Polvoorde secures Baja 1000 pole

The No. 94 OPTIMA Batteries Ford Raptor Trophy Truck will be the first truck out the line on Friday in the 2026 Method Race Wheels Baja 1000, after Christopher Polvoorde qualified first in class and first overall for the second consecutive year.

“The course is pretty blown out. You know, we saw some others make some mistakes, and, you know, we got a thousand miles more of racing. So I just kind of went into it with, ‘Hey, I gotta be calm,’ said Polvoorde. “I think I was a little too calm in some of the areas, but then I started to pick it up a little. But yeah, overall, this Optima Batteries Red Bull Ford Raptor, she feels good. I love how it drives right now. It’s been a tough year, I haven’t got to drive it a ton, but every time I get in it, I get out, I’m like, ‘Man, that thing’s fun to drive!'

“The plan is for (co-driver) Ray Griffith to start and then I'll get back in and finish. The race course, it’s tough. I mean, everyone’s like, ‘Oh, the race is fast and flowy,’ but dude, it’s technical, it’s tough. It’s no joke. I think it’s gonna be a long day.”

That long day starts Friday at 10:00am ET. You can watch the Baja 1000 in its entirety on RACER+, with an expected finish time of 5:00am on Saturday. RACER Network will telecast the race from Friday’s start at 10:00am through Friday at 7:00pm ET, and picks up again from midnight ET through to the finish at 5:00am.