After a long year battling in Baja, Pirruñas Racing clinches the 2012 SCORE International Sportsman ATV championship. Pirruñas Racing who is led by rider of record Juan “Pirruñas” Dominguez and big brother Alonzo Dominguez(Co-rider) knew they were in for a tough year. The team had a great start of the year by winning the San Felipe 250 in March and the Baja 500 in June. After winning the first two races of the series, Pirruñas Racing knew they had a good chance in winning the championship. “Our goal was to win the Sportsman ATV championship but also go undefeated all year long by winning the San Felipe 250, Baja 500, and the grand daddy of them all the Baja 1000,” said Juan.
The team’s race bike for the 2012 SCORE International Series was a Honda TRX450r that was prepped by local sponsor Liberty Motorsports and equipped with Elka Suspension. “To be the best, we have to run the best” said Alonzo. After battling baja in 2010 and 2011, Pirruñas Racing knew what they had to do to run a perfect year. “Racing baja puts man and machine to the test, you have to have a good team and an experienced group of riders to be successful down there” said Juan. The Pirruñas Racing team had 5 riders for the San Felipe 250 and the Baja 500. Since the Baja 1000 was a point to point 1121 mile race, the team went with 6 riders. This year’s team consisted of Juan “Pirruñas” Dominguez 21 years old(Yuma, AZ), Alonzo Dominguez 23 years old(Yuma, AZ), Joaquin Madueña 20 years old( San Felipe, Baja Mexico), Alejandro Romo 20 years old( Mexicali, Baja Mexico), Kye Walstrom 20 years old(Vancouver, Canada), Gary Gonzalez 25 years old( Guadalupe Victoria, Mexico), and Gilberto “Filimon” Perez 33 years old( Mexicali, Baja California).
After bad luck at the Baja 1000, the team had to settle for a “did not finish” at race mile 1,011 with mechanical issues. But with their first 2 wins of the series, Pirruñas Racing was still crowned the 2012 Sportsman ATV champions. “The team worked hard all year long and without the support from our sponsors and pit crew, we couldn’t have made it possible” said Alonzo.
The team hopes to continue battling Baja for next year’s season but will step up their game to the Class 24 pro 450 class. ” We have been waiting for this moment since we started racing. We have a really strong crew and a good group of riders and I know we will be battling the top spot in Class 24. With our stage 5 Elka Suspension shock absorbers, we hope to be one of the fastest teams in Baja next year” said Juan. “It’s not the will to win that matters, everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.”
Pirruñas Racing wants to thank their sponsors Liberty Motorsports, Elka Suspension, Double Lucky, Polar Cooling, Piston Auto Recycler, Yuma Mortuary, Seventh Core Media, Barren Crossing Clothing, UNI Air Filters, Iron Scroll of Yuma, Baja Racing Supply, ATV Galaxy, and the Yuma Park n Swap for helping win the 2012 SCORE International Sportsman ATV Championship as well as the Best in the Desert Quad Grand Championship and the Quad Expert championship.