A NOT-SO-EASY RIDE TO VICTORY.

Byline: TIM HADDOCK Motor Sports

Jim O'Neal had to race a part of last weekend's SCORE Baja 500 off-road event without a rear brake. But that was low on the list of problems the 54-year-old Chatsworth rider faced en route to winning his class in the Mexican peninsula.

O'Neal, who owns the San Fernando Valley-based O'Neal racing and casual clothing lines, was part of a four-man team that won the Class 40 motorcycle portion of the Baja 500 on Sunday. The Class 40 is for riders over 40 in the Pro Motorcycle division.

O'Neal, with Jon Ortner of Santa Barbara, Tim Weathers of Hilo, Hawaii, and Cliff Madlock of San Diego, finished the course in 11 hours, 29 minutes, 53 seconds on their Precision Concepts-sponsored American Honda XR650. It was the second class win of the five-race SCORE season for the Precision Concepts team, which also won the San Felipe 250 in March.

But run-ins with coyotes, wild dogs, burros and an assortment of booby traps, ramps and debris left by meddlesome young race enthusiasts from the Mexican towns, made for a unique 500.

``It was a pretty exciting race,'' O'Neal said. ``I'm a little disappointed. Our goal was to make the top five (overall). But I really enjoyed beating some of these young guys.''

O'Neal said the first part of the race started smoothly. But his team ran into problems about 150 miles into the race. That's when the bike lost its rear brake. O'Neal had to race about a 55-mile stretch of the course between Valle de Trinidad to the western coast at San Vicente minus a rear brake.

``I had the ride of my life racing with no rear brake,'' he said.

Ortner also raced the bike when it lost its brake. He left a wild dog as one his casualties, inadvertently hitting it while trying to maneuver his bike along the course. O'Neal had a similar encounter with a coyote but narrowly missed hitting it. He also ran into a feisty burro who wanted to race the Honda for a while.

``For a little bit, I didn't know who was going to win,'' O'Neal said. ``I never had that happen before.''

O'Neal also raced through a herd of cattle before being able to stop to repair the brake.

When O'Neal reached San Vicente, his team replaced the rear of the race bike with parts from a pre-run bike, a motorcycle used for practice and path-finding before the event. They lost valuable time repairing the Honda but were able to stay out in front of their class rivals.

``The first section was a lot more exciting with all the things going on,'' said O'Neal, a veteran of at least 30 Baja California off-road races. ``A lot more exciting than in the past.''

Steve Hengeveld of Oak Hills and Jonah Street of Ellensberg, Wash., won the Pro Motorcycle portion of the Baja 500 on their Honda XR640R in nine hours, 55 minutes, 26 seconds. Hengeveld and Ellensberg raced in Class 22.

Mark McMillin and Brian Ewalt, both of El Cajon, were the overall winners in the Baja 500. They completed the course in 11 hours, 34 minutes, 54 seconds in their Ford Chenowth open-wheel desert car, an unlimited Class 1 entry.

McMillin and Ewalt's win was the first for a Class 1 entry since 1993, one year before the introduction of the Trophy Truck division.

Tim and Ed Herbst of Las Vegas were leading the race in their Tropy Truck entry but lost their transmission with about six miles left in the race. They had to complete the course driving in reverse, the only gear they had that was working, and lost about a 25-minute lead to McMillin and Ewalt.

The next race on the SCORE Desert Series is the sixth annual Las Vegas Primm 300 on Sept. 14-15 at Primm, Nev.

--Winston West update: Frank Kimmel of Jefferson, Ind., a regular on the ARCA ReMax Series, won the inaugural NASCAR Winston West Series Kansas 100 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., on Saturday.

Kimmel, driving the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet, led 29 laps and became the seventh different winner on the Winston West Series this year.

Defending series champion Brendan Gaughan of Las Vegas finished fourth and continued to close in on Winston West points leader and rookie Mark Reed of Bakersfield.

Reed finished fifth and holds a 33-point lead over Gaughan. Sean Woodside of Saugus, the 1999 Winston West champion, finished fifth. Troy Cline of Santa Clarita was ninth and Bill Sedgwick of Acton was 11th.

The next race on the Winston West Series is the Coors Light 200 at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Wash.