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Team QLR / Maxxis /
Elka / Duncan / IMS wins 3 championships!
David Scott
Jeremy Sanchez on the gas.
Jeremy Sanchez
3.3 gallons of VP C12 and a rider
change. |
When Dave Scott of Belen, NM. decided to
contest three separate ATV championships he knew
he would need some help. During the winter
of 2007 Dave began working on a plan with racers
Jeremy Sanchez and Craig Christy. The trio
formulated a game plan that would allow Dave to
race locally, regionally and internationally.
Dave would take care of the NMDRC events, he
would team up with Jeremy for the BITD events
and the pair would combine forces with the
Christy guys for the SCORE Baja series.1 year
and 1,107 gallons of fuel later, Dave has three
new #1 plates on his wall.
Best In The Desert
- Quad #Q2
Race promoter Casey Folks invites racers to
“live your adventure with Best in the Desert”
Dave and Jeremy did just that. Riding the
Quad Locos Racing 450cc bike in the Quad Pro
class, the boys from Belen struggled to keep the
blistering pace that was being set by Greg
Stewart’s 650cc powered Q4 machine and the 700cc
Q1 bike of Wayne Matlock. While Dave and
Jeremy were never absent from the podium their
real performance secret turned out to be
bulletproof bike prep and intelligent riding.
While the bigger bikes were haunted by
mechanical issues, the QLR / TRX-450R always
managed to reach the checkered flag in one
piece. Dave and Jeremy’s riding was
put to the test during the Blue Water GP.
Their bike was last off the line and over 30
quads had to be passed before they would find
any clean air to battle with the race leaders.
Fortunately, the guys had their Elka shocks
dialed in perfectly for the conditions and after
a hard fought battle, they made it to the podium
still very much in the points game! During
the Las Vegas 150 event, Jeremy was hot on the
heals of another pro quad, so close, in fact,
that when that quad blew a turn, Jeremy followed
him 2 miles into the desert before either of
them realized what had happened.
Fortunately, the Maxxis tires survived the off
track excursion which allowed the team to spring
from last place back to the lead group.
The duo put their heads down and clawed their
way forward to a remarkable 2nd place!
Several times the guys ran into logistical
issues where extra support was needed.
With almost zero notice, they could call upon
Dave’s brother James Denton who was standing by
in New Mexico. James saved the day more
than once embarking on 1,000 mile + road trips
to deliver needed parts and human resources.
The
championship was to be decided during the last
race of the season. Although the pressure
was on, Dave and Jeremy knew they owned the
lions share of the points in B.I.T.D.’s premier
quad class. The pair did not have the
luxury of relaxing as this event was slotted to
be a “double points” weekend. A weak
showing here could cost them the title.
With the Pit Crew keeping track of the
competition, the Q2 bike maintained a
conservative pace all the way to a 3rd place
finish. During the post race interview,
they were joined by Wayne Matlock who conceded
his 2007 “1 plate” by peeling it off his bike
and sticking it on top of Dave’s Q2 decal.
15 hours
later, the truck was loaded and pointed south to
burn the final 54 gallons of diesel provided by Maurers Collision and Sunrise Builders.
New Mexico Desert Racing Club
- Quad #1
Aside from
the obvious bragging rights that come with a
hard fought title, the NMDRC awards “the $6,000
jacket”. The actual cost of the coat is
substantially less than the implied value, this
jacket earns its moniker from the thousands of
dollars spent in entry fee’s, race gas,
accommodations, transportation and missed days
of work.
Looking at
the calendar, there was only one schedule
conflict, the SCORE San Felipe 250 was happening
on the same weekend as the NMDRC Rio Puerco 100.
Skipping the 100 mile race was unfortunate as it
meant Dave would have 1 less race to collect
priceless championship points. Somewhere
between luck / skill and a great bike, the
man from Belen was able to win 4 of the 5 events
that he contested. The only exception
being the Dunes GP in April, in his own words:
“It was just not my day”. Settling for 2nd
place was difficult but the awarded points put
him one step closer to
owning a very expensive article of clothing.
SCORE International
- Quad #101A
Perhaps the
most well known and highly regarded off-road
spectacle on the planet. This abbreviated
series offers only 3 races per year, failure to
finish a race is championship suicide. The
proven combination of Dave Scott and Jeremy
Sanchez linked up with Craig Christy’s tight
knit ATV team, the joint effort finished both
the San Felipe 250 and the Baja 500 in 3rd
place. Consecutive appearances on the
SCORE podium is certainly an accomplishment but
it was not good enough to win the coveted #1
plate. The points chase was so tight that
the only way they could achieve the Class 24
title would be to win the Baja 1000.
On a chilly
morning in November, the 41st running of the
Baja 1000 got underway. The team overcame
dust, rocks, weather and an electrical gremlin
in the bikes ignition system to finish the race
in 1st place.
Dave’s
assault on the North American desert racing
scene was by all indicators, a successful
endeavor. It could not have happened
without the tireless support he received from
his sponsors, his family and his friends.
The first step to this campaign was to assemble
all the available resources. Maxxis and
Tireballs stepped up with a commitment to supply
tires for the B.I.T.D. and NMDRC events.
This synergy was the right combination, as the
crew never needed to change a wheel during a
race. Duncan Racing agreed to provide a motor
that lasted the entire year. Race fuel was
courtesy of Christy and accommodations were
provided by Steve Abrego and Beau Nilsson. Fly
Racing was in for apparel, IMS, Roll Design,
Elka and AC Racing took care of the hard parts
that transformed the venerable Honda TRX-450R
into the competent desert racing machine it
needed to be. Travel expenses were assisted by
separate contributions from Maurers Collision
and Sunrise Builders. Of course the
aforementioned support was crucial, but perhaps
the most important ingredient to this result was
the positive attitude of Dave’s wife Loretta and
Jeremy’s wife Kristen. Without their
blessing, none of this would have been possible.
happy Holidays from Quad Locos Racing.
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