SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/929795
31st SCORE San Felipe 250 MacCachren Proves He’s The One To Beat By Dan Sanchez Photos by Get Some Photo The first race of the SCORE 2017 season began with the SCORE San Felipe 250. It was here, for the first time, that Trophy Truck, Class-1, and Trophy Truck Spec divisions had to qualify for starting position. Coming off the 2016 SCORE Baja 1000 victory, Rob MacCachren qualified for the starting position in the Trophy Truck division, while Mike Malloy led the field for Class-1 vehicles, and John Langley started the field for the Trophy Truck Spec division. Most racers, especially MacCachren, don’t like to start out in front because it’s difficult to set the pace and mistakes are made. True to point, MacCachren ended up with a flat tire, which put second place starter Cameron Steele in the lead for most of the race. MacCachren finally caught up after Steele’s Trophy Truck had a rear axle break only three miles from the finish line, and had to have it towed in to finish in seventh place. For MacCachren, winning the SCORE San Felipe 250 Overall carried the momentum of his 2016 Baja 1000 win over into the 2017 season. With that, the Rockstar Energy team looked forward to the SCORE Baja 500 race. Billy Wilson in the number 15 Trophy Truck, finished second, followed by Apdaly Lopez who finished third, earning him valuable points towards the championship which he needed later in the season. In what would be close competition all season long in Class-1, Brad Wilson started the 2017 SCORE Desert Championship season as the 2016 class champion and with a big win at the SCORE San Felipe 250 as well. Wilson teamed up with his dad Ronny Wilson in the number 153 Jimco Chevy and battled with Morgan Langley of the Cops racing team, who finished second in class. This close competition would last all season long until the very end in November when both teams battled for the win at the 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000. Marking his first win of the 2017 season, Elias Hanna won the Trophy Truck Spec class. After qualifying for the second starting position, Hanna drove through the dust to beat out another Cops team challenger, John Langley. 2016 Trophy Truck Spec champion Chad Broughton had a difficult time in the dust but managed to finish in fourth place. Making his first appearance in Class-10 was Broc Dickerson. The 16-year old driver took the series by storm, showing what he could do in San Felipe by winning the class. Followed by Justin Davis and Cody Reid, who finished second and third; these three would battle for points all season long. The 2017 SCORE San Felipe 250 also marked the beginning of a Trophy Truck Legends class, which had RPM Off-Road’s Clyde Stacy competing with the likes of Larry Roeseler, Gustavo Vildosola Sr., Nick Vanderwey, Russell Buehler, and Peter Sorhen in various races throughout the season. In San Felipe, Gus Vildosola won the class with Stacey coming in second. The UTV divisions had some of the highest numbers of competitors this year, and the SCORE San Felipe 250 had all the toughest competitors determined to win a championship. Seasoned veteran Wayne Matlock won the race in the Forced Induction class, followed by Marc Burnett in a new Can-Am UTV, with Brandon Schueler in third. Within the Pro UTV Normally Aspirated class, Paul Champion took first in San Felipe, followed by Don Whittington and Kristen Matlock. While the four-wheel classes raged on in San Felipe, the questions in the Pro Moto divisions circled around Colton Udall. He had suffered a back and shoulder injury prior to the race, and once fans saw Mark Samuels take the lead position, fans new Udall would be out; at least for a while. The 1x team under Samuels performed as they did when they won the 2016 Pro Moto Championship. Francisco Arredondo and the 45x tea finished in second place, but weren’t too far off of the 1x teams pace, proving they were going to be tough to beat this season. SJ