SCORE Journal

SCORE Journal - June 2019

SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing

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No Mistakes Charles Dorrance Challenged Himself And Earned A TT Spec Win By Dan Sanchez Photos by Get Some Photo New challengers within the SCORE Trophy Truck Spec class are making this division one of the most spectacular and popular among SCORE fans. The talent and vehicles are making each race win difficult with a growing list of racers, but Charles Dorrance in the number 299 Geiser Chevy, planned to run a conservative race without mistakes, that ultimately led him to win the class at the SCORE Baja 500. The SCORE Trophy Truck Spec class stared side by side with the exception of Austin A.J. Jones in the number 279 truck who started first off the line. Immediately after, the battle began with trucks cutting each other off into the first turn in the Lucas Oil Off-Road Stadium, as they made their way through the jumps and out into the Baja desert. Sara Price in the number 204 truck started with Dorrance as the green flag dropped. “Heading onto the starting line I was overthinking the start with a competitor like Sara Price alongside me,” said Dorrance. “Finally, I just figured there are only two possibilities of how we will come out of the stadium course, so I just let it all go and allowed the race to unfold.” With A.J. Jones in the lead, the battle between Dorrance and Price continued throughout the course for second place. “Sara and I were battling and we caught up to the pileup on the silt bed. Fortunately, we followed the flagger who were beginning to move vehicles around, and the race was back on,” said Dorrance. “I lost my radio early on in the race so my only knowledge of what was going on was what I could physically see. Around race mile 11 or 15, there was another pile-up in the silt and A.J. Jones got stuck. Fortunately, there was a gap that Sara and I got through and I ended up tearing off a fender. Sara was ahead of me but I just kept my pace. It was then that Rafael Navarro in the number 209 truck passed me but I didn’t let it bother me. I later saw Sara Price on the side of the road and as I passed, I knew I had second place. After a scheduled fuel stop we caught up to Navarro who was broken down around race mile 230 or 240. It was then that I knew we were in the lead. I raced to mile 341 and Dave Carapetyan got in the truck and brought it home for us. It was amazing.” Dorrance’s race plan proved to be the winning one and it moves he and his team closer to compete with Sara Price for a possible SCORE Trophy Truck Spec Championship if he does well at the Lucerna SCORE Baja 400 and at the 52nd SCORE Baja 1000. While Sara Price and navigator Erica Sacks ultimately finished in second place, they ran a fantastic race without any additional drivers. Adding this finish to her second-place finish at the SCORE San Felipe 250, she now leads the points championship for the SCORE Trophy Truck Spec class, but there are still two races left to go. “We had a solid race,” said Price. “Dorrance got caught-up in the silt and we ended up passing him in the first 10-miles. Then we got a flat and our jack didn’t work so well, so we struggled to find a pit that had one we could use to change the tire. The lost time wasn’t enough to catch up and get first place.” Finishing third in class was the 218 truck of Chad Dohrman, with co-drivers Tim Weston and Andrew Ortiz. SCORE San Felipe class winner A.J. Jones was a favorite to win the class in this race, with a clear field from starting first off the line but ended up finishing fourth in class after several stops from the silt pile-ups and fixing mechanical issues. The 51st SCORE Baja 500 was not an easy race to win for any of the SCORE Trophy Truck classes. Out of the 38 SCORE Trophy Trucks that entered into the race only 15 managed to finish. The SCORE Trophy Truck Legend class had a better outcome with eight starters and six finishers while the Spec class had the highest number of finishers, 22 out of 29 entrants. Despite the tough course, these racers are determined to come back and face the challenge of the Lucerna SCORE Baja 400, and not only grab a chance for a race victory but also to put them in a good starting position for the SCORE Baja 1000 in November. SJ

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