SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1544512
A LEGENDARY WIN David Payne Earned The TT Legends Class Win Story by Stuart Bourdon Photos by Osvaldo Carrillo Although David Payne won his very first SCORE Trophy Truck Legends race at the 2026 King Shocks 37th SCORE San Felipe, it was not the first time Payne had won an off-road race. He raced dirt bikes throughout the ‘70s and eventually won the Missouri State Championship. That qualified him for the American National Amateur Championship in Carlsbad, California, where he broke a leg in six places. Once his injury had healed, he turned to water skiing and stopped racing for 30 years before again getting on a dirt bike. When he did start racing again, Payne worked his way up to the national enduro level, and then he met Roger Norman. “I’m racing in Baja now because I met Norman in 2018 during a Wide Open Baja tour,” he said. “Roger was taking some friends on the same tour. At Mike’s Sky Ranch, he and I were talking about racing, and he told me I could race these vehicles. A month later, I was at the SCORE San Felipe 250, and I won the Baja Challenge class.” Payne was hooked and started racing an SXS, then moved up to a Trophy Light truck in state-side races. He later joined the Brenthel Trophy Truck rental program, bought a Brenthel Trophy Truck, and has competed in the Legends class ever since. “At the end of 2024, I bought all of Mike Walser’s equipment (including his race trucks), and Jeremy Johnson became our team manager,” said Payne. “That’s when we got serious and started getting noticed, because we weren’t broken down on the side of the road.” This major investment played a significant role in Payne’s strong showing at this year’s SCORE San Felipe 250. Teaming up with legendary racer Larry Roeseler, Payne said, “The race went exceptionally well for us. Roeseler started the truck and got us into a really good position. Our navigator, Kevin Murphy, stayed in the truck, and I took over driving at the 140-mile mark. From then on, we knew we were in good shape, and the truck ran flawlessly. The only real challenge during the race was the heavy dust when faster trucks passed us.” “It was kind of funny, but the Concrete Motorsports truck passed us four times. We don’t know if they had mechanical problems, but they passed Larry twice and me twice. The dust is always an issue, but the great thing about the San Felipe racecourse is all the wide-open passing lanes it offers. Overall, it was a very clean race for us. I backed off the throttle a little toward the end of the race because we knew how much of a lead we had on the others in our class, but sometimes it seems like backing off a bit is harder than going full steam ahead. Finally, something other than second place!” SJ