Toby Price and Paul Weel have overcome their unlucky run of form to finally grab a long-awaited victory by taking out the 2024 Baja 500.
Driving with American Brent Bauman in the Quad Lock Mason Motorsports Trophy Truck for Team Australia, the trio enjoyed a solid outing in the premier United States-based event to grab the victory after more than nine hours of competition.
Right from the get-go, Price was showing plenty of pace as he steered their truck to the Method Race Wheels Prologue win by two seconds over Alan Ampudia.
The Prologue win set the team up with a clear run where they each put in magnificent stints behind the wheel to lead the 100-plus field throughout the extremely challenging 782-kilometre (500 mile) event from start to finish.
In the end, the Australians posted a final race time of 9 hours and 20 minutes, which was seven minutes faster than the next best crew, led by Tavo Vildosola.
The victory comes shortly after their original truck burnt down, with Weel working hard to organise another truck for the event.
Following on from their emphatic victory, Price was understandably over the moon with the efforts of all of those who contributed.
“It's hard enough to finish the Baja 500, let alone win it. It's been a great run. Can't thank everybody enough. Paul's been amazing for putting up with it,” Price said post-race via his social channels.
“Losing one truck after it burned to the ground is something that nobody should go through. And then to saddle up four days later and have another truck, the one we have now is massive. Big credit to him.
"Can't thank Mark Cronquist from Joe Gibbs Racing enough as he is always behind us. A big thank you to the Mason crew as well.
“They made our job a hell of a lot easier with their prepping of our truck. We know that truck comes out perfect every time and Robert does an amazing job.
“Also want to thank Quad Lock, who have backed us from day one, and the BFGoodrich tyres are absolutely awesome. We had no flat all day. We ran the front tires all 500 miles and had no flats, no dramas, no issues, and it was a good flawless day.
“Lastly, thank you to all our crew. The guys came over here and made this dream a reality. And, to get our first Baja 500 win, and it's something pretty special, so thank you, everybody."
Elsewhere in the United States, Will Power bounced back from a disappointing Indianapolis 500 to pick up a valuable sixth place in NTT IndyCar Series’ Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.
Starting from eighth place, Power worked hard during the 100-lap race, and with the assistance of some good fortune, ended up making up two places.
The result saw him stay within reach of a third IndyCar title, as he now sits 29 points behind race winner Scott Dixon.
Three-time Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin had a weekend to forget, finishing the race in 20th place after starting from fourth.
