SCORE Journal

SCORE-Journal-December-2021

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

Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1438167

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 26 of 117

THE DREAM BECOMES REALITY Rob MacCachren and Luke McMillin Team-Up To Crush the SCORE BaJa 1000 By Larry Saavedra Photos by Get Some Photo After crossing the finish line at the 54th BFGoodrich SCORE Baja 1000 Presented by 4 Wheel Parts, Rob MacCachren and Luke McMillin were almost left speechless— almost. They were still running on adrenaline when SCORE Journal caught up with them after driving a combined 1,226 miles, battling head-to-head against some of the best race teams in desert racing, finishing with a blistering time of 20 hours, 45 minutes, and 58 seconds. After the results were calculated, their run was fast enough to be officially crowned the 2021 Overall Race Winner and SCORE Trophy Truck Class winners in the Big Blue M, 4 Wheel Parts/BFGoodrich Tires truck. For this race, the truck carried the No. 11 MacCachren team number as he was DOR for this race. McMillin wanted MacCachren to have a chance at winning another SCORE Baja 1000 race and championship. After the race, both showed their enthusiasm by putting on a blue t-shirt with the words “dream team” emblazoned across the front, and raised their fists to acknowledge the fans, teammates, and sponsors that made the race a success. It was the second consecutive SCORE Baja 1000 Class win for McMillin and a Class Championship win for MacCachren, who now has a total of five SCORE Baja 1000 wins under his belt. And to top off the victory even further, both drivers walked away with the BFGoodrich Tires $40,000 bonus. MacCachren said he knew from the start that the LaPaz run would be extremely demanding on both the man and the machine. “It takes a well-organized, overly prepared, passionate team to finish, let alone win the race,” he said. “Luke, Jason Ducan, Jason Ledezma, and the entire McMillin team has what it takes.” The No. 11 truck physically started in second place with MacCachren in the driver’s seat and as the driver of record. MacCachren said he pushed hard across 700 miles of the rough course and held his position until he handed the wheel over to McMillin. The only threat in front of him was the race-leading team of Bryce Menzies and cousin Andy McMillin in the Menzies Ford Raptor. Menzies started the race first after finishing first at the SCORE Baja 400, and handed off the truck to McMillin around race mile 650. Shortly after, the team had engine trouble which allowed the No. 11 team to easily pass them and remain in the lead position until the finish. The MacCachren and McMillin team averaged 59.05 miles per hour without any issues. “Everything came down to being prepared,” said MacCachren. “We took three trips to Baja to pre-run the course, and Luke came here at least twice. Winning another SCORE Baja 1000 was a great opportunity. The people that came down to watch the race were wonderful. We had zero issues with the BFGoodrich tires, and that certainly helped us save valuable time.” Immediately after the race, MacCachren posted on Instagram, stating, “I take pride in our team and being able to call us the ‘21 SCORE TT Class Champions. Aligning myself with the best products, best sponsors, and very hard working and talented crew members is the key to success.” MacCachren also threw a shout-out to Andres “Lechero” Rodriguez, his long-time team head mechanic, for his hard work prepping the No. 11 truck. McMillin was no less excited about the race. “It is really special to win back-to-back SCORE Baja 1000s,” he said. “We are very grateful for all the hard work everyone on the team has done. I bought 120 dream team t-shirts for the entire crew, and our dream came true today. We had an amazing season, but the incident back at the SCORE Baja 500 this year took away the class championship from our team, but it made it a lot easier to pass it off to Rob. Knowing that we still helped be a part of it and even finished the season in four-wheel drive! There’s no one better to win it with than Rob, and we’ll be back because we want to win this race next year, and every other race in 2022.” As the fans can attest, it truly was a race of dream teams. Mexico’s six-time TT Class winner Tavo Vildosola’s team in the Ford Raptor TT was relentless from the start, as were the other teams of Cameron Steele, and Alan Ampudia. But in the end, it was MacCachren and McMillin who stood on top of the podium after battling it south to La Paz. SJ

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of SCORE Journal - SCORE-Journal-December-2021