Tundra Wins Baja

2015 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro Wins Baja 1000 Stock Full Class

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The 2015 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro team claimed victory at the recent 47th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 race in the full stock class. While the truck performed flawlessly mechanically, the exterior took a beating. Here's what we know.

The TRD Pro team finished first among four teams with a time of 35:40:40.581 according to SCORE, the sanctioning body of the race. The Toyota Land Cruiser (200 series) team came in second with a time of 36:30:06.529. The other two teams driving a Ford F-150 Raptor SVT and a Hummer H1 didn't finish.

Toyota put a lot of effort into the race and collected an impressive list of drivers and team members. The TRD Pro team included legendary Toyota off-road racer Ivan "Ironman" Stewart, Baja 1000 and 500 class champion Ted Moncure, motocross driver Andy Bell, professional BMX Vert rider Jamie Bestwick, and well-known Baja 1000 and 500 driver Ryan Millen.

From various sources, we were able to piece together how the team won the race.

During the first day, the TRD Pro team was able to open a small lead over the other Toyota team. Both the Hummer and Ford teams quickly fell behind. Both of those vehicles eventually developed mechanical issues that forced them to drop out of the race. The only issue the TRD Pro team had was one tire change.

Overnight the TRD Pro team faced its largest obstacle. According to Millen, who wasn't driving at the time, massive damage occurred to the driver's side when the truck got caught on a stuck vehicle, resulting in sheet metal tearing. Although the damage looked bad, it didn't stop the truck from speeding to victory.

TRD Pro driver Bestwick summed up the victory: "We fought a Raptor, Kangaroo and the Chupacare, and we did what it took to win the Baja."

In total, the 2014 SCORE Baja 1000 had 237 starters with just more than half finishing. Competitors raced more than 1,275 miles in vehicles ranging from trophy trucks, stock production trucks, motorcycles and ATVs.

Winning the top SCORE trophy truck class was the Ford team of Rob MacCachren, Andy McMillin and Jason Voss.

Toyota Tundra chief engineer Mike Sweers rode in the TRD Pro during the race and had this to say in a statement: "The Baja 1000 is another test to ensure that Toyota trucks continue to exceed the expectations of our customers. The combination of excellent teamwork and Toyota's quality, dependability and reliability not only got us to the finish line, but it got us there first."

PickupTrucks.com

Why the hell did they use a stupid ass crew cab in the Baja 1000 ?

Marketing.