WIDE OPEN BAJA

WIDE OPEN BAJA, originally uploaded by Rad1·· ± » ° /*.

Wide Open Baja Proves a Giant Slayer at the 2009 Tecate
SCORE Baja 500
Ensenada, Baja Norte, Mexico: June 19, 2009 – The June 2009 TECATE Score Baja 500
unlimited “Class One” race elevated the Wide Open Baja vehicle into the big league of
endurance racing vehicles.
Wide Open Managing Director Brent Fenimore was elated when his company’s vehicle
— minute by the standards of the race, which allows unlimited size and power — took
second place against competitors who also had unlimited budgets. He noted: “The Wide
Open Baja Challenge Car took on the big boys and made more than a statement while
doing it. ‘The Little Engine that Could’ or the Tortoise and the Hare: the analogies are
endless but well founded.”
For the second year in a row, Wide Open Baja offered its hard-working crew an entry
into the Baja 500 as a reward for a job well done. While there is a “spec class” for the
Baja Challenge cars in the Baja 1000 race, for the Baja 500 the only class it can be
entered into is the unlimited “Class One”.
Built for reliability, durability and safety, Wide Open’s Baja Challenge vehicle is
powered by a modest, but rugged, 2.5L 170hp Subaru engine and has 17 inches of wheel
travel on all four corners.
The rest of the competitors in the Class One had no restrictions on horsepower,
suspension travel, support crew, or budget. These 400-800 hp, million-dollar-plus race
vehicles went up against a small gathered crew of passionate employees and a simple,
reliable 170hp Wide Open Baja Challenge car, which beat all but one of them.
After 432 grueling miles, the #121 car driven by Jose Arzate (co-driver Carlos Banos),
Miguel Sandoval (co-driver Gildardo Fuentes) and Nick Johnson (co-driver Hector
Camacho) was there at the finish line, and placed an incredible second in the SCORE
Class One, and a top 20 overall out of 267 entrants.
WO’s Fenimore said that, for this event, the WO Baja vehicle was, by normal standards,
severely under-powered, but Wide Open has an advantage over the competition: more
than four-million miles of experience in its Baja Challenge vehicles in the harsh Baja
environment.
Driver Nick Johnson stated: “While we have always enjoyed the additional testing
opportunities in the world of competition like the Baja 500, we really didn’t expect to
finish quite this well in a class filled with the best in the business”.
Wide Open Excursions, 6 Bendix, Irvine, CA 92618. Tel. (949) 635-2292. www.wideopenbaja.com
Contact: Joshua Nettles josh@wideopenbaja.com