Unexpected illness bugging Richardson at SCORE race

B.J. Richardson was prepared to battle fellow Las Vegans B.J. Baldwin, Pat Dean and Troy Herbst in today's Baja 500 in Mexico.

Richardson didn't anticipate an unwelcome opponent showing up to challenge for his seat atop the SCORE Desert Series overall standings.

Navigating and surviving today's 420-mile race along the Baja California peninsula and its bumpy, dusty course isn't the way one afflicted with diarrhea wants to spend a day.

Richardson's counterattack began Friday morning with a visit to an Ensenada pharmacy, where he purchased syringes loaded with vitamin B12.

"I injected it myself," he said in a telephone interview. "I'd never done that before, but this is the Baja 500."

Richardson, who drives for the Las Vegas Dissemination Racing team owned by John Gaughan, hopes to overcome his illness to be the best of the 54 Class 1 teams entered in the 500, the third of six SCORE races.

While Dean, his teammate, goes for the event's class title, Richardson will take a more conservative approach that was planned before being bitten by the bug.

"I've been racing here since 1996 and this is one of the most technical courses I've seen," Richardson said. "There's a lot of silt and rocks. The most important thing is for us to finish."

Richardson, 41, will drive with mechanic and navigator T.J. Flores riding along. As the points leader in the high-tech Class 1 division, finishing is nearly as important as winning.

"We reduced our racing schedule this year to concentrate on going for the Class 1 championship in SCORE. We're on course to reach our goal, but there is a long way to go," said Richardson, who limited his participation outside SCORE to two Best in the Desert series races.

A record 500 teams are expected to start today's race, with the first leaving the starting line at 6 a.m.

Richardson drives a Chevy-powered Bunderson chassis that is maintained by Valley Performance of Las Vegas.

He finished second in class in the January opener in Laughlin and fourth in the Baja 250 in March.

Among the trio trailing Richardson by four points in points are the SCORE Trophy-Trucks of Baldwin and the team of Southern Californian Mark Post and North Las Vegan Rob MacCachren. Robert Ross of Chula Vista, Calif., also is tied for second.