SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/812217
MAC FLEXES HIS MUSCLE AFTER AN ABSENCE FROM THE SCORE SAN FELIPE 250, ROB MACCACHREN SHOWS HE’S THE DOMINANT FORCE THIS SEASON. Everyone knows Rob MacCachren is a top competitor in the SCORE Trophy Truck division, but at this year’s SCORE San Felipe 250, the Rockstar Energy team owner demonstrated how hard he and the team will be competing during the 2017 racing season. MacCachren began the 31st SCORE San Felipe 250 winning the starting position during the race’s first ever qualifying event, but the experienced racer knows that’s not always the best place to be. “First off the line is a good thing and a bad thing,” said MacCachren. “Within the first five miles, I had to pass about 15 cars that were on the course; people who were just trying to get to their spot to watch the race. We lost a little bit of time for the people behind us, as we were clearing the course for everyone else, but we made it back up.” MacCachren’s race, however, didn’t come without its difficulties. Around mile 50 they clipped a truck and ended up with a flat tire. Cameron Steele and Apdaly Lopez, who qualified second and third, passed him while they were rushing to change it. From then on, Steele had the open Baja terrain all to himself and managed to keep Lopez behind him for most of the race. MacCachren kept a good pace and caught up to Steele where they battled for position as they approached the finish line. “Coming up on mile 200, there was gnarly sand whoops,” said MacCachren. “I got really close to him [Steele], about 100-feet back, and I couldn’t see for a moment and went off into a cactus that came into the cab and stuck all over us. My co-driver Wayne told me not to be a wimp so we ignored it and got out ahead of Cameron right before the Huatamote wash and ran hard for the last 30 miles.” Steele Narrowly Misses A Win Cameron Steele fought a great battle with MacCachren and ran most of the race out in front. Unfortunately for Steele, the third-member in the rear axle broke close to the finish line, and the truck had to be towed in. “We were three miles from town and 30-seconds behind MacCachren when we completely lost the third member right at the bridge,” said Steele. “Locals came out, grabbed our tow rope and pulled us out of the way.” Steele was actually able to finish thanks to BJ Baldwin, who pushed him across the finish line. With Baldwin’s assistance, Steele managed to finish in seventh place. Baldwin later aided Steele again with a tow up to the podium for an interview where he thanked Baldwin and the local people for their assistance. MacCachren Celebrates The victory for MacCachren added to his previous wins here in 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2012. “We all know how rough and rocky San Felipe is to race,” said MacCachren. “So this win wasn’t easy. One of the cool things about this race, however, is that we got to go 142 mph across Diablo dry lake! The ground was harder than normal so it was packed down enough for the increased speed.” Rob MacCachren now leads the SCORE Trophy Truck division which is closely followed by Billy Wilson who finished the race in second place, and ahead of 2016 SCORE Trophy Truck Champion Apdaly Lopez who finished in third. Justin Matney in the number 32 Chevy finished in fourth place only three seconds behind Lopez, while B.J. Baldwin and Troy Herbst finished in fifth and sixth place. Wilson Drives Away With The Class 1 Victory Although Brad Wilson earned the Class 1 victory at the 31st SCORE San Felipe 250 and finished ninth overall, the win was significantly ahead of second-place finisher Morgan Langley. Wilson teamed up with dad Ronny Wilson and Justin Munyon to drive the number 153 Jimco Chevy to the class winning time of 4:45:09. The team qualified in ninth position, well behind Mike Malloy who had the fastest qualifying time in the class, but DNF’d. “I was dodging huge rocks and trying to keep it smooth,” said Brad Wilson. “My original strategy was to try and get the car into the top three. We started ninth and by the time I gave the car to Justin we were second on the course and first on corrected time.” Morgan Langley and team finished second in the class, ahead of third place finisher Ron Archibald. “We blew a shock because the whoops sections are so deep that it makes for a Trophy Truck race and with a live axle buggy you are slamming through the whoops,” said Archibald. Langley also agreed that the whoops were a bit larger than usual. “The sandy whoops were pretty bad,” said Langley. “They were taller than a 37-inch tire.” Hanna Takes The Trophy Truck Spec Win In the growing Trophy Truck Spec Class, a total of 19 competitors were battling the tough San Felipe terrain to win the division. Elias Hanna, who qualified in the second starting position behind John Langley of the Cops team, kept his speed and finished well ahead of Langley, who came in second place. “It was a really fast course,” said Hanna. “Our biggest challenge was the dust. In the first few miles, we were battling against both drivers and the course. We did a lot of pre-running so I knew where my fast lines were but the dust made it difficult to take my lines.” John Langley is the patriarch of the Langley family and was happy with a second place finish in San Felipe. “The most satisfaction I got today was beating the kids,” said Langley. “By that I mean my kids are my competition. I'm 73 years old and for me, it is a kick to still be able to race and it’s a great bonding experience with my kids.” Defending 2016 SCORE Trophy Truck Spec champion Chad Broughton had a good race and finished fourth in the class behind Lee Banning who was aided by co-drivers Chris Godfrey and Steve Melton. Vildosola Wins New TT Legend Class The SCORE Trophy Truck Legend class was developed for drivers age 50 and older and designed to showcase some of the legendary drivers in the sport. With the inauguration of the class at this year’s SCORE San Felipe 250, Gus Vildosola Sr. age 63, won the class in the number 21L Ford Raptor Trophy Truck. Vildosola competed against 73-year-old Clyde Stacey who came in second place. SJ