Dickerson tops unlimited class 1 qualifying, Jergensen top qualifier in Trophy Truck Spec
273 entries so far from 27 States, 11 Countries; Start/Finish at El Dorado Ranch;
Las Vegas’ Bryce Menzies, San Diego’s Andy McMillin and his cousin Luke McMillin, three of the top guns in all of desert racing, were the top three qualifiers Thursday among nearly 280 racers expected to start Saturday’s BFGoodrich Tires 34th SCORE San Felipe 250, presented by Ford.
Held over a 4.77-mile course south of downtown Menzies, 33, powered his way in a time of six minutes, 5.746 seconds averaging 46.95 miles per hour in his No. 7 all-wheel drive Mason-built Ford Raptor SCORE Trophy Truck. He was fastest of the 26 SCORE Trophy Trucks out of 35 entries in the class that attempted to qualify.
Andy McMillin, 33, finished second in qualifying, completing the qualifying course in 6:10.226 (46.38mph) in his No. 31 Mason-built Chevy Silverado. Andy McMillin won the last SCORE San Felipe 250 in 2019 as the 2020 was cancelled because of the health pandemic.
Andy’s cousin Luke McMillin, 28, whose older brother Dan McMillin, 33, finished 11th in qualifying, completed the qualifying course in 6:16.041 (45.67mph) in his No. 83 Mark Racing Racer-Built Ford F-150.
Fastest qualifier in Class 1 was Broc Dickerson, 19, Brawley, Calif., turning in a hot lap of 6:52:607 while averaging 41.62 mph in the No. 123 Ford-powered Jimco open-wheel desert race car.
Top qualifier out of a SCORE-record 36 entries in the Trophy Truck Spec class was Kyle Jergensen, 25, Phelan, Calif., with a time of 6:19.836 (45.21mph) in the No. 227 Brenthel-built Ford Raptor.
Fastest in the SCORE TT Legend class for SCORE Trophy Truck racers over 50 years old was Nick Vanderwey, 57 of Phoenix, subbing for regular driver Clyde Stacy, in a time of 7:12.974 (39.66mph).
SCORE Trophy Truck, SCORE TT Legend, Class 1 and Trophy Truck Spec were the only four classes required to qualify for starting positions as the other start positions in the various classes were determined by a drawing.
WHAT’S UP
The popular ‘Spring Break’ season-opener of the four-race 2021 SCORE World Desert Championship will be held through Sunday in San Felipe, the peaceful village on the Sea of Cortez in Baja California, Mexico, 125 miles south of the U.S. Border at Calexico, Calif.
This season-opening race will be held under the same Bio-Security protocols as last year’s abbreviated season of two races that includes no spectators at contingency, the start or the finish but fans will be allowed again to watch out around the race course, following normal health and safety protocols.
Contingency, and the start/finish compound, with no spectators allowed, are located on the secured grounds of the luxurious El Dorado Ranch just north of town.
GREEN FLAG SATURDAY
The motorcycle and quad classes will start at 6 a.m. PT Saturday while the car, truck and UTV classes will begin their journey starting at 9 a.m. PT. SCORE Trophy Truck and the Pro Moto Unlimited classes will start one vehicle every 60 seconds race while all other classes will start one every 30 seconds.
While the fastest vehicles in the elapsed-time race are expected to finish in approximately five hours, all vehicles will have 14 hours from the time each starts to become an official finisher in the historic race.
DETAILS
Returning after a one-year absence because of the COVID-19 pandemic, 51 classes are offered for Pro and Sportsman Cars, Trucks, UTVs, Motorcycles and Quads. A total 273 entries to date have come from 27 U.S. States, along with host Mexico, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand and Peru.
Helping mark the launch of 48th year of SCORE International, the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization, will be the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division with a total of 35 of these ‘Monsters of the Desert’ officially entered. Created by SCORE and started in 1994 by then SCORE-owner Sal Fish, SCORE Trophy Truck is the featured SCORE racing division for high-tech, 950-horsepower unlimited custom trucks.
Domestically, the race will be televised on a delayed basis on the World of X Games show on the ESPN2 as co-produced by SCORE International and award-winning BCII TV of Los Angeles.
All four 2021 SCORE races will be held on Mexico’s magnificent Baja California peninsula for the sixth consecutive year.
SCORE Live will be streaming throughout race week on the SCORE website. Colorful Rat Sult is returning for his sixth season as the host of SCORE Live.
DOUBLE DIGITS
With 270 entries to date entering Friday’s late on-site racer registration, the race includes 35 entries in the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division (Including four SCORE TT Legend vehicles for SCORE Trophy-Truck drivers over 50 years old). Created in 1994 by then SCORE owner Sal Fish, SCORE Trophy Truck is starting its 28th season as the marquee racing division in the sport for high-tech, 950-horsepower unlimited custom trucks.
Pro UTV FI (Forced Induction) class which has a SCORE-record 36 entries for the class. Trophy Truck Spec has as SCORE-record 36 entries and the other classes with double figure entries so far are Class 10 with 21, Pro UTV NA (Naturally Aspirated) with 10 entries and Pro Moto Ironman with a race-record 10. Among the Sportsman classes SPT Motorcycle has 11 entries and SPT Quad has 10.
BRYCE MENZIES, No. 7 (Menzies qualified first.)
It was good. The course is super chewed up, really sandy, big bumps, lots of places to make mistakes, so my plan was to just be smart but be fast. We pushed a little bit but wanted to be safe. We feel confident in where we ran today. This is probably the gnarliest qualifying course I’ve even been on in my life. It made it interesting; I don’t think I’ve ever breathed that hard turning back and forth at the wheel. Good time. Great way to kick off the SCORE San Felipe 250.
LUKE McMILLIN, No. 1 (McMillin qualified third.)
That was a peak of adrenaline right there. We got out of shape a couple of times; I think probably everyone did. The course is rough. SCORE throws a little bit of everything at us. We tried to keep up our momentum, but there is a square that sent us out of shape, but it was fun.
TAVO VILDOSOLA, No. 21 (Vildosola qualified fourth.)
Oh man, this is probably the roughest qualifying course we have for sure done in SCORE, probably ever done in my career, and I’ve been racing for about 20 years now. It was nasty, it was square, it was soft, and I think the all-wheel drives are going to have an advantage but we ran clean. That is what we wanted to do for qualifying and that is what we want to do on Saturday.
SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (Unlimited CustomTrucks including Builder)--
TOP QUALIFIER:
7 Bryce Menzies, 33, Las Vegas, Ford Raptor (Mason), six minutes, 5.746 seconds (46.95 miles per hour)
2. 31 Andy McMillin, 33, San Diego, Chevy Silverado (Mason), 6:10.226 (46.38mph)
3. 1 Luke McMillin, 28, San Diego, Ford F-150 (Racer), 6:16:041 (45.67mph)
4. 21 Gustavo ‘Tavo’ Vildosola Jr, 39, Mexicali, Mexico, Ford Raptor (Vildosola), 6:16.686 (45.59mph)
5. 10 Alan Ampudia, 30, Ensenada, Mexico/Aaron Ampudia, 28, Ensenada, Mexico, Ford Raptor (ID), 6:17.221 (45.54mph)
6. 77 Robby Gordon, 52, Charlotte, N.C. (Santa Ana, Calif.), Chevy Silverado (R. Gordon), 6:18.180 (45.41mph)
7. 89 Mike Walser, 54, Comfort, Texas/Ryan Arciero, 47, Foothill Ranch, Calif., Chevy Silverado (Mason), 6:23.247 (44.81mph)
8. 38 Eric Hustead, 50, St. George, Utah, Ford F-150 (Custom), 6:23.277 (44.80mph)
9. 79 Eric Hardin, 38, Orange, Calif./Joey Black, 28, Laguna Beach, Calif., GMC Sierra (ID), 6:25.184 (44.58mph)
10. 22 Jax Redline, 16, Amarillo, Texas, Chevy R-2 (Geiser), 6:26.079 (44.48mph)
11. 23 Dan McMillin, 33, San Diego, Chevy 1500 (Mason), 6:28.851 (44.16mph)
12. 19 Tim Herbst, 57, Las Vegas/ Las Vegas/Pat Dean, 51, Las Vegas, Ford F-150 (Herbst/Smith), 6:30.671 (43.96mph)
13. 41 Justin Lofton, 35, Brawley, Calif., Ford Raptor (Jimco), 6:35.589 (43.41mph)
14. 73 John T. Lennon, 60, Cleveland/A.J. Jones, 25, Litchfield Park, Ariz., Ford Raptor (Geiser), 6:37.850 (43.16mph)
15. 9 Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez, 26, Tecate, Mexico/Juan C. Lopez, 46, Tecate, Mexico, Ford Raptor (Custom), 6:38.023 (43.14mph)
16. 17 Josh De Jong, 32, San Jacinto, Calif./Louis Zavas, 35, Hemet, Calif., Chevy Silverado (Zavas), 6:43.569 (42.55mph)
17. 85 Michael Lawrence, 33, Banning, Calif., Ford F-150 (Herbst/Smith), 6:52.191 (41.66mph)
18. 24 Adam Householder, 36, Anaheim, Calif., Ford F-150 (Herbst-Smith), 6:54.382 (41.44mph)
19. 82 Sam Baldi, 56, Beaumont, Calif./Eduardo ‘Lalo’ Laguna, 31, Mexicali, Mexico, Ford Raptor (Baldi), 6:58.661 (41.02mph)
20. 11 Rob MacCachren, 56, Las Vegas, Ford F-150 (Geiser), 6:59.143 (40.97mph)
21. 51 Steve Olliges, 57, Las Vegas, Ford Raptor (Geiser), 7:00.989 (40.79mph)
22. 43 Larry Roeseler, 64, Boulevard, Calif., Toyota Tundra (ID), 7:02.678 (40.63mph)
23. 26 Dave Taylor, 47, Page, Ariz., Ford Raptor (Geiser), 7:24.981 (39.59mph)
24. 27 Jonathan Brenthel, 41, La Cresta, Calif./Jordan Brenthel, 33, Temecula, Calif., Chevy Silverado (Brenthel), 7:27.005 (38.42mph)
25. 40 Chris Miller, 47, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., Chevy Silverado (Mason), 7:36.404 (37.62mph)
26. 65 Dan Myers, 43, Newport Beach, Calif./Steve Myers, 55, Newport Beach, Calif., Toyota Tundra (R. Gordon), 7:38.904 (37.42mph)
Did Not Qualify 2 Cameron Steele, 53, San Clemente, Calif., Ford Raptor (Geiser)
DNQ 35 Carlos Penunuri, 39, La Paz, Mexico/, Chevy 1500 (Custom)
DNQ 67 Jose L. Leon, 43, Calexico, Calif./Adan Beltran, 42, Mexicali, Mexico/Gustavo Villasenor, 38, Mexicali, Mexico, Chevy Silverado (Leon Racing)
DNQ 92 Paul Nauleau, 24, San Francisco/Joe Desrosiers, 51, San Marcos, Calif., Chevy Silverado (Fushion)
DNQ 96 Enrique Murillo, 50, La Paz, Mexico/Guillermo Vizcaino, 63, La Paz, Mexico, Ford F-150
SCORE TT LEGEND (Unlimited Custom Trucks, including builder, Drivers over 50 years old)--
TOP QUALIFIER:
5L Nick Vanderwey, 54, Litchfield Park, Ariz. (DOR--Clyde Stacy, 76, Bristol, Va.), Chevy V-16 (Geiser), 7:12.974 (39.66mph)
2. 37L Rolf Helland, 61, Morris, Ill./Rick D. Johnson, 55, Barstow, Calif., Ford Raptor (Mason), 7:50.714 (36.48mph)
DNQ 55L Jose de Jesus Flores, 57, Culiacan, Mexico/Oskar Slingerland, 55, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (Netherlands)/Eduardo Perez, 50, Chevy Silverado (Jimco)
DNQ 79L Russell Buehler, 62, Independence, Mo./Neil Buehler, 57, Kansas City, Mo., Ford Raptor (Jimco)
CLASS 1 (Unlimited open-wheel single or two-seaters)—
TOP QUALIFIER:
123 Broc Dickerson, 19, Brawley, Calif./Jeff Dickerson, 45, Brawley, Calif., Jimco-Ford, 6:52.607 (41.62mph)
2. 105 Mason Cullen, 21, Long Beach, Calif./Matt Cullen, 53, Long Beach, Calif., Jimco-Chevy, 7:23.530 (38.72mph)
3. 100 Cody Parkhouse, 33, Long Beach, Calif./Brian Parkhouse, 61, Long Beach, Calif., Jimco-Chevy, 7:29.686 (38.19mph)
4. 151 Brandon Dawson, 47, Salt Lake City, Utah/, MD-Chevy, 7:47.873 (36.70mph)
5. 179 Mario Fuentes, 42, Juarez, Mexico/Armandino H. Fierro, 47, El Paso, Texas, Jimco-Chevy, 7:54.146mph (36.22mph)
DNQ 132 Alberto Varela, 50, Tijuana, Mexico/Roberto Romo Jr, Mexicali, Mexico/Abel Atayde, Tijuana, Mexico, Jimco-Chevy
DNQ 143 Javier Robles Jr, 31, Mexicali, Mexico/Javier Robles, 60, Mexicali, Mexico/Jesus Marten, 43, San Luis, Mexico, Curry-Chevy
DNQ 168 Shelby Reid, 53, Apple Valley, Calif./Cody Reid, 28, Apple Valle, Calif., Alumi Craft-Chevy
TROPHY TRUCK SPEC (unlimited Truck/SUV, stock, sealed engines)--
TOP QUALIFIER:
227 Kyle Jergensen, 25, Phelan, Calif., Ford Raptor (Brenthel), 6:19.836 (45.21mph)
2. 264 Pierce Herbst, 18, Las Vegas/Ryan Millen, 36, New Zealand/Thor Herbst, 20, Las Vegas, Herbst/Smith-Chevy, 6:20.919 (45.08mph)
3. 234 Jason McNeil, 43, El Cajon, Calif./Tyler McNeil, 32, Mesa, Ariz./Kyle Dodson, 35, Ramona, Calif./Chad McNeil, 39, El Cajon, Calif., Geiser-Chevy, 6:20.956 (45.08mph)
4. 228 Ryan Hancock, 45, Yuma, Ariz./Brock Heger, 21, El Centro, Calif./Jordan Poole, 32, Las Vegas, TSCO-Ford, 6:23.990 (44.72mph)
5. 285 Clay Lawrence, 58, Banning, Calif./, Herbst/Smith-Chevy, 6:34.598 (43.52mph)
6. 296 Andrew Myers, 41, San Marcos, Calif./Julio Quintero, 40, Escondido, Calif., Toyota Tundra (Herbst-Smith), 6:38.872 (43.05mph)
7. 261 Jeff Bader, 40, Ladera Ranch, Calif./Dan Fresh, 52, Dana Point, Calif., Brenthel-Chevy, 6:39.382 (43.00mph)
8. 226 Alexis Lopez, 21, Tecate, Mexico/Reynaldo Zavala, 47, Tecate, Mexico, Curry-Chevy, 6:39.819 (42.95mph)
9. 258 Justin Davis, 27, Chino Hills, Calif./Jeremy Davis, 21, Chino Hills, Calif., Brenthel-Chevy, 6:41.076 (42.82mph)
10. 292 Jason Coleman, 36, Huntington Beach, Calif./Brady Melin, 29, Huntington Beach, Calif., Herbst/Smith-Chevy, 6:44.767 (42.42mph)
11. 238 Elijah Kiger, 21, Kirby, Pa./Sean Bogdan, 28, Kirby, Pa./Scott Kiger, 52, Kirby, Pa., TSCO-Chevy, 6:48.855 (42.00mph)
12. 294 Vincent Munoz, 34, Yucaipa, Calif./Roy Tomkins, 34, Redlands, Calif., ODR-Chevy, 6:53.687 (41.51mph)
13. 211 Pat Sims, 54, Eunice, N.M./ Tim Wilson, 22, Boulder City, Nev./Jeffrey Wilson, 25, Boulder City, Nev., ESM-Chevy, 6:56.724 (41.21mph)
14. 200 Jorge Sampietro, 30, Ensenada, Mexico/Santiago Creel, 34, Mexico City, Mason-Chevy, 7:01.089 (40.78mph)
15. 246 James Scully, 40, Long Beach, N.Y. (Ireland)/Keith Smith, 41, California, Brenthel-Chevy, 7:05.188 (40.39mph)
16. 221 Michael Pyle, 49, Draper, Utah/Connor Pyle, 25, Draper, Utah/Carson Pyle, 18, Draper, Utah, Trophy Lite-Chevy, 7:08.774 (40.05mph)
17. 213 Josh Beyers, 43, Las Cruces, N.M. (DOR-Karl Ebdrup, 44, Canada), Chevy Armada, 7:10.759 (39.87mph)
18. 265 Cristian Baumgart, 46, Brazil/Beco Andreoti, 44, Brazil, Brenthel-Chevy, 7:10.872 (39.85mph)
19. 247 Scott Shields, 44, San Diego, Alumi Craft-Chevy, 7:12.538 (39.70mph)
20. 214 Valerie Clark, 17, Kansas City, Mo./Ken Thatcher, 43, Las Vegas/Matthew Misso, 22, Las Vegas, Geiser-Chevy, 7:13.954 (39.57mph)
21. 218 Chad Dohrman, 38, Murrieta, Calif./Jeff Dohrman, 64, Murrieta, Calif., Get-Ford, 7:18.588 (39.15mph)
22. 295 William Hedrick Jr, 25, Vicente Guerrero, Mexico/William Hedrick, 54, Vicente Guerrero, Mexico, ID-Chevy, 7:20.183 (39.01mph)
23. 278 Carlos Ibarra, 48, Ensenada, Mexico/Moises Murquos, 42, Ensenada, Mexico/Alejandro Mutiin, 52, Tijuana, Mexico, Padmur-Chevy, 7:22.466 (38.81mph)
24. 225 John W. McNeil, 55, Mesa, Ariz./Mitchell McNeil, 30, Mesa, Ariz./Scott McNeil, 32, Mesa, Ariz./Kelly McNeil, 58, Mesa, Ariz., BMS-Ford, 7:22.956 (38.77mph)
25. 205 Joe DeLucie, 42, Las Vegas/Jose Azrate, 50, Ensenada, Mexico, ESM-Chevy, 7:36.499 (37.62mph)
26. 215 Marcelo Gastaldi, 39, Temecula, Calif./Cadu Sachs, 24, Brenthel-Chevy, 7:43.035 (37.09mph)
27. 284 Jose Contreras, 35, Tecate, Mexico/Carlos Ramoneti, 33, Tecate, Mexico/Steven Tucker, 45, San Diego, BRP-Chevy, 7:50.571 (36.49mph)
28. 281 Carlinhos Ambrosio, 55, Brazil/Sylvio De Barros, Brazil/Gustavo Gugelmin, Brazil, Brenthel-Chevy, 7:51.632 (36.41mph)
29. 206 Julio Copua, 52, Brazil/Kevin Pelcros, 38, Brazil, Brenthel-Chevy, 8:12.583 (34.86mph)
30. 212 Marcos Baumgart, 43, Brazil/Kleber Cuncece, 40, Brazil/Beco Andreoti, 44, Brazil, Brenthel-Chevy, 9:26.020 (30.34mph)
Did Not Finish 202 Chad Broughton, 25, Scotts Valley, Calif./Paul Broughton, 54, Scotts Valley, Calif., Custom-Chevy
DNF 244 Brad Lovell, 44, Colorado Springs, Colo./Jason Hutter, 45, Snowmass, Colo., Ford Raptor (Geiser)
DNF 293 Ryan Peacock, 35, San Martin, Calif., RWA-Chevy
DNQ 233 Thomas Degen, 63, Garden Grove, Calif./Brad Degen, 18, Garden Grove, Calif./Kyle Degen, 22, Garden Grove, Colo., Chevy Colorado (Wright)
DNQ 255 Brad Vicic, 51, Littleton, Colo./Jeff Blais, 45, Castle Rock, Colo./Jay Vicic, 52, Sedalia, Colo., Chevy Armada
DNQ 275 Juan Sanchotena Jr, 26, San Diego/Jauan Sanchotena 50, San Diego, SMS-Chevy
Source SCORE International
Photo: Bryce Menzies Motorsport official page
