Robby Gordon Blows Engine at 2016 SCORE BAJA 1000

Robby Gordon’s dreams of winning the 2016 SCORE Baja 1000 were crushed when his Trophy Truck blew an engine at mile marker 200.

Professional off-road racer Robby Gordon knows a thing or two about racing hard and racing fast in Mexico. The seven-time SCORE International Off-Road Champion and five-time Baja 500 winner always relied on his speed and ability to navigate the torturous terrain that is Baja.

And the hopes were high that Robby was going to come home with an overall win in the granddaddy of all desert races, the Baja 1000.

We all know that it’s been a tough year personally for Robby Gordon, but he has been able to push through and focus much of his energy on getting the No. 200 SPEED Energy/ Toyo Tires/ TRAXXAS trophy truck ready to tackle this year’s 854.5 miles of the Baja 1000.

In qualifying for this year’s race earlier in Las Vegas, Robby was able to capture the 3rd quickest time setting his team up for a perfect starting position for the No. 200 Trophy Truck.

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His team also enlisted the help of veteran Class-1 Racer Damen Jefferies as Co-Driver. But the Baja 1000 has a way of crushing the dreams of many professional drivers very early on, and this year was no exception.

Robby has always been known for his incredible speed in these off-road endurance events. His “drive the wheels off it” style is fascinating to watch. And he did not disappoint at yesterday’s start of the 49th Annual SCORE Baja 1000.

The No. 200 Trophy Truck could be seen screaming across the desert for the first 150 miles, having to stop only briefly to fix a flat tire.

Then, right around mile marker 200, disaster struck. A call came across the radio that the No. 200 SPEED Energy/ Toyo Tires/ TRAXXAS trophy truck was done and out of the race with a blown motor.

While the team waited for a lift out, they managed to capture a little video footage right after it went down.

Next: SCORE Baja 1000 Live Stream and Schedule

I stopped by to see Robby Gordon when he was at the TRAXXAS booth at the SEMA Show this year, so I was a little bummed to hear the news that he was out of the race.

But as a fan of Baja racing, I know almost as well as Robby Gordon’s team knows, that’s just Baja…