SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1073247
32nd SCORE San Felipe 250 Rob MacCachren Starts The Season With A Bang By Dan Sanchez Photography: Get Some Photo The news going into the first race of the 2018 SCORE season was that SCORE officials did away with qualifying before each race. This meant that each competitor had to start how they finished in the previous race. This would make it much more difficult for top contenders who might have a mechanical problem or get got caught up in traffic and not finish in the front of the pack for the SCORE Baja 500 and SCORE Baja 1000. Nevertheless, it caused many racers who normally only competed at the “500” and “1000” to participate in all four races during the 2018 season. This was great for fans who wanted to see competitors like Rob MacCachren and Apdaly Lopez go head-to-head for the SCORE Trophy Truck Championship. In addition, the new rules brought out competitors like Bryce Menzies, Ryan Arciero, and Robby Gordon to more SCORE races this season, as well as members of the McMillin family, including Andy McMillin, who showed up in the number 31 Chevy Silverado, Dan McMillin in the number 23 Ford F-150, and Luke McMillin in the number 83 Ford F-150. The first race of the season, the SCORE San Felipe 250, was a grueling but fast-paced 319-mile course that set the record for the most mileage in this event. The change to starting positions lead to a record-setting 246 starters for the race, who each entered a drawing to see where they would start. Within the SCORE Trophy Truck division, Cameron Steele drew the first position for the race. In other divisions, Javier Robles Jr. started first in Class 1, as did Pat Sims in Trophy Truck Spec, Todd Winslow in Class 10, and Aldo Salazar in Pro UTV FI. Rob MacCachren started the race in sixth place, in the SCORE Trophy Truck division and managed to win the race overall. Cameron Steel, who started first, finished first physically but didn’t have the time to beat MacCachren and wound up with a second place finish. This was MacCachren’s sixth SCORE Trophy Truck win in San Felipe. In the Pro Moto division, the 7x team of Justin Morgan and Mark Samuels started what would be a winning season for the two popular riders. They started fourth and battled with the 1x team led by Shane Esposito. The 2018 season would also introduce fans to the Monkey Business Racing team, owned by Mark Winkelman and lead by Santiago Creel. The team competed with a 66x and 4x team in Pro Moto Unlimited, as well as the 100x Championship team in Pro Moto Limited, as well as other teams in the Pro Moto age and Ironman classes. Within the Pro Quad Class, 2017 Champion Said Sanchez finished second behind the 15a team of Juan Sanchez, which would end up being Said Sanchez’s only defeat the rest of the season. Class 1 racer Justin Davis finished first in his division ahead of his toughest competitor, 2017 Class Champion Brian Wilson. The young rookie Class 10 Champion Broc Dickerson, started the season with mechanical problems finishing 13th, well behind the class winner Chase Warren in the number 1008 car. 2018 was also the second season for the Trophy Truck Legends class which had Russell Buehler win in San Felipe with Gus Vildosola finishing in second place. The Trophy Truck Spec division also had greater numbers this year. A total of 18 were in San Felipe, which William Hendrick managed to beat to the finish line first. Pro UTV classes were now organized in three divisions, the Pro UTV Forced Induction, Pro UTV Normally Aspirated, and Pro UTV Unlimited. That didn’t matter for Kristen and Wayne Matlock, as the two began the season by dominating in San Felipe. Kristen won in the Pro UTV NA class and Wayne finished first in Pro UTV FI making it a great day for the Matlocks. In the Unlimited class, Jesus Menendez Jr. finished first and would eventually put he and his team of Mexican racers on the map as a championship team as fans would discover during the remainder of the season.