SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1342270
MANAGEMENT MATERIAL Chris Olimon Is The 2020 SCORE Manager of The Year By Dan Sanchez Photos by Caleb Norman At the 2020 SCORE Baja 1000, Luke McMillin took the win and the season Class Championship title in SCORE Trophy Trucks. While McMillin celebrated his first SCORE Trophy Truck win, team manager Chris Olimon said he felt it was only a matter of time before the entire team would show what they were truly capable of. “Our preparation was better, and I think mastering performance requires optimum preparation.” Oilimon isn’t new to the McMillin team and has had a relationship with the McMillin family since his early childhood. “I had always been into off-road racing, and my dad worked in the McMillin construction company as well as the race shop,” said Olimon. “As kids, my brother and I would go with my dad to Baja and work around the pits for Corky McMillin. By the time I was in high school, I worked at Race Ready Products in Chula Vista, CA, and then moved through several shops including Scott Pearl for the Sourapas team, and at Racer-X before getting a chance to work with the McMillin race team. Originally, the job was supposed to be temporary—two weeks, but it has lasted for 11 and a half years now.” As the team manager, Olimon does everything from helping the mechanics with prep-work, to overseeing part orders and making sure work on Luke McMillin’s #83 SCORE Trophy Truck is on schedule. “I always start from the time we need the truck to be at the race, and work back to schedule what needs to be done,” said Olimon. “I also do a lot of the day-to-day shop stuff.” Over the last several years, Olimon was frustrated with the struggles Luke McMillin would endure after coming so close to winning many races, only to have something go wrong so close to the finish. “For the longest time, I told Luke that he was cursed,” said Olimon. “I was there for all the failures, and some were very depressing. At the 2017 SCORE Baja 1000 for example, we were leading and then the shock fell apart. During the 2015 SCORE Baja 500, pieces on the truck were breaking because they weren’t machined or hardened correctly. I kept telling myself that someday a win has to happen. Luke used to say it too as he would be leading a race and something would happen.” At the start of the 2020 SCORE racing season, the team made some personnel changes and the team members got along better. “The new members of the team really meshed with the guys we had and it changed the shop to the point where it’s now a fun working environment,” said Olimon. “The best thing about it now is the input that Luke and Larry Roeseler give us is better understood, and the changes to the truck make a difference.” Although the McMillin family are very serious about racing and have lots of history in SCORE, Olimon says working with Luke is special. “The thing about Luke, is that lots of people think he’s a spoiled rich kid,” says Olimon. “The fact is that he really knows his stuff, as well as every part of the truck. He knows all the different parts of it as much as I do. We’ll go testing and will go over feedback that only a person who understands the truck could offer. When Larry Roeseler goes out testing with us, he actually seems more like a kid than anyone. You can tell he really enjoys racing and always has the biggest grin on his face and is ‘amped-up’ to drive. I’ve ridden with Luke for many years and even rode with him in the ‘16’ car, the ‘1’ car, and the SCORE Trophy Truck. I can see Larry’s influence in Luke, as Larry is also fast and smooth. He hardly ever drives the truck at wide-open-throttle, and I feel Luke has improved in consistency from that knowledge.” For the 2021 SCORE season, Olimon and the McMillin racing team are poised to defend their title and feel they are ready to get more wins. “As of right now, we’re planning on running the 2WD truck with Luke for about half the season, then see how the AWD truck is doing. The truck is still at Mason Motorsports and we hope to get it soon to start testing it, and when it feels competitive, we will start working it in,” said Olimon. SJ