Luke McMillin, Menzies, Walser top three qualifiers Wednesday for Saturday’s 3rd SCORE Baja 400

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, Dominic@SCORE-International.com
September 14, 2022

Presented by VP Racing Fuels
L. McMillin, Menzies, Walser top three qualifiers
Wednesday for Saturday’s 3rd SCORE Baja 400

 

     ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico—San Diego’s Luke McMillin, Las Vegas’ Bryce Menzies and Jax Redline, Amarillo, Texas (additional driver for Mike Walser, Comfort, Texas) all behind the wheel of Mason Motorsports All-Wheel Drive SCORE Trophy Trucks were the top three qualifiers Wednesday among nearly 200 racers expected to start Saturday’s 3rd SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing Fuels, launches the second half of the four-race 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship.
Held on a 4.9-mile course east of Ensenada, Luke McMillin, 29, powered his way in a time of 6 minutes, 37.153 seconds, averaging 44.42 miles per hour in his No. 83 all-wheel drive Mason-built Chevy 1500 SCORE Trophy Truck. He was the fastest of 31 SCORE Trophy Trucks out of the 35 entries who attempted to qualify. The qualifying route was on private property approximately 30 miles Northeast of Ensenada.
Last year in this race, Menzies edged Luke McMillin by just .51 hundredth of a second to earn the top spot in qualifying.
Menzies, 35, the 2011 SCORE Trophy Truck season point champion, will start second in Saturday’s race after completing the qualifying course in 6:44.582 in his AWD Mason Motorsports built Ford Raptor SCORE Trophy Truck.
Youthful up and comer Redline, 22, finished third in qualifying, covering the 4.9 miles in 6:52.491. He will start the race on Saturday and drive the first half before turning the wheel over to driver of record Mike Walser.
Top qualifier out of 25 entries in the Trophy Truck Spec class was Las Vegas’ Pierce Herbst, 20, with a time of 6:54.328 in the No. 264 Herbst/Smith-Chevy. He was the second racer to qualify in his class.
SCORE Trophy Truck, SCORE TT Legend, Class 1 and Trophy Truck Spec were the only four classes required to qualify for starting positions as the other start positions in the various classes were determined by a drawing.
While there are seven entries in the unlimited Class 1, none of them attempted to qualify, so their start order will remain as the order they entered the race.
WHAT’S UP
The youngest race in the long and storied nearly 50-year history of the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization will be held this week in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. The race, produced by BCII TV in association with SCORE International, will air as a one-hour at 9 p.m. PT on Sunday, Nov. 6 on the ESPN2 Network. Bud Brutsman is the Executive Producer of the SCORE TV shows.
SCORE LIVE
During qualifying on Wednesday (today), contingency on Friday and the race on Saturday, until the course closes on Sunday morning, live streaming will be broadcasting race activities, start and finish line interviews as well as live drone and ground coverage from around the race course. Popular Rat Sult, who has been the voice of SCORE over the last seven seasons, will once again serve as host of the SCORE Live streaming. Assisting Sult once again will be veteran voice Dave Arnold.
SCORE live may be launched from the home page of the SCORE website or from the SCORE App.
GREEN FLAG
The SCORE Baja 400 will be an elapsed-time race with staggered starts as the green flag on Saturday will drop first for the motorcycles and quads at 5:30 a.m. (PDT) and 9:15 a.m. (PDT) for the cars, trucks and UTVs. The total distance for the race course is 393.82 miles while the motorcycles and quads will run an abbreviated course of 370 miles for safety reasons.
While the fastest vehicles are expected to finish in around eight and one-half hours, all vehicles will have a 19-hour time limit to become official finishers in the race.
DETAILS
With competition in classes for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads, the 182 entries entering three days of late, on-site registration in Ensenada, are from 22 U.S. States, the U.S. Territory of Puerto Rico plus racers from host Mexico, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, England, France, New Zealand, Peru and Venezuela.
Leading the way are SCORE Trophy Truck (including seven in SCORE TT Legend) has 36 entries, the Trophy Truck Spec class which has 27 entries to date, the Pro UTV FI (Forced Induction) class with 21, Class 10 (16) and Pro Moto Unlimited, Pro Moto Limited and Pro Moto Ironman which each has six entries so far. Leading the Sportsman classes is SPT Motorcycle with seven entries.
SCORE REGISTRATION/CONTINGENCY
SCORE Registration for 3rd SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing Fuels is being held in Salon Rojo at the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center on Blvd Costero in the heart of Ensenada. Racer registration and media registration will both continue on Thursday and Friday.
Racer registration at the Riviera CC will continue from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT on Thursday and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. PDT on Friday.
On Thursday after 4 p.m. PDT and on Friday, no new entries will be accepted after 3 p.m. PDT.
Media registration is continuing in the Riviera CC from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT on both Thursday and Friday.
The SCORE Media Center will be in the SCORE Registration tent during the race with internet access and live race updates, vehicle tracking displays including unofficial elapsed times.
START GRID-SCORE BAJA 1000
The final results of the SCORE Baja 400 also will determine the start order within each class for November’s iconic season-ending BFGoodrich Tires 55th SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts. This year’s Granddaddy of all Desert Races will be a loop race starting and finishing in Ensenada. It will be held Nov. 15-20.

3rd SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing Fuels
Round 3 of four-race 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship
Sept. 17-18, 2022—400 miles – Ensenada, Baja, Mexico

Pro Cars, Trucks & UTVs
(Number, driver/rider of record/additional drivers and/or Navigators/riders, vehicle, engine)
  SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (Unlimited CustomTrucks including Builder)--
TOP QUALIFIER : 83 Luke McMillin, 29, San Diego, Chevy 1500 (Mason), 6 minutes, 37.153 seconds (44.42 miles per hour)
2. 7 Bryce Menzies, 35, Las Vegas, Ford Raptor (Mason), 6:44.582
3. 89 Jax Redline, 22, Amarillo, Texas (DOR-Mike Walser, 55, Comfort, Texas Chevy Silverado (Mason), 6:48.543
4. 23 Dan McMillin, 34, San Diego, Chevy 1500 (Mason), 6:52.491
5. 21 Gustavo Tavo Vildosola, 40, Mexicali, Mexico, Chevy Silverado (Vildosola Racing), 6:53.450
6. 27 Jonathan Brenthel, 43, La Cresta, Calif./Jordan Brenthel, 36, Murrieta, Calif., Chevy Silverado (Brenthel), 6:54.739
7. 46 Toby Price, 34, Australia (DOR-Paul Weel, 43, Australia, Ford Raptor (Geiser), 6:56.354
8. 21L Gustavo Vildosola Sr, 69, Mexicali, Mexico/Ricky Johnson, 58, Trabuco Canyon, Calif., Ford Raptor (Mason), 6:56.750
9. 1 Rob MacCachren, 57, Las Vegas, Ford F-150 (Geiser), 7:00.043
10. 41 Justin Lofton, 36, Brawley, Calif. (Lockney, Texas), Chevy Silverado (Mason), 7:01.935
11. 37L Rick D. Johnson, 56, Barstow, Calif. (DOR-Rolf Helland, 62, Morris, Ill.), Ford Raptor (Mason), 7:03.372
12. 16 Cameron Steele, 54, San Clemente, Calif./Ryan Arciero, 47, Foothill Ranch, Calif., Ford Raptor (Geiser), 7:03.604
13. 34 Broc Dickerson, 21, Brawley, Calif., Ford Raptor (TSCO), 7:03.929
14. 85 Mikey Lawrence, 34, Banning, Calif., Ford Raptor (Herbst/Smith), 7:04.423
15. 10 Alan Ampudia, 31, Ensenada, Mexico/Aaron Ampudia, 29, Ensenada, Mexico, Ford Raptor (ID), 7:08.352
16. 14 Bobby Pecoy, 58, Anaheim, Calif./Mike Byrd, 47, Parker, Ariz., Ford Raptor (Geiser), 7:10.114
17. 43 Larry Roeseler, 65, Boulevard, Calif., Toyota Tundra (ID), 7:10.391
18. 70 Harley Letner, 39, Corona, Calif. (DOR-Kevin Thompson, 49, New Braunfels, Texas, Chevy Silverado (Herbst/Smith), 7:10.664
19. 69 Andrew Myers, 42, San Marcos, Calif., Toyota Tundra (Herbst/Smith), 7:14.253
20. 19 Pat Dean, 52, Las Vegas (DOR-Tim Herbst, 59, Las Vegas, Ford F-150 (Herbst/Smith), 7:21.788
21. 82 Sam Baldi, 57, Beaumont, Calif./Jake Johnson, 44, Yucaipa, Calif., Chevy Silverado (Baldi), 7:27.480
22. 26 Dave Taylor, 48, Page, Ariz., Ford Raptor (Geiser), 7:28.395
23. 58 Tracy Graf, 59, Canada/Justin B. Smith, 38, Las Vegas/Jake Povey, 36, Whitefish, Mont., Chevy Silverado (Racer), 7:28.543
24. 92 Paul Nauleau, 25, Los Gatos, Calif. (France)/Johnny Bickel, 25, Fort Worth, Texas, Chevy Silverado (Brenthel), 7:29.490
25. 6 Dan Myers, 44, Newport Beach, Calif./Jonathan Brenthel, 42, Murrieta, Calif., Toyota Tundra (Brenthel), 7:36.649
26. 98 Jose Mendez, 34, Guadalajara, Mexico/Danny Lopez, Guadalajara, Mexico, Ford Raptor (Geiser), 7:42.805
27. 53L Wade Porter, 55, Durham, Calif., Ford Raptor (Brenthel), 7:44.093
28. 90 Raul Gomez, 43, Placerville, Calif./Sergio Garcia, Chino Hills, Calif., Ford Raptor (Geiser), 7:53.614
29. 85L Steve Lawler, 62, Upland, Calif., (DOR-Clay Lawrence, 60, Banning, Calif.), Herbst/Smith-Chevy, 8:07.200
30. 31 Andy McMillin, 35, San Diego, Chevy Silverado (Mason), 8:32.380
31. 61L David Payne, 61, St. Louis, Mo./Damon Bradshaw, 50, Peoria, Ariz., Chevy Silverado, 9:06.485
Did Not Qualify 18 JP Gomez, 38, Placerville, Calif., Ford Raptor (Geiser)
DNQ 63 Ruben Torres, 24, San Luis Potosi, Mexico/Gabriel Torres, 29, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Nissan (TSCO)
DNQ 96 Enrique Murillo, 52, La Paz, Mexico/German Alvarez M., 35, La Paz, Mexico, Ford F-150 (TSCO)
DNQ 25L Mark Winkelman, 63, Cedar Hill, Texas/Daniel Gonzalez, 60, Ensenada, Mexico/Rudy Iribe, 54, Chula Vista, Calif./Charles Manchester, 59, Lake Tahoe, Nev./Ted Moncure, 53, Long Beach, Calif., Ford F-150 (Master Design)
(Brenthel)
*SCORE TT LEGEND (Unlimited Custom Trucks, including builder, Drivers over 50 years old)
  TROPHY TRUCK SPEC (unlimited Truck/SUV, stock, sealed engines)--
TOP QUALIFIER : 264 Pierce Herbst, 20, Las Vegas/Thor Herbst, Las Vegas, Herbst/Smith-Chevy, 6:54.328
2. 204 Christopher Polvoorde, 21, Hemet, Calif., Mason-Ford, 7:00.945
3. 228 Brock Heger, 21, El Centro, Calif. (DOR-Ryan Hancock, 46, Yuma, Ariz.), TSCO-Ford, 7:01.371
4. 272 Dustin Grabowski, 25, Upland, Calif./Cody Wooddruff, 28, Jurupa Valley, Calif., Herbst/Smith-Chevy, 7:11.988
5. 261 Dan Fresh, 55, San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Jeff Bader, 41, Las Vegas/Dan Fresh Jr, San Juan Capistrano, Calif., Brenthel-Chevy, 7:12.681
6. 297 Jorge Sampietro, 31, Ensenada, Mexico/Santiago Creel, 35, Mexico City/Abelardo Ruanova, 40, Ensenada, Mexico, Mason-Chevy, 7:21.999
7. 233 Justin Davis, 29, Chino Hills, Calif./Troy Holes, 48, Victorville, Calif., Brenthel-Chevy, 7:23.358
8. 207 Mason Cullen, 23, Long Beach, Calif./Matt Cullen, 54, Long Beach, Calif., Geiser-Chevy, 7:26.073
9. 238 Elijah Kiger, 22, Kirby, Pa./Jason Coleman, 37, Huntington Beach, Calif., TSCO-Chevy, 7:33.847
10. 269 Santiago Creel, 36, Mexico City (DOR-Guillermo Zamacona, 42, Los Cabos, Mexico, Jimco-Chevy, 7:34.002
11. 225 Kelly McNeil, 59, Mesa, Ariz. (DOR-Mitch McNeil, 31, Mesa, Ariz., Geiser-Ford, 7:36.470
12. 203 Ken Stanick, 53, Canada/Jason Bailey, 50, Canada, Brenthel-Chevy, 7:42.910
13. 213 Karl Ebdrup, 50, Canada/Marc Ebdrup, 47, Canada, Brenthel-Chevy, 7:45.834
14. 278 Carlos Ibarra, 45, Ensenada, Mexico/Moises Marquis, 43, Ensenada, Mexico/Julian Jacquez, 30, Ensenada, Mexico, Ford Raptor (Padmur), 7:48.665
15. 236 Michael Marsal, 34, Millbrook, N.Y./Hudson Hall, 29, New Braunfels, Texas/Chuck Dempsey, 52, Oak Hills, Calif., Brenthel-Chevy, 7:49.028
16. 237 Kossnar Guenther, 18, Mission Viejo, Calif./Mia Lloyd, 18, Blythe, Calif., Brenthel-Chevy, 7:51.614
17. 229 Danny Lopez, 32, Guadalajara, Mexico/Jorge Lopez, Guadalajara, Mexico/Luis Gonzalez, Jimco-Chevy, 8:03.396
18. 266 David Ziegler, 47, Reno, Nev./Paul Ziegler, 51, Reno, Nev., Brenthel-Chevy, 8:08.125
19. 254 Mike Perez, 39, Houston, Brenthel-Chevy, 8:26.122
20. 299 Charles Dorrance, 47, Austin, Texas/Larry Job, 55, Las Vegas/Dylan Herman, Reno, Nev., Geiser-Chevy, 11:42.025
21. 200 Jason McNeil, 44, El Cajon, Calif./Eric Clay, St. George, Utah/Conner McNeil, Mesa, Ariz., TSCO-Chevy, 13:32.843
22. 219 Cayden MacCachren, 20, Las Vegas, (DOR-Christian Sourapas, 25, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.), Herbst/Smith-Ford14:24.676
23. 273 Jordan Brenthel, 36, Temecula, Calif./Conner McMullen, Brenthel-Chevy, 31:30.182
Did Not Finish 289 Tanner Rust, 32, El Cajon, Calif./Jeff Embree, 51, Austin, Texas, Ford Raptor (Foutz)
DNQ 294 Vincent Munoz, 35, Yucaipa, Calif./Roy Tomkins, 34, Redlands, Calif., FPB-Chevy
3rd SCORE Baja 400
Presented by VP Racing Fuels
Post-Qualifying Quotes, September 14, 2022
(As interviewed by Paul Hanson, Guillermo Torres; transcribed by Cindy Clark)
SCORE TROPHY TRUCK
LUKE McMILLIN, No. 83 (McMillin qualified first.) - - “That was good. That was fun. I think we might be on top. We had a solid run. This truck is so much fun to drive. We had a good, clean run, no mistakes. It got a little hairy on the second jump, but clean run. We want to have a good starting spot for Saturday. We are expecting blue skies and hopefully the track dries out a little bit because it has been muddy and kind of crazy. I don’t want to push it too much on Saturday. It is all about the SCORE Baja 1000. We are after a three-peat and there is only two people in history that have done that. That is what is on my mind. Qualifying is fun, I want to be fast, I want to be the fastest out here, but the reason I race is to win SCORE Baja 1000’s.”
BRYCE MENZIES, No. 7 (Menzies qualified second.) - - “It was good. The course was very technical and dangerous. We pushed as hard as we wanted to be safe. We know if you make a mistake here you start in the back. Overall it felt good.”
JAX REDLINE, No. 89 (DOR Mike Walser qualified third.) - - “Honestly, from running the two-wheel drive last year to the four-wheel drive this year was a massive jump. I’m getting more comfortable every race in this truck. This is definitely a course for a four-wheel drive. I’m on top of the world right now. It was fast and smooth. I made one or two missteps but overall it was good. We have been putting in the homework this week so we should be good.”
DAN MCMILLIN, No. 23 (McMillin qualified fourth.) - - “Qualifying went good. We are here in one piece and that’s what I was worried about, having to push it so hard. The course was similar to last year except they threw in a lot of new stuff like straight ditches. We did really good. I think we finished fourth and Luke first so a good day for the McMillin team. We are going to pre-run the first hundred miles tomorrow because that was the most muddy and most wet. So we will go from there and see where we sit and go racing on Saturday.”
TAVO VILDOSOLA, No. 21 (Vildosola qualified fifth.) - - “It was a clean run for us. We are getting used to this new truck with a sequential transmission. The shifting needs some cleaning up. We made one small mistake but it didn’t cost us any time. The rain cut everyone’s pre-running short. This course is constantly changing. We need to have a clean race.”
TOBY PRICE, No. 46 (DOR PAUL WEEL qualified seventh.) - - CO-DRIVER TOBY PRICE said, ”We felt comfortable. We had a couple little mistakes in the middle part. First time being on this course, it’s been a bit of a mission, but the truck is in good shape and no flats. We will be ready for race day. We are hoping for a good clean run, no flats. BFGoodrich has that sorted for us. Paul had done his section and he’s excited. It is his first time down here in Baja. It is cool to share that experience with him. We are going to see what we can do. It is exciting. I love it. It is my sixth or seventh time down here. I enjoy coming down here even if I’m just watching but it is a lot better being in a race truck. We are in the best seat possible. We are ready to go for it.”
ROB MAC CACHREN, No. 1 (Mac Cachren qualified ninth.) - -  “It was good. My son Cayden rode with me. He qualified earlier in the Trophy Truck Spec with Steve Sourapas’ truck, so he knew where to go. That helped a little bit. It was good. A lot of tight, twisty, typical. We have a pretty good run, as good as we could do with this two-wheel drive truck. Overall we are happy. We will see where we end up. Ultimately, you don’t have to start first to win. We are leading the points championship right now. We want to extend the points lead, it’s what we are here for. We will go from here to pre-run some more. We pre-ran Labor Day weekend, Cayden and I did, and pre-ran for four days and then he raced a UTV last weekend and won. Then we came back Monday and started pre-running again on Tuesday. Love Baja, love the people and thank you to SCORE for everything you do.”
JUSTIN LOFTON, No. 41 (Lofton qualified tenth.) - - “I wish I could say qualifying went good, but I think we lost a gear and unfortunately didn’t get the run in we wanted. It is part of driving these things. So many things can and do go wrong. Hopefully we are mid-pack and we can hold our own during the race. We have not done much pre-running yet. We will be working this afternoon and the next two days and get around the course and see what it is like.”
CAMERON STEELE, No. 16 (Steele qualified twelfth.) - - “I felt like it was pretty good. My navigator did a great job. We yelled at each other, we yee-hawed, we had fun, acted like donkeys. Overall it was a pretty clean run. We made a decision on a setting change before we went out and I think it was 50/50. We gave up a little and gained a little. Overall the truck is awesome and we have a good truck for the race and the SCORE Baja 1000.  No pressure. I expect to have a fairly decent starting position. Our goal is to get a good starting position for the SCORE Baja 1000 so we will race forward all day. We have proven through our pit stops and smart racing that we can get on the podium. We will shoot for a top five and wherever we finish is fine. We want to be in the first ten trucks for the SCORE Baja 1000.”
BROC DICKERSON, No. 34 (Dickerson qualified 13th.) - - “We had a clean smooth run; only a couple of small bobbles where I could have made up some time, but all in all I am happy with how we ran. The course is pretty fun. It is pretty dusty right now. Hopefully we are in the top ten on Saturday.”
ALAN AMPUDIA, No. 10 (Ampudia qualified 15th.) - - “The course is a little beat up, a little different from the practice lap. All in all, good. We ran a good pace, hopefully a top ten. That was our main goal. Even if we are outside the top ten, that’s fine. The race that counts is Saturday. There was a lot of rocks and some off-camber sections. I almost hit a big rock. These two-wheel drive vehicles like to slide. My co-driver killed it with the notes. The game plan for Saturday is to play it smart in the first half, then try to go for the win. It’s the qualification for the SCORE Baja 1000 so you can’t go too fast and hurt the truck and end up in the back.”
LARRY ROESELER, No. 43 (Roeseler qualified 17th.) - - “You know, that was a lot of fun. We have qualified here in the past. I think it was fair for everyone, whether you go out first or last. It is bermed up nice, some big ditches, some big jumps. We had a good time, we had a good run. We will see how we fare. There are some other vehicles that maybe have more advantage than us with this old gal here, but I think we did fine. It’s a tough 400-mile race. Of course qualifying is important but if you start near the front, things develop. Qualifying was a lot of fun. Good conditions today.”
HARLEY LETNER, No. 70 (DOR KEVIN THOMPSON qualified 18^th.) - - “I think it went alright. Definitely not top spot. I had a couple moments. I have never qualified here before so we wanted to go out there and see what we could do and get a decent spot for race day. It was good. The truck is still in one piece. We were spinning the tires in some of the soft silty sand. There was a couple 90 degree sandy turns with a big uphill that we struggled with. We have been doing some pre-running. The rain changed things a lot and have some good notes. We come down here to win. We want a good finish for the SCORE Baja 1000. We don’t want to start in the back for that.”
PAT DEAN, No., 19 (DOR TIM HERBST qualified 20^th.) - - “Everything went pretty well. We ran a little better than we thought. I made a couple mistakes but picked up some time in some other areas. The Terrible Motorsports/Gibbs engine/BFG tires were phenomenal. The race course is difficult with all the rain. That should slow the course which will be good for us. There are some tough areas but if we don’t make any mistakes we should go to the front.”
ANDY MCMILLIN, No. 31 (McMillin qualified 30^th.) - - “Things did not go as good as I planned. Somehow I got a flat tire so we have to start in the back. It is unfortunate. And almost in the same spot as last year. Sometimes you can’t do anything right and sometimes you can’t do anything wrong. We have done a lot of pre-running. The good thing is with all the rain hopefully the dust will be down.”