Three for Three: Luke McMillin’s Baja 400 Win Sets Up a Massive Baja 1000
Luke McMillin entered the 2026 SCORE Baja 400 with wins at the San Felipe 250 and Baja 500 already in the bank. He left Ensenada three for three.
The No. 83 McMillin Racing AWD Ford Raptor Mason covered SCORE’s official 423.42-mile course in 8 hours, 40 minutes and 50 seconds, giving McMillin the overall victory and the SCORE Trophy Truck win. Navigator Jason Duncan was alongside for a result that did more than extend a streak: it completed McMillin’s SCORE Baja Grand Slam.
Not a Pole-to-Flag Cruise
McMillin did not start the weekend by dominating every timing screen. SCORE’s official qualifying results put him third at 3:51.869, behind Christopher Polvoorde and Alan Ampudia. That is useful context because desert racing rarely rewards the fastest isolated burst of speed by itself.
Race day is a systems test. Tire management, navigation, cooling, visibility, suspension control, fuel strategy and the ability to keep moving after an imperfect section matter as much as raw pace. At the Baja 400, McMillin put all of it together over more than eight and a half hours.
The Margin Was Small
Bryce Menzies finished second in 8:43:22. That put the gap at only 2 minutes, 32 seconds after 423.42 miles. Kevin Thompson was third at 8:48:17. At desert-racing scale, where a puncture, navigation error or slow service can consume minutes instantly, that is an extremely compressed front of the field.
SCORE reported 164 starters and 102 official finishers, a 62-percent finishing rate. That number is a reminder that the Baja 400 was not simply a long sprint. Getting to the finish remained an achievement in itself.
Three Straight Wins
The Baja 400 followed McMillin’s March victory at the San Felipe 250 and his June win at the Baja 500. SCORE notes that winning three consecutive Trophy Truck races has only been accomplished by a short list of drivers in the category’s history.
The 2026 streak also pushed McMillin into another exclusive group. With an overall win now recorded at the San Felipe 250, Baja 500, Baja 1000 and Baja 400, SCORE says he joins Bryce Menzies and Alan Ampudia as the only three four-wheel racers to complete the organization’s Baja Grand Slam.
That distinction matters because the four events ask different questions of a program. San Felipe is notoriously punishing. The Baja 500 demands sustained pace. The Baja 400 can become a high-speed positioning fight. The Baja 1000 is the endurance test that magnifies everything.
Now Comes the Baja 1000
The obvious temptation is to treat three straight wins as proof that the fourth is coming. Baja does not work that way.
The 59th SCORE Baja 1000 is scheduled for November 9-15 in San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur. SCORE says the 2026 edition will be the first Baja 1000 held entirely within the state of Baja California Sur, and more than 220 teams from 18 countries are expected.
For McMillin’s team, the most valuable part of the Baja 400 result may be that the program arrives at the finale with its process validated. The truck has won three different races. The crew has executed under changing conditions. The navigator and driver have delivered when the field was close.
That does not eliminate the need for inspection. It makes inspection more important. A truck that just won can still carry fatigue into the next race: wheel bearings, steering components, dampers, driveline joints, chassis mounts and electrical connections all accumulate load. The smart preparation move is to treat the winner exactly like a car that barely finished and inspect every system with the same suspicion.
Momentum, Not Permission
Three straight SCORE victories create momentum. They do not give anyone permission to relax. The Baja 1000 is too long, too variable and too mechanically expensive for that.
What McMillin has earned is something more useful: evidence that the No. 83 program can win in multiple formats and a chance to turn an already exceptional 2026 season into something even harder to repeat.
Sources: SCORE International Baja 400 official race report; SCORE International Baja Grand Slam report; SCORE official Baja 400 qualifying results.
Hero image: Rights holder/source: Method Race Wheels; credit: Method Race Wheels, via RACER editorial coverage.
