The day started earlier than usual for the team as many of them had not gone to bed until 3am, rising at 4am to get started on race day. After shaking down the race bike the day before Contingency, mechanic Kenny Sanford noticed something was not right with the bike. As it turns out the brand new crank was bad and he would spend Thursday night rebuilding the motor. After minimal break-in time the race bike headed to the starting line in Ensenada early Friday morning. Kenny noted it was especially fortunate to have some extra OEM parts from ProCaliber.com on hand for the rebuild.

Jorie Williams would be starting first in class 24 in Ensenada and would ride to Ojos Negros, approximately race mile 35. He left the line at 6:53am and rode through the streets and out into the dirt where he encountered mud and fog. “I wasn’t as nervous this time doing the start,” Williams explained, “and I made my way through the fog. I passed a few riders, but when I hit the road near race mile 35 I had to take my goggles off and I got passed back right before we did the rider change.” He had come into the pavement in first overall, passing all of Class 25 in the dirt, but lost a position while removing his goggles. He then rode into the pit for fuel and rider change.

As the team fueled the bike and rider Kenny Sanford got on, 2 more riders passed by. Sanford headed into his section as the 4th ATV overall.Sanford rode this section from race mile 35 to approximately race mile 93 at the Baja 500 and was familiar with it, however it was much rougher than at the 500, and even more so than when he pre-ran during the week. He ended up ejecting himself from the bike partially through his section. “I took a corner that was really rough and just ended up not being able to hold on. I came off the bike but somehow managed to grab hold of our Pro Armor heel guards. The bike drug me for thirty or fifty feet until it slowed enough that I could climb back on and restart it. It fired on the first kick and I didn’t lose much time. I’m glad it didn’t run me over though!” Sanford told us after he got off the bike at his next pit. Fired up from the adrenaline he made up all but 1 position coming in to pit the 2nd ATV overall with Matlock racing’s 700 right behind him.

Unfortunately for Team Quad75Dezert the paid pit service they were using hesitated a few moments to fuel them – happening repeatedly throughout the race – opting instead to fuel Matlock first who came in a mere seconds behind them. This set Matlock’s team into the Summit half a minute ahead. Rider Jorie Williams boarded the bike again and took off for the Summit and the lake bed, a section that can last 3 hours or more for quads. Jorie Williams traded positions a few times during the Summit section and came into the lake bed again in 1st overall for the ATVs. Unfortunately, the high speed section of the lake bed found the Quad75Dezert race bike at a disadvantage as top speed was not much over 60mph. Here they lost a position to Matlock racing and faced a series of adversities that would keep them in 2nd overall for the duration of the race. Brandon Brown swapped with Jorie Williams near Borrego and rode a short, but exceptionally rough section to Borrego pits where Kenny Sanford would get on again. This starts the San Felipe loop.

Sanford would ride for several miles before handing the bike to Jamie Kirkpatrick who would ride and hand the bike back off to Jorie Williams. Kirkpatrick, riding in the dust and closing the gap on the only quad in front of him, lost control and crashed hard during his first section, hurting his hip. He managed to get the bike to Jorie but felt he was unable to ride his second section. Brandon Brown was supposed to get back on the bike after a major pit at race mile 427 had to meet Jamie and his next section near Zoo Road. Brown had ridden sections of San Felipe before, but did not pre-run this part of the course during the week. After a brief discussion of what was wrong with the bike, Kenny Sanford headed back to race mile 427 to prepare for the pit. Brandon Brown rode into the pit at approximately 6:30pm in the dark while Kenny Sanford and Sean McHugh changed all four tires, checked the oil, checked the TCS Motorsports skidplates, and made adjustments to compensate for a tweaked steering component on the bike. Originally the lights were to be changed for the race set of Trail Tech lights but the bracket was bent so they opted to keep the lights on and not waste time. Brandon got some water, swapped radios, and got back on the bike to head all the way to Valle de Trinidad. The entire pit took about 5 minutes. It was after this that the team headed to San Matias for a visual check and then on to Valle de Trinidad for another rider swap. The rider change at Valle de Trinidad took place at the top of a hill where temperatures dropped to the high 30s and a dense fog settled in making visibility poor. There were warnings of booby traps and a man-made jump in the following section, and Willimas would need to be especially mindful because of the poor visibility.

Brandon came in approximately 30 minutes after the leading quad, the bike was fueled, and Jorie Williams rode from Valle de Trinidad out to the coast where rider Richie Brown would get on the bike. The fog lifted as the bike descended into the lower altitudes and Richie made up some time on the leading quad, riding from Santo Tomas through Uruapan and back to Ojos Negros where Brandon Brown would get back on the bike for the finish. Temperatures in Ojos Negros dropped into the mid-30s and the team prepped for the final fueling and rider change in the cold. Brown changed into his cold weather Klim gear and the team anxiously awaited Richie’s arrival in the field as bon fires burned and the crowd pressed in near the course. It was approximately 12:30am when Richie came to the pit. The bike was fueled, Richie let Brandon know the bike had lost its rear brakes, and in a matter of seconds Brandon Brown took off for the finish approximately 17 minutes behind the leading quad. Brown would wade through fog, mud, and needed to remove his goggles during the last leg of the race and was unable to close the gap. “The trucks just tore up the start,” Brandon explained at the finish, gesturing at the muddy race bike, “and the locals made a few booby traps in there. You had to be really careful and just focus on getting the bike through to the end.”

Brandon crossed the finish line at approximately 1:50am, where he was greeted by the rest of the team, fans, other racers, and SCORE officials. “I am really proud of the whole team. It takes a lot of effort on everyone’s part to race down here. We are fortunate to have awesome riders – Jorie Williams, Kenny Sanford, Jamie Kirkpatrick, Richie Brown – who put in 100 percent every time they come out. Kenny is an amazing mechanic, our race bike is always improving and he did nothing short of a miracle before this race. And our support crew, all of our chase drivers, our operator and our family, friends and fans really help us pull this program together. There’s a lot to be proud of here, and by no means did we have a bad day, although we always come out shooting for the overall.”

The team finished first in class. At the conclusion of the 2011 SCORE International season, Quad75Dezert secured the Class 24 championship as well at the ATV Overall championship. As December approaches the team is taking a short break and then preparations for the 2012 season, starting with the San Felipe 250 in March, will commence. You can find more information and more pictures, including some from pre-running, at Facebook.com/Quad75Dezert

Quad75Dezert would like to thank the following for their success at the Baja 1000: Jamie Kirkpatrick, Kenny Sanford, Jorie Williams, Richie Brown, Brandon Brown, Ken Sanford, Dan Kirkpatrick, Joey Kirkpatrick, Rick Sosebee, Patrick Murray, Mary McHugh, Sean McHugh, Jeff Petrich, Dave Jenkins, Mike Gingles, Todd Petchnick, and Megan Murray.

Quad75Dezert competes with the help and support of the following companies: S&S Motorsports, Water Well Developing & Surveys, Fox Racing Shox, Maxxis, Klim, Teixeira Tech, HMF Racing, K&N Filters, CBR Performance, MotoXNutrition, HB Jaeger, HID Source, UPP Racing, Fullbore Innovations, HiPer, Pro Armor, ProCaliber.com, IMS, TCS Motorsports, Spider Grips, Warn Industries, QuadTech, Maxima, Precision Racing Products,Fusion Graphixx, Powermadd, Asterisk, Wiseco, We All Ride, Scott USA, Rekluse, Pro Caliber Motorsports, Trail Tech, Hot Rod Fabrication, KBH Construction, Cycle Wash, Dune Tech, PitTraffic.com, Team Money$hot, & Murray211

Subscribe to updates by entering your email address:

Brandon Brown, Kenny Sanford, Jorie Williams, Jamie Kirkpatrick, & Richie Brown will be racing on the S&S Motorsports prepped Honda 450R. ProCaliber.com was instrumental in getting a 2012 Honda and Kenny Sanford has worked hard in conjuction with Sean McHugh of TCS Motorsports to get the race bike ready. “At this point we have some small things left to do to the race bike. Adjust the lights, mount a few custom pieces, and double check everything,” Kenny said, “Right now we’re getting the pre-runners ready.” The Baja 1000 is tougher on everything from pre-runners, to riders, to chase vehicles, and logistics can become difficult as well. “I have a pretty good idea of what we’re going to do. It’s helpful having been down a few times before,” Brandon Brown explained, “and this year we have practically already raced the course. It will just be a matter of linking the two together and making sure that our riders’ fitness levels are up to speed and our chase drivers know where to be, what do to, and when to be there. I have a lot of confidence in our team because we are lucky to draw from a variety of different knowledgeable people. That’s one of our most valuable assets: the diversity of our support crew.”

The team will break into two pieces, one based in Ensenada and the other based in San Felipe for the majority of the week. They will pre-run until Tuesday, then spend Wednesday doing final preparation, riders and drivers meetings, and prepping the chase trucks with needed tools and supplies. Thursday, November 17th, is contingency and Friday the first bikes leave the line at 6am. Competitors have 32 hours to complete the race. There are six physical checkpoints where competitors must come to a stop and sixty-four virtual checkpoints where competitors must come within range of a small device. These checkpoints verify data gathered by IRC trackers on the race vehicles to make sure competitors are on the course. There is a total of almost 15 miles of non-consecutive pavement sections which are speed controlled – racers must not exceed 60 mph while on the pavement.

In addition to normal preparation, Quad75Dezert has made an effort to raise money for breast cancer research. In honor of the survivors the team has decided to put forth a fundraising effort on behalf of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Brandon Brown’s sister is a breast cancer survivor, currently recovering from a recent surgery. “It something that’s affected our team, not only myself and my sister, but friends and family of our riders and support crew. We feel like we should be doing something and the 1000 is a big race that people pay attention to. We’d like it if they could pay attention to this cause as well, and donate to support researching a cure,” Brandon explained. The team will be dedicating their 2012 season to raising money for cancer research, but you can contribute today by visiting this link: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/quad75dezert/2011baja1000 Their goal is to raise $100 for every hour of the race.

“Each and every time we go out to race, we learn and progress a little more. This year’s San Felipe 250 and Baja 500 offered a lot of learned, especially because we had a 2nd team competing. It adds to the challenge and maybe next year we’ll have a 2nd team at the 1000, but I think we can take what we have learned this year, and what we have learned from years past, and have a really successful race. We are all really looking forward to making our hard work pay off, and having a great time racing in Mexico!” Brandon concluded.  Quad75Dezert is chasing their 4th consecutive Class 24 & ATV Overall win, and their 2nd consecutive Class 24 championship.

Quad75Dezert would like to thank the following companies for their support: S&S Motorsports, Water Well Developing & Surveys, Fox Racing Shox, Maxxis, Klim, Teixeira Tech, HMF Racing, K&N Filters, HB Jaeger, CBR Performance, MotoXNutrition, UPP Racing, Fullbore Innovations, HiPer, Pro Armor, TCS Motorsports, Spider Grips, Warn Industries, QuadTech, Maxima, Precision Racing Products,Fusion Graphix, Powermadd, Asterisk, Wiseco, Sunstar, Scott USA, Rekluse, ProCaliber.com, Trail Tech, Hot Rod Fabrication, KBH Construction, Cycle Wash, We All Ride, Dune Tech Off-Road, PitTraffic.com,  & Murray211

In 2011, the American Cancer Society estimates that about 230,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed among women in the United States, and that about 39,520 women will die from the disease.

At this time there are about 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, exceeded only by lung cancer.

In men, 2,140 new cases were projected in the U.S. in 2011, with 450 deaths.

Breast cancer is something that hits close to home, affecting some of the team’s family and friends. Brandon Brown’s sister is a breast cancer survivor who is now recovering from a second surgery and will probably need another. “It’s devastating to the women that have to go through this, their families, and friends. We feel like we can raise money for a good cause, especially because the 1000 is a big race,” Brandon explained.

The goal is $100 for every hour of the race. Competitors have 32 hours to finish the nearly 700 mile course. “We would really like to raise more than that, but we think anything can help,” Brandon said, “We’ve got a lot of amazing people supporting us, so we are pretty confident that those same supporters will be as enthusiastic about supporting breast cancer research, making a difference by funding important research for a cure.”

Visit this link to contribute something today: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/quad75dezert/2011baja1000

The team is currently less than two weeks away from leaving for the Baja 1000, and plan to continue efforts all throughout the 2012 season to raise money for cancer research. Please join them in making the awareness a 12 month project!

Kenny has been diligently preparing for the arrival of our 2012 Honda TRX450. Originally we thought we’d have a bike at the beginning of September. We really like to start prep work in August, however, we didn’t get our 2012 until last weekend. We don’t like giving our mechanic a panic attack, but we’re really looking forward to testing this bike at the end of the month and putting on the final touches before we leave.

Brandon has been challenging himself with vigorous workouts all while formulating the “master plan” for Baja – securing lodging, planning chase routes, planning which of our riders will ride where, paying the entry fee, all the meanwhile working on sponsorship for the 2012 season as well as other team “administrative” tasks.

Jamie has been busy also – Jamie is a father again! He has a 5 year old son, Blake, and a new daughter, Brynn,  born a few weeks ago! Congratulations Jamie and Jen! Jamie has been heading up and riding for Quad75Dezert ‘s second team, but will be riding for the primary (and only) team for the 1000.

Richie Brown will be coming back for the 1000, driving all the way from Georgia! Richie’s enthusiasm and skill have been a great asset to the team and we are looking forward to having him with us again. He suffered a broken leg a few months ago when he attempting to run himself over in another off-road race on the East Coast. After surgery and a bit of recovery, he’s back to racing (and winning) and preparing for Baja.

Jorie, when not being a TV star, has also been training on his TRX system & riding his stationary bike. He’s also been helping Kenny a bit with race bike related tasks. He helped ferry the new race bike up to Kenny’s shop and has been riding about 3 times a week to stay in shape on the bike. He’s looking forward to the 1000 just like everyone else!

We’d also like to introduce our special fundraising site: support.quad75.com We are often asked “How can I help?” and the easiest and most helpful thing is to donate some money. We’ve got some cool things to give away in exchange for your support – t-shirts, stickers, even a chance to come down and experience Mexico first-hand with us! Your support is meaningful and we appreciate every single person that’s ever supported our dreams. We’re looking to cinch the ATV overall, Class 24 win, Class 24 Championship and ATV Overall Championship at the 1000, as well as making it 4 wins/overalls in a row. You can help us!

If you live in the Portland/Vancouver area, or want to travel a bit, October 21st from 5-8pm at Pro Caliber Vancouver there is a Baja Rider Support Party. Pro Caliber has been a great supporter of our efforts, and last year’s party was a lot of fun. The ATV (us) and Bike teams will be there with a race bike for pictures, autographs, and enjoying the event! There is a silent auction with great prizes from HMF, Hiper, Spider Grips and MANY more, a raffle, spaghetti, and fun games for kids and adults. It’s also an open house for the dealership so you can come in, meet some of the staff, and have a look around.

Thanks for your support!

Part 2:

Part 3:

Brandon was behind the 1st place team of Stuart/Granlund and gaining ground. He made his way passed them, but ended up getting off-course with a handful a dirt bikes in a spot that was not well marked. A BITD volunteer redirected them back to the course and in the process of returning the bike had a failure which put them out of the race. “We use a lot of this race for testing, and we’ve learned a lot since we haven’t had good luck at this race. We’ll tear the bike down and figure out what went wrong and use that information to help us be more successful in the next races,” mechanic Kenny Sanford explained, “It’s not how we want to finish, but I think we can come back strong and possibly win it next year which we would all really like.” Brandon added, “Unfortunately we have to use this race as a learning experience, but it will certainly help us to re-examine what we do and make our program better.” The team then packed up the riders and race bikes and drove to Washougal for the 6th round of WORCS.

Brandon was there to support Jorie during the pro race, but Kenny Sanford & Jamie Kirkpatrick also decided to ride Sunday morning and Kenny earned himself a podium position in his race, with Jamie finishing right behind him in 4th. Jorie started off strong riding in 5th place as he headed into the off-road sections. He lost a few positions over the next few laps and hovered around the 10 place mark until he had a mishap that may have broken or cracked some of his ribs. He fell off the pace, but didn’t give up and finished the 90 minutes running the Quad75 number for the team.

The team is now looking toward and planning for November’s Baja 1000 in Mexico. You can follow them on Facebook (Facebook.com/Quad75Dezert) Twitter (Twitter.com/#!/Quad75Baja)

Quad75Dezert would like to thank the following companies for their support: S&S Motorsports, Water Well Developing & Surveys, Fox Racing Shox, Maxxis, Klim, Teixeira Tech, HMF Racing, K&N Filters, CBR Performance, MotoXNutrition, UPP Racing, Fullbore Innovations, HiPer, Pro Armor, TCS Motorsports, Spider Grips, Warn Industries, QuadTech, Maxima, Precision Racing Products,Fusion Graphixx, Powermadd, Asterisk, Wiseco, Fastenal Racing, Scott USA, Rekluse, Pro Caliber Motorsports, Trail Tech, Hot Rod Fabrication, KBH Construction, Cycle Wash, Dune Tech, PitTraffic.com, Team Money$hot, & Murray211

See all the photos from Vegas to Reno on Quad75 Dezert’s Facebook page and see all the photos from Washougal Pro Main at Facebook.com/Murray211