Brayden Baker Earns Second Consecutive California 300 Limited Race Win

For the second straight year, Brayden Baker is an overall winner of the California 300 after surviving four grueling laps of the Barstow desert. After battling with Class 10 top qualifier Tyler Mills for most of the day, Baker asserted another victory for a UTV Pro Open car in the UNLTD Off-Road Racing Series Triple Crown finale with a winning time of 6:27:10.555, just over eight minutes clear of class champion Sierra Romo for both the class and overall victories.

Mills rolled off the line first as the race started at 8AM, setting up an intense battle between himself and Baker for a majority of the race. Mills and Baker had each dramatically outqualified the rest of the field on Friday, and while Baker’s California 300 win last year was his most recent UNLTD finish to date, Mills also came into the event with plenty of momentum as this year’s BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 winner.

For three laps, the pair held two spots in the top three, with Baker up front. Fellow Class 10 driver Tom Coons snuck between them at the end of the first lap before losing time and briefly falling back, giving Romo a line into third overall. Romo would get past Mills on corrected time on the third lap and stay there for the balance, before last-lap issues took Mills out of contention.

As a result, Coons would inherit the Class 10 lead, as well as the third and final overall podium spot. The next four spots would go to additional UTV Pro Open drivers, led by the final class podium finisher in Travis Sallee. Other class winners included top UTV Pro finisher Cruz Birchard in 10th overall, UTV Pro Stock winner and class champion Justin Von Metal in 14th overall, Doug MacLachlan in UTV Pro NA, and Elliot Slavic in TrophyLite.

Top finishers in the 2024 California 300 Limited Race were as follows:

1. #PO977 Brayden Baker, UTV Pro Open, 4 laps, 6:27:10.555
2. #PO929 Sierra Romo, UTV Pro Open, 4 laps, 6:35:47.748
3. #1099 Tom Coons, Class 10, 4 laps, 6:42;57.238
4. #PO971 Travis Sallee, UTV Pro Open, 4 laps, 6:46:38.100
5. #PO924 Chris Blais, UTV Pro Open, 4 laps, 6:54:43.473
6. #PO916 Bradley Howe, UTV Pro Open, 4 laps, 6:59:15.258
7. #PO986 Larry Heidler, UTV Pro Open, 4 laps, 7:03:20.604
8. #1061 Carib Potts, Class 10, 4 laps, 7:08:59.070
9. #PO975 Brice Allen, UTV Pro Open, 4 laps, 7:14:11.297
10. #P923 Cruz Birchard, UTV Pro, 4 laps, 7:18:38.101

The California 300 Unlimited Race will take the green flag on Sunday at 8AM to complete the 2024 UNLTD Off-Road Racing Series season. Follow along with live timing and tracking from the California 300 all week long at thecalifornia300.com/live.

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