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Locals team up to take first in Baja 250

On Saturday, March 17, Casey King helped his race team to a first place victory in a class ½ 1600cc off-road buggy race beginning in Ensenada, Mexico, and ending 216.2 miles later in Santo Tomas, Mexico. The team was composed of two drivers and two navigators. King navigated the first 109 miles with his driver, Daniel McMillin, grandson of the late Corky McMillin of Fallbrook.

Starting second in a field of 28 entries, it took only four miles for the team to move into first place and pull two minutes ahead by the end of mile 109, at which point their relief team took over, completing the final 107 miles and finishing the race in four hours and 36 minutes, six minutes ahead of the closest car behind them. The relief driver was Caleb Gaddis.

King, 28, is part of a race team composed of several Fallbrook residents, including Cameron Parrish, the race team leader. They are all part of a 10-person racecar shop in National City owned and operated by the McMillin family. King has worked at the shop for four years now and commutes between five and seven days each week in a labor of love to build, repair and race off-road vehicles.

King found this race to be full of water crossings and to be a very fast course. Despite the fact that they had pre-run the race, there were still some surprises. “At about mile 30, the 10-inch by 8-inch GPS unit broke off its mounting and I had to hold it in my hand the remainder of the race,” remarked King. Six participants did not finish the race.

“This was Daniel McMillin’s first Baja win,” according to King, but their race shop had two other vehicles in different classes. All three McMillin entries finished the race. “We had a Trophy Truck entry in which my buddy, Brady Thompson from Fallbrook, was the navigator for driver Andy McMillin. They came in second place by three minutes in their class but would probably have won if their fan belt hadn’t broke.”

The Baja 250 is an offshoot of another race known as the San Felipe 250. SCORE, an international group that organizes many other off-road races including the Baja 500, the Baja 1000 and various other races in Las Vegas and Laughlin, organizes the race.

King confirmed that this is a rather expensive sport, “with the cost of these racing vehicles running from $60,000 to $500,000.” King’s father, Tom, of King Welding in Fallbrook, is also an avid off-roader and has his own – much less expensive – recreational four-wheel off-road vehicle for that getaway weekend or that chance to share an off-road adventure with an equally enthusiastic off-roader… his son.

 

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