes ahead of the 2nd place American Honda team of Wayne Matlock.

The 5A team was the only team in the Class 25 Premiere ATV class that did not receive penalties for cutting the course or speeding on the highway. Nick Nelson, Brandon Brown, and Josh Edwards rode their nearly stock-motored QuadRacer R450 to an honest finish in 10 hours and 26 minutes.

“We had a near flawless day—our Suzuki QuadRacer R450 ran solid from start to the finish,” said Quad Magazine’s Nick Nelson. “Every team member did their job; no one crashed, broke anything, or did anything outside the Score rulebook. Kenney Sanford of S&S Motorsports did an excellent job prepping our bike for this brutal race. Our Maxxis tires with TireBalls performed flawlessly with no flats allowing us to concentrate on merely gassing and inspecting the machine in every pit. Our CT exhaust powered, FOX/Walsh suspended Suzuki just kept taking the abuse like we needed it to. We are also extremely excited to deliver Suzuki its first ever Pro win at any SCORE Baja event!”

Brandon Brown on the way in from Uruapan.

“We would love to thank our sponsors and pit crew, who have stuck by us for a decade worth of trying. Special thanks to Paulina Nelson, Allen Knowles, Alberto “Chino” Wong, Ron Edwards, Bill Nelson, Big Frank, Brad Aboltin, Kenney Sanford and Jason Greenhaw. We’d also like to thank Quad Magazine, Suzuki, CT Racing, S&S Motorsports, Fox Racing Shox, Walsh Racecraft, Precision Stabilizers, Maxxis, Hyper Wheels, PWR , Blingstar Industries, FASSTCO, K&N, Galfer, Spider Grips, MotoSport Hillsborro, PCI Race Radios, UPP, Dobech, TireBalls, IMS Products, Scott Goggles, PRM-ATV, Clarke, Moto X Nutrition, Trail Tech and Klim Technical Gear.”

Action photos by fotosolweb.com

Nick Nelson, Brandon Brown, Josh Edwards & Mechanic Kenny Sanford at the finish.