B.J. Baldwin Qualifies 97 Chevy Silverado Fastest To Earn Pole For Saturday’s First Round Of SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge
LAUGHLIN, Nev.–Las Vegas champion desert racer B.J. Baldwin, a two-time SCORE Trophy Truck season point champion, earned the pole position for Saturday’s first of two races at the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge Friday as he maneuvered his No. 97 Baldwin Motorsports Chevy Silverado to a fast time of six minutes, 23.99 seconds during qualifying for SCORE Trophy Trucks averaging 58.59 miles per hour over one lap around the 6.25-mile race loop.
Launching its 39th year as the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization in 2012, Sal Fish’s SCORE International will hold the first major motorsports events of the year in the United States in Laughlin, 90 miles Southeast of Las Vegas.
With entries so far from 15 U.S states along with Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany and Mexico, Rounds 1 and 2 of the five-race 2012 SCORE Desert Series will be held Friday through Sunday along the banks of the Colorado River in the Southern Nevada resort destination of Laughlin. Competition will be held for 20 Pro and three Sportsman classes for race buggies and trucks.
For the first time in the history of the event, each day of the two-day Laughlin gathering (Saturday and Sunday) will be separate race events for purposes of championship points, prize money and trophies.
The course is 6.25 miles long with the classes divided into groups for five multi-lap races each day. The start/finish line area and main pits will once again be located at the Laughlin Events Park just off of Casino Drive in Laughlin. The day-long races will start each day at 7 a.m. One vehicle will start every 15 seconds in the elapsed-time race.
Baldwin will lead a field of 100 official entries, which includes 24 vehicles in the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division for high-tech, 850 horsepower, unlimited production trucks.
“We improved our lap time by nearly nine seconds over last year, so we are very stoked,” said Baldwin, who won this race in both 2006 and 2007 and was second in qualifying last year in Laughlin. “This was our first time running with Toyo Tires and they were hooked up just perfect on this rugged little race course. Our Chevy Silverado is ready to roar on the river and I have to be calm enough to keep from pushing it over the edge.”
Qualifying second was Las Vegas’ Rob MacCachren, who ran a qualifying lap of 6:33.00 at 57.25mph in the No. 20 MasterCraft Racing Ford F-150.
The four trucks that elected not to qualify on Friday will start Saturday’s race behind the other 20 SCORE Trophy Trucks.
With general admission tickets available at the event, the three spectator areas for the event will be the start/finish line area at the Laughlin Events Park, the SCORE Hill overlooking the infield area of the start/finish line area, and the ‘Cougar Corral’ located adjacent to the west end of the course by Laughlin High School.
General admission, per person, per day, is $10 for the start/finish and infield area, $5 for the SCORE Hill and $5 for the ‘Cougar Corral’.
18th Annual SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge
Rounds 1 & 2 of five-race 2012 SCORE Desert Series
Jan. 13-15 Laughlin, Nevada
Friday’s SCORE Trophy Truck Qualifying Results
(With starting positions for Saturday’s race. Start order for Sunday’s race will be determined by a drawing of Saturday’s top 10 finishers with the balance of the class starting in the placement order from Saturday.)
Position, Vehicle Number, Driver of Record, Hometown, Vehicle, time for one lap of 6.25-mile course
TOP QUALIFIER: 97 B.J. Baldwin, Las Vegas, Chevy Silverado, 6 minutes, 23.99 seconds (58.59 miles per hour)
2. 20 Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas, Ford F-150, 6:33.00 (57.25mph)
3. 10 Greg Nunley, Tulare, Calif., Chevy Silverado, 6:38.48 (56.48mph)
4. 65 Lloyd Sproule/Derrick Sproule, Canada, Ford F-150, 6:42.16 (55.95mph)
5. 14 Cameron Steele, San Clemente, Calif./Cody Stuart, Capistrano Beach, Calif., GMC Sierra, 6:42.30 (55.93mph)
6. 94 Steven Strobel, Clarks, Neb., Ford F-150, 6:45.60 (55.47mph)
7. 16 Cameron Steele, San Clemente, Calif./Cody Stuart, Capistrano Beach, Calif., GMC Sierra, 6:49.39 (54.96mph)
8. 98 Gary Weyhrich, Troutdale, Ore., Ford F-150, 6:49.63 (54.93mph)
9. 18 Juan Carlos Lopez, Tecate, Mexico/Justin Matney, Bristol, Tenn., Chevy Silverado, 6:51.01 (54.74mph)
10. 2 Pete Sohren, Glendale, Ariz., Ford F-150, 6:51.48 (54.68mph)
11. 9 Mark Weyhrich, Troutdale, Ore., Ford F-150, 6:51.78 (54.64mph)
12. 12 Brendan Gaughan/Brian Collins, Las Vegas, Dodge Ram1500, 6:53.00 (54.48mph)
13. 15 Armin Schwarz, Germany/Martin Christensen, Escondido, Calif. (Denmark), Chevy Silverado, 6:54.98 (54.22mph)
14. 30 Robbie Pierce, Santee, Calif., Ford F-150, 6:56.56 (54.01mph)
15. 95 Scott Whipple/Scott Gailey, Norco, Calif., Ford F-150, 6:58.39 (53.78mph)
16. 48 Jimmy Knuckles, Brawley, Calif., Sean McCallum, Imperial, Calif., Ford F-150, 7:00.50 (53.51mph)
17. 84 Nick Vanderwey, Phoenix/Larry Vanderwey, Litchfield Park, Ariz., Chevy Silverado, 7:01.13 (53.42mph)
18. 34 Ken Losch, Tempe, Ariz./John Pickett, Tulare, Calif., Chevy Silverado, 7:07.42 (52.64mph)
19. 96 Bobby Baldwin, Las Vegas, Chevy Silverado, 7:22.40 (50.86mph)
20. 68 Marc Ewing, Henderson, Nev./Bryce Menzies, Las Vegas, Ford F-150 (DNF)
21. 19 Tim Herbst, Las Vegas, Ford F-150 (DNS)
22. 47 James Bult, Monee, Ill/Jacob Bult, Sand Point, Idaho, Dodge Ram2500 (DNS)
23. 49 Ryan Arciero, Foothill Ranch, Calif., Chevy CK1500 (DNS)
24. 35 Jason Voss/Rich Voss, Cupertino, Calif., Ford F-150 (DNS)
SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, dominiccnv@aol.com