SCORE San Felipe 250 Draw Results

February 14, 2010





Rd 2, 2010 SCORE Desert Series

Whitton in SCORE Trophy-Truck, Bell in Motorcycles draw first

Starts for 24th MasterCraft Safety Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250



Schwarz receives first Class 1 start as nearly 275 entries expected in March 13 desert race in Mexico



LOS ANGELES—Desert racers Ron Whitton of Arizona and Southern California’s Robby Bell received the pole positions for four-wheel and two-wheel vehicles in the computerized drawing for starting positions held Saturday for the upcoming 24th Annual MasterCraft SafetyTecate SCORE San Felipe 250. Whitton races in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division while Bell competes in Class 22 for open motorcycles.

Round 2 of the 2010 SCORE Desert Series will be held March 12-14 in Mexico’s picturesque fishing village of San Felipe, located 120 miles south of the U.S. borer on the East side of the Baja California peninsula along the azure waters of the tranquil Sea of Cortez.

With nearly 275 entries expected to compete in 28 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes in the 232-mile race, the green flag will drop at 6 a.m. Pacific time on Saturday, March 13, for the motorcycle and ATV classes, followed three hours later by the car and truck classes at approximately 10 a.m. local time. The start and finish line for the race will once again be the landmark San Felipe Arches on Highway 5 on the outskirts of San Felipe. One vehicle will start every 30 seconds in the elapsed-time race, with a 10-hour time limit to become an official finisher.

Following January’s season-opening SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge, the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Series will visit Mexico for the first of three races in 2010.

Drawing the first starting slot for the unlimited Class 1 open-wheel desert race cars was Germany’s Armin Schwarz and teammate Martin Christensen, Escondido, Calif. Riding the first ATV off the line will be Class 25 team led by Wayne Matlock, El Cajon, Calif.

With a race-record 32 entries so far in the marquee SCORE racing division for 800 horsepower, unlimited production trucks, Whitton, 66, owner of one of the largest plumbing contractor companies in Arizona, will lead a strong field in SCORE Trophy-Truck that features many of the world’s top desert racers in the No. 39 Whitton Companies Ford F-150. Whitton, Mesa, Ariz., and his co-driver Chas Dana were fifth and 10th respectively in last year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 500 and Tecate SCORE Baja 1000.

Last year’s overall motorcycle and ATV winners are entered this year. Last year’s overall motorcycle champion was the JCR Honda team of Kendall Norman, Santa Barbara, Calif./Tim Weigand, Santa Clarita, Calif. on the No. 1x Honda CRF450X and the Overall ATV winners were the team of Wayne Matlock, El Cajon, Calif./Harold Goodman Jr., Brownstown, Mich./Josh Caster, El Cajon, Calif., on the No. 1a Honda TRX700X. Norman’s team will start seventh in Motorcycles while Matlock’s squad will be the first ATV off the line.

Bell, 24, of Sun City, Calif., who left the factory Honda team at the end of 2008 after winning the two-wheel overall title in San Felipe three straight years (2006, 2007, 2008), returns to San Felipe for the first time since on a Kawasaki, leading a two-motorcycle Bruce Penhall Motorsports charge to Baja on the No. 2x Kawasaki KX450F. His co-rider, also a former Honda champion, is legendary SCORE Baja racer Steve Hengeveld, 34, Oak Hills, Calif., who was the overall San Felipe motorcycle winner for four straight year’s with Honda icon Johnny Campbell (2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004).

Kawasaki will have factory-supported entries in San Felipe for this first time since 1996 and will attempt to break the JCR Racing Honda dynasty which has won 12 of the last 13 SCORE San Felipe 250 races.

In the first 23 years of this race, Honda has earned 14 overall motorcycle victories (including the last four years), Kawasaki has six, KTM has two and Husqvarna has one.

In Saturday’s computerized drawing, SCORE Trophy-Truck had the most entries with 32, followed by the unlimited Class 1 with 18 and Class 1-2/1600 with 12. While 192 entries were received in time for the start draw, late registration will be accepted up until race morning and as many as 100 additional entries are expected.

Among the motorcycle classes, the open Class 22 had the most vehicles entered in the drawing with 11.

Besides the K. Norman and Matlock teams, the other defending class winners entered so far this year are: Ronny Wilson, Long Beach, Calif. (Class 1), Mike Lawrence, Sunset Beach, Calif. (Class 10), Marc Burnett, Chula Vista, Calif. (Class 6), Jose Canchola Jr., Mexicali, Mexico (Class 7 but has switched to Class 6), Dave Crinklaw, Reedley, Calif. (Class 8), Eric Solorzano, Tijuana, Mexico (Class 11), Gavin Skilton, Anaheim, Calif. (Stock Mini), Mike Johnson, El Paso, Texas (Class 30), Jim O’Neal, Simi Valley, Calif. (Class 50), Craig Christy, Burbank, Calif. (Class 24), Reid Rutherford, Montrose, Colo. (Class 26 but has switched to Class 7-2) and returning with SCORE Trophy-Truck regular Cameron Steele as rider of record is Brian Campbell, Bakersfield, Calif. (Class 40).

Christy, last season’s SCORE Overall and Class 24 ATV season point champion, has also entered a team that he will lead this year in Class 25 as well, seeking a pair of class wins in San Felipe.

Also returning this year to defend his Sportsman class race victory for the third straight year among those entered so far is Sportsman Car winner Peter Lang, Santa Rosa, Calif.

This year’s race will use a similar 232-mile race course as the past two years with a few modifications other than those caused by weather conditions. Running in a counter clockwise direction out of San Felipe up to and then parallel to Highway 3 (southside) and south back down through three of the most picturesque and challenging washes in all of Baja.

After the start at the landmark San Felipe Arches, the race will proceed north towards Zoo Road. The area approaching the Zoo Road crossing has been bladed again, which makes it a safer approach to the popular spectator area. That area will again be fenced, have grandstands and a jump and will be patrolled so that spectators can watch the action but not put themselves in way of the action.

For the first time the course will travel east of instead of on the graded Morelia Road (after the Zoo Road junction) to the entrance to Matomi Wash. This will be one of the few times that SCORE will run through the majestic Matomi Wash in the early part of the race instead of near the end. After Matomi, the challenging course will run through two more of the infamous Baja canyons—Huatomote and Chanate before heading back Northwest for the final sprint to the finish line.

The pre-race Manufacturer’s Midway and tech inspection of the vehicles in the race will be held on Friday, March 12 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the picturesque Malecon, flanked by the Sea of Cortez on one side and the popular restaurants and night clubs of San Felipe on the other.

At 10 a.m. on Sunday (March 14), the awards celebration will be held in front of The Beachcomber Night Club on the Malecon.

At the 24th MasterCraft Safety Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250, MasterCraft Racing has entered not only company owner Robbie Pierce’s No. 30 Chevy Silverado SCORE Trophy-Truck, but also the No. 20 Chevy Silverado SCORE Trophy-Truck to be driven by eight-time SCORE season class point champion Rob MacCachren of Las Vegas and the No. 42 Chevy Silverado driven by Will Staats, Valencia, Calif. All three trucks were built by prominent chassis builder Mike Julson’s Jimco Racing Products of Santee, Calif. Julson is listed as a co-driver for both Pierce and MacCachren for this race, if needed.

The MasterCraft racers will not be eligible to win any part of the special $10,000 MasterCraft Safety cash contingency bonus purse MasterCraft Safety has offered for this year’s San Felipe race.

In San Felipe, Pierce will start fourth, MacCachren 21st and Staats 25th in the massive SCORE Trophy-Truck field.

Following his dominating season-opening victory at the 16th SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge, third-generation desert racer Andy McMillin, who was recently honored as the 2009 Dirt Sports Magazine Driver of the Year, finds himself at the top of a very crowded Overall leaderboard in the 2010 SCORE Desert Series point standings. With 63 points, McMillin, who will split driving the rest of the season with his father Scott McMillin, also leads the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck class for high-tech, 800-horsepower, unlimited production trucks in his No. 31 McMillin Realty Ford F-150.

With just 22 points separating the top 21 in 2010 SCORE Overall points after Laughlin’s season-opener, SCORE racers are now preparing to begin official pre-running which opens on Saturday, Feb. 27. A new attraction this year during the pre-running window will be the San Felipe Tequila Festival March 5-7.

In addition to season class point championships, drivers in the Pro car and truck classes are also racing for part of the nearly $400,000 in cash purse and contingency postings as well as earn prestigious SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards given to all car and truck class drivers who complete every required mile of the five-race season. Being presented by Toyota Motorsports for the 25th consecutive year, a total of 59 drivers remain eligible after Round 1 of the 2010 SCORE Desert Series. Racers are also competing for the annual SCORE Off-Roadsman of the Year awards, including the MasterCraft Safety SCORE Rookie of the Year award.

Current SCORE official annual sponsors are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Volkswagen of America-official vehicle, Sunoco Race Fuels-official fuel supplier, Bilstein-official shock, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance-official Mexican auto insurance, Slime-official tire sealant and Red Bull-official energy drink. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Las Vegas Events, MasterCraft Safety, Blue C Advertising, Off-Road, SignPros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.

Associate sponsors for the MasterCraft Safety Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 are the Tourism and Convention Bureau of Mexicali/San Felipe and Cotuco. Additional sponsors in Baja are the Office of the Secretary of Tourism of Baja California and ProTurismo de Ensenada.

The race annually provides a greater economic impact to San Felipe than the popular month-long ‘Spring Break’.

For more information regarding the series, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters 818.225.8402 or visit the official website of the 2010 SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com.



24th MasterCraft Safety Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250

Round 2 of five-race 2010 SCORE Desert Series

March 12-14, 2010—232.0 miles

San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico

Total Entries: 192 (as of 2/14/10)

(from 22 States, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Mexico)

Pro Cars & Trucks

SCORE TROPHY-TRUCK (32)

39 Ron Whitton

1 Robby Gordon

19 Tim Herbst

30 Robbie Pierce

21 Gus Vildosola Jr.

23 Mark McMillin

8 Roger Norman

16 Cameron Steele

31 Andy McMillin

40 Chet Huffman

37 Bruce Greer Jr.

76 Jesse Jones

51 Kory Scheeler

2 Pete Sohren

68 Marc Ewing

96 Bobby Baldwin

84 Nick Vanderwey

7 Jimmy Nuckles

10 Greg Nunley

78 Jesse Ashcraft

20 Rob MacCachren

35 Jason Voss

9 Gary Weyhrich

74 Rob Bruce

42 Will Staats

24 Adam Householder

13 Ed Stout

97 B.J. Baldwin

3 Mark Post

49 Troy Herbst

36 Glen Greer

47 James Bult

CLASS 1 (18)

101 Armin Schwarz

100 Randy Wilson

103 Robert Ross

104 Dan Martin

105 Guy Petersen

106 Daniel McMillin

107 Mario Acosta

108 Mike Voyles Sr.

109 Kory Halopoff

110 Ronny Wilson

111 Cody Parkhouse

112 Conan Barker

113 William Eriksen

114 Josh Daniel

115 Paul Keller

116 Armin Kremer

117 Mark Weyhrich

118 Eric Chase

CLASS 1-2/1600 (12)

1601 Jorge Sanchez

1602 Luke McMillin

1603 Rick Steven

1604 Carlos Montalvan

1605 Arnoldo Gutierrez Jr.

1606 Brad Wilson

1607 Rob Archibald

1608 Brian Wilson

1609 Arturo Velazco

1647 Juan Gallo

1648 Arnoldo Ramirez

1600 Hiram Duran

CLASS 5 (2)

500 Kevin Carr

519 Che Corlett

CLASS 5/1600 (2)

551 Trevor Anderson

579 Gustavo Avina

CLASS 6 (4)

601 Jose Canchola Jr.

602 Steve Kovach

603 Marc Burnett

600 Heidi Steele

CLASS 7 (2)

701 Arturo Alvarez

700 Dan Chamlee

CLASS 7SX (2)

741 Elias Hanna

759 Nick Moncure

CLASS 8 (3)

801 Juan C. Lopez

802 Dave Crinklaw

800 Clyde Stacy

CLASS 9 (1)

901 Luke Babb

CLASS 10 (5)

1001 Lars Ferry

1002 Alejandro Navarrete

1000 Mike Lawrence

1004 Sergio Salgado

1005 Jesus Gonzalez

SCORE LITE (15)

1201 Lee Banning

1202 Cody Freeman

1203 Francisco Villagomez

1204 Matthew Kupiec

1205 Samuel Araiza

1200 Brent Parkhouse

1207 Bill Hernquist

1208 David Callaway

1209 Luis Barragan

1210 Mike Williams

1211 Zak Langley

1212 Perry McNeil

1213 Arturo Honold

1214 John Langley

1249 Justin Davis

CLASS 11 (3)

1101 Gustavo Garayzar

1100 Eric Solorzano

1149 Alejandro Rivas

STOCK FULL (3)

861 Pedro Vargas

860 Justin Matney

879 Joe Bacal

STOCK MINI (1)

760 Gavin Skilton

PROTRUCK (0)

CLASS 7-2 (1)

721 Reid Rutherford

PRO MOTORCYCLES

CLASS 22 (11)

2x Robby Bell

3x Colton Udall

4x Ivan Ramirez

6x Bret Freeman

5x Ryan Penhall

7x Cory Evenson

1x Kendall Norman

9x Cameron Corfman

10x A.J. Stewart

11x Chad Hubbard

12x Chuck Neugebauer

CLASS 21 (2)

101x Jesus J. Gonzalez

102x David Gonzalez Jr.

CLASS 20 (4)

150x Jesus Rios

151x Manuel Reyes

152x Joey Black

169x Anna Cody

CLASS 30 (5)

301x Javier Hernandez

302x Jim O’Neal

300x Mike Johnson

304x William Peel

305x Sol Saltzman

CLASS 40 (7)

401x Peter Hardy

402x Louie Franco

403x Duane Dickinson

404x Tom Vogt

405x Henrik Andersen

406x Cameron Steele

449x Terry Peregoodoff

CLASS 50 (3)

501x Ryan Armitage

502x Charlie Marshall

500x Jim O’Neal

CLASS 60 (2)

Donald Lewis

William Rogers

PRO ATVs

CLASS 25 (5)

1a Wayne Matlock

2a Javier Robles

3a Fernando Huerta

4a Craig Christy

5a Josh Edwards

CLASS 24 (10)

101a Abraham Romero

102a Roberto Ruiz

103a Victor Lopez

100a Craig Christy

105a Alonso Ruiz

106a Brandon Brown

107a Luis Berumen

108a Adrian Valdez

109a Marco Marrujo

110a Heriberto Marquez

SPORTSMAN

SPT CAR (4)

1400 Peter Lang

1401 Wendell Mortensen

1402 Shawn Hamlin

1403 George Jackson

SPT TRUCK (2)

1500 Joe Aguayo

1501 Nick Tonelli

SPT UTV (6)

1801 Robert Viau Sr.

1800 Thomas Graves

1803 Dave Roberts

1804 Sergio Castillo

1805 Michael McCulley

1806 Peter Hajas

SPT M/C< (8)

201x Fred Sobke

202x Greg Willitts

203x Carlos Becerril

204x Carlos Valdez

205x Conrad Batham

206x Ricky de la Pena

248x Matt Ladendorf

249x Kelley DeLoach

SPT M/C> (9)

251x Salvador Sainz

252x Jimmy Boutwell

253x Tibi Imbuzan

254x Craig Anstine

255x Ty McPherson

256x Oscar Fazz

257x Joel Blocksom

258x Paul Lopez

299x Jose Chavez

SPT ATV (8)

51a Daniel Montano

52a Samuel Garcia

53a Brad McLean

54a Juan Dominguez

55a Efren Carrasco

56a Ciro Calderon

57a Roger Fastring

58a Jeff Sanca

Official SF250 Map Released

get it here

San Felipe 250 Map Leaked?

I have no idea if this is the real map but it was posted over at elforooffroad.net

SCORE San Felipe Advance

February 9, 2010





Nearly 250 entries expected

Course finalized; computerized Start draw Saturday at SCORE

For 24th MasterCraft Safety Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250



Top 10 in SCORE Trophy-Truck & Class 1 from 2009 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 to have special draw



LOS ANGELES—Many of the world’s top desert racers are expected to be entered in time for Saturday’s computerized start draw for next month’s 24th Annual MasterCraft Safety Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 desert race. With the drawing being held at the SCORE International headquarters in Los Angeles, the race itself will be held March 12-14 along the azure waters of the Sea of Cortez in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico.

With entries accepted up to race morning, nearly 250 entries from over 20 US States and 10 countries expected to enter the race and competition will be held in 28 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes in the 232-mile race. The green flag will drop at 6 a.m. on Saturday, March 13, for the motorcycle and ATV classes, followed three hours after the last Sportsman ATV later by the car and truck classes at approximately 10 a.m. The start line and finish line for the race will once again be the landmark San Felipe Arches on Highway 5 on the outskirts of San Felipe. One vehicle will start every 30 seconds in the elapsed-time race, with a 10-hour time limit to become an official finisher.

Following January’s season-opening SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge, the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Series will be visiting Mexico for the first of three annual SCORE Baja races in 2010.

“I just returned from finalizing the course and other details for the race and I can’t tell you how enthusiastic my reception was along with the interest and support I received from the community, officials and ejidos--it was really overwhelming,” said Sal Fish, SCORE CEO/President since soon after SCORE was founded in 1973. “The course is very similar as last year, with a few exceptions and our pre and post-race festivities will once again be held or centered on and near the picturesque Malecon beachfront and we are excepting a great entry field so this year’s event should be something very spectacular. Some of the course changes will actually help making vehicle support chasing easier. The new highway over the last section entering town from the Highway 3 junction is four lanes, nearly finished and there are more hotels and condos then we have ever seen before in San Felipe.”

A unique part of Saturday’s drawing will be the special drawing for the top 10 finishers from the nearest previous SCORE Baja race entered in the current race in both SCORE Trophy-Truck and the unlimited Class 1. For this race it will be the top 10 finishers in each class from last November’s 42nd Tecate SCORE Baja 1000.

The top 10 finishers in SCORE Trophy-Truck from the 2009 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 were: Andy McMillin/Scott McMillin, Roger Norman/Larry Roeseler, Rick D. Johnson/Brian Sallee, Gus Vildosola Jr./Gus Vildosola Sr., Robby Gordon, Robbie Pierce/Mike Julson, Mark McMillin/Brian Ewalt, Cameron Steele/Rick Geiser, Tim Herbst/Troy Herbst and Ron Whitton/Chas Danna.

In the unlimited Class 1, the top 10 finishers from the 2009 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 were: Jerry Penhall/Dan Martin, Armin Schwarz/Martin Christensen, Randy Wilson/Ronny Wilson, Chuck Dempsey/John Marking, Richard Boyle/Ron Brant, Dale Lenk/Brett Lenk/Grant Lenk, Todd Welling/Chad Cummings, Brian Parkhouse/Tom Ridings, Chuck Sacks/Gerald Longo and T.J. Flores/Pat Dean.

The start draw for Round 2 of the 2010 SCORE Desert Series will determine the starting order within each of the various classes in the race. With a cash purse and contingency of nearly $400,000, this year’s race will also include the special $10,000 MasterCraft Safety bonus cash contingency purse offered to several classes.

Last year’s top overall motorcycle and ATV finishers are already entered this year. Last year’s overall motorcycle champion was the JCR Honda team of Kendall Norman, Santa Barbara, Calif./Tim Weigand, Santa Clarita, Calif. on a Honda CRF450X and the Overall ATV winners were the team of Wayne Matlock, El Cajon, Calif./Harold Goodman Jr., Brownstown, Mich./Josh Caster, El Cajon, Calif., on a Honda TRX700X.

Las Vegas’ Brian Collins, the two-time defending Overall 4-Wheel and SCORE Trophy-Truck winner, has not entered this year’s race as of today.

Among the other 2009 class winners already entered is the unlimited Class 1 winning Wilson Motorsports team of Ronny Wilson, Long Beach, Calif. in their Chevy-powered Jimco open-wheel desert race car, Mike Lawrence, Sunset Beach, Calif. (Class 10, Lothringer-VW), Kevin Carr, San Diego (Class 5, unlimited VW Baja Bug), Mike Johnson, El Paso, Texas (Class 30, Honda CRF450X), Brian Campbell, Bakersfield, Calif. (Class 40, KTM 450XCF and Craig Christy, Burbank, Calif. (Class 24, Honda TRX450R).

This year’s race will use a similar 232-mile race course as the past two years with a few modifications other than those caused by weather conditions. Running in a counter clockwise direction out of San Felipe up to and then parallel to Highway 3 (southside) and south back down through three of the most picturesque and challenging washes in all of Baja.

After the start at the landmark San Felipe Arches, the race will proceed north towards Zoo Road. The area approaching the Zoo Road crossing has been bladed again, which makes it a safer approach to the popular spectator area. That area will again be fenced, have grandstands and a jump and will be patrolled so that spectators can watch the action but not put themselves in way of the action.

For the first time the course will travel east of instead of on the graded Morelia Road (after the Zoo Road junction) to the entrance to Matomi Wash. This will be one of the few times that SCORE will run through the majestic Matomi Wash in the early part of the race instead of near the end. After Matomi, the challenging course will run through two more of the infamous Baja canyons—Huatomote and Chanate before heading back Northwest for the final sprint to the finish line.

The pre-race Manufacturer’s Midway and tech inspection of the vehicles in the race will be held on Friday, March 12 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the picturesque Malecon, flanked by the Sea of Cortez on one side and the popular restaurants and night clubs of San Felipe on the other.

Following his dominating season-opening victory at the 16th SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge, third-generation desert racer Andy McMillin, who was recently honored as the 2009 Dirt Sports Magazine Driver of the Year, finds himself at the top of a very crowded Overall leaderboard in the 2010 SCORE Desert Series point standings. With 63 points, McMillin, who will split driving the rest of the season with his father Scott McMillin, also leads the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck class for high-tech, 800-horsepower, unlimited production trucks in his No. 31 McMillin Realty Ford F-150.

With just 22 points separating the top 21 in 2010 SCORE Overall points after Laughlin’s season-opener, SCORE racers are now preparing to begin official pre-running which opens on Saturday, Feb. 27. A new attraction this year during the pre-running window will be the San Felipe Tequila Festival March 5-7.

In addition to season point class point championships, drivers in the Pro car and truck classes are also racing to earn prestigious SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards given to all car and truck class drivers who complete every required mile of the five-race season. Being presented by Toyota Motorsports for the 25th consecutive year, a total of 59 drivers remain eligible after Round 1 of the 2010 SCORE Desert Series. Racers are also competing for the annual SCORE Off-Roadsman of the Year awards, including the MasterCraft Safety SCORE Rookie of the Year award.

Current SCORE official annual sponsors are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Volkswagen of America-official vehicle, Sunoco Race Fuels-official fuel supplier, Bilstein-official shock, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance-official Mexican auto insurance, Slime-official tire sealant and Red Bull-official energy drink. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Las Vegas Events, MasterCraft Safety, Blue C Advertising, Off-Road, SignPros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.

Associate sponsors for the MasterCraft Safety Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 are the Tourism and Convention Bureau of Mexicali/San Felipe and Cotuco.

Additional sponsors in Baja are the Secretary of Tourism of Baja California and ProTurismo de Ensenada.

The race annually provides a greater economic impact to San Felipe than the popular month-long ‘Spring Break’.

For more information regarding the series, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters 818.225.8402 or visit the official website of the 2010 SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com.



MasterCraft Safety Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250

All-Time Overall Champions

Pro Cars & Trucks

Year--Driver(s), Vehicle (Class)

1982--Dan Cornwell, Chenowth-VW (Class 1)

1983--Corky McMillin/Scott McMillin, Chenowth-Porsche (Class 2)

1984--Scott McMillin/Corky McMillin, Chenowth-Porsche (Class 2)

1990--Brian Collins/Jack Johnson, Chenowth-VW (Class 1)

1991--Larry Ragland, Chevy C1500 (Class 8)

1992--Bob Richey/Boyd Cox, Raceco-Porsche (Class 1)

1993--Scott Douglas, Ford Ranger (Class 7)

1994--Ivan Stewart, Toyota SR5 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

1995--Larry Ragland, Chevy C1500 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

1996--Robby Gordon, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

1997--Curt LeDuc, Jeep Grand Cherokee (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

1998--Mark Post/Jerry Whelchel, Riviera-Chevy (Class 1)

1999--Ed Herbst/Tim Herbst, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

2000--Tim Herbst/Ed Herbst, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

2001--Tim Herbst/Ed Herbst, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

2002--Dan Smith/David Ashley, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

2003--Gus Vildosola/Rob MacCachren, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

2004--Mark Post/Jerry Whelchel, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

2005--Andy McMillin/Scott McMillin, Jimco-Chevy (Class 1)

2006--Garron Cadiente, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

2007--Mark Post/Rob MacCachren, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

2008--Brian Collins, Dodge Ram1500 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

2009--Brian Collins, Dodge Ram1500 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

Pro Motorcycles

Year--Rider(s), Vehicle

1982--Bob Balentine, Honda XR500 (Class 22)

1983--Jack Johnson, Honda XR500 (Class 22)

1984--Dan Smith/Dan Ashcraft, Husqvarna CR500 (Class 22)

1990--Dan Smith/Danny Hamel, KTM (Class 22)

1991--Larry Roeseler/Ted Hunnicut Jr, Kawasaki KX500 (Class 22)

1992--Larry Roeseler/Ted Hunnicut Jr, Kawasaki KX500 (Class 22)

1993--Danny Hamel, Kawasaki KX500 (Class 22)

1994--Danny Hamel, Kawasaki KX500 (Class 22)

1995--Danny Hamel, Kawasaki KX500 (Class 22)

1996--Paul Krause, Kawasaki KX500 (Class 22)

1997--Tim Staab, Honda XR650 (Class 22)

1998--Johnny Campbell/Tim Staab, Honda XR650 (Class 22)

1999--Johnny Campbell/Cole Marshall, Honda XR650 (Class 22)

2000--Johnny Campbell/Tim Staab, Honda XR650 (Class 22)

2001--Steve Hengeveld/Jonah Street, Honda XR650R (Class 22)

2002--Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell, Honda XR650R (Class 22)

2003--Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell, Honda XR650R (Class 22)

2004--Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell, Honda XR650R (Class 22)

2005--Chris Blais/Andy Grider/Quinn Cody, KTM MXC525 (Class 22)

2006--Robby Bell/Kendall Norman, Honda CRF450X (Class 22)

2007--Robby Bell/Kendall Norman, Honda CRF450X (Class 22)

2008--Robby Bell/Johnny Campbell, Honda CRF450X (Class 22)

2009—Kendall Norman/Timmy Weigand, Honda CRF450X (Class 22)

Sportsman Cars & Trucks

Year--Driver(s), Vehicle (Class)

2008--Peter Lang, Homebuilt-Chevy (SPT Car)

2009--Peter Lang, Homebuilt-Chevy (SPT Car)

Sportsman Motorcycles

Year--Rider(s), Vehicle

2008--Bill Gilbert, Honda CRF450X (SPT M/C>250cc)

2009--Jeff Leonard, Bakersfield, Calif., Honda CRF450X (SPT M/C>250cc)

SCORE San Felipe 250 on NBC Sunday

Motorcycle & ATV classes at 2009 Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250
To be featured Sunday on NBC's Jeep World of Adventure Sports

This Sunday's NBC telecast of the JWOAS journeys to scenic San Felipe, Mexico to capture the Motorcycle and ATV classes of the second race of the 2009 SCORE Desert Championship Series. A total of 226 adventurers hit the silt to compete on the rugged 232.4-mile course which covering three of the legendary, picturesque and treacherous washes of Baja before heading back to the finish line in the shadow of the landmark San Felipe Arches.
The show, with the SCORE segment, is scheduled to air Sunday (April 26) at 5 p.m. EDT/2p.m. PDT, but check your local listings for the time in your area.

MasterCraft Team 35 Fights Hard for Top Ten Finish at San Felipe 250

A Rewarding Disappointment



MasterCraft Team 35 Finishes 8th in Trophy Truck Class at the 2009 SCORE San Felipe 250



Famous fiction author, Louis L'Amour, must have had Team 35 in mind when he said "Victory is won not in miles but in inches." After suffering from a devastating crash at the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge, the #35 Jimco MasterCraft Trophy Truck driven by team owner, Robbie Pierce, had to undergo a massive tear-down and transformation in preparation for the first Baja race of the 2009 season.



Drawing for the fourth starting position, Robbie was certain the SCORE San Felipe 250 would be a great race by commenting, "I am completely humbled by the unselfish effort that has been put out over the last five weeks to make the San Felipe race a reality. The entire team, including Mike Julson, Bill Varnes and his crew, and John and Mike over at Jimco, have worked non-stop and I cannot thank them enough. I am truly grateful to everyone and I will do my best to make them proud."



Unfortunately all the sweat and skinned knuckles could not prepare the team for the unlucky change of events that occurred just one day before the race. While doing a last minute systems and equipment test near Borrego, the engine on the Trophy Truck began losing power and idling rough. Hoping for the best and preparing for the worst, the pre-run crew pulled the valve-cover and after a thorough inspection concluded the head was cracked.



Not willing to let five weeks of hard work go down the drain, Pierce made the decision to race the pre-runner remarking, "We all showed up to race and I wasn't about ready to let the guys down. Just 18 hours before staging we made the decision to save the race by working all night and prepping my Prophy truck. Our goal this year is to win a SCORE race in the Trophy Truck class and I don't think that is possible without a good starting position. I felt like I was bringing a knife to a gun fight but I knew I needed to finish in the top 10 if I wanted a good draw and a shot at winning the Baja 500."



With nearly 3,500 pre-run miles under its belt, Team 35 was a little nervous about the outcome of the race and how the pre-runner would fare after the starting flag dropped. On the way to staging Pierce commented, "It's just too bad we couldn't get the Jimco to the line. The truck was truly running awesome. The shocks and suspension were dialed in perfectly and I couldn't be happier with some of the changes that were made after Laughlin."



Racing for a top 10 finish instead of a win changed the team's strategy for race day. Running the truck conservatively, Robbie passed an upside-down Roger Norman in the #8 Trophy Truck around race mile 68. Shortly after, Pierce and his co-driver, John Vance, were plague by a broken upper ball-joint causing the team to lose a couple of hours while the crew fixed the truck in the field. Other than a tire change at mile 165, the remainder of the race was uneventful and the Prophy crossed the finish line 7 hours, 34 minutes and 36 seconds after it began its journey.



Finishing the SCORE San Felipe 250 with an admirable 8th place in the Trophy Truck class, Pierce commented, "This is the most disappointing and rewarding race in my short career. I cannot praise the team enough. Led by Dan Fogle and Bob Howle, the team worked tirelessly into the night to get 'The Little Truck that Could' as prepared as possible. This was their race."



Held in Baja California, Mexico, the 2009 San Felipe 250 marked round two of SCORE International's five race desert series. The course traversed 232.4 miles of sandy washes, silt, rocky and whooped out terrain. The MasterCraft Team #35 will be back and looking for a win at the SCORE Baja 500 in Ensenada, Baja California, June 5 - 7, 2009.



For more information about

MasterCraft Team 35 visit:

www.mastercraftseats.com



MasterCraft Team 35 is sponsored by



BF Goodrich • Jimco • Mirage

Fox Shox • Walker Evans

Mogi • MSD Ignition

Palomar Communications

Hyperco





For press information contact Kelli Willmore

kelli@willmore.com or 602.295.2767

San Felipe 250 Photos by Durka

All photos now up at http://www.DurkaDurkaPhoto.com

10% off for the next 5 days.


A few of my favorites.

SCORE San Felipe 250 POST-RACE QUOTES

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, 702.735.7123



23rd ANNUAL TECATE SCORE San Felipe 250

Round 2 of the five-race 2009 SCORE Desert Series

March 13-15, San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico

Post-race racer quotes


Cars and trucks



SCORE TROPHY-TRUCK

BRIAN COLLINS, No. 12 (First in class and first vehicle overall. This was Collins’ sixth career SCORE Trophy-Truck victory.) – No flats, nothing. It was just a perfect day. B.J. Baldwin (who was leading at the time) broke down and we got past him about race mile 190, I think. The truck was absolutely awesome. Billy (Goerke, my navigator) did a great job because if you would have asked me earlier today if we were going to win, I would have said ‘I don’t know, it’s going to be a long day.’ But I put a plan together, being patient, and I told Billy that’s what we were going to do and he monitored my speed all the time down the real rough sections so we didn’t have a flat or hurt our shocks and we just had a great day. It’s nice when you put a plan together and it works. You know the course is rough but you don’t know if everybody else is going to follow the plan and have problems. Two SCORE San Felipe 250 wins in a row, that’s great. We had a hard time getting around the Herbsts at one point but I just stuck to my game plan of being patient and everyone else cooperated by having problems. I told people I was going to go slow off the start and no one ever believes you. I just drove my own race today and everyone came to me. That’s a lucky day of racing and I wish every one of them were that way. There’s a lot of season left and a lot of races but I can’t say enough about the Collins Motorsports team. We had one faux pas today; we didn’t fuel the fuel truck so the guys broke it down and switched it from one section of the course back to the other. We had to make two stops. We were just following B.J. – we were within a minute of B.J. – and I had three and a half minutes to get to him. They refueled the truck again, a second time, and that was the excitement of the day. But the guys were great. It was a great day – especially when you don’t need anything but fuel. We were within a minute of B.J. – we had him all day – so we weren’t really worried about it. There’s no reason to try to pass on this course – it’s too wicked. We just sat back there in the dust and watched him and stopped and got fuel a second time and reeled him in. It was just a perfect day. Billy (Goerke) really helped me today. Without him today, I wouldn’t have done what I did today. Today, he gets the credit.

ROBBY GORDON, No. 77 (Second in class and second vehicle overall.) I got a flat tire about mile marker 40 and our jacks didn’t work. I ended up getting back in the car and driving about a mile and a half on a flat tire to some locals that had a floor jack and were pitting their car. I had a breaker bar and that was our flat-tire changer. That was the only problem we had. We were 20 minutes behind (Brian Collins) at out first pit area, where we took fuel at mile 68, and I think he beat us home by about 10 minutes, so we had a good run. We didn’t have any mechanical problems. I don’t know why the impact gun and the jack didn’t work but that’s the only problem we had. I almost got crashed by (Ed) Stout, who clobbered the back of us on Zoo Road (at about race mile 93). He didn’t make it much farther than where he hit me. We were joking that he wasn’t going to go very far and it was about 10 more miles and I think he had the rear suspension ripped off of it. The course was what we expected (but) it was surprising that (Brian Collins) had the run like he had, but he does that here all the time and I had a very strong run, too, so congrats to those guys. We’ll be back for the SCORE Baja 500. We continue our points lead. I like to win, but we’ll take a second if we can’t win.

MARK POST, No. 3 (Third in class and fourth vehicle overall.) We had a real nice run going and then we lost our drive shaft about race mile 100. And then I had about a five-minute flat but other than that, we had a solid day. But the drive shaft really killed our day. We changed the drive shaft on the course so that put us down pretty good. Other than that, the truck was flawless. That was the rockiest SCORE San Felipe 250 ever, I’ll tell you that. There was just no sand between the rocks anymore and all those washes have a zillion rocks. It made it a lot rougher course. When I had the flat, that’s when Robbie (Gordon) got by us.

JERRY WELCHEL, No. 40 (Fourth in class and sixth vehicle overall. Driver of record Chet Huffman drove the first 100 miles and Welchel finished.) It was a fun race. Chet did the first 100 and handed it over to me. There were some big rocks out there and I’m glad I had 39-inch tires.

ADAM HOUSEHOLDER, No. 24 (Fifth in class.) We got stuck out there and two quad guys stopped and helped push me out. If not, I’d probably still be back there digging. I drove all the way and I had a good experience so we’ll be back for the SCORE Baja 500 and possibly the SCORE Baja 1000. We’re very happy. We had a good showing in Laughlin and decided to come here for the SCORE San Felipe 250 and see what would happen. I got a flat about 50 miles from the end and then I got stuck with 40 miles left. After getting out and changing the tire, I was winded. And then after getting stuck I was like, ‘That’s it, I was almost done.’ I lost about 15 minutes, so the problems were substantial. But, hey, I’m stoked just to finish.

B.J. BALDWIN, No. 1 (Sixth in class.) I lost a (shock) bypass at (race mile) 190 but I could still go really well, but then I lost a ring gear about five miles later. I was doing well without the bypass – it wasn’t holding me back too bad. I couldn’t hit jumps or it would roll over and I couldn’t hit big (curves) or it would roll over. I was going to start going really fast right about when we broke. What can you do? I had a great time anyway.

CLASS 1

RONNY WILSON, No. 109 (First in class and third vehicle overall.) We had zero problems. I probably got a ‘C’ for listening to (my navigator) because I blew a lot of lines that he wanted me to take, but the car worked great. We had no flats, the Wik motor ran great, no problems with the gearbox. We had a lot of nervous moments. We almost threw it away a couple of times but we stuck to our game plan, we drove about 75 percent to the 61-mile mark and then we started pushing. It’s always a good sign when the Herbst helicopter is coming back to see where you are. We chased them and we passed them when they were getting fuel at (race mile) 192 and we were just on a mission after that. I’m glad they’re back racing the desert but I wish they weren’t as good as they were. What a day. The course was the same San Felipe course and we just love it down here.

TIM HERBST, No. 106 (Second in class and fifth vehicle overall.) The day went OK. We got stuck out there once and had one flat but other than that we had a pretty good day. I got stuck in the silt in a big ditch. I was going up into somebody’s dust and got stuck. There happened to be a guy with four-wheel drive – if not, I would have been there forever. (Are you glad to be back racing in score?) That was fun; that was a good time. I missed it a lot. I should have been better but this car was sitting in the mall (in Primm, Nevada) about six weeks ago. There was a lot of gum on it but the guys did a great job getting it ready to race. (Was there any rust on the driver?) Absolutely. You just can’t jump into these things and go, that’s for sure. We hope to race all the races in Baja. Next is the SCORE Baja 500 and then the SCORE Baja 1000 and then maybe the Primm race. We are going to run a limited schedule but we are going to be back in Mexico, for sure. (You look different in the black car and the black fire suit after all those years in red.) Monster Energy Drink is a great partner of ours – not only on our off-road program, but also in our stores. We sell a lot of their product and we’re just happy to have the relationship with them.

MARTIN CHRISTENSEN, No. 104 (Third in class and ninth vehicle overall. Driver of record Armin Schwarz drove to race mile 120 and Christensen drove from RM 120 to the finish.) It was OK. We had some small challenges prior to the race. Pulling the car up to the starting line, we had a leaky control valve on the steering. We tried to change it out but for some reason, the line was not correct so we had to go back in with the old part. So that was a little havoc right up to the starting line, like two minutes before the start. We ran with it but we’ve got pretty good capacity in the reservoir because we’ve got a jacking system, so that saved the day. We didn’t have to stop to add any (fluid). We’re happy with our podium position here. For what we had going on, that was a good finish for All-German Motorsports.
CLASS 1-2/1600

JUSTIN SMITH, No. 1643 (First in class.) The run went perfectly. Really, it was a flawless day. I had a rear pivot bushing go out on me about mile 30 but I was able to milk it enough the whole way to make it last. Other than that there were no issues. I was a little bit worried about some of the competition but we had a good pre-run and everything worked out. A lot of guys were breaking and rolling and pushing too hard. It was a rough course so I knew there was going to be a lot of endurance involved and we definitely played it smart and did what we could do to make sure we were here at the finish. We went to Laughlin hoping to come out a little better but we ended up ninth. But to come out here and win in San Felipe is just phenomenal. Hopefully we can keep it going.

CLASS 5

KEVIN CARR, No. 500 (First in class.) The course was a lot more torn up than pre-running, I’ll tell you that much. Everything went real well. We only had one flat, shortly after Matomi (near race mile 145). I think I hit it in Matomi and it just kept going down until it went flat. It (the course) took its tool but the car held up. I think it’s harder to finish this race than, say, the SCORE Baja 500 because this course beats you up.
CLASS 5/1600

NORBERTO RIVERA, No. 550 (First in class. Driver of record Marcos Nunez started and drove to race mile 122. Rivera drove from RM 122 to the finish.) It was a clean race. No flat tires, nothing bad. This was the second consecutive win here in San Felipe. Last year, I finish the race too. I’m very happy.

CLASS 6

MARC BURNETT, No. 601 (First in class.) It was a good run. Pretty much all day we had a good run going, we just had to take it slow because we were overheating a lot – ever since the beginning. It was really hot. The alternator went bad about 160 miles in and we had no radio the whole way back. Other than that, it was good. This is the second time racing SCORE in the truck and we won the SCORE Baja 1000 and this one here so we’re really happy about it. We’re 2-for-2 in this truck. The only other thing was we hit the Cops (Racing) guys – they wouldn’t let us go by so we had to push them out of the way. But it was a pretty flawless race – no flats. We were nervous about the temperature the whole way through but we just dealt with it. I’m going to continue driving solo – I Iron Manned the SCORE Baja 1000 and I’m going to Iron Man every race from now on.

CLASS 7

JOSE CANCHOLA JR., No. 701 (First in class.) Everything was fine. I drove it the whole way and it was a very clean race. Everything was perfect – no flats, no trouble – and we had a very good race. It was pretty rough today, pretty rough. I never did get challenged by another (Class) 7 car all day. I pre-ran three times so I knew the course pretty well.

CLASS 8

MIKE THURLOW, No. 802 (First in class. Driver of record Dave Crinklaw started and drove to race mile 92 and Thurlow drove from RM 92 to the finish.) Dave (Crinklaw) took it to mile 92 in perfect and delivered me a truck that was barely dirty and I put the pedal down from then on and had a blast. No problems, a lot of fun and the truck ran great. It was a great course. We were saying, ‘Come on, bring us more, that’s not enough.’ I had a lot of fun. We got stuck just for a little bit but our crew was there in about five minutes. My biggest thing was I got a cactus in my toe. It was right where I pressed the gas so maybe that’s why I didn’t get any flats. I may have to do that more often.

CLASS 10

MIKE LAWRENCE, No. 1000 (First in class.) I got stuck in the silt at race mile 114 and had to get pulled out. Besides that, it was smooth sailing. Some locals were there and they helped us out – greatest fans in the world. I only lost about two minutes, at most. We had really low oil pressure. We stopped once just to make sure everything was good. We fueled up and cruised around the course. I drove the whole way. We had a couple nervous moments. Right after Zoo Road (about race mile 93), I almost went end over end. The car didn’t like it but besides that, I kept my cool. I just figured I’ll let everybody else make the mistakes and I’ll drive my race. The course was even rougher than during pre-running.

SCORE LITE

RICK ST. JOHN, No. 1200 (First in class.) It was great. This car is so awesome, it’s unbelievable – it’s almost like cheating, this car works so well. Adam Pfankuch started and he took a rear start and he just drove past everyone. It’s too easy, almost. He gave me the car in first place halfway through and all I had to do was keep it there. We hit a cactus and while we were digging out the cactus, I hit a rock so there was a little downtime. Other than that, it went well.

PROTRUCK

MAX POST, No. 233 (First in class.) I rolled the truck about mile 96, somewhere around there. I was in dust and there was a turn I really didn’t see. It landed on its top but some people came over and helped us flip it back over. We lost about five or seven minutes, that’s about it. That was the only problem we had. We hit a few things – I don’t think there’s one piece of bodywork left. I drove the whole way and it was fun. The course was really rough, but fun. The truck handled really well.



Pro Motorcycles


CLASS 22

KENDALL NORMAN, No. 3x (First in class, first motorcycle to finish and fifth vehicle overall. Norman started and rode to race mile 30, Tim Weigand rode from RM 30 to 166.9 and Norman rode from RM 166.9 to the finish.) It wasn’t a walk in the park. I got knocked silly for a second. I was going good the first eight miles and I slowed down when it got super rocky and I tagged a rock and rode the front wheel for like 50 feet and finally ate it. When I crashed I hit my head and when I went to get up, I fell on the ground again. I got back up and going and the next 500 yards, the same thing happened, but this time I didn’t go down. We just had a solid ride. We were behind our teammates, the 4x, but when they came into the pit where I got on, they had radiator problems and lost all of their coolant and they had to change it. We took over the lead again then and just cruised in. Luckily I don’t hit my head very often so when I do, I don’t get hurt too bad. I made it out of there alive.

JEFF KARGOLA, No. 4x (Second in class, second motorcycle ton finish and eighth vehicle overall. Subbed for rider of record Colton Udall, who has a broken wrist. Kargola replaced Udall at the 50-foot mark and rode to race mile 30. Quinn Cody rode from RM 30 to RM 166 and Kargola rode from RM 166 to the finish.) It was the same as pre-running, just a lot faster and it seems the rocks come a lot faster. I didn’t fall off but I got real close to getting off – those rocks, when you’re hitting them doing 80 miles an hour, it has a tendency to throw you over the bars. I’m happy we (Johnny Campbell Racing) finished 1-2. (How much time do you think you lost replacing the radiator?) I don’t know, how much did he beat me by? Twelve minutes? We lost about 12 minutes (laughing).
CLASS 21

CARLOS CASAS, No. 100x (First in class. Casas rode to race mile 120, Noe Ibarra rode from RM 120 to 177 and Casas finished.) We just had to change a tire, but otherwise we had no problems. I want to thank South Bay Motorsports for all their help. We struggled a lot to get here and it paid off. It was a great race for us. We weren’t even going to race three weeks back because we didn’t have the money. At the last moment, our friends threw together some money and South Bay Motorsports helped us out with a lot of tires and parts. We’re going to keep on going, for sure.
CLASS 20

HECTOR CASTILLO, No. 154x (First in class. Split riding duties with Sergio Valenzuela, David Gonzalez Jr. and Rene Pojodes.) We borrowed a (Yamaha) WR250 at 9 o’clock last night before the race. We had no issues, no tire changes; we just brought it around. We’re really happy.
CLASS 30

MIKE JOHNSON, No. 305x (First in class. First career SCORE class victory. Johnson rode the first 30 and the last 70 miles. Rex Cameron rode the middle leg.) It ran great. I’m tired but, overall, I feel pretty good. We were hoping for a good finish and this is pretty good for us. We’re happy with it. We had no problems at all; everything went good. We didn’t even have to change a tire. From the first day of pre-running to the last day, the course changed a lot. We ran (Thursday) and it didn’t change a lot from then. Going through some of those washes, with all those imbedded rocks, was pretty scary. Going at a high speed and hitting one of those (rocks), that’s what split the rear rim. It happened in one of those washes but we were able to finish. I’m real happy. This is our first time getting first in our class. Last year we were top 10 in the SCORE San Felipe 250, the SCORE Baja 500 and the SCORE Baja 1000, so this is great.
CLASS 40

BRIAN SWEENEY, No. 401x (First in class. Shared riding duties with driver of record Brian Campbell, Bill Cotton and Pete Cochran.) I rode to the first pit and handed it over in first place and got it back in first place at the last pit, so everybody did their job. I had a blast out there. It was real rough. You could find some smooth lines but sometimes they were a lot longer so it was just better to pound up the middle. (Did you have any close calls?) A (passenger) car pulled right onto the course in front of me. I had to lock up the brakes to keep from hitting it. This is my first time doing this – I’ve never done a Baja race before. My teammates have been on me for the last four or five years to come and do this stuff with them. They wanted someone who was good in the whoops and that was my job. (Will you race in the Baja 500?) If these other guys (my teammates) are, I’m in. I’m hooked.
CLASS 50

JIM O’NEAL, No. 500x (First in class. Shared riding duties with Dan Dawson, Andy Kirker and Tim Withers.) After the week we had, all I wanted to do was finish. I told everybody, ‘just get there’ and we hung in there. We had Dan do the start, Andy did a little section of whoops, we also had Tim Withers and it was mainly Dan. They did a great job because we were up against a tough team (the No. 501x of Charlie Marshall). We just hung tough and everybody did well. They were ahead of us off and on but we were always close, but I don’t know what happened to them. The 300x team, that was a real rough ride. We had three riders get hurt and transfer to the local hospital ... for x-rays and broken bones and stitches and everything. Then I called a couple old friends and, no pre-running or nothing, and our leadoff guy, who was a rookie to Baja but a good desert racer, crashed and destroyed that bike in the first 15 miles, so we rode that thing all day with bent bars, no number plate, no light, no front brake ... and we’re just really happy to get this finished. We’ll have our regular team in the SCORE Baja 500 and everybody had better look out because it’s going to be business as usual. I don’t accept second-place trophies – the guys can have them, I don’t want them.


Pro ATVs

CLASS 25

WAYNE MATLOCK, No. 1a (First in class. Matlock rode to race mile 25; Harold Goodman Jr. rode from RM 25 to RM 93; Josh Caster rode from RM 93 to RM 170; and Matlock rode from RM 170 to the finish.) The last time I heard, we had about an eight-minute lead so everything couldn’t have been better. I had no plan – just ride as fast as I can and see what happens. It looks like it worked out good. We didn’t even change tires; we just put gas in and didn’t have any problems. You can’t ask for more. I’m ready to go again – you always are when you win. It was rough out there but it was fun. The biggest obstacle has always been keeping ourselves on the bike. We did that and everything worked out great. This is our fourth win here in the San Felipe 250, so that’s great. This has always been my favorite race just because the atmosphere is so great.
CLASS 24

CRAIG CHRISTY, No. 100a (First in class. Shared riding duties with Dave Scott, Steve Abrego and Andy Lagzdins – each rode a quarter of the race, with Christy finishing.) It was real rough. We got the lead a little early, lost it in the silt beds but I’ve got the greatest team and they all pulled it together. We’re just happy to have our second first in SCORE. No surprises today. The bike was flawless and it just kept going and going. We were out here for at least seven full days of pre-running and the course just got rougher. A lot of rocks got dug up by the big trucks but some good lines presented themselves, too. We had some good competition. There were at least two guys that we were real worried about. We won the championship last year and we won the SCORE Baja 1000 last year and we just wanted to see if we could make it stick and apparently we can. We’re coming to the SCORE Baja 500 looking for a first.

SCORE San Felipe 250 Results STORY 3.15.09

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark 702.735.7123



March 15, 2009





Round 2 of 2009 SCORE Desert Series

Collins earns 2nd straight Overall, SCORE Trophy-Truck

Victory Saturday at 23rd Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250



Wilson Bros capture Class 1 in Jimco-Chevy,

Norman/Weigand ride Honda to Overall Motorcycle & Class 22 win





SAN FELIPE, Mexico—Second-generation veteran Las Vegas desert racer Brian Collins roared through the rugged trails and washes of Mexico’s Baja California desert Saturday, earning his second straight overall and SCORE Trophy-Truck victory in the No. 12 Collins Motorsports Mopar Dodge Ram1500 at the 23rd Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 desert race.

Round 2 of the 2009 SCORE Desert Series was held in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico, along the shores of the picturesque Sea of Cortez.

Setting a blistering pace right from the start in San Felipe and driving solo, he covered the sandy, silty, rocky and dusty 232.4-mile course in just three hours, 47 minutes, 49 seconds, averaging a stellar 61.21 miles per hour.

Overpowering a strong field of 226 desert racers and mastering the race course with blazing speed and power, Collins’ time beat not only the cars and trucks, but also the motorcycles and ATVs that competed in the popular ‘spring break’ event to earn his fifth class win in San Felipe including his third overall triumph and his sixth career SCORE Trophy-Truck race win in the 15-plus year history of SCORE’s marquee racing division for high-tech, 800-horsepower, unlimited production trucks.

It was also just the second time since 1979 that a Dodge-powered vehicle won a SCORE race.

Finishing second overall and in SCORE Trophy-Truck in the elapsed-time race, 11 minutes and 31 seconds behind the masterful Collins was NASCAR Cup team owner/driver Robby Gordon, Charlotte, N.C., who finished Saturday’s race in 3:59:20, averaging 58.26mph in the No. 77 Team Gordon Chevy CK1500.

Finishing third overall while winning the unlimited Class 1 in Round 2 of the five-race 2009 SCORE Desert Series were brothers Ronny and Rick Wilson, Long Beach, Calif., with a time of 4:05:43 and an average speed of 56.75mph in the Wilson Motorsports Chevy-powered Jimco open-wheeled desert race car.

The 226 starters from 17 States, 10 countries competed in 28 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes for cars, truck, motorcycles and ATVs. The dramatic 232.4-mile course covered three of the legendary, picturesque and treacherous Baja washes: Matomi, Azufre and Huatomote before heading back to the finish line in the shadow of the landmark San Felipe Arches. The race featured the 14th-largest number of starters in the 23-year history of the event. A total of 162 adventurers completed the rugged course within the 10-hour time limit for an extremely high 71.7 percent finishing percentage.

“It was just a perfect day, our BFGoodrich Tires kept us totally in the game all day long and we covered a brutally-rough course with absolutely no flats,” said the happy Collins at the finish line. “B.J. Baldwin was physically ahead until he broke down at race mile 190, but we had him covered on corrected time all day. The Dodge truck was absolutely awesome. Billy (Goerke, my navigator) did a great job because if you would have asked me earlier today if we were going to win, I would have said ‘I don’t know, it’s going to be a long day’.”

Collins had plenty to say at the finish, adding “But I put a plan together, being patient, and I told Billy that’s what we were going to do and he monitored my speed all the time down the real rough sections so we didn’t have a flat or hurt our shocks and we just had a great day. It’s nice when you put a plan together and it works. There are a lot of places you can go race in the desert, but there is nothing anywhere in the world that comes even remotely close to these unforgettable SCORE Baja races we get to experience three times a year.”

Winning the overall Motorcycle and Class 22 title was the talented team of Kendall Norman, Santa Barbara Calif., and Tim Weigand, Santa Clarita, Calif., on a Johnny Campbell Racing Honda CRF450X. Finishing fifth among all vehicles, the pair crossed the finish line in 4:09:27 with an average speed of 55.90mph. It was Norman’s third overall win in this race in the last four years and Weigand’s first as the pair defeated a group of 69 motorcycles that took the green flag.

Norman started the race and rode to race mile 30, Weigand rode the section from race mile 30 to 166.9 and Norman brought it to the finish line from race mile 166.9.

“It wasn’t a walk in the park, I got knocked silly for a second,” said Norman while celebrating at the finish line. “I was going very well for the first eight miles and I slowed down when it got super rocky and I tagged a rock and rode the front wheel for like 50 feet when I finally ate it. When I crashed I hit my head and when I went to get up I fell on the ground again. I got back up and going and the next 500 yards, the same thing happened, but this time I didn’t go down.”

“We just had a solid ride,” Norman added. We were behind our JCR teammate Colton Udall and his riders, but when they came into the pit where I got on, they had radiator problems and we took over the lead again and just cruised it.”

Wayne Matlock, El Cajon, Calif., led a team to the Overall ATV and Class 25 victory for the third time in the last four years and second consecutive year in this race on a Honda TRX700X. He split the riding time equally with co-riders Harold Goodman Jr., Brownstown, Mich., and Josh Caster, El Cajon, Calif. Goodman was part of last year’s winning team with Matlock while this was Caster’s first.

Matlock started the race and rode to race mile 25 and finished the race, riding the final 62 miles. Goodman rode from race mile 25 to 93 and Caster rode from race mile 93 to 170.

Finishing fourth overall and third in SCORE Trophy-Truck was the team of Mark Post, Laguna Beach, Calif./Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas, who crossed the line 20 minutes, eight seconds behind Collins in the No. 3 Riviera Racing Ford F-150. All four top car and truck finishers completed the course quicker than the top motorcycle team. MacCachren drove the first half of the race and Post the second.

Returning to SCORE desert racing in the first time in over a year, Tim Herbst of Las Vegas drove solo to finish fifth overall among four wheel vehicles and second in Class 1 in the legendary Terrible Herbst Motorsports Smithbuilt-Ford open wheel desert race car. Tim Herbst, whose older brothers Troy and Ed Herbst debuted their new No. 19 Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy-Truck with a seventh-place finish in class, 7:34 behind Class 1 winners Ronny and Rick Wilson.

Creative veteran age group motorcycle rider Jim O’Neal, 62, Simi Valley, Calif., won Class 50 for motorcycle riders over 50 years old, adding his race-record 10th class win in San Felipe. Splitting the riding on a Honda CRF450X with O’Neal, who finished second in Class 30 on another talented team, was Andy Kirker, Santa Ana, Calif./Dan Dawson, Agua Dulce, Calif. and Tim Withers, Pepeekeo, Hawaii.

Eric Solorzano, Tijuana, Mexico, picked up his ninth win in the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 in Class 11 for stock VW Sedans.

Donald Moss, Sacramento, Calif., won Class 3 in his sturdy Ford Bronco for the seventh time in the last eight years for his 30th career SCORE race win. They also remained undefeated in 2009 with their second win.

Also winning their second consecutive race of the 2009 SCORE Desert Series were: Rick St. John, Encinitas, Calif./Adam Pfankuch, Carlsbad, Calif. (SCORE Lite, Duvel-VW), Kevin Carr, San Diego (Class 5, VW Baja Bug) and Gavin Skilton, Anaheim, Calif. (Honda Ridgeline).

Among the other car and truck Class winners late Saturday were: Jose Canchola Jr., Mexicali, Mexico (Class 7, Ford Ranger), Mike Lawrence, Sunset Beach, Calif. (Class 10, Lothringer-VW), Dave Crinklaw, Reedley, Calif. (Class 8, Ford F-150), Norm Turley, Long Beach, Calif., (Class 7SX, Ford Ranger), Marc Burnett, Chula Vista, Calif. (Class 6, Ford Ranger), Marcos Nunez, Ensenada, Mexico (Class 5/1600, VW Baja Bug), Daniel Reyes Jr., Calexico, Calif., (Class 9, Venegas-VW) and Justin Smith, Capistrano Beach, Calif. (Class 1-2/1600, Fraley-VW).

Among the other motorcycle class winners were teams led by Carlos Casa, Chula Vista, Calif. (Class 21, Honda CRF450X), Brian Campbell, Bakersfield, Calif. (Class 40, KTM 450XCF), Hector Castillo, Calexico, Calif., (Class 20, Yamaha WR250) and Ramon Isuarieta, Mexico City (Class 60, Honda CRF450X).

Winning the ATV Class 24 was the team led by defending SCORE Desert Series point champion Craig Christy, Burbank, Calif., on a Honda TRX450R.

The fastest overall Sportsman motorcycle was ridden by a team led by Jeff Leonard, Bakersfield, Calif., who rode a Honda CRF450X to win the SPT M/C>250cc class.

The fastest Sportsman car or truck was driven by the team led by Peter Lang, Santa Rosa, Calif., who drove a Homebuilt-Chevy in the SPT Car class.

Leading the Sportsman ATV classes was the hometown team led by Manuel Jimenez, San Felipe, Mexico, on a Honda TRX450R.

SCORE Trophy-Trucks have now won 14 overalls in San Felipe in the 16-year history of the marquee SCORE racing division.

Solorzano, Tijuana, Mexico, has eight wins in Class 11 for stock VW Sedans while Moss, Sacramento, Calif., has six wins in the last seven years in Class 3 in his sturdy Ford Bronco.

The World’s Foremost Desert Racing Series was visiting Mexico for the first of three races in 2009.

Through the efforts of SCORE’s electronic media partner, Aura360 Ventures of Maine, the motorcycle and ATV portion of the race will be featured in the April 26 NBC Sports telecast of the Jeep World of Adventure Sport. This will mark the third time these classes have been featured on that NBC show and Aura360 will also produce a complete-race DVD on the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 for the first time. SCORE official race DVDs are available at www.thebajaunlimited.com.

The world’s best desert racers return to Mexico for Round 3 of the 2009 SCORE Desert Series, June 5-7 for the 41st Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 5000 desert race in Ensenada.

In addition to season point class point championships, drivers in the Pro car and truck classes are also racing to earn prestigious SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards given to all car and truck class drivers who complete every required mile of the five-race season. Being presented by Toyota Motorsports for the 24th consecutive year, a total of 52 drivers remain eligible after Round 1 of the 2009 SCORE Desert Series.

Current SCORE official annual sponsors are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Volkswagen of America-official vehicle, Sunoco Race Fuels -official fuel supplier, Bilstein-official shock, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance-official Mexican auto insurance, Slime-official tire sealant and Red Bull--official energy drink. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Las Vegas Events, Terrible Herbst Inc., Blue C Enthusiast Advertising, Off-Road, American Suzuki, SignPros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.

Associate sponsors for the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 were the Tourism and Convention Bureau of Mexicali/San Felipe, and Cotuco.

For more information regarding the series, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters 818.225.8402 or visit the official website of the 2009 SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com.



23rd Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250

Round 2 of 2009 SCORE Desert Series

March 14, 2009—San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico, 232.4 miles



TOP OVERALL FINISHERS

Cars & Trucks

1. Brian Collins, Las Vegas, Dodge Ram 1500, 3:47:49 (61.21mph) (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

2. Robby Gordon, Charlotte, N.C., Chevy CK1500, 3:59:20 (58.26mph) (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

3. Ronny Wilson/Rick Wilson, Long Beach, Calif., Jimco-Chevy, 4:05:43 (56.75mph) (Class 1)

4. Mark Post, Laguna Beach, Calif./Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas, Ford F-150, 4:07:57 56.24mph (SCORE Trophy-Truck

5. Tim Herbst, Las Vegas, Smithuilt-Ford, 4:13:17 (55.05mph) (Class 1)

6. Chet Huffman, Northridge, Calif./Jerry Whelchel, Portola Hills, Calif., Chevy C1500, 4:17:05 (54.24mph) (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

7. Armin Schwarz, Germany/Martin Christensen, Escondido, Calif. (Denmark), Jimco-BMW, 4:19:42 (53.70mph) (Class 1)

8. Julio Herrera/Carlos Olmos, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Jefferies-Chevy, 4:23:05 (53.00mph) (Class 1)

9. Dale Lenk/Brett Lenk/Grant Lenk, Costa Mesa, Calif., Penhall-Chevy, 4:25:16 (52.57mph) (Class 1)

10. Randy Wilson, Lakewood, Calif./Rick Wilson, Long Beach, Calif., Jimco-Chevy, 4:34:01 (50.89mph) (Class 1)

11. Adam Householder, Orange, Calif., Chevy Silverado, 4:34:40 (50.77mph) (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

12. Paul Keller, El Cajon, Calif./Charles Rudolph, San Diego, Jimco-Chevy, 4:42:14 (49.41mph) (Class 1)

13. Ron Brant, Oak Hills, Calif./Ben Monroy, Torrance, Calif., Jimco-Chevy, 4:48:35 (48.32mph) (Class 1)

14. Richard Boyle, Ridgecrest, Calif./Tommy Kirkmeyer, Adelanto, Calif., Jefferies-Chevy, 4:48:45 (48.29mph) (Class 1)

15. Jose Canchola Jr./Francisco Gonzalez, Mexicali, Mexico, Ford Ranger, 4:51:48 (47.79mph) (Class 7)

16. Mike Lawrence, Banning, Calif./Blake Kirkpatrick, Hacienda Heights, Calif./Joel Liska, Banning, Calif., Lothringer-VW, 4:54:43 (47.31mph) (Class 10)

17. Rick St. John, Encinitas, Calif./Adam Pfankuch, Carlsbad, Calif., Duvel, 4:54:48 (47.30mph) (SCORE Lite)

18. Josh Rigsby/Steve Ewers, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Penhall-Chevy, 4:58:15 (46.75mph) (Class 1)

19. Dave Crinklaw, Reedley, Calif./Mike Thurlow, Kingsburg, Calif., Ford F-150, 4:59:05 (46.62mph) (Class 8)

20. Kevin Carr/Noe Valdez, San Diego, 5:11:18 (44.79mph) (Class 5)

Motorcycles

1. Kendall Norman, Santa Barbara, Calif./Timmy Weigand, Santa Clarita, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 4:09:27 (55.90mph) (Class 22)

2. Colton Udall, San Clemente, Calif./Quinn Cody, Los Olivos, Calif./Jeff Kargola, San Clemente, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 4:17:19 (54.19mph) (Class 22)

3. Ivan Ramirez, Ensenada, Mexico/Brent Harden, Menifee, Calif./Jose Villalobos, Tecate, Mexico, Honda CRF450X, 4:35:17 (50.65mph (Class 22)

4. Mike Johnson, El Paso, Texas/Rex Cameron, Albuquerque, N.M., Honda CRF450X, 4:47:46 (48.46mph) (Class 30)

5. Brian Campbell/Bill Cotton, Bakersfield, Calif./Pete Cochran, Laguna Beach, Calif., KTM 450XCF, 4:53:40 (47.48mph) (Class 40)

6. Carlos Casas/Noe Ibarra, Chula Vista, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 4:55:18 (47.22mph) (Class 21)

7. Cameron Corfman, El Centro, Calif./Jimmy Lopez, El Cajon, Calif./A.J. Stewart, Jamul, Calif., Beta RR525, 4:56:17 (47.06mph) (Class 22)

8. Jim O’Neal, Simi Valley, Calif./Tom Willis, Las Vegas/Derrick Paiement, Corona, Calif./Brian Sweany II, Lancaster, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 4:58:28 (46.72mph) (Class 30)

9. Jim O’Neal, Simi Valley, Calif./Andy Kirker, Santa Ana, Calif./Dan Dawson, Agua Dulce, Calif./Tim Withers, Pepeekeo, Hawaii, Honda CRF450X, 5:00:09 (46.46mph) (Class 50)

10. Adam Thissen, Reno, Nev./Robert Underwood, Coleville, Calif., KTM XC505, 5:02:46 (46.06mph) (Class 22)

ATVs

1. Wayne Matlock, El Cajon, Calif./Harold Goodman Jr., Brownstown, Mich./Josh Caster, El Cajon, Calif., Honda 700XX, 5:16:36 (44.04mph) (Class 25)

2. Felipe Velez, San Felipe, Mexico/Stefano Caputo, San Felipe, Mexico (Italy)/Heriberto Marquez, Ensenada, Mexico, Honda TRX450R, 5:31:01 (42.12mph) (Class 25)

3. Santos Perez, Tijuana, Mexico/Juan Sanchez/Raul Cano, Chula Vista, Calif., KTM 450, 5:32:25 (41.95mph) (Class 25)

4. Jeff Hancock, Salome, Ariz./Joshua Edwards, Peoria, Ariz., Honda TRX450R, 5:32:47 (41.90mph) (Class 25)

5. Craig Christy, Burbank, Calif./Steve Abrego, Covina, Calif./Dave Scott, Belen, N.M./Andy Lagzdins, Baltimore, Honda TRX450R, 5:43:48 (40.56mph) (Class 24)



Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250

All-Time Overall Champions

Cars & Trucks

Year--Driver(s), Vehicle (Class)

1982--Dan Cornwell, Chenowth-VW (Class 1)

1983--Corky McMillin/Scott McMillin, Chenowth-Porsche (Class 2)

1984--Scott McMillin/Corky McMillin, Chenowth-Porsche (Class 2)

1990--Brian Collins/Jack Johnson, Chenowth-VW (Class 1)

1991--Larry Ragland, Chevy C1500 (Class 8)

1992--Bob Richey/Boyd Cox, Raceco-Porsche (Class 1)

1993--Scott Douglas, Ford Ranger (Class 7)

1994--Ivan Stewart, Toyota SR5 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

1995--Larry Ragland, Chevy C1500 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

1996--Robby Gordon, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

1997--Curt LeDuc, Jeep Grand Cherokee (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

1998--Mark Post/Jerry Whelchel, Riviera-Chevy (Class 1)

1999--Ed Herbst/Tim Herbst, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

2000--Tim Herbst/Ed Herbst, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

2001--Tim Herbst/Ed Herbst, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

2002--Dan Smith/David Ashley, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

2003--Gus Vildosola/Rob MacCachren, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

2004--Mark Post/Jerry Whelchel, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

2005--Andy McMillin/Scott McMillin, Jimco-Chevy (Class 1)

2006--Garron Cadiente, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

2007--Mark Post/Rob MacCachren, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

2008--Brian Collins, Dodge Ram1500 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

2009--Brian Collins, Dodge Ram1500 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

Sportsman Cars & Trucks

Year--Driver(s), Vehicle (Class)

2008--Peter Lang, Homebuilt-Chevy (SPT Car)

2009--Peter Lang, Homebuilt-Chevy (SPT Car)



Motorcycles

Year--Rider(s), Vehicle

1982--Bob Balentine, Honda XR500 (Class 22)

1983--Jack Johnson, Honda XR500 (Class 22)

1984--Dan Smith/Dan Ashcraft, Husqvarna CR500 (Class 22)

1990--Dan Smith/Danny Hamel, KTM (Class 22)

1991--Larry Roeseler/Ted Hunnicut Jr, Kawasaki KX500 (Class 22)

1992--Larry Roeseler/Ted Hunnicut Jr, Kawasaki KX500 (Class 22)

1993--Danny Hamel, Kawasaki KX500(Class 22)

1994--Danny Hamel, Kawasaki KX500 (Class 22)

1995--Danny Hamel, Kawasaki KX500 (Class 22)

1996--Paul Krause, Kawasaki KX500 (Class 22)

1997--Tim Staab, Honda XR650 (Class 22)

1998--Johnny Campbell/Tim Staab, Honda XR650 (Class 22)

1999--Johnny Campbell/Cole Marshall, Honda XR650 (Class 22)

2000--Johnny Campbell/Tim Staab, Honda XR650 (Class 22)

2001--Steve Hengeveld/Jonah Street, Honda XR650R (Class 22)

2002--Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell, Honda XR650R (Class 22)

2003--Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell, Honda XR650R (Class 22)

2004--Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell, Honda XR650R (Class 22)

2005--Chris Blais/Andy Grider/Quinn Cody, KTM MXC525 (Class 22)

2006--Robby Bell/Kendall Norman, Honda CRF450X (Class 22)

2007--Robby Bell/Kendall Norman, Honda CRF450X (Class 22)

2008--Robby Bell/Johnny Campbell, Honda CRF450X (Class 22)

2009—Kendall Norman/Timmy Weigand, Honda CRF450X (Class 22)

Sportsman Motorcycles

Year--Rider(s), Vehicle

2008--Bill Gilbert, Honda CRF450X (SPT M/C>250cc)

2009Jeff Leonard, Bakersfield, Calif., Honda CRF450X (SPT M/C>250cc)

SCORE San Felipe 250 FINISHERS 3.15.09

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, 702.735.7123


23rd Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250

Round 2 of five-race 2009 SCORE Desert Series

March 14, 2009—San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico, 232.4 miles

Total Entries: 236 Total Starters: 226 Total Finishers: 162 (71.7 percent)



O F F I C I A L F I N I S H E R S

Pro Cars & Trucks

SCORE TROPHY-TRUCK (Unlimited Production Trucks)—1. Brian Collins, Las Vegas, Dodge Ram 1500, 3:47:49 (61.21mph); 2. Robby Gordon, Charlotte, N.C., Chevy CK1500, 3:59:20; 3. Mark Post, Laguna Beach, Calif./Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas, Ford F-150, 4:07:57; 4. Chet Huffman, Northridge, Calif./Jerry Whelchel, Portola Hills, Calif., Chevy C1500, 4:17:05; 5. Adam Householder, Orange, Calif., Chevy Silverado, 4:34:40; 6. B.J. Baldwin, Las Vegas, Chevy Silverado, 5:43:50; 7. Troy Herbst/Ed Herbst, Las Vegas, Ford F-150, 6:18:12; 8. Robbie Pierce/Mike Julson, Santee, Calif., Chevy Silverado, 7:34:36; 9. Greg Nunley, Visalia, Calif., Chevy Silverado, 7:54:57; 10. Ed Stout, Santa Ana, Calif., Chevy Silverado, 9:59:37

(17 Starters, 10 Finishers)

CLASS 1 (Unlimited single or two-seaters)—1. Ronny Wilson/Rick Wilson, Long Beach, Calif., Jimco-Chevy, 4:05:43 (56.75mph); 2. Tim Herbst, Las Vegas, Smithuilt-Ford, 4:13:17; 3. Armin Schwarz, Germany/Martin Christensen, Escondido, Calif. (Denmark), Jimco-BMW, 4:19:42; 4. Julio Herrera/Carlos Olmos, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Jefferies-Chevy, 4:23:05; 5. Dale Lenk/Brett Lenk/Grant Lenk, Costa Mesa, Calif., Penhall-Chevy, 4:25:16; 6. Randy Wilson, Lakewood, Calif./Rick Wilson, Long Beach, Calif., Jimco-Chevy, 4:34:01; 7. Paul Keller, El Cajon, Calif./Charles Rudolph, San Diego, Jimco-Chevy, 4:42:14; 8. Ron Brant, Oak Hills, Calif./Ben Monroy, Torrance, Calif., Jimco-Chevy, 4:48:35; 9. Richard Boyle, Ridgecrest, Calif./Tommy Kirkmeyer, Adelanto, Calif., Jefferies-Chevy, 4:48:45; 10. Josh Rigsby/Steve Ewers, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Penhall-Chevy, 4:58:15; 11. Armin Kremer, Germany/Sam Osmon, Escondido, Calif., Jimco-Chevy, 5:13:39; 12. Rob Bruce, Sublimity, Ore./Mark Witte, Silverton, Ore., Jefferies-Chevy, 5:36:45

(15 Starters, 12 Finishers)

CLASS 1-2/1600 (VW-powered, single or two-seaters to 1600cc)—1. Justin Smith, Capistrano Beach, Calif., Fraley, 5:11:30 (44.76mph); 2. Brian Wilson, Long Beach, Calif./Sammy Ehrenberg, Las Vegas, Kreger, 5:36:39; 3. Eric Duran/Hiram Duran/Evan Duran, Tecate, Calif., Neth, 5:37:40; 4. Mario Gastelum/Isaac Gastelum, El Centro, Calif., Jimco, 5:38:32; 5. Myan Spaccarelli, Simi Valley, Calif., Mirage, 5:40:59; 6. Luis Martinez, Mexicali, Mexico/Victor Lugo, Calexico, Calif., Mayoral, 5:42:07; 7. Marco Gallo/Juan Gallo, San Felipe, Mexico, Curry, 5:55:17; 8. Dave Caspino, Woodland Hills, Calif./Mike Malloy, Las Vegas, Lothringer, 6:36:50; 9. Edgar Alvarez/Edgar Alvarez Sr., Mexicali, Mexico, Curry, 7:04:45; 10. Arturo Velazco/Abel Velazco, Banning, Calif., Porter, 7:13:10; 11. Cody Robinson, El Centro, Calif./Roberto Romo, Mexicali, Mexico, TL, 8:45:12; 12. Samuel Araiza, La Paz, Mexico/Federico Montes, Ensenada, Mexico, Fraley, 9:33:05; 13. Josue Delgado/Marcos Valenzuela/Alonso Viveyos, Mexicali, Mexico, Borm, 9:58:34

(20 Starters, 13 Finishers)

CLASS 3 (Short Wheelbase 4X4)—1. Donald Moss, Sacramento, Calif./Ken Moss, Marysville, Calif., Ford Bronco, 7:40:55 (30.25mph); 2. Ken Leavitt, Ventura, Calif./Tom Blair, Twin Falls, Idaho, Ford Bronco, 8:41:55

(2 Starters, 2 Finishers)

CLASS 5 (Unlimited VW Baja Bugs)—1. Kevin Carr/Noe Valdez, San Diego, 5:11:18 (44.79mph); 2. Carlos Albanez/Luivan Voelker, Mexicali, Mexico, 6:25:09; 3. Shaun Dunbar, La Mesa, Calif./Trevor Terra, El Cajon, Calif., 7:01:30

(3 Starters, 3 Finishers)

CLASS 5/1600 (1600cc VW Baja Bugs)—1. Marcos Nunez/Norberto Rivera, Ensenada, Mexico, 6:04:21 (38.27mph); 2. Miguel Rosales/Edmundo Fernandez, Ensenada, Mexico, 6:20:00; 3. Gustavo Avina/Lucia Avina, Chula Vista, Calif., 6:23:12; 4. Trevor Anderson/Mark Anderson, Carlsbad, Calif., 6:54:47; 5. Pedro Athie/Ruben De La Fuente, Ensenada, Mexico, 7:12:31; 6. Alonso Angulo/Roberto Escobedo, Ensenada, Mexico, 7:13:52; 7. Sergio Moreno, Tijuana, Mexico/Carlos Iribe, Rosarito, Mexico, Fernando Rivera, Tijuana, Mexico, 7:17:28

(8 Starters, 7 Finishers)

CLASS 6 (Unlimited, production mini trucks)—1. Marc Burnett, Chula Vista, Calif., Ford Ranger, 5:25:20 (42.86mph); 2. Mike Koenig, Sacramento, Calif./Stuart Klein, Lakeside, Calif., Toyota Tacoma, 7:04:10; 3. Heidi Steele, San Clemente, Calif./Ross Savage, Huntington Beach, Calif., Ford Ranger, 8:20:45

(4 Starters, 3 Finishers)

CLASS 7 (Open, production mini trucks)—1. Jose Canchola Jr./Francisco Gonzalez, Mexicali, Mexico, Ford Ranger, 4:51:48 (47.79mph); 2. Igor Galvan/Guillermo Galvan, Bahia de Los Angeles, Calif., Ford Ranger, 5:32:57; 3. Dan Chamlee/Tom Chamlee, Carpenteria, Calif., Ford Ranger, 6:25:13; 4. Heidi Steele, San Clemente, Calif./Rene Brugger, San Diego, Ford Ranger, 7:22:00

(7 Starters, 4 Finishers)

CLASS 7SX (Modified, open mini trucks)—1. Norman Turley/Trevor Turley, Long Beach, Calif., Ford Ranger, 7:21:00 (31.62mph); 2. Nick Moncure/Ted Moncure/Doug Hood, Long Beach, Calif., Toyota Tacoma, 8:20:42; 3. John Holmes, Olivenhain, Calif., Ford Ranger, 9:05:00; 4. Eduardo Gonzalez, Lucerene Valley, Calif., Ford Ranger, 9:55:25

(5 Starters, 4 Finishers)

CLASS 8 (Full-sized two-wheel drive trucks)—1. Dave Crinklaw, Reedley, Calif./Mike Thurlow, Kingsburg, Calif., Ford F-150, 4:59:05 (46.62mph); 2. Clyde Stacey, Bristol, Va./Justin Matney, Bristol, Tenn., Chevy Silverado, 6:23:23; 3. Juan C. Lopez, Tecate, Mexico, Ford F-150, 8:21:42

(5 Starters, 3 Finishers)

CLASS 9 (VW-powered, Short wheelbase, single or two-seaters)—1. Daniel Reyes Jr., Calexico, Calif./Julian Rivera, Indio, Calif./Hector Ortega, Tijuana, Mexico, Venegas, 7:16:15 (31.96mph)

(3 Starters, 1 Finisher)

CLASS 10 (Single or two-seaters to 1650cc)—1. Mike Lawrence, Banning, Calif./Blake Kirkpatrick, Hacienda Heights, Calif./Joel Liska, Banning, Calif., Lothringer-VW, 4:54:43 (47.31mph); 2. Tito Robles/Lobsam Yee, Tijuana, Mexico, Jimco-Honda, 5:15:44; 3. Scott Gailey/Scott Whipple, Norco, Calif., GET-VW, 6:20:30

(10 Starters, 3 Finishers)

SCORE LITE (VW-powered, Limited single-1776cc-or two-seaters-1835cc)—1. Rick St. John, Encinitas, Calif./Adam Pfankuch, Carlsbad, Calif., Duvel, 4:54:48 (47.30mph); 2. Brent Parkhouse, Long Beach, Calif./Brian Burgess, Riverside, Calif., Molton, 5:47:00; 3. Lee Banning, Laveen, Ariz./Chris Godfrey, Phoenix/Lee Banning Jr., Litchfield Park, Ariz., Foddrill, 6:23:05; 4. Bill Hernquist/Scott Reams, La Mesa, Calif., Jimco, 6:48:15

(7 Starters, 4 Finishers)

CLASS 11 (Stock VW Sedans)—1. Eric Solorzano, Tijuana, Mexico, 9:11:15 (25.30mph)

(2 Starters, 1 Finisher)

STOCK FULL (Stock, Full-sized trucks)—

(2 Starters, 0 Finishers)

STOCK MINI (Stock, Mini-sized trucks)—1. Gavin Skilton, Anaheim, Calif./Vlad Chioreanu, Santa Monica, Calif., Honda Ridgeline, 8:40:20 (26.80mph)

(1 Starter, 1 Finisher)

PROTRUCK (Limited, Production Trucks)—1. Max Post, Laguna Beach, Calif./Alex Zachary, San Jacinto, Calif., Ford F-150, 5:26:25 (42.72mph)

(1 Starter, 1 Finisher)

PRO MOTORCYCLES

CLASS 22 (250cc or more)—1. Kendall Norman, Santa Barbara, Calif./Timmy Weigand, Santa Clarita, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 4:09:27 (55.90mph); 2. Colton Udall, San Clemente, Calif./Quinn Cody, Los Olivos, Calif./Jeff Kargola, San Clemente, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 4:17:19; 3. Ivan Ramirez, Ensenada, Mexico/Brent Harden, Menifee, Calif./Jose Villalobos, Tecate, Mexico, Honda CRF450X, 4:35:17; 4. Cameron Corfman, El Centro, Calif./Jimmy Lopez, El Cajon, Calif./A.J. Stewart, Jamul, Calif., Beta RR525, 4:56:17; 5. Adam Thissen, Reno, Nev./Robert Underwood, Coleville, Calif., KTM XC505, 5:02:46; 6. Cameron Steele, San Clemente, Calif./Mike Childress, Wrightwood, Calif./Jeff Laubscher, San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Cody Stuart, Capistrano Beach, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 5:08:03; 7. Ruben Senudo/Ruben Senudo Jr. /Raul Garcia/Sammy Garcia, San Diego, Honda CRF450X, 6:35:00

(8 Starters, 7 Finishers)

CLASS 21 (126cc to 250cc)—1. Carlos Casas/Noe Ibarra, Chula Vista, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 4:55:18 (47.22mph); 2. Ronnie Wilson, Glendale, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 5:27:34; 3. Jeremy Purvines/Ron Purvines, Henderson, Nev./Scott Glimp, Las Vegas, Honda CRF450X, 5:37:49; 4. Alfredo Osornio, Mexicali, Mexico/Alberto Ruiz, Ensenada, Mexico/Rene Magana, San Ysidro, Calif., Kawasaki KX450, 5:46:26; 5. Carlos Becerril, Calexico, Calif./Michael Stein, Phoenix/Colie Potter, San Diego, KTM 450XCR-W, 5:55:20; 6. Bill Boyer, Lomita, Calif./Stuart Goggins, Upland, Calif./Nicholas Blais, Chino, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 6:15:37; 7. David Zarate, Los Cabos, Mexico/Ramon Davila, La Paz, Mexico/Alberto Ross, Los Cabos, Mexico, Honda CRF450X, 7:17:51

(9 Starters, 7 Finishers)

CLASS 20 (125cc)—1. Hector Castillo, Calexico, Calif./Rene Pojodes, Mexicali, Mexico/David Gonzalez Jr., Chula Vista, Calif., Yamaha WR250, 6:07:03 (37.99mph); 2. Anna Cody, Simi Valley, Calif./Talya Dodson, Truckee, Calif./Cathy Duncan, Los Alamos, Honda CRF250X, 6:31:16; 3. Jesus Rios/Cuauhtemoc Beltran, Calexico, Calif./Edgar Espinoza, El Centro, Calif., Honda CRF250X, 7:04:16; 4. Manuel Reyes, Dulzura, Calif./Roberto Diaz, Campo, Calif./Abraham Chavez, Tecate, Calif., Yamaha YZ250F, 9:09:05

(4 Starters, 4 Finishers)

CLASS 30 (Riders over 30 years old)—1. Mike Johnson, El Paso, Texas/Rex Cameron, Albuquerque, N.M., Honda CRF450X, 4:47:46 (48.46mph); 2. Jim O’Neal, Simi Valley, Calif./Tom Willis, Las Vegas/Derrick Paiement, Corona, Calif./Brian Sweany II, Lancaster, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 4:58:28; 3. Sean Bradley, Ridgecrest, Calif./Kyle Abney, Albuquerque, N.M., Kawasaki KX500, 5:17:50; 4. Javier Hernandez, Obregon, Mexico/Edujardo Rosas, Huatabampo, Mexico/Mike Crowford, Phoenix, Honda CRF450X, 5:40:17; 5. Justin Hambleton, San Marcos, Calif., KTM 300XC, 5:50:13; 6. Alejandro Olguin/Miguel Coria/Victor Lujan, Mexicali, Mexico, Honda XR650R, 6:15:50; 7. Sol Saltzman, Red Cliff, Colo./Tony Larese, Vail, Colo./Pete Schmidtmann, San Felipe, Mexico, Honda CRF450X, 7:38:00

(7 Starters, 7 Finishers)

CLASS 40 (Riders over 40 years old)—1. Brian Campbell/Bill Cotton, Bakersfield, Calif./Pete Cochran, Laguna Beach, Calif., KTM 450XCF, 4:53:40 (47.48mph); 2. Scott Myers, Menifee, Calif./Brett Helm, Poway, Calif./Lou Franco, Sherman Oaks, Calif.,/Jeff Kaplan, Thousand Oaks, Calif./Tim Withers, Pepeekeo, Hawaii, Honda CRF450X, 5:04:12; 3. Julio Abril/Oscar Hale/Mario Acosta, Ensenada, Mexico, Yamaha WR450, 5:55:42; 4. Tom Vogt, Mesa, Ariz., Honda CRF450X, 8:25:34; 5. Chris Dornsife, Murrieta, Calif., Honda XR650R, 8:38:58

(6 Starters, 5 Finishers)

CLASS 50 (Riders over 50 years old)—1. Jim O’Neal, Simi Valley, Calif./Andy Kirker, Santa Ana, Calif./Dan Dawson, Agua Dulce, Calif./Tim Withers, Pepeekeo, Hawaii, Honda CRF450X, 5:00:09 (46.46mph); 2. Charlie Marshall, Carmichael, Calif./Doug Smith, Upland, Calif./Dave Potts, Burbank, Calif./Chuck Sun, Las Vegas, KTM530XCW, 5:14:13

(2 Starters, 2 Finishers)

CLASS 60 (Riders over 60 years old)—1. Ramon Isuarieta/Luis Zarate/Luis Farell/Manuel Cardona, Mexico City, Mexico, Honda CRF450X, 8:28:05 (27.44mph)

(1 Starter, 1 Finisher)

PRO ATVs

CLASS 25 (over 251cc)—1. Wayne Matlock, El Cajon, Calif./Harold Goodman Jr., Brownstown, Mich./Josh Caster, El Cajon, Calif., Honda 700XX, 5:16:36 (44.04mph); 2. Felipe Velez, San Felipe, Mexico/Stefano Caputo, San Felipe, Mexico (Italy)/Heriberto Marquez, Ensenada, Mexico, Honda TRX450R, 5:31:01; 3. Santos Perez, Tijuana, Mexico/Juan Sanchez/Raul Cano, Chula Vista, Calif., KTM 450, 5:32:25; 4. Jeff Hancock, Salome, Ariz./Joshua Edwards, Peoria, Ariz., Honda TRX450R, 5:32:47; 5. Nick Nelson, Tehachapi, Calif./Brandon Brown, Eumantilla, Ore.; Jorie Williams, Wash., Suzuki LTR450, 5:43:49; 6. Greg Row, Alpine, Calif./Travis Dillon, Avojoaze, Ariz./Kyle Pethers, Avondale, Ariz., Honda TRX450R, 6:30:32

(9 Starters, 6 Finishers)

CLASS 24 (under 251cc)—1. Craig Christy, Burbank, Calif./Steve Abrego, Covina, Calif./Dave Scott, Belen, N.M./Andy Lagzdins, Baltimore, Honda TRX450R, 5:43:48 (40.56mph); 2. Victor Lopez/Jorge Lopez, San Felipe, Mexico/Gonzalo Curiel, Ensenada, Mexico, Honda TRX450R, 5:55:54; 3. Miguel Arellano/Adan Arellano/Bernardo Arellano, Tijuana, Mexico, Suzuki LTR450, 6:03:54; 4. Jose Juarez/Ivan Fellez, Tijuana, Mexico/Daniel Delgado, Imperial Beach, Calif., Honda TRX450R, 6:07:48; 5. Roberto Ruiz/Francisco Espinoza/Jose Vieblas, El Centro, Calif., Honda TRX450R, 6:13:15; 6. Abraham Romero, Tijuana, Mexico/Sigifredo Jimenez, Chula Vista, Calif./Efrain Haros, Tijuana, Mexico, Honda TRX450R, 6:15:42; 7. Jovany Pimental/Jose Pimentel, Chula Vista, Calif./Romulo Gomez, San Diego, Honda TRX450R, 6:18:33; 8. Luis Berumen, Tijuana, Mexico/Sergio Lopez Jr. /Adrian Cruz, San Diego, Honda TRX450R, 6:24:07; 9. Tom Wright, Tabernacle, N.J./Pierre-Yves Denault/Renaud Fortin, Canada, Honda TRX450R, 6:24:59; 10. Shawn Robins/Jesse Van Maarion, Canada/Pedro Tarango, La Paz, Mexico, Honda TRX450R, 6:33:32; 11. Benjamin Lopez/Jesus Lopez/Gary Gonsalez, San Diego, Honda TRX450R, 7:14:21

(12 Starters, 11 Finishers)

CLASS 26 (Limited, Utility)—1. Reid Rutherford, Montrose, Colo./ Benn Vornadakis, Rico, Colo./Tony Valerio, Telluride, Colo., Arctic Cat, 7:24:02 (31.40mph); 2. Rob Ransford, Downers Grove, Ill./Tim Winiarski, Carson, Calif./Joe Rice, Lomita, Calif., Can Am Renegade, 9:02:30

(4 Starters, 2 Finishers)

SPORTSMAN

OVERALL SPT CAR—Peter Lang/Frans De Kock/Terry Cotter, Santa Rosa, Calif., Homebuilt-Chevy, 7:01:15 (33.10mph)

(2 Starters, 1 Finisher)

FIRST SPT TRUCK—

(2 Starters, 0 Finishers)

OVERALL SPT UTV—

(3 Starters, 0 Finishers)

FIRST SPT M/C<250CC—1. Humberto Valle, Tecate, Mexico/Javier Ochoa/Ivanhoe Ochoa, Tecate, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 5:56:39 (39.12mph)

(13 Starters, 11 Finishers)

OVERALL SPT M/C>250cc—Jeff Leonard, Bakersfield, Calif./Eugene Lane, Redondo Beach, Calif./Jack Cox, Oceanside, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 5:29:26 (42.33mph)

(17 Starters, 15 Finishers)

OVERALL SPT ATV—Manuel Jimenez/Carlos Lopez/Carlos Castaneda, San Felipe, Mexico, Honda TRX450R, 6:12:32 (37.43mph)

(15 Starters, 11 Finishers)

Tecate Score San Felipe 250: Tip-toeing at 190 kph to climb the podium

Third place at the second round of the SCORE Offroad Championship is reason enough to pop the cork! Oh well, I don’t want to moan, but to be honest I would have preferred a repeat result from last year when we won our class.

Start on San Felipe's Pacific beach



I reckon I’ve never driven our 640 hp Buggy so carefully. I knew after our practice that the torque limiter, which protects our drive train from hefty knocks, wasn’t working – like at the first race of the year. And that’s why my team mate Martin Christensen and I reined back the horses and concentrated on getting home. Over the first 15 kilometres I had to let four of my rivals pass me. For someone like me that’s not easy.

It was a long night before the start in the service tent ...

... and it was clear for Martin (r) and me: we had to conserve the car



But at the finish our caution proved to be right. These 232 miles or 370 kilometres of the 23rd San Felipe 250 were the worst that I’ve seen in a long time. I drove the first 80 kms over a washboard track – but you’ve got to imagine the corrugations were half a metre high. I felt like I was riding a bucking bronco at a rodeo and was completely hammered afterwards. For a change we then followed a river bed filled with rough, deep gravel – here you needed endless power, torque and momentum not to get stuck.

But then came a dry salt lake, normally a scorching oven, but today cool. Twenty minutes of full throttle, that’s over 190 kph. It was fantastic: Our eight-cylinder roared, the wind whipped around my helmet, and we sucked up those salty miles – awesome! The following dunes with powder-like sand and endless possibilities to get stuck quickly dragged us back into reality.



Fast but cautious: our drive at this year's San Felipe 250



Driver change after 122 miles. I felt a mixture of joy to have handed the car in good condition over to Martin, pumped with adrenalin but incredibly frustrated to be reined in. After all, I compete to win.

Martin had a tough job ahead of him. Down in the southern part of the loop (satellite photos are on SCORE-International.com) he was faced with huge dunes, mountains and a canyon which is an ultra tough and very difficult “trial” section. If Martin knows one thing, it’s to stay calm and drive through fast and clean. Hat off and thanks for the great team work!

Hat off to Armin Kremer as well: Armin drove the entire 232 miles alone. At the finish Armin was sure of one thing: He had never had such a tough experience in a competition car. But he brought our second Buggy home eleventh in our class and rounded off our team result perfectly.



Sunset over the Pacific: who could stay mad for too long?



Now we have a two and a half month until round three, the Tecate SCORE Baja 500. Still, over the next weeks we have a couple of extremely exciting and wonderful things to report. I’ll tell you more in 14 days. See you back here.

Until then,

best wishes,

Armin Schwarz





Armin Schwarz