SCORE Journal

SCORE-Journal-March-2022

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

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2022 King Shocks SCORE SAN FELIPE 250 PREVIEW Back To The Malecon By Dan Sanchez Photography by Get Some Photo Now in its third decade, the King Shocks 35th SCORE San Felipe 250 race will start the 2022 season with anticipation towards new challenges, new vehicles, and with again welcoming SCORE fans at the start and finish line. Now that COVID restrictions have relaxed in Mexico, government officials allowed SCORE to welcome back fans to the San Felipe Malecon for Contingency and the start and finish of the race. QUALIFYING SESSIONS Starting positions for this year’s race will require some of the class participants to qualify, with sessions beginning on Thursday, March 31st. This will be for SCORE Trophy Truck, Trophy Truck Legend, Class 1, and Trophy Truck Spec classes. Racers will begin their qualifying in the order that they registered, while other classes will have their starting order for the race determined by a draw after the end of online racer registration. A RICH AND COLORFUL HISTORY The SCORE San Felipe 250 began in 1982 and ran for three years with Dan Cornwell (SCORE’s Tech Director) winning the inaugural race Overall in a VW-powered Chenowth. The following two races (1983-’84) were won by Corky McMillin and his son Scott in the Porsche-powered Chenoweth they called “Macadu.” After the 1984 race, HDRA and SCORE joined as a singular desert racing entity. This postponed the San Felipe 250 until 1990 when it was won Overall by Brian Collins and Jack Johnson in a Chenowth. The race continued to grow, attracting more racers until its peak in 2007 when it had a total of 394 racers competing. That year, SCORE President Sal Fish had to move the race to Ensenada less than two weeks before the start due to disputes between landowners and government officials. The race made it back to San Felipe in 2008 and continued until it was postponed in 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After a two-year hiatus due to pandemic safety concerns, the race returned in 2021 with a popular surge that had a total of 269 entries. 2021 WINNERS Last year, the SCORE San Felipe 250 had a record-setting field of 31 SCORE Trophy Truck racers who took on a 280.2-mile course. After qualifying, Bryce Menzies, Andy McMillin, Luke McMillin, Gus Vildosola Jr., and Alan Ampudia were the first to start the race in that order. With an incredibly fast pace, some of the leaders had difficulties and dropped away, but Menzies continued to hold the lead for the ultimate win followed by Luke McMillin and Andy McMillin who finished second and third. Class 1 competitors got their first look at the new big-block Chevy-powered AlumaCraft No. 168 car of Shelby and Cody Reid which started sixth in a field of eight competitors. The car seemed to have powered effortlessly past racers such as Mason Cullen and 2020 Class Champion Cody Parkhouse, before passing first place qualifier, Broc Dickerson, to stretch out a comfortable lead and take the win. The SCORE Trophy Truck Legend Class saw Rolf Helland in the No. 37L truck begin his perfect winning streak of the season. In the SCORE Trophy Truck Spec class, the 2021 SCORE San Felipe saw 34 competitors starting the race. With extremely tough competition, Jason Coleman in the No. 292 truck won the class. Class 10 racer Chase Warren was competing to retain his 2020 Championship title and despite difficulties during the beginning of the race, managed to pull out another win. In Class 7, the Honda Ridgeline team of Jeff Proctor finished the race in the top 25 Overall. Finishing first in SCORE Lites was Scott Wisdom and family, while Kevin Sanchez took the class in the 1/2-1600 class. Within the popular Bug classes, Greg Sullivan in the 508 car finished first in Class 5, while Jorge Gutierrez in the 598 car finished first in 5-1600. Of the three Class 11 racers that competed in the 2021 SCORE San Felipe 250, Luis Fernando Garcia completed the course and finished first in class. In other four-wheel classes, Tim Spurgeon of the BC2 team won in the Baja Challenge class, Arturo Montano won Class 7F, Armando Duron won Class 7SX. The 2021 race also brought out the Pete Sohren family as honorary Grand Marshals for the race. In addition to their duties, they honored their late father by racing and winning in Class 3000 with children Farrah, Van, Blair, and Paige Sohren driving the Pistol Pete BajaLite-Chevy. Moto Divisions In the Pro Moto Unlimited division, Shane Redline in the 22x bike started first. Redline is the father of SCORE Trophy Truck racer Jax Redline and after starting the race, handed the motorcycle off to Chris Phillips and other members of the 22x team. In the mix of racers was Derek Ausserbauer, and Colton Udall on the 5x bike, Ana Rivas and her team on the 21x bike, the 17x team of Brian Wipperman, and the 9x team of Ryan Jay Stephens. In the end, Ausserbauer and Udall demonstrated they had both the speed and stamina to win the race. Likewise, Pro Moto Ironman racer Edgar Cota on the 723x bike rode at a fast pace and managed to stay ahead of the class champion Juan Carlos Salvatierra to take the win. In other Pro Moto classes, 2019 Pro Moto Limited Champion Fernando Beltran and his team rode his 100x bike to another victory in San Felipe. Pro Moto 30 was won by the unstoppable Jano Montoya and his team on the 325x bike. Ryan Liebelt and his team on the 408x bike finished first in Pro Moto 40, while Giovanni Spinali and his 510x team, which also consisted of multi-class champion Jim O’Neal, finished first in Pro Moto 50. Scott McIntosh and his 628x team finished first in Pro Moto 60 to finish out the moto classes. In Pro Quad, the 37a team of Ricardo Villafana finished first, while the 249x team of Jack Lundin finished first in the Sportsman M/C class. Local Danny Magdalelano and his team finished first in the 110a quad to take the Sportsman Quad class. UTV Divisions With 62 competitors challenging the tough San Felipe desert, it was the Jagged-X team of Brandon Schueler and Cayden MacCachren who took first in the Pro UTV FI class. Winning the Pro UTV N/A class was Kristen Matlock, and Mike Cafro won the Pro UTV Stock class. This gave Polaris three class wins in this race alone. The SCORE Pro UTV Open class was a new designation for the previous Pro UTV Unlimited class and had numerous competitors competing, including veteran UTV Champion Wayne Matlock. In the end, it was Justin Elenburg in the No. 1870 Can-Am who took the win. SJ

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