Joe Bacal Backs Baja Victory with Second Place at Primm 300

PHOENIX, September 17, 2009 – Serving notice that his maiden off-road victory at this year’s Baja 500 was no fluke, Joe Bacal drove his Cancer Treatment Centers of America JTGrey Racing Lexus LX 570 to a hardearned second place finish in the Stock Full class at the 14th Annual SCORE Terrible’s Primm 300 last Saturday. A rough race course and unexpected mechanical troubles slowed but never stopped the determined Bacal and his seemingly unstoppable Lexus.

“A part in the rear of the LX damaged early in the race made it very hard to drive on such a rough course,” said Bacal. “The rear was stepping out all over the place and I almost rolled it twice. But I’ve been through some tough ordeals and don’t give up easily, so I made some driving adjustments and my team repaired what they could along the way to get me to the finish line.”

Dust is always an issue in the desert but it seemed particularly heavy at the Primm 300, making visibility very difficult. “All the dust made it tough to pick the best lines on the course to avoid the big, sharp rocks and ruts,” Bacal noted. “Despite this, we had no flat tires or any other damaged parts. “I have to give a lot of credit to my team and to the Geiser Brothers, who built and prepped the LX,” said Bacal. “They’ve really stepped up to challenge of making a race truck out of a luxury off-road vehicle while still meeting the Stock/Full rules. Their experience makes all the difference as we go through the normal teething troubles with a new rig.”

Bacal and his JTGrey team are already looking ahead to November 19 when they face their greatest challenge yet at the infamous Baja 1000. With further development of the LX 570 planned in the interim, the team expects to challenge for outright victory in the Stock/Full class and is now in contention for the class championship.

Bacal and the big LX 570 will also make two public appearances before the Baja 1000. “The LX will be on display in the KC HiLiTES booth this year at the Pomona Off-Road Expo (October 9-11) and at the SEMA Show (November 3-6),” said Bacal. “We’re also planning to do some testing in the Barstow area with ChetHuffman Motorsports during this period.”