A year after winning the Baja 1000 together, Bryce Menzies and Christopher Polvoorde are racing each other for it. Polvoorde starts on pole. Menzies starts sixth, after a qualifying run that nearly put his truck over. Both talked to Backfire Racing before Friday’s green flag.
BACKFIRE NEWS | NOVEMBER 12, 2026
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Bryce Menzies and Christopher Polvoorde won last year’s Baja 1000 together. Friday, each would like the other to eat dust.
Both still race for Red Bull. Only one of them can win the thing.
The 2026 SCORE Baja 1000 starts Friday, November 13, with Polvoorde on pole and Menzies sixth, thanks to a qualifying moment that nearly ended his race before it began.
Red Bull arranged exclusive interviews, and Backfire Racing sat down with both drivers before the race to talk friendship, qualifying and strategy.
The through-line: they know each other far too well to be surprised on Friday.
Polvoorde is racing someone he used to watch.
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Before the teammate stuff, before the Baja 1000 win, Menzies was a guy Polvoorde grew up admiring.
“I grew up looking up to Bryce,” Polvoorde told Backfire Racing. “So now to be considered a teammate with his, and now a threat to him, it’s … special.”
Together they took the 2025 overall win. Menzies already had one from 2023.
Polvoorde calls Menzies a close friend and one of his biggest threats.
Thursday, they were still hanging out at a Red Bull event, giving rides.
The friendship has limits, and the helmet is one.
“As soon as we put on the helmet, it’s a different … dynamic,” Polvoorde said.
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Menzies returns the respect.
Asked who worries him most, he named Polvoorde and Luke McMillin.
Polvoorde leads into the desert with Menzies five spots back, and a year ago they were celebrating together.
Qualifying went very differently for each of them.
Polvoorde took pole at 2:34.868. Menzies was sixth at 2:42.092, and that came after a near-rollover.
Menzies said shifting problems early in his run left him frustrated and driving harder to make the time back.
Then a corner tightened up on him.
It tightened more than he expected, the front-left tire caught the terrain, and the Trophy Truck went up on two wheels.
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Suddenly, Menzies was looking out his side window at dirt and trees.
He thought the truck was going over.
It came back down. Then he found trees between him and the course.
Menzies considered reversing, but his co-driver encouraged him to keep moving forward.
He hit the throttle, powered through the trees, and somehow returned to the racing line.
The truck survived. His qualifying time wasn’t so lucky.
“It kind of ruined the qualifying run for sure,” Menzies acknowledged.
Polvoorde went the other way.
He didn’t push past the limit. He tried to keep his lap clean.
“Kept it clean and tidy was what I kept telling myself in my head,” he explained.
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Polvoorde pointed to his stadium and short-course background for handling qualifying pressure.
Short-course gives you almost no time to find a rhythm, and fractions of a second decide everything.
Desert racing is hours behind the wheel on terrain that keeps changing.
Being able to switch between the two helped him post the fastest qualifying lap.
Pole is worth a lot in most racing.
The Baja 1000 isn’t most racing.
Hundreds of miles of unpredictable terrain give a starting spot plenty of time to stop mattering.
Menzies isn’t particularly concerned about starting sixth.
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He plans to stay close early and make his moves once the course opens up.
No charging through the field out of the gate. Patience.
Polvoorde agrees.
Asked if Menzies is right that starting farther back isn’t a big disadvantage, Polvoorde didn’t hesitate.
“No, no, he’s 100% right,” he said.
Polvoorde gets clear air and sets the early pace. He also hits every hazard first.
“It’s a golden ticket, but it also comes with some negatives,” he explained.
Those negatives include traffic and spectators, and then there’s the livestock.
Cattle are a particular concern for the first truck through.
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He knows this firsthand: he hit a cow in a previous race.
A surprise cow at Trophy Truck speed is a serious problem.
He’s confident in the prep, though.
After roughly 16 days of pre-running, he thinks he’s done the homework to make pole count.
“I think a lot of people don’t know what the pace is going to be tomorrow, and the fun part is I get to kind of set it.”
This year’s course is a historic Cabo-to-Cabo route, and it’s a new puzzle even for veterans.
For Polvoorde, unfamiliar terrain might be an edge.
Veterans have spent years learning the traditional routes, down to specific sections.
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A new course resets that.
He’s betting those days of pre-running pay off in the uncertainty.
Menzies talked logistics: racing in southern Baja is a huge operation.
Somebody has to haul the trucks, spare parts and people down there, then staff pits and light long stretches of the night.
It’s a side of the sport that casual fans rarely see.
Trucks get the glory. A crew gets them to the finish.
Both also talked about what it takes to stay sharp in a modern Trophy Truck.
Menzies works with a trainer three days a week, plus extra cardio.
Polvoorde pairs physical training with long sim-racing sessions, using the simulator to practice holding focus for hours without distractions.
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Fast only gets you so far in Baja.
Fatigue shows up eventually, and the driver still has to be sharp when it does.
Friday is Polvoorde’s first Baja 1000 as a Red Bull athlete.
His career started with a go-kart his father got in an unusual trade. Now he’s wearing one of motorsports’ most recognizable brands.
“It’s one of the things you dream of,” Polvoorde told Backfire Racing.
He talked about the buzz in Cabo, from autograph signings to the fans.
“A lot of times you don’t feel like you’re part of history, but I feel like right now this is definitely one I’ll remember forever.”
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There’s another reason this one matters.
His 2026 season, he said, has been rough: setbacks, disappointing results.
A win would lift his team and add to his résumé.
He also looked back at winning the 2025 Baja 1000 with Menzies, which he called one of his most memorable racing experiences.
It mattered more because of the people behind it, including a crew chief who joined his operation when Polvoorde was a teenager.
More than a decade later, they stood together at the finish line as winners.
He wants that feeling again with his own team.
“We’ve had such an up-and-down year where we came to win a race and we’re going to give it our all,” he said.
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Baja already defines Menzies’ career.
He chased a Baja 1000 win for about 12 years before getting it in 2023.
He returned to the winner’s circle in 2025 alongside Polvoorde.
He’d like a third.
Menzies’ racing journey began on dirt bikes before injuries pushed him toward four wheels.
He went from small Volkswagen race cars to some of the most advanced Trophy Trucks in the world.
Now it’s a family thing.
He talked about his kids enjoying off-road vehicles and hoping they’ll one day share the connection to the sport that he has with his father.
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Both interviews ended up in the same place: enjoy the race, but respect the course.
Menzies told spectators not to stand on the outside of corners, where trucks can leave the racing line without warning.
Polvoorde echoed that warning.
“There’s no point on standing on the race course or taking that extra step. It’s really not worth it,” he said.
Between the speed, the cattle and the crowds along the route, both want people well back.
As if this year’s race needed another storyline, the green flag drops on Friday the 13th.
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Polvoorde admitted he’s superstitious, although he declined to reveal all of his pre-race rituals.
Some secrets, apparently, are better left alone.
Polvoorde leads the field out with pole and 16 days of pre-running behind him.
Menzies starts sixth and is betting experience and patience get him into the fight.
Luke McMillin and the rest of the Trophy Truck field will have their own plans.
And in Baja, plans have a habit of changing.
If you’ve never watched Baja: huge horsepower, terrain that changes by the mile, and a winner who needs more than raw speed.
Who are you picking Friday: Polvoorde, starting first on a brand-new course with 16 days of pre-running, or Menzies, starting sixth with two Baja 1000 wins and a truck that stayed on four wheels? Tell us in the comments.
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Thanks to Red Bull Media House, Lauren Morris, and Yahaira Garcia, Red Bull’s 4-Wheel Off-Road Manager, for setting up our interviews with Christopher Polvoorde and Bryce Menzies.
Good luck to Christopher, Bryce and every team lining up for Baja tomorrow. Race hard, stay safe.
We’ll be watching.
— Backfire News
Exclusive interviews conducted by Backfire Racing on November 12, 2026.
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