In a rigorous race in Baja, California, the Hero Racing/Baja Bound Insurance 11X Pro Moto Team, consisting of 21-year-old Arturo Salas Jr. of Chula Vista, along with his teammates Carter Klein, 19, of Agua Dulce, and Ciaran Naran, 24, from Huntington Beach, secured a hard-fought victory at the 2024 SCORE Baja 500 on June 1. The trio seized the 483-mile course in 10 hours, 36 minutes, and 3 seconds, edging out the competition by more than 18 minutes. This is Hero Racing’s second consecutive victory in the 2024 SCORE International series, after the team’s victory at the San Felipe 250 in March. Now, the team is focused on continuing their momentum to bring home more wins in the upcoming Baja 400 in September, and the legendary Baja 1000 in November. Salas has lived in Chula Vista after living in Tijuana the first couple of years of his life.
Salas said that the race is extremely rigorous, with many unknowns as they trekked the 483-mile track.
“We divided the course between our three races,” he said. “And we took this win. We had a few issues, but we made it through the race, so that was cool.”
And the team did face some challenges. Halfway through the race, Salas held a commanding lead of almost 15 minutes, but a fuel miscalculation during a pit stop left the team scrambling. Salas’ bike sputtered to s stop miles from the next refueling point, but determined, he pushed the bike for several miles until a spectator offered him a crucial lifeline. Enough gas to continue.
“We were devastated to lose the lead,” he said. “But we stuck to the plan and pushed hard to regain lost ground.”
But in a turn of events, the 7X Honda bike driven by Justin Morgan, which had capitalized on 11X’s misfortune, suffered a crash and mechanical issues near the finish, erasing their advantage. With both teams facing some setbacks, the finishing time for both bikes was so close that the winner had to be determined the following morning after penalties were accessed.
“In the end, it came down to who made the least amount of mistakes,” said Klein. “Both teams had their fair share of adversity. That’s just par for the course when it come to racing in Baja, but overall, we felt great, the bike was better than ever, and we are super stoked to bring home a win for the Hero Racing team.”
Salas said the race is 100% off-road, and even though you might do well during a practice run, with the number of racers, the track gets damaged, and you must be prepared for the unexpected.
“You go through crossroads, ranches, beaches, several types of rivers, people, dogs, cows, horses. You have many things that you must go across. There are thousands of people who go to race, thousands who come to watch, so the course gets more and more beat up. With all the unexpected changes that you have during the actual race, it is absolutely brutal.”
