BajaNomad - A Record 33 SCORE Trophy-Trucks preparing for Baja 1000 in November

A Record 33 SCORE Trophy-Trucks preparing for Baja 1000 in November

Anonymous - 10-20-2005 at 08:59 AM

http://www.score-international.com/press/pressRead.ihtml?id=...

http://www.whowon.com/sresults.asp?SanctionID=377&StoryI...

by Dominic Clark
October 20, 2005

LOS ANGELES -- When it comes to racing SCORE Trophy-Trucks in next month?s 38th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, nobody does it any better than the teams of Dan Smith/David Ashley and Brian Collins/Larry Ragland. When it comes to racing SCORE Trophy-Trucks anywhere, nobody does it any better than brothers Tim and Ed Herbst and the Smith/Ashley duo.

Now, SCORE Trophy-Trucks, the high-tech, 8000-horsepower unlimited production trucks that are finishing their 12th season as the premier SCORE racing division, will have a record field of over 30 of these monsters of the desert attempting to permanently etch their own names in the granite records of the legendary granddaddy of all desert races. This year?s 709-mile odyssey will be a large loop race starting and finishing in Ensenada, Mexico. It will be held Nov. 17-20.

Nearly 330 entries from over 30 U.S. States and 10 countries, competing in 27 Pro and 5 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs will be part of this year?s tribute to the sport of desert racing.

With massive crowds reaching nearly 300,000 anticipated to again be spread out along the single loop course, the race will start in front of the Riviera del Pacific Convention Center in Ensenada and will finish for just the second time inside the the Deportivo Antonio Palacio baseball stadium in Ensenada.

The motorcycle and ATV classes will start their journey at 6:30 a.m. (Friday, Nov. 18) with the car and truck classes starting at approximately 9:30 a.m., or two hours after the last ATV leaves the line. Vehicles will leave in 30-second intervals in the elapsed-time race and while the fastest finishers are expected to complete the 709-mile course in around 14 hours, all vehicles will have a 30-hour time limit to become official finishers.

This year?s memorable adventure will cover 709 miles of the rugged and tortuous Baja California peninsula, starting on the Pacific Ocean side and stretching across and down the Sea of Cortez side of the majestic peninsula past San Felipe before winding its way back up to Ensenada.

Official pre-running, or practice on the official race course, will begin for all registered entries, on Saturday.

Top challengers to become the new ?gran ganador de Mexico? in SCORE Trophy-Truck include the Herbst brothers, NASCAR?s Robby Gordon, winners the last two years-Ryan Arciero and Mark Miller, last year?s season point champion Jason Baldwin and current class point leader Bob Shepard.

The competition is so fierce this year that there have been five different winners in as many races and only 22 points separate the top seven point leaders in the hunt for the 2005 SCORE Trophy-Truck season title.

In all, this year?s SCORE Trophy-Truck entry list features nine of the 11 SCORE Baja 1000 winners in this marquee division, 15 racers who have combined for 49 various class victories in this fabled race, 11 drivers who have combined to win 54 of the 71 SCORE Trophy-Truck races ever held, and 10 of the 11 All-Time SCORE Trophy-Truck season point champions.

Smith/Ashley, both of Riverside, Calif., share nine career SCORE Trophy-Truck race wins, including season championships in 1998 and 2001.

Smith/Ashley have 17 combined class wins in this race, including a string of three straight (2000, 2001, 2002) in the No. 8 Enduro Racing Ford F-150. In 2002, the pair set the average speed record in this race for a four-wheel vehicle, averaging an amazing 62.34 miles per hour. Ashley has nine class wins in this event, while Smith has eight.

?We were second last year in SCORE Trophy-Truck and we expect to be first this year,? said Smith.

In this storied race, Baja legend Larry Ragland, Cave Creek, Ariz., has five overall wins, including a class-high four. This year he is the second driver with Las Vegas? Brian Collins in the No. 12 Collins Motorsports Chevy Silverado.

Ragland has eight career SCORE Trophy-Truck race wins and Collins has two. The Collins/Ragland duo teamed up to win the recent SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300.

Brothers Tim and Ed Herbst, who split the driving time the No. 19 Terrible Herbst Motorsports Ford F-150, are the winningest team in SCORE Trophy-Truck history. The Herbst brothers have won four SCORE Trophy-Truck season titles (1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003) as well as a record 11 career SCORE Trophy-Truck races. Ironically, the only race that has escaped them, so far, is the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. They drew the first starting position for this year?s race.

NASCAR Nextel Cup team owner/driver Robby Gordon, whose roots are in SCORE desert racing, drew the 24th starting position in SCORE Trophy-Truck in the Team Gordon No. 83 Red Bull Chevy CK1500. Gordon, who was the overall winner of June?s Tecate SCORE Baja 500, will again pull double-duty, driving the the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 before flying to Homestead, Fla., to race in the NASCAR Nextel Cup season finale.

Gordon has five career SCORE Trophy-Truck race wins and he also won the 1996 SCORE Trophy-Truck season point championship.

Arciero, Foothill Ranch, Calif., and Miller, Carefree, Ariz., each have three SCORE Trophy-Truck race wins and share driving time in the No. 81 Chevy Silverado.

Jason Baldwin, who earned his first SCORE Trophy-Truck race win this year at the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 and was second in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500, is currently seventh in class points.

Shepard, Phoenix, has driven the No. 82 Chevy Silverado to the top of the featured SCORE racing division points with finishes of fifth, ninth, eighth, and third in the four open desert races this year.

Other entries in the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck division include Mexico's Gus Vildosola/Rob MacCachren of Las Vegas (No. 4-Ford F-150), Honolulu?s Alan Pflueger (28-Chevy Silverado), Mark Post, San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Curt LeDuc, Cherry Valley, Calif. (3-Ford F-150), Chad Ragland, Cave Creek, Ariz. (80-Chevy Silverado), Scott Steinberger, Cypress, Calif., Jesse Jones, Phoenix (76-Ford F-150), Japan's Ikuo Hanawa (14-Toyota Tundra), Marty Coyne, El Centro, Calif. (5-Ford F-150), Josh Baldwin, Newport Beach, Calif. (86-Ford F-150), Cameron Steele, San Clemente, Calif. (16-Ford F-150), Bobby Baldwin/B.J. Baldwin, Las Vegas (96-Ford F-150) Steve Barlow, Temecula, Calif. (29-Ford F-150) and Darren Skilton, Long Beach, Calif. (9-Kia Sorento).

In just his second SCORE race, TV personality Jesse James, of Monster Garage fame, will debut his new No. 54 Chevy Silverado SCORE Trophy-Truck.

Pre-race festivities on Thursday, Nov. 17, for the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, including tech and contingency and the SCORE Manufacturer?s Midway will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. across from the San Nicolas Hotel. The pre-race mandatory driver/rider briefing will be held Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. at the Riviera del Pacifico Convention Center. Racer registration will be held at the Riviera CC from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 16 and from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 17.

The post-race Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 Survivor?s Celebration will be held on Sunday, Nov. 20, at 10 a.m. in the Grand Ballroom at the San Nicolas Hotel.

While entries will be accepted up to race morning (Nov. 18), late entries will be assigned the next available number and starting position within each class.

The classes with the most entries to date are SCORE Trophy-Truck (33), Class 1 (29), Class 1-2/1600 (25), SCORE Lite (22), Baja Challenge (16), Class 30, Class 10 and Class 5/1600 with 13 each and Protruck (12).

Leading the six Sportsman classes in the race is Sportsman Motorcycle over 250cc which had 25 entries to date.

This year?s Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race will be televised on a delayed basis as a one-hour NBC Sports special for the second consecutive year on Dec. 10 on the NBC Network. A different one-hour special will premier on the Outdoor Life Network on Sunday, Dec. 18.

Celebrating its 32nd anniversary this year as the World?s Foremost Desert Racing Series, the SCORE Desert Series is returning to Mexico for the last of three races held annually in Baja California.

surfer jim - 10-20-2005 at 09:08 AM

I 've got to see / hear the 8000 HP trucks....

TYPO 800hp

Anonymous - 10-20-2005 at 09:23 AM

thebajarunner - 10-20-2005 at 09:28 AM

Jim, you and I are both very curious about that statistic.
Let's see...
a NHRA top fueler turns between 7000 and 8000 horsepower, and it lasts 4.5 to 5 seconds...
a NHRA pro stocker - 500 cubic inch- probably turns upwards of 1000 horsepower and it lasts 6.7 to 7 seconds.
NASCAR stockers have about 750 horsepower, and last 3 to 4 hours.

WOW!!!! 8000 horsepower, on and off the 'loud pedal', for 14-20 hours.

Ain't technology wonderful!?
Ain't journalists gullible?????

thebajarunner - 10-20-2005 at 06:24 PM

Man, that is a relief to know it was a typo.....
(Anonomouses just aren't as reliable as they used to be, I guess)
Anyway, I was really looking forward to seeing those 8000 h.p. mothers.
Since a top fueler burns 10 gallons of fuel in a quarter mile I was wondering just what the fuel tank might look like on an 8000 h.p. trophy truck.
Guess I will never know.
(unless some anonomice <pl> clue us in)

Mike Supino - 10-20-2005 at 07:43 PM

SCORE Trophy Trucks usally have between 650 and 850hp.
Race fuel consumption is about 2-4 mpg

surfer jim - 10-20-2005 at 07:57 PM

My dream has been disturbed with cold hard FACTS......

thebajarunner - 10-20-2005 at 09:15 PM

Back in the 70's and 80's we got nearly 400 h.p. out of our Ford V-8 truck and between 5 and 6 miles per gallon.
We thought we were doing real good to get that kind of power.
And we had two NASCAR fuel cells for 44 gallons on board which gave us more than 200 mile range.
Ah, how the times have changed!!!

Taco de Baja - 10-26-2005 at 07:53 AM

Quote:

Smith/Ashley have 17 combined class wins in this race, including a string of three straight (2000, 2001, 2002) in the No. 8 Enduro Racing Ford F-150. In 2002, the pair set the average speed record in this race for a four-wheel vehicle, averaging an amazing 62.34 miles per hour. Ashley has nine class wins in this event, while Smith has eight.

This in and of itself is amazing. I may get up to 60 going to Guadalupe Canyon, but that is on a straight flat dirt road.

Anonymous - 11-16-2005 at 10:42 PM

:tumble:

capt. mike - 11-17-2005 at 05:33 AM

that 62 MPH works when you see 'em blazing some of the straight a ways like the gonzaga stretch going 125 plus mph on the flats!! and at night with their HIDs blaring away......mind blowing sights and sounds. Only radial engine air racing beats it, but not by much!