LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Dodgers owner Bobby Patton is preparing to get dirty during the SCORE Int’l San Felipe 250.
Patton will be joined by friends Tim Vail and Barry Karakas aboard the No. 240 Jimco-built Fastball truck in the Trophy Truck Spec class during the San Felipe 250 on April 3-7.
“I can’t wait to bring Fastball down to San Felipe to kick off the 2019 SCORE Int’l season,” said Patton. “April is an important month in both baseball and off-road racing, as each sport’s top teams work hard to establish themselves early in the year. We know we’ve got the players to do that with the Dodgers, and we’re hoping to match that intensity and those results with Fastball.”
Patton’s off-road journey began at the 50th anniversary SCORE Baja 1,000 in 2017, where he and a group of friends entered a 1973 Toyota Land Cruiser in the Vintage class. In the middle of the night, Patton’s team, believing itself to be hopelessly out of contention to finish the grueling event, decided to call it a race, pulling the car off course, booking a hotel, eating dinner, showering and getting some well-deserved rest.
In the morning, the team called the GPS tracking company to make arrangements to return their tracker, when they were notified that not only were they not out of the race — they were leading their class. Refreshed by both the good news and a good night’s sleep, the team returned to the race course, crossed the finish line and won their class in the Baja 1,000 in their first attempt.
“Our adventure in Baja was just the start of an incredible adventure,” said Patton. “When we found out we won the 50th anniversary of the sport’s most prestigious race, we were hooked! But more importantly, we were ready to step out of the minors and work our way up the system, and that’s why we worked with Jimco to bring a brand-new Trophy Truck Spec build to the desert.”
The Jimco-built Trophy Truck Spec ride that Patton and company will take down to San Felipe boasts significantly more power under the hood than the Toyota Land Cruiser he drove in 2017 thanks to an LS3 motor by Danzio Performance, 26” of front suspension and 32” of rear suspension travel via Fox Shocks and much more.
To prepare for the season, Patton held his personal Spring Training to get acclimated to the new ride. Legendary off-road racer Ricky Johnson was drafted in as Patton’s coach and helped dial in Patton’s Fastball truck ahead of the San Felipe 250.
“We can’t wait to see all the off-road fans wearing Dodger blue this weekend in San Felipe,” said Patton. “Our two fanbases have plenty of crossover, as we’ve seen plenty of fans of SCORE at Dodger Stadium over the years. Hopefully we can give them a new team to root for, and pay off their support with wins both on the field and in the desert this year.”