Raffo Racing Baja 500 Report

Raffo Racing ? 2007 Tecate SCORE Baja 500 Race Report

Arlington Hts., IL (June 7, 2007) - A record number of entries were  
lined up in Ensenada, Baja Mexico to tackle the 2007 Tecate SCORE Baja  
500. Chris Raffo and his California Tomato Fig Partner Hot Creek  
Capital BFGoodrich Tires Chevrolet Blazer, after coming off a class  
win at the Mojave 250, were ready and confident of a strong finish.  
The 412-mile trek was much more technical and previous Baja 500?s,  
which led SCORE officials to extend the race time limit to 20 hours.

Chris, and the guys at Complete Fabrication, worked diligently  
preparing the ?Raffonator? for the trek through Baja, as a new fuel  
delivery system and a new  ?trick? driveshaft from High Angle  
Driveshaft was installed.

The start saw Chris Raffo at the wheel with David Harvey riding  
shotgun. After 100 miles, David was feeling the effects of the rough  
course, got out of the navigator?s spot and was replaced by Charlie  
Herrera. David went to work as part of the support crew for the rest  
of the event.

At mile 245, Dennis Chencherick took over the driving duties for the  
remainder of the race, with Charlie guiding the Bilstein shod truck  
from the co-driver?s seat.

Once out of the truck, Chris Raffo commented, ?The traffic was  
incredible, we probably lost 20 minutes as buggies and trucks were  
scattered stuck all over the place. Our Blazer may not be the fastest,  
but our four wheel drive with the BFG tires, gets us through almost  
everything Baja throws at us.?

About three quarters of the way through the run, Dennis had the Raffo  
Racing Blazer within 15 minutes of the second place Toyota. Dennis  
plodded his way through several more bottlenecks, as made their way to  
the last fuel stop about fifty miles from the finish. With no real  
issues with the race truck, the chase crew headed for the finish line  
in Ensenada.

With 25 miles to go, Dennis stopped to help a fellow racer that was  
stuck in a deep silt bed. Then tragedy struck.  When Dennis went to  
get moving again, the transfer case chain broke, leaving the Blazer  
unable to get through the silt and up the hill.  This stranded the  
team, as Dennis and Charlie waited for the chase team to bring the  
spare chain. Unfortunately, time was running out, by the time the crew  
reached the Blazer and replaced the chain, time has expired on the  
event.  The result was a ?Did Not Finish? for the California Tomato  
Fig Partner Hot Creek Capital BFGoodrich Tires Chevrolet Blazer.

Afterwards, Chris and Dennis figured the team lost at least 90 minutes  
while waiting for other competitors to get unstuck  and give the team  
a clear path to continue racing.

?We were not running the same pace as Moss, but we sure thought second  
place was well within our reach,? commented Dennis Chencherick. ?We  
didn?t have any mechanical issues all day, until we stopped to help  
out a friend. We were so close to the finish, but you can never be  
sure of anything in Baja.?

Chris Raffo would like to thank his supporters including:
California Tomato Commission,
FIG Partners,
Hot Creek Capital,
DiMare Inc.,
D & L Performance,
Bilstein Shocks,
BFGoodrich Tires,
Powermaster,
High Angle Driveshaft,
Instant Mexican Auto Insurance,
Phil?s Inc.,
Rich?s Signs &
Sunoco Race Fuels.

Raffo Racing has marketing opportunities available for the 2007 Desert  
Racing season.

For more information or to schedule an interview, contact: Mike  
Reusche (847) 869-2434 ? mike@mt-graphics.com