Full Results By Class
Aahhhh....
March....
Spring is in the air.
The birds are singing, the grass is greening, and a young man's
fantasies turn to.....
San Felipe! While
the Baja 500 and 1000 are the cornerstone races of Mexico, it's San
Felipe that can really get the ol' adrenaline going. Though the 250
mile race is the centerpiece of the weekend, it's hard to ignore
the sandy beaches, hoppin' nightlife, beautiful scenery, and of
course, the lovely senoritas. I swear they grow'em on a farm
somewhere down there. Nuff said.
Getting down to the nitty, as well as the "gritty" (this is a desert race
after all), Several facts presented themselves early on Raceday.
Facts like no Donahoe Trophy Truck to be found. After the
incredible rollover in Laughlin earlier this year, what was judged
initially to be minor damage and a semi quick fix in time for
Felipe, turned into a major thrashfest, complete with parts that
didn't make it back in time. Ever resourceful, Kreg and Co. Pulled
an old straight axle Toyota race truck out of mothballs and
soldiered on with little hope of victory, but a good shot at
finishers points.
The big suprise was No Truggy! Just where was the shark toothed Class 1 mega buggy? Due to
a host of delayed, we were unable to get the scoop from Troy Herbst
in time for this article. That's the bad news. The good news is
that there's a Terrible Website in the works here on ORC and before
long you'll have the full scoop on what makes the best bad guys in
the desert tick!
Speaking of class 1, there were 33 cars on the line. As if that weren't enough, Recent SCORE
Lite to Class 10 convert Danny Anderson is making serious noises
about a SCAT V4 transplant in his new Jimco 2000 to move up into
the biggest of the buggy ranks.
Class 10, SCORE Lites and 1/2 1600 were well represented as well, continuing
to further the notion that after a brief slide toward extinction,
off-road racing is coming back with a vengeance. This will no doubt
cause much grumbling within the Sierra Club - an event that
couldn't possibly make us happier.
Booby Prize? No, Booby Traps
Less than a mile off the start, and at several
other locations around the course, the infamous booby traps were
back to add even more excitement to the already spectacular racing.
Unfortunately, they resulted in a host of accidents - some serious
enough to warrant helicopter and aircraft transportation. While the
booby traps are a known and accepted part of racing in Mexico,
there's a growing concern among the racers and crews to come up
with stronger measures to minimize their occurrence. SCORE for it's
part is open to ideas and willing to implement solutions, but they
are limited in what they can do with the volunteer man and woman
power available to them. For the time being, it's likely that the
participants will have to take it upon themselves to make the
racing as safe as it can be.
Drop Your Linen and Start the Winnin'!
Trophy Truck
Ed Herbst didn't need the ultra high attrition rate to get him into
the winners circle ahead of everyone else, but it sure didn't hurt.
After crashes, mechanical failure, and a host of other difficulties
put the hurt on the assembled 7 truck field, Herbst took a
domineering lead, sweeping the class and picking up the Overall
title along the way.
Larry Roseler limped a very ailing Mac Trophyless (thus far) truck in for a second, while
an accident and other problems put team Duralast back into third.
Smith, Ashley and Co are only on race #2 in the all new Trophy
Truck (featured in ORC's Feb issue), but the lightweight, 32 valve
wonder is showing incredible early promise. The upcoming Toyota /
Ford "Battle of the Cammers" at the Baja 500 will be a defining
moment for the fast Ford. And of course, the Bros' Herbst don't
intend to make either of their lives any easier.
Class 1
Ron Wilson and Wilson Motorsports topped off the Big buggy
class with a scorching 60.2 mph sprint around Baja Norte'. Hot on
his heels, and in rapid succession were Rod Muller and the Baja
1000 winning Ryan Arciero, whose 4 second split is the closest 2-3
finish of the year thus far.
The high attrition rate struck Class 1 a hard blow, with over half the 33
car field put on the trailer before the checkered flag fell.
Problems ran the gamut from broken parts, to fuel difficulties, to
Booby induced early retirement.
Class 8
Despite the threatened (or was that promised?) return of 98 Champ Dave Westhem
for the Felipe race, The dynamic duo of Brian Collins and Dale
White teamed up once again to beat the course and the shrunken
Class 8 field into submission. the teams 55+ MPH blast was good for
the 6th fastest time of the day; pretty impressive (to put it
mildly) for a full framed production body vehicle. 2nd and 3rd
place did not finishers were Ben Canela and Ricardo Coronado
Protruck
Mike Hardaway took advantage of Jimmy Nuckles bad fortune to win the Ivan Stewart spec truck class in a time of 5:03:04 -
45.4mph. Nuckles did not finish, nor did the only other Protruck in attendance, Mike Griffiths. While Felipe was devoid of a heavy
Protruck field, fans of the class can look forward to a traditionally well attended Baja 500. Long distance seems to bring
out the best in Protruckers.
Class 7
Jeff Lewis is rapidly making up for the wins lost to the MacPherson Curse. Taking the all new "Lil'
Mac Class 7 S-10 to the winners circle for the 2nd race in a row,
Jeff has returned to his winning ways - proving that the talent was
always there, but the equipment was lacking.
In a mirror of the Laughlin Race, Craig Turner waltzed into the 2nd slot with the converted 7s Ranger. The lack of suspension
and wheelbase continue to be a handicap to the GT Bicycles entry, but rumor has it that there's new equipment on tap in the near
future. 3rd place in class went to Eli Yee, less than 6 min. behind
Turner.
Class 10
1st place, Ben Schlimme -54.3mph. Is it any wonder
that people believe a 10 car can overall a SCORE race? While 6 mph
may as well be 60, consider that it took about another $500,000 to
get it. And remember that in the desert, anything can
happen.
Unfortunately for 2nd place Jim
Price and 3rd place Danny Anderson, this wasn't the day it was
going to happen for them. Despite posting impressive runs, Schlimme
won the day over 8 min ahead of the nearest competition.
SCORE Lites
Jerry Penhall shook his "Sleepy" moniker with a very awake
4:27:25 - 51.5mph run to victory. back in 2nd - Tom Jandt was
considerably off the pace with numbers of 4:49:03 - 47.6mph. 3rd
came Brian Coneen with a 4:49:10 - 47.6mph performance. While the
Laughlin race closed the gap between Class 10 A-arm and "SL" beam
cars, the open spaces of baja catered to the longer legged
10's.
The jury's still out on class reunification.
Class 1/2 1600
Vic Brukmann had his hands full holding off the 98 and first female Baja 1000 champ, Bekki
Freeman. With mere moments separating the two, Bruckmann came home
a big dog, besting Freeman's 5:03:56 - 45.3mph with his own 4:55:50
- 46.5mph. 3rd went to Lorenzo Rodriguez who at 5:04:27 - 45.2mph
rounded out the best of the SCORE / Laughlin series most
competitive class.
Class 5/1600.
Bad luck returned to the
Iribe camp, after a Laughlin win, but Carlos & Gerardo's bad
luck was nothin' but good for class winner
and fellow Mexican driver Danny Ledezma. posting a winning
time of 5:41:50 - 40.3mph, Ledezma inched out Dave Gasper &
Daniel Fresh for the best of the top 3 slots.
Class 7s
Steve
Cirillo stole the show in 5:49:15 - 39.4mph, over half an hour
ahead of 2nd place Bruce Landfield in the decently populated 7s
class. Back in 3rd, Jared Hardin's 7:23:59 - 31.0mph was enough to
take the bronze, with only Cory Susag left to bat cleanup.
Class 5
The Outlaw Returns! After a miserable Protruck experience,
Mike James saw the light, bought his bug back, and returned to
haunt the dreams of arch rival George Seeley. Taking the win over
the Sofa salesman, fought a hard battle with both Seeley and Ruben
Garcia to top off the invigorated Class 5 ranks.
Welcome back Mike! Class 3
1st - DarrenSkilton - 8:02:43 - 28.5mph
2nd - John Kearney - did not finish
2nd - Balazs Szalai - did not finish
That's about all you can say. Skilton continues winning, Kearny is still
ironing out the bugs, and new to SCORE, Balazs Szalai threw in for
the fracas.
There's still room for more 3'sguys and gals......
Class 9
Eric Fisher bested a 12 car field in 6:14:14 - 36.8mphto take the win over 2nd place Tony Gomez
and the flyin Federalie Daniel Mora
Class 11
Eric
Solorzano topped out the stock Bug ranks in a time of 8:17:16 -
27.7mph, besting the 2nd place finish of Fernando Flores. A DNF by
Miguel Angel Mexia finished off the class
Stock Full
98 Champ Marc Stein took his vengeance on a down but not out Manny Esquerra,
whose stellar Laughlin was nearly repeated until a 20 min. pitstop
cost him the lead and the win. In 3rd, Robert Hayley returned with
a 6:48:37 - 33.7mph showing to top the Psychotic one Dave Sykes,
and a 5th place finishing John Griffin. Stock full is yet another
class seeing a resurgence, and with the high level of competition,
it's not going to be long till we se a few former participants back
in the saddle....you know who I mean.....
Stock Mini
Rob Reinertson stood alone in this narrow showing of stock mini muscle.
With a winning time of 8:18:41 - 27.6mph, Rob bested a 2nd place
Bob Land & 2nd - Tim Casey , both of whom DNF'ed
Bikes Johnny Campbell won the battle, but lost the overall, posting
the latest in a series of wins, and expanding Team Honda's desert
dominance. Pulling an incredible lead that just kept growing,
Campbell ran alone until caught by blazingly fast 4 wheeled traffic
- Namely Herbst and Wilson.
Coming up, Team
Honda returns to the peninsula, along with an ever growing field of
trucks, buggies, bikes and quads as SCORE presents the 1999 "Baja
500".
Tickets available at all....wait a
sec, this is a Desert race....We don' need no steenkin'
tickets....Oh well...think of it this way, you won't find more
excitement at twice the price!
Congratulations to
TT - Ed Herbst - Terrible Herbst
Motorsports
Class 1 - Ronny Wilson - Wilson Motorsports
Class 10 - Ben Schlimme
SCORE Lites - Jerry Penhall
Class 1/2 - 1600 - Vic Brukmann
Class 3 - Darren Skilton
Class 5 - Mike James - Outlaw Racing
Class 5-1600 - Danny Ledezma - Ledezma Motorsports
Class 7 - Jeff Lewis - MacPherson Motorsports
Class 7s - Steve Cirillo
Class 8 - Brian Collins / Dale White
Collins / White Lightning Racing
Class 9 - Eric Fisher
Class 11 - Eric Solorzano
Stock Full - Marc Stien
Stock Mini - Rob Rinertson
Protruck - Mike Hardaway
Sportsman Truck - Alfonso Hernandez
Sportsman Buggy - Doug MacArthur
Class 21 - Rickey Fernandez
Class 22 - Johnny Campbell
Class 30 - Cliff Matlock
Class 40 - Gary Tepner
Sportsman U-250 - Ivan Moncada
Sportsman O-250 - Edward Tynismag
Class 24 - Carmen Cafro
Class 25 - Gilberto Santana
Sportsman ATV - Jesse Jones
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