B.J. BALDWIN MAKES IT BACK-TO-BACK WINS

B. J. Baldwin proved that last year’s Trophy Truck victory at Laughlin was no fluke, by making it two-in-a-row at SCORE’s season opening weekend bash on the river.

photo by HighREV

Starting with the Laughlin Leap on Thursday night and through Sunday at about six p.m., there was lots of action at the Laughlin Special Events arena. The Leap, ‘though not as spectacular as some past years, was still fun to watch, albeit cold and windy. The longest jump belonged to Larry Roeseler, who was the driver of record in the Terrible Herbst Class 1 Truggy. Roeseler landed 127 feet down the course, taking the 2007 Laughlin Leap top jump and a piece of the $16,000 prize.

Over 220 entries made this a big event, particularly when considering that they would be racing on a six mile course. Class 1 had 43 entries, and there were 30 Trophy Trucks. All the races started with two-car drag races, 15 seconds apart. Even with the big Class 1 entry they had all the cars on the course within six minutes. And the first starters were back around about two minutes after the last one started. Not even time to go buy a hotdog. In addition to the on-course action right in front of the spectators, there was a huge TV screen visible to all the infield bleachers, and that showed four or five different areas of the course, giving spectators a look at what was happening out in the desert.

photo by HighREV

The fast lap turned out to be Andy McMillin’s 7:14 on his first lap Saturday in his Chevrolet Trophy Truck. Sunday it was B. J. Baldwin, in another Chevrolet Trophy Truck, who was quickest, with a 7:34 on a seriously degraded course. The holes were described as “four and five feet deep”. But, even with those holes, the racers liked the new course, especially since SCORE was able to keep the entire six miles watered, to hold down the dust.

photo by PJC

B. J. Baldwin finished fourth on Saturday, just 19 seconds behind Rob MacCachren, who was that day’s winner in Mark Post’s Ford. On Sunday Baldwin started in the second row, and was first on the road by the end of the lap, ensuring himself a couple dust free laps. He held a steady pace, made no errors, and won with a two-day combined time of 1:31:31. Garron Cadiente, in a Ford, was second, at 1:34:17 for his 72 mile total.

photo by HighREV

The Class 1 race was seriously close also, and John Herder finished the weekend with the victory in his new Jimco two-seater. He was just 22 seconds ahead of B. J. Richardson in his Bunderson who was second for the weekend. The racing was really tight, and positions changed often, because out in the “desert” portion, the course was 30 feet wide, and if a racer could catch another, he could go right on past. The infield, which had a couple of hairpins, the flying jump, a wide right hand turn with a berm to ride, and then a jump up onto a platform, was not as wide, and was difficult for passing in a couple of spots. The big berm on the east end was fun to watch as the racers learned to go faster, and higher, completely at right angles to the ground. It took some chutzpah to try it the first time. Racers used to CORR’s short course events had no problem.

photo by PJC

Another terrific race was Class 1-2/1600, which started the weekend with a 33 entry lineup on Saturday. Rob MacCachren took the win in a car borrowed from Joe Sheble. Sunday he fought off challenges by Matt Gumz and Aaron Hawley, to win again, which gave him the weekend victory. Gumz was second for the weekend and only 30 seconds behind him, with Hawley 21 seconds later in third.

photo by HighREV

A surprise thriller was the duel between the H3 Hummer and the Honda Ridgeline in the Stock Mini class. Gavin Skilton in the Honda chased patriarch Rod Hall in the Hummer on Saturday and couldn’t quite get him. But on Sunday, with racing drawing to a close, Skilton mashed the pedal down and Chad Hall, who took over for his dad this time, stayed right on his bumper, but just couldn’t get him. When they totaled the times, the Halls had the win by a minute and three seconds. It was a great show, and showcased a couple of factory backed stock vehicles to great advantage.

photo by HighREV

The racing at the Laughlin event is always superb, but this year the new, shorter course made it even more fun for the spectators. SCORE President, Sal Fish, announced that he is guaranteed at least two more years at this venue. If they stick to this year’s approach, it should be two really entertaining years of racing for the fans.

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