SCORE Journal

SCORE Journal - January 2018

SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing

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SCORE Class-1 Champion Brian Wilson By Stephen Romero Brian Wilson of Wilson Motorsports set a simple, realistic goal for himself during the 2017 SCORE racing season. “To finish first, first you must finish,” said Wilson. At every race, he leaned on those faithful words, starting at the SCORE San Felipe 250 where a series of mechanical issues put him in fifth place. This put him well behind the other teams at the start of the season, as he worked towards a class championship. After watching his cousin Brad and uncle Ronny Wilson win the Class-1 championship in 2016, Brain Wilson wanted a championship for himself. He had hoped 2017 would be different from the previous season when he found himself out of the running due to a DNF. After the problems at the SCORE San Felipe 250, Wilson pushed onward, knowing that winning can be a game of endurance — a tortoise and hare kind of race. At the SCORE Baja 500, the magic finally happened and Wilson took home a first place victory. Then came the SCORE Tijuana Desert Challenge where he found himself on the podium once again, this time with a second place finish. The season all came down to the 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 and Wilson rocked it out of the park, giving Wilson Motorsports and his sponsors the 2017 SCORE Class 1 Championship victory. “Without the crew we had with us we would not have been able to bring home the championship,” said Wilson. “These are all challenging races in their own different way. When I blew a wheel off in San Felipe and wrapped it around the caliper, things didn’t look so good. Thankfully our crew was nearby to save our butts.” The ups and downs are just a part of racing, Wilson admitted. “For the most part you simply have to finish the race,” said Wilson. “You want that great finish but it’s all about the points.” Wilson cited the SCORE Tijuana Desert Challenge as an example of their strategy. “I had borrowed a friend’s Class 1 race car just for the points lead,” said Wilson. When those points added to the overall total at the end of the season, he had taken some pressure off his team well before the race to La Paz. In the end, Wilson amassed 337 total points to his closest rival Al Torres with 323 points. His cousin Brad Wilson racked up 258 points, Shelby Reid took home 205 points and Derek Fletcher was in fifth at the end of the season with 194 points. “We knew early on that if Torres won the 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 we still could take the championship away with a finish of seventh place or better,” said Wilson. Torres didn't win that race. Jon Walker took first place with a time of 23:55:51. Torres actually settled for third, but Wilson’s second-place finish led them to the Class Championship. “We did our homework and it worked out,” said Wilson. He was thankful for the performance of the Jimco chassis, which worked great and there were zero complaints with it. “The chassis looked fantastic after we got it home from the Baja 1000, even after the whoops and silt,” said Wilson. “Our sponsors and crew can’t be thanked enough for this victory.” SJ

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