It was a challenge for Mears as he was last off the starting line the in 29-truck field. He knew he needed to be patient and make his way up the field as the rough, wet (five inches of rain caused a one-day delay in the Baja 1000 start) 800.5-mile course was going to be tricky.
“At the start, our pace was good from the radio contact we had,” he said. “We passed guys and others were having trouble in the muddy conditions. I felt good about the way things were going. I drove conservative early to get through the wet stuff. I definitely picked up the pace as things went on. But the mud was a big issue for everyone including us.
“We just couldn’t attack as we wanted due to the water everywhere,” he added. “But we had a problem with the cam sensor that put us down about nearly two hours. We believe it was from the mud or the water in all of the areas. It took awhile to analyze what it was and where it was.
“Without that issue, we would have been right in the hunt for the win,” Mears continued. “But I think a lot of guys could have said that as well. It was an awesome experience for me and the whole team. Coming in 12th in 29 Trophy Truck isn’t a bad debut for me and we were 21st overall at the finish. We know we had a good truck to finish much higher.”
Being the rookie in the SCORE Trophy Truck class gave Mears a new perspective on how fast the category can be at the Baja 1000.
“It was wild out there,” he said. “I think having all that rain made it great for having no dust, but the puddles were insane. We had some sections, like 300 feet of two to three feet deep puddles. We got some water in some electronics causing a fair amount of downtime getting that fixed, but outside of that issue, it went pretty well. Baja lived up to its infamous name, very challenging, very difficult. It was a lot of fun, what a great experience.”
For the veteran Fortin, he has seen many things in his years in the Baja and the electronic problem added to his list of misfortunes.
“We hit a mud puddle early on and lost a crank trigger (sector) on the engine, and it cost us a couple hours,” he explained. “After those repairs, the truck had no problems at all. Casey did a great job, too.”
Placing 12th with a 13-year-old truck is quite a feat in itself.
“The truck has had several updates and Preston (Schmid, crew chief) and Conor (Jackson, riding mechanic and team coordinator) had done an excellent job in putting together a strong truck and a great overall operation for the Baja 1000,” Fortin said. “The logistics for a top team racing in Trophy Truck in the Baja 1000 is massive. The preparation, pit strategy and past experience is so valuable in a long race like the 1000.”
For Mears, it was his first Baja 1000 after some 500 racing starts in NASCAR stock cars and Indy cars, but the competition, environment and driver skill in the Trophy Truck class is definitely something he would like to continue.
“It was a great experience for me and I believe the whole Axalta team had a good feeling about the event,” Mears said. “I think this team can be competitive with the top SCORE Trophy Truck efforts if we could compete in a few other races leading into the Baja events.
“It was my first Baja 1000 and I see guys like Ricky Johnson, the McMillins (Luke, Andy and Dan) and others saying how tough and grueling this year’s course was compared to other years,” Mears noted. “And now I believe it. It was rough on the trucks throughout the race. So finishing where we did was a good run and a big achievement for our team.”