18th Annual SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge
Round 1 of 2012 SCORE Desert Series
Jan. 14, Laughlin, Nevada
Driver Post-Race quotes
SCORE TROPHY TRUCK:
B.J. BALDWIN, No. 97 (First overall and first in class.) – I made a personal commitment to myself and my team at the end of 2011 to never let anything get in the way of pursuit of a victory. Running our race team like a business has sometimes gotten in the way of that and I'm over it, my team's over it and we are done losing. 2012 is going to be our best year. I'd like to thank everybody that lives here in Laughlin and everybody that lets us race down here. This is a wonderful place to put on an event. We were going to try and go slow for the first three laps because it is so hard on equipment but Rob MacCachren just wouldn't let us do that. He was pushing the pace and I was trying to go as slow as I can but still go fast. He was catching me a second a lap and then on one of the laps I put three seconds on him and then the next lap he got a flat. To lose to Rob would be awesome but to beat him is even better.
JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, No. 18 (Second in class.) – It was a lot of fun and very competitive. At the end we had a problem with the motor and lost some speed.
GARY WEYHRICH, No. 98 (Third in class.) – It went pretty good but I think we've got to stiffen up the shocks up a bit. As the run kept going we started getting loose in the rear end and it was hard to control it. I think we've got to stiffen up our general setup. It was frustrating because I was pushing and most of the guys I usually run with were pulling away from me. I think we'll be fine tomorrow but we've got to stiffen the whole truck up. There were a couple of guys broken down and a couple on their side. Typical Laughlin: It's crazy. The first lap wasn't bad but every other lap it went away farther and farther.
STEVEN STROBEL, No. 94 (Fourth in class.) – It was awesome. It's a fun ride out there. I love the course, but it's going to be rougher tomorrow. I couldn't be happier with the truck. We'll go back and do a good prep job tonight and go racing again tomorrow. Our strategy was to keep it right side up and get a strong finish. We're running for the points this year so it starts right now.
MARK WEYRICH, No. 9 (Fifth in class.) – There wasn't too much dust until the end of the race. Pete Sohren blew out our visors so every time we would go into the sun we couldn't pick up any of our braking points or anything. There were like four turns on the course that we couldn't go into deep enough so we lost a ton of time on those turns. I don't know that we had the truck today to go up and compete with those guys. It had too much push in it and the suspension started fading on us. We'll do some homework tonight and get it quicker for tomorrow. This one is the oldest trucks in the fleet and pretty reliable so that's why we brought it. It just didn't work out for us.
BRENDAN GAUGHAN, No. 12 (Sixth in class.) – It was a great time. It has been close to a decade since I've driven a Trophy Truck. I was happy but it was kicking over some of these infield jumps and it wasn't happy. We pulled the shocks off last night and re-valved them and rebuilt them. We've got it close to right and not bad after a decade. I love my buggy racing but I'll jump in a Trophy Truck any day of the week. I'm hopefully going to guilt trip my father into starting the Baja 1000 with me because I never got to race with him.
ROB MacCACHREN, No. 20 (Ninth in class.) – We ran as hard as we could. There are a lot of berms out there that you're really driving hard so you are bouncing and banking of them. There's some pretty square-edged stuff out there too. I was driving really, really hard and just had a tire go down on the sixth lap or so. We tried to limp it around but it was better to stop and get it changed. The truck was awesome and I think this is the first one (flat tire) that we've had with this truck. We'll go back and work on the truck tonight and come back tomorrow. I feel good. The truck is fast.
CLASS 1:
STEVEN EUGENIO, No. 113 (First in class.) – Co-driver Adam Pfankuch said: We brought it down a notch because we wanted to save the car for tomorrow. It was fun. We just cruised and went around all of the big bumps and helped make the car hold up for tomorrow. This thing is a rocket ship but once it gets a little rough out there it comes to our disadvantage so we took advantage of what we have today.
CODY PARKHOUSE, No. 105 (Second in class.) – It was awesome. We've got this thing dialed in so good right now. It might have been a little soft but other than that it was as fast as we could go, foot to the floor everywhere.
BRIAN PARKHOUSE, No. 102 (Third in class.) – Cody (Parkhouse) put some time on me the first couple of laps but we were running pretty much nose to tail for the last six laps. It takes us old guys a little longer to get warmed up. He (Damen Jefferies) pulled a little bit of time on us right away but we slowed reeled him back in over the next couple of laps. It was fun. It was a good time.
RONNY WILSON, No. 107 (Fourth in class.) – I had a couple of slow laps and got out of the groove. Our goal is to come here and maybe get on the podium or get a couple top five finishes and get to San Felipe. Our cars are set up for Mexico.
HARLEY LETNER, No. 112 (Fifth in class.) – We had a broken brake line and it made it really hard to stop. It was a good race up until that happened on the third or fourth lap and we still caught a couple of guys. We tried not to overshoot turns and make it to the end and get a finish. I was going for a win but I guess we'll try again tomorrow.
STEVE APPLETON, No. 108 (Sixth in class.) – Co-driver Mike Julson said: I got behind Ronny (Wilson) and there was too much mud and I couldn't see the road. It was a battlefield for sure and I think I got the short end of it. I got in a lot of traffic and a couple of guys here, after they get hit, don't know how to move.
CONAN BARKER, No. 109 (Eighth in class.) – We had a wonderful day. It was fun and everything was good. We had a little mechanical problem where we arrived at a couple of turns without brakes and that was interesting. Once we figured that out and pumped them up on the way in and got things under control then we started to settle down and have a good time. We were picking up our pace and feeling more and more comfortable today and we actually started catching people that passed us early in the race while we were getting the feel of it. I think tomorrow we are going to come out swinging and have some fun. Tomorrow is a different race. It's already starting to get pretty rough and tomorrow will be interesting.
CLASS 1/2-1600:
CODY ROBINSON, No. 1601 (First in class.) – I like it (the two day format) a lot because I have had years where I came out here the first day and had a flat or hit some water and killed the motor and it ruins the whole weekend so I think it (having two races) is a great deal. I'll be back tomorrow so hopefully I can win again. The course was fast because they bladed the whole thing. I like it but I would rather it be rough. They come out and blade all of it and put the water down and it can really knock you out for the weekend because when you go through the water with VWs the water gets in the coils and kills the motor. So I'm crossing my fingers that they don't blade tonight and they let it get dusty.
ANDREW MEYERS, No. 1603 (Second in class.) – The course was fun. It was flat for the start and it got chewed up a little bit at the end but it was pretty consistent and it was fun to run around. I wish it was a little longer though.
ROBERT S. ARCHIBALD, No. 1606 (Third in class.) – Co-driver Mike Meecham said: Our game plan today was to move a little farther forward and that's what we did. The course was fun. I was waiting for some big bumps and there were none there. We made a few bad decisions in some corners but other than that it was really good.
BRAD WILSON, No. 1602 (Fourth in class.) – I wasn't too fond of it (racing over two days and combining the points) at the beginning but now that we finished I'm happy. Hopefully we can come out with a good weekend and head into San Felipe with some points. Just seeing what we did out there with maybe 15 cars, the course is going to be a whole new thing tomorrow. After the Trophy Trucks and Class 1 cars today the course is going to be chewed up. If we keep it on all fours wheels, we'll have a good day.
GEORGE PETERS, No. 1610 (Sixth in class.) – It's great to have a fun race like this with SCORE. It's not too rough but it is exciting and everybody is wheel-to-wheel racing. We were passing guys in the air and it was awesome. We had mechanical issues. The thing was falling on its face. Every time I came into a tight turn and downshift and try and ask for throttle it would fall on its face. It wouldn't go. It wouldn't pick up and then I would have to clutch it, clutch it, clutch it to get it back on top.
CLASS 3:
DONALD MOSS, No. 300 (First in class.) – It was a good run. They wetted the course down last night so it was pretty good for a couple of laps. We had not problems and maintained a nice steady pace.
CLASS 5:
KEVIN CARR, No. 500 (First in class.) – It was good but starting to get a little bit rough at the end. We had a few small problems. A coil wire came loose and we had to get out and put that back in. For some reason the clutch stopped working but we ended up finishing. The course will be more torn up tomorrow and what's round today will be square tomorrow. A lot of the curves are getting really dug in and down to where the rocks are.
CLASS 5-1600:
CLYDE STACY, No. 552 (First in class.) – Co-driver Thomas Fernandez said: It was fun but a little muddy. Tomorrow after the Trophy Trucks run it is going to be bad.
CLASS 6:
EDUARDO LAGUNA, No. 618 (First in class.) – This truck is new. I just made the truck on Friday and it is awesome.
JAVIER MANZO, No. 606 (Second in class.) – Co-driver Alex Almaraz said: It was a good race and a nice course. This is the first time I've raced this course. It was rough out there and will probably be worse tomorrow. We are expecting it to be hard tomorrow.
CLASS 7:
DAN CHAMLEE, No. 700 (First in class.) – I didn't want to push too hard because I knew I was leading. I backed down so I wouldn't tear the truck up. The course is getting rougher, but not rough enough. The rougher the better. We started the truck this morning and exploded the intake manifold so we had to change it before we got to the start line. It only took us five minutes.
CLASS 7SX:
JUSTIN FISHER, No. 758 (First in class.) – Co-driver John Holmes said: It is kind of slippery out there. Last year we had no brakes so this year was a lot safer. The shocks worked great and this course is all about shocks which gave us a few seconds on the guys behind us. They were nipping at our tail though.
RICH SEVERSON, No. 742 (Second in class.) – The first few laps was really smooth and fast and then as always it got a little softer and more whooped out. We're the limited suspension and horsepower class so it just slows us down a little bit. All the trucks in our class are very even so it is just a little bit quicker here and there. We are probably where we expected to be: right in the middle of the pack.
CLASS 8:
RODOLFO IRIBE, No. 839 (First in class.) – We had no problems whatsoever. The course isn't bad but I think obviously tomorrow there will be some big hits. Today there are some big hits but you can go around them. There is an alternate line and I think it is a little bit faster. Other than that I think the course is nice and no dust.
CLASS 10:
MATT CULLEN, No. 1003 (First in class.) – It was a great day. The car worked beautiful, the track was good and we got by the first few guys and had clean air the whole time. We were up one minute and 15 seconds on lap four and just dialed it back a little bit and drove it home. It was awesome.
PERRY MCNEIL, No. 1002 (Second in class.) – We are a Class 12 that we raced as a Class 10. We've got a brand new Class 10 built, but it wasn't done in time so we raced this one in Class 10 so we are underpowered and everything else but we wanted to go for the points. That's a rough course out there. I got much worse from the first lap to the seventh lap. There was a big change from lap to lap.
SCORE LITES:
RAFAEL NAVARRO IV, No. 1200 (First in class.) – It was pretty good but it got rougher as the race went on and we had to change up our lines a little bit. Other than that, the course was pretty straightforward.
MATT LAUGHLIN, No. 1203 (Third in class.) – It was surprisingly smoother than I thought it was going to be. It will definitely be rough tomorrow though. It started to get more and more chewed up but after the big guys go it's going to be a war zone out there. The car ran perfect. The strategy was to drive it hard as we could and keep it on all fours.
STOCK FULL:
JOE BACAL, No. 862 (Second in class.) – It is a new truck and we are just trying to get the bugs out. I haven't even driven it until today. It is a work in progress. The truck hasn't been running well at all. It is in limp mode and is running on four cylinders. We're not sure what is going on. We've got a Lexus engineer here trying to figure out what is going on. This is exactly what happened to me last year. Surprisingly it just started to run. I kept messing with the paddle shifters which would seem to get it to run and then it would die. The suspension is better than the last truck. We will see what we can do tomorrow. It is what it is. I was expecting to start (the race) and then stop and that's it. We've got Brian Stordahl who is currently undergoing treatment for cancer and he flew out here from Tulsa just to ride in this truck. He's never been in a race car and it is something I wanted to do. I was about ready to cry when the truck didn't run because he came all the way out here. The shocks weren't tuned and we just went out there and raced it. We had no idea what to expect.
MARC STEIN, No. 861 (Third in class.) – We had a fuel problem on the first lap which took me seven minutes to fix and allowed the whole class get a lap on me. I took the lap back and won the class. It was foot to the floor baby. The first day is so much easier because it (the course) isn't as tough. The fuel pump disconnected and I had to strip the wires and put it back together.
STOCK MINI:
ANDY BELL, No. 779 (First in class.) – Co-driver Ted Moncure said: Things went beautifully. All we did was take a Sunday drive pre-running and click off consistent laps and get a finish with no problems. We're going to wash it, and Lord willing, not having anything to fix and be able to come out tomorrow and do the same thing. We didn't push it and tried to stay out of the racing line when the fast guys came by. Only one guy nerfed us, we thought unnecessarily, but that's life. The truck ran like a Toyota and just clicked off laps.
CLASS 7-2:
BILLY WILSON, No. 722 (First in class.) – The truck ran great and there was a lot of competition. The course was bumpy and rough. The racing was head to head.
CLASS 4:
DEREK FLETCHER, No. 419 (First in class.) – We had a great day. The course is getting rougher but it's still not bad.
CLASS 2:
CLYDE STACY, No. 202 (First in class.) – Co-driver Steven Arlia said: It was a good course, a simple course. It is still relatively smooth but it is going to get bad. Tomorrow will be interesting after the trucks. We didn't have any issues. It was a Saturday drive. I love the course. It is similar to a short course. I wish it was a little longer or had more laps would be good. Anything is fun.
JON ANDERSON, No. 201 (Second in class.) It was a nice course and it was really a lot of fun. I was disappointed that we had a competitor. My goal was to finish and not get hurt. The course is really nice. They did a lot of work on it last night.
SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, dominiccnv@aol.com