Story By: HALEIGH JORDAN / MIKE MARSAL RACING – BAJA, CA – Mike Marsal earned his best BFGoodrich 55th SCORE Baja 500 finish earlier this month with a seventh place finish in Trophy Truck Spec.
Marsal and navigator Hudson Hall took the first stint of the race in the No. 236 Spy Optic trophy truck spec driving to mile marker 330, with Troy Grabowski taking the controls alongside Matthew Martinez as his navigator to finish out the 487.52-mile race.
Marsal rolled off the start finish from fourth place, a starting spot that the Spy Optic entry earned in April’s San Felipe 250. The team ran into some logistical issues during Marsal’s stint, costing the effort about 15 minutes to the lead pace. The challenges continued through the race, once Grabowski took the wheel he had two flat tires in his stint before recovering to cross the finish line seventh in the order.
The team finished the second event on the SCORE International calendar in just ten hours and thirty minutes, earning themselves a seventh-place finishing position. Once the results and penalties were applied, Marsal and team were one of just three teams inside the top 10 to not be penalized.
Marsal took on all that the desert had to offer, totaling an elevation gain of 26,753 feet and maintained an average moving speed of 44.4 mph.
“What a crazy week leading up to the 500,” said Marsal. We were not able to complete our typical pre-run due to some mechanical issues with the pre-runner. Unfortunately we lost some critical practice time. Evan Weller Prep and the entire team did an incredible job getting the equipment back up and running but we ultimately lost 2 days of driving. Finishing every mile is key to our season long goal and we’ve got the 400 up next in September. We have a nice break in the series to get some testing accomplished. I am looking forward to a strong showing in the 400.”
Marsal currently sits fourth in Trophy Truck Spec championship points, just 26 points behind the leader. The next SCORE International event will take place September 12-17th for the 4th SCORE Baja 400 weekend.