SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1310482
Broc Dickerson This 19-year-old already has a SCORE Class 10 Championship and is pushing for one in Class 1 By Dan Sanchez Photos by GetSomePhoto It was three years ago when Broc Dickerson came onto the SCORE World Desert Championship series to compete in Class 10. Back then, he was 16, and after winning the SCORE San Felipe 250, the SCORE Baja 500, and the Tijuana SCORE Desert Challenge, he finished eighth at the 50th Anniversary of the SCORE Baja 1000 but still managed to clinch the Championship title in that class. Dickerson continued to place in the top five at most every SCORE race the following two seasons until he jumped into a Class 1 buggy in 2020. It was at the 52nd BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 500 that Dickerson had the fastest qualifying time to start first at the race, but complications on the vehicle made him finish in fifth place. With all that experience, Dickerson is the most successful of SCORE’s youngest racers over the past three years and continues to improve upon his skills. That winning attitude began early when his parents, Jeff and Tracy Dickerson, first put him into a race vehicle, carrying on the legacy set by Dickerson’s great grandfather Wally Pankratz. In the 1970s, Pankratz and his daughter Tiny Dickerson (Broc’s grandmother) won the Baja 500 racing with Dick Lee (Category 1). Broc’s dad, Jeff Dickerson, raced in Pro Truck, which led to Broc becoming a short course champion by age 8. When he jumped into a Class 10 car, Dickerson quickly learned the vehicle and how to drive longer courses. “The Class 10 car was fun and very competitive,” said Dickerson. “I quickly got used to the car and learned to carry momentum and do all the things you need to keep moving fast. Once I got into the Class 1 car, there is the change to more horsepower, but that is what makes it more fun to drive.” The move to Class 1 was a big step in Dickerson’s racing career, but he had already become accustomed to handling a vehicle like that. “The step up to more power wasn’t huge for me,” he said. “I was already familiar with how to properly handle it, as our pre-runner is almost like the race car.” If there was any proof of Dickerson’s talents with more power in the vehicle, his first-place qualifying runs at the 52nd BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 500 Presented by 4 Wheel Parts proved he was in the right place. “Driving the new Class 1 car is a little different as much of it is controlling myself, not the car,” he says. “The idea to keep driving at 70-percent of our full pace and saving the car, especially for the SCORE Baja 1000. At the 500, we ran at a safe place and kept time, but the next race is going to be rough.” In Class 1, Dickerson faces not only more experienced drivers but ones who have also won multiple championships. “There are some fast guys in this class like Cody Parkhouse, Mason Cullen, and the Wilson team,” says Dickerson. “I believe the key to winning in this class comes from being able to pre-run more extensively and familiarizing yourself with the course. I believe the more you pre-run, the safer the race can be for the driver. For example, in San Felipe, for the SCORE Baja 500, I made many mental notes and remembered some lines.” Dickerson’s Class 1 buggy is a single-seater, which has no room for a navigator. “I don’t like making a bunch of notes on the GPS,” he says. “If I familiarize myself with the course better, I’m less likely to hit something or roll.” Whatever Dickerson is doing, it’s working for him as there’s no doubt he will be successful as a Class 1 driver before he reaches the age of 21. Then, it’s only a guess what he will want to do in the future, but he admits Baja racing is in his blood. “The goal is to do a year or two in the 1-car and then put my name out there to get into a SCORE Trophy Truck,” he says. “Right now, I want to win the SCORE Baja 1000, and if a team wants me to start driving for them, I’m willing to start somewhere and learn. No matter how it goes in the next couple of years, I have definite plans to race in Baja for a while.” SJ