ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico — Continuing to add to his legacy nearly every time he hits the desert, legendary Hall of Fame off-road racer Rob MacCachren of Las Vegas has assumed the early lead in the 2017 SCORE Overall and SCORE Trophy Truck point standings in the No. 11 Rockstar MacCachren Motorsports Ford F-150.
With nearly 250 career desert and stadium off-road race wins, including eight SCORE season class point championships and one of just nine winners of the SCORE Baja Triple Crown, MacCachren, 52, tops the standings with 81 points after his impressive season-opening overall victory on April 1 in the 31st SCORE San Felipe 250 in Baja California, Mexico.
UP NEXT-SCORE BAJA 500
The four-race 2017 SCORE World Desert Championship is being held entirely in Baja California and next up on the 2017 schedule is the 49th annual SCORE Baja 500 to be held May 31-June 4 in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. With nearly 300 entries for 30 U.S. States and 20 countries expected to participate in classes for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads, racer registration is underway at http://score-international.com/raceinfo/2017-baja-500/.
GOLDEN SCORE 2017
The 2017 season also marks the golden 50th anniversary celebration of the legendary season-ending SCORE Baja 1000, the iconic Granddaddy of all Desert Races to be held November 14-18. The SCORE Baja 1000 is the oldest and longest continuously held desert race in the world.
MAC ATTACK
MacCachren is the all-time leader with 15 career race wins in the featured SCORE Trophy Truck division for high-tech, 850-horsepower, unlimited production trucks including four in the SCORE San Felipe 250.
MORE: Rob MacCachren Wins 2017 SCORE San Felipe 250
MacCachren, backed up his top-qualifying effort to capture his ninth class win and his fifth overall and fifth in SCORE Trophy Truck in the SCORE San Felipe 250. MacCachren stormed strategically to a penalty-free winning time of four hours, 20 minutes, 15 seconds at a sterling 62.69 miles per hour.
Prior to this year, MacCachren’s Overall and SCORE Trophy Truck victories in the SCORE San Felipe 250 have been in 2003 (with Gus Vildosola Sr), 2007 (with Mark Post) and driving solo in 2011 and 2012.
MacCachren has also won the overall and SCORE Trophy Truck victory at the legendary season-ending SCORE Baja 1000 for the last three consecutive years.
TOP THREE OVERALL LEADERS
MacCachren leads the SCORE overall point standings in addition to SCORE Trophy Truck but only 10 points separate the top 10 in the SCORE overall point standings. Second in overall points and leading the Trophy Truck Spec class is Elias Hanna, Ensenada, Mexico with 79 points in a Chevy 1500 and third overall and leading Class 10 is second-generation desert racer Broc Dickerson, just 16, of Brawley, Calif., with 76 points in a Chevy-powered Alumi Craft open-wheel desert race car.
POINT REGS
SCORE point regulations for 2017 has all four-races counting for final points, with three minimum, and one of the four races in the SCORE World Desert Championship that is mandatory to qualify for a class season point championship is for the driver/rider of record to start or finish the SCORE Baja 1000.
SCORE points are calculated on a set amount of start points and finish points for a particular race along with a variable amount for placement points for finishers based on the number of starters within the racer’s class.
SCORE TROPHY TRUCK LEADERS
Lining up behind MacCachren in the point standings in the featured SCORE Trophy Truck division are many of the world’s top desert racers. Second in SCORE Trophy Truck points is Billy Wilson, Corpus Christi, Texas with 75 points in the No. 15 Bevly/Wilson Racing Chevy Silverado, third is Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez, Tecate, Mexico, with 71 points in the No. 1 RPM Racing Chevy Rally Truck, fourth is Justin Matney, Bristol, Tenn. with 68 points in the No. 4 RPM Racing Chevy Rally Truck and fifth is B.J. Baldwin, Las Vegas, with 66 points in the No. 97 Monster Energy Toyota Tundra.
The second five in the SCORE Trophy Truck after the first round of the four-race 2017 SCORE World Desert Championship is led by Las Vegas’ Tim Herbst with 65 points in the No. 19 Monster Energy Ford F-150. Seventh in SCORE Trophy Truck is Cameron Steele, San Clemente, Calif., with 64 points in the No. 16 Monster Energy Chevy Silverado, eighth is Dan McMillin, La Mesa, Calif. with 63 points in the No. 23 McMillin Racing Ford F-150, ninth is Jesse Jones, Phoenix, with 62 points in the No. 76 Ford F-150 and 10th is Gary Magness, Denver, with 61 points in the No. 45 Mango Racing Ford F-150.
NINE CLASS LEADERS IN TOP 20 OVERALL
In addition to MacCachren in SCORE Trophy Truck, Hanna in Trophy Truck Spec and Dickerson in Class 10, six other classes have at least one racer in the top 21 SCORE Overall point standings after the first race in 2017.
The classes in the top 21 are Class 10 (four racers), SCORE Trophy Truck (three), unlimited Class 1 (three racers), Class 1/2-1600 (three), Trophy Truck Spec (two), Pro UTV FI (two) along with additional class point champions in Class 5, Pro UTV and Class 11.
Besides SCORE Trophy Truck, Trophy Truck Spec and Class 10, other class leaders also in the top 21 in SCORE Overall points after one of four races include Brad Wilson, Long Beach, Calif., tied for fifth overall and leading the unlimited Class 1 in the No. 153 Wilson Motorsports Jimco-Chevy.
Other class point leaders in the top 21 SCORE overall points so far are Jorge Sampietro, Ensenada, Mexico, who is tied for fifth overall and leads Class 1/2-1600 in the No. 1697 Romo-VW, Wayne Matlock, Apline, Calif., who is tied for seventh overall and leads Pro UTV FI in the No. 2971 Can-Am Maverick X3, Vic Bruckmann, Lemon Grove, Calif., who is 10th overall and leads SCORE Lites in the No. 1299 Prill-VW, Daniel Reyes Jr, Mexicali, Mexico, who is tied for 13th overall and leads Class 7 in the No. 715 Ford Ranger and Noah Ostanik, Carlsbad, Calif., who is tied for 18th overall and leads Class 8 in the No. 844 Ford F-150.
PRO MOTORCYCLE LEADER
The 2017 SCORE Overall Motorcycle and Pro Moto Unlimited point leader is the Ox Motorpsorts team led by Mark Samuels, Yucca Valley, Calif., picking up where he left off with Colton Udall, now sidelined by injury, who finished undefeated with four race wins in 2016. The team this year, which includes Australia’s Daymon Stokie and Ryan Penhall, Laguna Niguel, Calif., has 67 points on the No. 1x Honda CRF450X which has captured back-to-back Pro Moto Unlimited titles.
PRO UTV LEADER
With a first place finish in his class in the SCORE San Felipe 250, Wayne Matlock, Alpine, Calif., is the Pro UTV overall point leader as well as the Pro UTV FI class for forced induction engines. Matlock has 73 points in the Pro UTV FI class in his No. 2971 Polaris RZR XP4 Turbo. His point total is also tied him for seventh overall among 4-wheel vehicle classes.
MORE PRO CLASS POINT LEADERS
Among the other 2017 SCORE class point leaders in the SCORE World Desert Championship in Pro car/truck/UTV classes are Gus Vildosola Sr, Mexicali, Mexico (SCORE TT Legend, Ford Raptor), Luis Lopez, Mexicali, Mexico (Class 5, VW Baja Bug), Paul Champion, Phoenix (Pro UTV, Polaris RZR XP1000), Jorge Gutierrez, El Cajon, Calif. (Class 5-1600, VW Baja Bug) and Eric Solorzano, Tijuana, Mexico (Class 11, VW Sedan).
Other class leaders in Pro motorcycle and quad classes include Chad Thornton, Farmington, N.M. (Pro Moto 30, KTM 450XCF), Kevin Johnson, Boulder City, Nev. (Pro Moto 40, Husqvarna 501), Jim O’Neal, Simi Valley, Calif. (Pro Moto Limited, Husqvarna 350), Jose Carrasco, Rosarito Beach, Mexico (Pro Moto Ironman, Yamaha YZ450F), Giovanni Spinali, Lake Forest, Calif. (Pro Moto 50, Honda CRF450X) and Said Sanchez, Tijuana, Mexico (Pro Quad, Honda TRX450R).
KING SHOCK ZONE
King Shocks, SCORE’s Official Shock Absorber, is offered a special contingency cash prize for the again this year. The winner with the fastest time through a specific section of each race on corrected elapsed time earns the choice of either a $4,000 cash prize or $5,000 in credit for King Shocks parts or service.
Winning the first King Shock Zone award for this year at the SCORE San Felipe 250 was San Diego’s Luke McMillin who had the fastest time between virtual checkpoint No. 4 and VCP No. 7 in the No. 83 McMillin Racing Ford F-150.
Qualified vehicles are equipped exclusively with King Race Shocks and contingency decals are placed on the vehicles as required.
SPORTSMAN
The 2017 Sportsman motorcycle point leader is Sidney Marchand, Beaumont, Texas with 68 points on the No. 207x KTM 500EXC. Leading the Sportsman Quad division with 68 points is the team led by Juan Dominguez, Yuma, Ariz. on the No. 109a Honda TRX450R.