Mesa, AZ (June 13, 2008) Mechanical issues and the treacherous terrain of the 2008 SCORE Baja 500 was no match for G&R Racing's dueling duo of Garron Cadiente#38 and Ron Whitton in the #39 Trophy Trucks.

Starting in the 4th position and running consistent and strong, Whitton delivered his truck to Todd Leduc half-way through the 441 mile race in 4th, just 7 minutes off the leaders pace. "It's a rough course and there were a lot of fast guys starting behind me but I pre-ran my section 8 times and was able to deliver a truck that was still running strong and up front.  The Toyo Tires continue to impress me, they were definitely an advantage going through the rocky mountain sections of the course." commented Ron Whitton.

LeDuc, who has also driven for G&R’s Cadiente at the 2007 SCORE Baja 1000, stepped into the driver's seat of the #39 for the last half of the race.  Battling hard, LeDuc crossed the finish line in 5th place in the Trophy Truck class, despite motor issues that slowed the trucks pace during the last hundred miles of the race.  “We just drove smart and smooth. You always want to push hard towards the end of the race, but this track was almost impossible to pass on and I was just trying to limp home our hurt motor.” said Todd shortly after he crossed the finish.   

Starting 13th and charging hard, Cadiente gained several positions before mechanical failure caused the truck to loose steering and barrel roll 2-½ times coming to rest in a tree near race mile 78. After replacing the power steering and broken shock shafts, the #38 truck was back in the race charging to a 12th place finish.  At the finish line Garron commented, "I don't know what happened, the truck was running great and I just lost steering, it locked up and we were rolling. Everything happened so fast and I thought we were done for sure. Fortunately, I have a great team behind me and even though we were down for a couple of hours my crew was able to get the truck patched up and get me back in the race.  It began to get dark around mile 240, so I got to try out our new KC Pod lights for the first time, I must say that it’s a night and day difference from what we were use to.”

The 2008 SCORE International Baja 500 marked the 40th anniversary of the legendary off-road race and round three of SCORE's five round desert racing series. Featuring tight and technical terrain, this year's 500 marked several firsts - which included thirty miles of course that had never been run, in addition to the race finishing on Boulevard Costero in front of the Riveria del Pacifico Cultural Center.

G&R Racing's next race will be Best in the Desert's TSCO Vegas to Reno. Check out www.gnrracing.com for more information and race team updates!

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