SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1544512
THE FINAL STAND Not Knowing If They Could Finish, Buggy Classes Fought To Win By Dan Sanchez, Ariana Medrano, Isaac Flores, and Beto Lopez Photos by getsome photo The race course was excessively brutal for Class1 and Class 10 buggies at this year’s 39th King Shocks SCORE San Felipe 250. The course punctured tires, broke parts, and threw away any thought of an advantage racers believed they had while driving it. Class1 competitors saw both a tight race for half of the class, while the others had such severe difficulties that they could not finish or took much longer than expected to finish the race. During the Method Race Wheel Qualifier, Cody Parkhouse in the No. 127 buggy finished fastest to start first, but right behind him was the No. 168 buggy of Cody Reid. Most SCORE fans thought these two competitors would be the only battle for first-place, as they started 13th and 14th Overall, with their next competitor Brian Wilson in the No. 108 car starting in 21st place. Brendan Gaughan in the No. 162 buggy started 41st overall and would have plenty of competitors in the Trophy Truck classes to try and get around in a short race. Despite having a sick co-driver tap out before the race, a broken rear suspension component, and flipping the buggy in the sand, Gaughan didn’t even realize he and his “just-in-case” co-driver Timmy Wilson had won the race in class. Driving the No. 138 buggy was Brad Wilson, who started 60th overall and had to fight to move up though traffic on the race course, and dealt with a broken engine belt early in the race. They passed their teammate in the No. 108 car who had mechanical issues on the course, and after moving up, Brad Wilson and team thought they finished first. After corrected time, however, they ended up seven minutes behind Gaughan to come in second place. “When we got in the car, we were down on some time from losing a belt early in the race,” said Wilson. “But as a team, you never give up. We just kept clipping away miles, getting time splits, and we were catching them, and catching them, and catching them until we got across the finish line.” The rest of the competitors clustered together finishing in an average of 30-minutes behind Gaughan and Wilson. Armando Bravo was third in the No. 166 buggy, and Cody Parkhouse finished fourth, with Morgan Langly in the No. 150 buggy in fifth. After making repairs, Brian Wilson finished sixth. Cody Reid’s mechanical problem would take him out of the race, ending up with a DNF. POTTER WINS IN CLASS 10 On the heels of his 2025 SCORE Baja 1000 Class win and championship, Stan Potter in the No. 1000 F.J Willert buggy, won the class in San Felipe. Sharing driving duties again with Matias Arjona Jr. this championship team looked for the best lines to make it through the tough terrain in one piece. “There was not as many rocks as other years, but a lot of deep whoops, so it is very important in the smaller categories to look for very smart lines that have the advantage,” said Arjona. “I think we did a good job, that is why I think it is a big part that we are here in first place. Everything was relatively calm, there was not a second that I could release the accelerator. At one point I started to lose a lot of power and a rear brake caliper was locked. Then 10-15 seconds later, it was free but there was no problem, and until I reached the finish line, not a tire puncture.” Cesar Cuevas in the No. 1011 buggy finished in second place. Not where they wanted to but they are grateful for being on the podium after having transmission and other troubles on the course. “We suffered a punctured tire and we stopped to fix it. The buggy was in low gear and stuck there,” said Cuevas. “We stopped in the next pit and the extra gear wasn’t there. Then we had to continue all the way and it slowed us down a bit. Finally, we ran out of water to the engine because the hose was cut. The pilot’s communication was also cut-off. But I feel happy because we gave 100 percent and finished second.” In third place was Matt Willert in the No. 1009 car. In total, four of the nine competitors who raced in this class, DNF’d due to mechanical issues they received on the course. SJ