Feb 11
16
Motor Sports: Poll positions set for San Felipe 250
Mexico’s Juan Carlos Ibarra, in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division, and Southern California’s Sydney Schneider, in Class 22 for open motorcycles, have drawn the first starting positions for next month’s 17th Annual Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 desert race, it was announced today by race organizer SCORE International.
Driving a Ford F-150, Ibarra will lead the car and truck classes while Schneider, racing on a Honda XR650R, will lead the motorcycle and ATV field into the challenging and unforgiving desert in Baja California, Mexico. Round 2 of the six-race 2003 SCORE Desert Series will be held Saturday, March 15, in the quaint fishing village of San Felipe, on the Sea of Cortez side of the majestic peninsula.
It’s the first time either of these racers has drawn the first start in a SCORE race. Ibarra, 26 of Ensenada, won SCORE Trophy-Truck in this race in 1998 while Schneider, 49 of Fallbrook, is still looking for his first SCORE class win.
Motorcycle/ATV classes will be first off the starting line, starting at 6 a.m. (March 15). The car/truck classes will begin at 7:30 a.m. Vehicles will leave the start line under the landmark San Felipe arches, one every 30-seconds. All vehicles will have a 10-hour time limit to become official finishers in the 227.79-mile, elapsed-time race.
When final pre-race registration is complete, over 220 entries, competing in 24 Pro and 5 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs, are expected to take the green flag, continuing the year-long celebration honoring 30 years of SCORE championship desert racing.
In a motorsport where there is no qualifying for starting positions, a total of 180 official entries were received in time for last Friday’s computerized draw for start positions, by class, held at the SCORE International headquarters in Los Angeles.
A total of 14 high-tech, 750-horsepower SCORE Trophy-Trucks entered in time for the drawing, but the largest entry field so far is the unlimited Class 1.
John Marking, 41 of El Cajon, Calif., will start first in Class 1, which had an event-high 27 vehicles entered in time for the start draw. Marking drives a Chevy-powered Jimco open-wheel desert race car. Class 1 starts second, behind SCORE Trophy-Truck. Second off the line in Class 1 will be the team of Bob Lofton, Westmorland, Calif./Mike Julson, El Cajon, Calif., in the Chevy-Jimco built by Julson’s successful chassis-building company.
Lofton/Julson won Class 1 last year in San Felipe.
Bringing a much higher economic impact to San Felipe than “spring beak,” pre-race festivities will include the colorful SCORE Manufacturer’s Midway and vehicle inspection, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, March 14. The Midway will be held for the fifth year on the Malecon — the boardwalk next to the tranquil Sea of Cortez. Driver registration will also be held March 14 at Hotel Las Misiones, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Among the other early entries in the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck for unlimited production trucks are Las Vegas brothers Ed and Tim Herbst along with the team of Dan Smith/Dave Ashley, of Riverside, Calif.
The Herbst brothers, whose Terrible Herbst Motorsports is the only team to win three SCORE Trophy-Truck season point crowns, were overall and SCORE Trophy-Truck winners in 1999, 2000, 2001 at the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250. The brothers drive a Ford F-150.
Smith and Ashley, the all-time SCORE class winners in this race with 13 (Smith-8, Ashley-5), are the defending overall and SCORE Trophy-Truck division champs in San Felipe in the Enduro Racing Ford F-150.
Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year as America’s Foremost Desert Racing Series, the SCORE Desert Series heads South to Mexico for the first of three races held annually in Baja California.
Among the other early Class 1 entries is the three-generation McMillin Racing team, which has once again entered three vehicles. Driving for the prominent San Diego-based team will be family patriarch Corky McMillin, 74, and sons Mark, 46, and Scott, 42. Andy McMillin, 15, is a co-driver with his father Scott.
Las Vegas’ Bekki (Freeman) Wik, the first lady of SCORE desert racing, has entered class 1 in her VW-Jimco. Wik, the 1998 and 2000 SCORE Class 1-2/1600 point champion, is married to legendary engine builder Adam Wik.
With official pre-running (or practice) set to begin on Saturday, March 1, SCORE C.E.O./President Sal Fish has announced that the 227.79-mile course will be the same as last year.
“It’s a great course, it’s technical, challenging and beautiful all at the same time, so there’s is absolutely no reason to change it,” said Fish. “The Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 is a tremendously popular event and SCORE racing brings a greater economic impact to Baja California than any other tourist-driven activity.”
Appearing roughly like a flopped ‘B’, the course has two large separate loops joined by a high-speed graded road with a twisty, rugged long stretch on the east side adjacent to the Sea of Cortez. The course will start and finish in the shadow of the famed San Felipe Arches northwest of town, running in a counterclockwise direction.
It runs both north and south of town. The challenging course runs on the edge of the Diablo Dry Lake, at the base of the rugged San Pedro Martir Mountains and through three major washes in the area: Huatomote, Chanate, and the legendary Matomi wash. Matomi with its jagged rocks, and narrow passes between walls of rock, is considered to be 28 miles of “Baja at its best.”
After one of six races in the 2003 SCORE Desert Series, Mexico’s Eli Yee, of Tijuana, has 60 points to lead Class 10 and the SCORE Overall point standings in his Honda-powered Jimco. Second overall with 58 points is Class 1 point leader Dale Ebberts, Canyon, Lake, Calif., who won the season-opener 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 Mark Post, San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Jerry Whelchel, Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., 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.
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.
For more information, contact SCORE at (818) 225-8402, or visit the Score-International website.