December 6, 2007
Gasper bros take Class 1
Post/MacCachren capture SCORE Trophy-Truck point title
And earn Overall point crown in 2007 SCORE Desert Series
Class point champions, Toyota Awards and SCORE Off-Roadsman Awards
To be presented Saturday at Whiskey Pete's in Primm, Nev.
LOS ANGELES—Sealing the deal with their overall and class win in the season-ending 40th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, veteran desert racers Mark Post and Rob MacCachren have claimed the 2007 SCORE Desert Series point championship in SCORE Trophy-Truck as well as the 2007 SCORE Overall point championship.
The 2007 SCORE class point champions, along with the SCORE Toyota Award winners and the SCORE Off-Roadsman of the Year honorees will be celebrated Saturday night at the annual SCORE Awards Night in Primm, Nev. With a reception starting at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and the awards show at 7:30 p.m., the star-studded desert racing night of champions will be held in the showroom at Whiskey Pete’s Casino.
With just a one-point lead heading into the amazing 1,296.84-mile season finale run the length of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, Post, 49, of San Juan Capistrano, Calif. and MacCachren, 42, of Las Vegas, drove the No. 3 Riviera Racing Ford F-150 to three wins, one second and two fourth place finishes in the six-race 2007 SCORE Desert Series, the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Series.
Earning 508 championship points along the way, Post/MacCachren also made history by becoming the first SCORE Trophy-Truck in the 14-year history of SCORE’s marquee racing division for high-tech, 800-horsepower, unlimited production trucks to capture the SCORE Overall point championship as well. The won this year’s SCORE Baja 250, SCORE Las Vegas Terrible’s Cup III, and the SCORE Baja 1000 and finished second in SCORE Trophy-Truck in the SCORE Terrible’s Primm 300.
“I can’t really put into words all that this championship means to me and to everyone associated with Riviera Racing,” said Post, the Southern California businessman who will turn 50 on Dec. 11. “We’ve been competing in SCORE desert racing for nearly 20 years and while we have won several races in different classes, this is our first season point championship and winning the 2007 SCORE Overall point crown is icing on the cake. This year was an incredible return on all of the blood, sweat and tears Riviera Racing has poured out to reach this level. It’s still sinking in…all that we have done this amazing year. While we don’t want this championship feeling to end, we know that next season is just over a month away and Riviera Racing is looking forward to defending our championship.”
While it was Post’s first SCORE season point championship, MacCachren, 42, earned his eighth class point title including his second in SCORE Trophy-Truck. MacCachren, who finished his first season driving for Riviera Racing, won the first SCORE Trophy-Truck point title when the class debuted in 1994.
With a SCORE-record 877 different drivers/riders of record in 2007, SCORE points are determined both on final finishing position and number of vehicles that started the race within each individual class.
With Robby Bell leading the way for the second straight year, American Honda won the Class 22 and 2007 SCORE Overall motorcycle point championship for the 12th straight year. Riding with Bell, Murrieta, Calif., during this championship season on the No. 1x Honda CRF450X were Kendall Norman, Santa Barbara, Calif., Steve Hengeveld, Oak Hills, Calif., and Johnny Campbell, San Clemente, Calif. The quartet won all three SCORE races for motorcycles this year, earning Bell and Norman their second SCORE class point championship while Campbell earned his 10th and Hengeveld his sixth.
Danny Prather, Ramona, Calif., repeated as the Class 25 and 2007 SCORE Overall ATV point champion, leading his team to three straight wins in the three-race series. Riding the No. 1a Honda TRX450R with Prather were teammates, Mike Cafro, Carlsbad, Calif./Levi Marana, Hemet, Calif./Marc Spaeth, Warner Springs, Calif./Dana Creech, Murrieta, Calif.
Second in SCORE Trophy-Truck and overall 4-wheel vehicle points in 2007 was B.J. Baldwin, 28, of Las Vegas, the 2006 SCORE Trophy-Truck season point champion, who earned 489 points in the No. 1 Baldwin Motorsports Chevy Silverado. Baldwin won the 2007 SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge and led the class point standings until the fifth race of the year.
Third in SCORE Trophy-Truck points and third overall was Garron Cadiente, Mesa, Ariz., with 470 points, including winning this year’s SCORE Terrible’s Primm 300 in the No. 38 G&R Racing Ford F-150.
Tied for fourth overall with 466 points each were the teams of Larry Ragland, Cave Creek, Ariz./Brian Collins, Las Vegas and brothers Bill Gasper, Chino Hills, Calif./Bill Gasper, Santa Barbara, Calif.. Ragland/Collins were fourth in SCORE Trophy-Truck points in the No. 12 Collins Motorsports Chevy Silverado while the Gaspers won the unlimited Class 1 in their Porter-Chevy open-wheel desert race car. Driving consistently, but without a race win in 2007, it was the Gasper brothers third career SCORE class point championship and first in Class 1.
Sixth in overall points and second in Class 1, just one point behind the Gaspers, was the team of Larry Roeseler, Hesperia, Calif./Troy Herbst, Las Vegas, who won three races this season, including their fourth straight in the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, in the legendary Smithbuilt-Ford open wheeler. Being retired in the near future, the ‘landshark’ won Class 1 in 23 SCORE races since it debuted in 1997.
Winning Class 1-2/1600 and seventh overall with 462 points was Dave Caspino, Woodland Hills, Calif., in a VW-powered Lothringer open-wheel desert race car.
Eighth overall and second in Class 1-2/1600 for the second straight year was the team of L.J. Kennedy, Orange, Calif./Sammy Ehrenberg, Las Vegas with 460 points in a ChenoSPF-VW.
Ninth overall and third in Class 1 was Ronny Wilson, Long Beach, Calif., with 455 points in a Jimco Chevy while 10th overall and fourth in Class 1 was Eric Chase and his father Stuart Chase, of Burbank, Calif., who earned 442 points in a Penhall-Chevy.
The team of Tim Noe, San Diego/Tom Watson, El Centro, Calif., finished 12th overall and won the SCORE Lite season championship in their Jimco-VW for an unprecedented fourth straight season. The pair has had driving help from Gary Arnold, El Cajon, Calif., in some races along with Vic Bruckmann, who drove part of this year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. Consistency has been their strength and during this amazing four year run, they do have five race wins in their class, but even more significantly, they have finished all 23 races during this stretch.
Winning all four SCORE races he entered this year, venerable Rod Hall, 70, Reno, Nev., earned his 13th career SCORE class season title by winning Stock Mini in a Hummer H3. Among his wins this year was the 40th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, where he has a SCORE record 19 class wins and is the only driver who has driven a car or truck for all 40 years in the legendary race.
Two racers in 4-wheel vehicle classes who started the 2007 season with three straight wins and held on to win the points in their respective classes were Nick Vanderwey, Phoenix (Class 8, Chevy Silverado) and Lobsam Yee, Tijuana, Mexico (Class 10, Jimco-Honda). It was Vanderwey’s third career SCORE class season point crown and the first for Yee.
Led by Yee, Mexican drivers won an all-time high of five SCORE class titles among cars and trucks. Besides Yee, other class champions from Mexico were Luivan Voelker, Mexicali (Class 5, VW Baja Bug), Mario Reynoso, Tijuana (Class 5/1600, VW Baja Bug), Eric Fisher, Ensenada (Class 9, Garibay-VW) and Ramon Fernandez, Ensenada (Class 11, VW Sedan).
John Griffin, Mission Viejo, Calif., won two races this year to earn his sixth career SCORE class season title in Stock Full, and his first driving a Ford F-350.
In Class 7, Dan Chamlee, Carpenteria, Calif., won two races this season in his Ford Ranger to capture his third career SCORE class season point title, a feat matched in Class 7SX in another Ford Ranger driven by Rich Severson, Mesa, Ariz.
Other 4-wheel class point champions included: Dylan Evans, Corona, Calif. (Class 3, Toyota FJ Cruiser), Mike Horner, Mission Viejo, Calif. (Class 7S, Toyota Tacoma) and Jason Voss/Rich Voss, Cupertino, Calif. (Protruck, Ford F-150). It was the second straight season title for Horner and the first for both Evans and Voss.
Among the other motorcycle classes, veteran Jim O’Neal, 60, Simi, Calif., once again put together two teams of talented riders and won the points in two age group classes. O’Neal and his merry men won both Class 30 (riders over 30 years old) on a Honda CRF450X and Class 50 (riders over 50 years old) on an O’Neal Racing Honda XR650R. O’Neal’s teams won all three races this year in Class 30 and one in Class 50. O’Neal now has 11 career SCORE class season point championships, including two each for the last three straight years.
In Class 40, Brett Helm, Poway, Calif., put together an all-star team of riders on a Honda CRF450X and won all three races in his class on the way to the season crown.
In the Manufacturer’s point standings Jimco Racing Products again won the Original Buggy Chassis points and Major Performance repeated as the top Engine Builder.
The 2007 SCORE Desert Series also included the chase for the $75,000 Kartek Off-Road contingency bonus awarded to several 2007 SCORE Class point champions along with the run for the $12,000 Toyota True Grit and Toyota Milestone Awards.
Current SCORE official annual sponsors are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Sunoco Race Fuels/Bryant Petroleum-official fuel supplier, Bilstein-official shock, Volkswagen-official vehicle, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance-official Mexican auto insurance, American Racing ATX Series-official wheel, Slime-official tire sealant, Red Bull--official energy drink and Bosch Power Tools-official power tool. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Las Vegas Events, Terrible Herbst Inc., Blue C Enthusiast Advertising, Kartek Off-Road, Fram, Autolite, Prestone, Bendix, American Suzuki, Micron, NAPA Chassis, SignPros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.
For more information regarding the series, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters 818.225.8402 or visit the official website of the SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com.
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