LOS ANGELES -- Starting the
season with a mere 10-point margin among the top 10 point leaders,
Mexico’s Eli Yee leads the SCORE overall point standings
after his class win at the recent season-opening SCORE Laughlin
Desert Challenge, Round 1 of the six-race 2003 SCORE Desert
Series.Hoping to become the first racer from his country to win the
SCORE International overall point championship, Yee, 29, of
Tijuana, also leads the Class 10 point standings after the Laughlin
(Nev.) season-opener in his Honda-powered Jimco open-wheel desert
race car.
Celebrating its 30th anniversary
this year as America’s Foremost Desert Racing Series, the
SCORE Desert Series now heads South to Mexico for the fir st of
three races in Baja California.
The 17th
Annual Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 will be held March 14-15, in San
Felipe, Mexico. The computerized drawing for starting positions, by
class, will be held Friday, Feb. 14, at the SCORE International
headquarters in Los Angeles. More than 220 vehicles, competing in
24 Pro and 5 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and
ATVs, are expected to take the green flag in San Felipe.
SCORE points are determined both on final
finishing position and number of vehicles which started the race
within the individual class. With 135 total starters at the
popular, two-day, SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge competing in 16
classes for Pro Cars and Trucks, Class 10 had the most starters of
any class with 20.After leading the points in the marquee SCORE
Trophy-Truck division heading into last year’s season-finale
at the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, Mark Post, San Juan Capistrano,
Calif., has started this season back at the front of the division
for 750-horsepower, hi-tech, unlimited production trucks.
Post, who split the driving time in Laughlin with
teammate Jerry Whelchel, Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., picked up
Riviera Racing’s third SCORE Trophy-Truck win in the
team’s Ford F-150.
Behind
Post/Welchel, who are tied for sixth in overall points with 52, in
SCORE Trophy-Truck points are Gus Vildosola, Mexicali, Mexico/Rob
MacCachren, Las Vegas (Ford F-150) with 46 points, Las Vegas’
Brian Collins (Chevy Silverado) with 42 and Las Vegas brothers Tim
and Ed Herbst (Ford F-150) with 39.
After
one of six races in the 2003 SCORE Desert Series, Yee has 60 points
to lead Class 10 and the SCORE Overall point standings. Second
overall with 58 points is Class 1 point leader Dale Ebberts,
Canyon, Lake, Calif., who won in Laughlin in his Toyota-powered
Jimco. Just one point behind Ebberts, third overall and leading
Class 1-2/1600 after their Laughlin victory, is the team of Eric
Allen, San Marcos, Calif./Adam Pfankuch, Carlsbad, Calif., in a
Jimco-VW.
Second in Class 10 and fourth in
overall points is Dennis Hunter, Santa Rosa, Calif. (Dunrite-Honda)
with 54 points while fifth overall is SCORE Lite leader Brian
Ickler, Poway, Calif. (Jimco-VW), just one point back at 53.
A total of just five points separate sixth through
11th in the current SCORE overall point standings.
Tied for sixth overall with 52 points are SCORE
Trophy-Truck leaders Post/Welchel and brothers Mark and Gary
Weyhrich, Troutdale, Ore. (Jimco-Chevy), who are second in Class 1
following the SCORE Laughlin Desert
Challenge.
Tied for eighth overall with 51
points are Class 5/1600 leader Brent Shermak, Fort Mojave, Ariz.
(VW Baja Bug) and Ernie Castro Jr., Newport Beach, Calif.
(Chenowth-VW), who is second in Class 1-2/1600.
Just one point behind Shermak and Castro and tied for 10th
overall are Protruck leaders Jeff Dickerson/Jimmy Knuckles,
Brawley, Calif. (Ford F-150) and Smitty Schmidt, Jamul, Calif.
(Chenowth-Honda), who is third in Class 10
after the season opener.
Among the other
2003 SCORE car and truck class point leaders following their
respective victories at the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge are:
Robby Fallers, Peoria, Ariz. (Class 8, Chevy Silverado); Shawn
Waznek, Lake Havasu
City, Ariz. (Class 7, Ford Ranger); Donald Moss, Sacramento, Calif.
(Class 3,
Ford Bronco); Cody Swanty, Kingman, Ariz. (Class 7S, Jeep Comanche)
and Ken Tapert, Henderson, Nev. (Class 9, Chenowth-VW).
SCORE official sponsors for 2003 are: BFGoodrich
Tires-official tire, Southern California Ford Dealers-official
vehicle, 76 Racing Fuel-official fuel and Rental Service
Corporation-official equipment supplier. Associate sponsors are:
Tecate Beer, Coca Cola of Mexico, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance,
Bilstein Shocks, Downey Off-Road, Signpros, P.C.I. Race Radios,
McKenzie’s, Rancho Suspensions, Off-Road Innovations and
Advanced Color Graphics.
Official sponsors
of the season-opening SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge were: the
Laughlin Tourism Committee, the Laughlin Visitors Bureau and
the
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority in association with Las
Vegas
Events.
SCOREBOARD SCORE Desert Series
point leaders, by class, after the recent season-opening SCORE
Laughlin Desert Challenge:
Remaining 2003 SCORE Desert Series schedule
--
17th Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250,
San Felipe, Mexico (March 14-15); 35th Tecate SCORE Baja 500,
Ensenada, Mexico; 2nd SCORE Henderson’s Terrible 250,
Henderson, Nev. (July 11-13); 8th SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300, Primm,
Nev. (Sept. 12-13); 36th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, Baja California,
Mexico (Nov. 13-16).SCORE
TROPHY-TRUCK--1. Mark Post, San Juan Capistrano,
Calif./Jerry
Welchel, Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., Ford F-150, 52; 2. Gus
Vildosola,
Mexicali, Mexico/Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas, Ford F-150, 46; 3.
Brian Collins,
Las Vegas, Chevy Silverado, 42; 4. Tim Herbst/Ed Herbst, Las Vegas,
Ford
F-150, 39; 5. Jason Baldwin, Irvine, Calif., Ford F-150, 37; 6. Jim
Beaver,
Parker, Ariz., Ford F-150, 36; 7. Marty Coyne/Travis Coyne, El
Centro,
Calif., Ford F-150, 35. CLASS 1--1. Dale Ebberts, Canyon Lake, Calif., Jimco-Toyota,
58; 2. Mark
Weyhrich/Gary Weyhrich, Troutdale, Calif., Jimco-Chevy, 52; 3. Bob
Lofton,
Westmorland, Calif., Jimco-Chevy, 48; 4. Scott McMillin, Poway,
Calif.,
Porter-Chevy, 45; 5. Troy Herbst, Las Vegas, Smithbuilt-Ford,
43. PROTRUCK--1. Jeff Dickerson/Jimmy Knuckles, Brawley, Calif.,
Ford F-150,
50; 2. Steve Barlow, Temecula, Calif., Ford F-150, 44; 3. Al Hogan,
Columbus,
Mont., Ford F-150, 40. CLASS 1-2/1600--1. Eric Allen, San Marcos, Calif./Adam
Pfankuch,
Carlsbad, Calif., Jimco-VW, 57; 2. Ernie Castro Jr., Newport Beach,
Calif.,
Chenowth-VW, 51; 3. Brian Jeffrey, Acton, Calif., Jimco-VW, 47. CLASS 3--1. Donald Moss, Sacramento, Calif., Ford Bronco,
45. CLASS 5--1. Joe Heger, Imperial, Calif., VW Baja Bug,
45. CLASS 5/1600--1. Brent Shermak, Fort Mojave, Ariz., VW Baja
Bug, 51. CLASS 7--1. Shawn Waznek, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., Ford
Ranger, 47. CLASS 7S--1. Cody Swanty, Kingman, Ariz., Jeep Comanche,
45. CLASS 8--1. Robby Fallers, Peoria, Ariz., Chevy Silverado,
47. CLASS 9--1. Ken Tapert, Henderson, Nev., Chenowth-VW,
45. CLASS 10--1. Eli Yee, Tijuana, Mexico, Jimco-Honda, 60; 2.
Dennis
Hunter, Santa Rosa, Calif., Dunrite-Honda, 54; 3. Smitty Schmidt,
Jamul,
Calif., Chenowth-Honda, 50. SCORE LITE--1. Brian Ickler, Poway, Calif., Jimco-VW,
53. CLASS 11--1. Scott Pellerin, Romoland, Calif., VW Sedan,
45. STOCK FULL--1. Marc Stein, San Diego, Ford F-150,
45.
Off-Road Videos - Check out over ten years of extreme 4x4 action, product testing and the Off Road Nation at play. Baja racing to rock crawling, ATVs in the sand to motorcycles in the dirt, it's all here. Rate them, share them and upload your own.
ATV Reviews - Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Polaris, Kawasaki, Can-Am. First rides to long-term tests, check out the latest in ATVs, UTVs and Side-by-Side vehicles of every make and model. Read expert opinions and follow custom project vehicles.
Axxxtion Sports..... Axxxtion Sports is heating things up with their 2010 Winter Heat snowmobile calendar! Simply Sexy!
