Mexico’s Vildosola wins Overall, SCORE Trophy Truck win September 26 at Rigid Industries SCORE Imperial Valley 250

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, dominiccnv@aol.com
September 27, 2015

PLASTER CITY, Calif., USA—Mexico’s Gus Vildosola Jr started first, overcame racing maladies and in the end benefitted from some racing good fortune on a blistering desert race course Saturday to capture the Overall and SCORE Trophy Truck victory at the internationally-televised Rigid Industries SCORE Imperial Valley 250, presented by the City of El Centro, Calif.
Back in SoCal for the third time in two years, Round 4 of the five-race 2015 SCORE World Desert Championship was held just west of El Centro, Calif. and approximately 100 miles east of San Diego. Pro and Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads raced in the event. They came from 17 U.S. States and four countries and endured temperatures that approached 110 degrees.
In earning his second overall race win of the year and his fifth career win in the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division, Vildosola Jr covered a three-lap race over a grueling and scorching desert course of approximately 96.1-miles for a total race distance of 288.3 miles in five hours, 10 minutes and 17 seconds with an average speed of 55.75 miles per hour in his No. 21 Method Wheels Mexicana Logistics Ford Raptor. He defeated a field of 85 starters, including 12 in the featured SCORE Trophy Truck class for high-tech, 850-horsepower unlimited production trucks.
Presented by the City of El Centro, the race was held near Plaster City, Calif., partially on 41,000 dedicated acres in an off-highway vehicle use area under the jurisdiction of the El Centro field office of the Bureau of Land Management. The area for the race was also located immediately west of the Naval Air Facility El Centro and is approximately 17 miles west of El Centro off of Interstate 8 (I-8).
The start/finish line area, main pits, primary spectator area and vendor’s village were once again located off of Wheeler Road in the Coyne Powersports Motorplex, owned by Imperial Valley businessmen Marty Coyne and his son Travis Coyne, both former SCORE desert racers.
CHECKERED FLAG
With the classes split into two groups, the motorcycles quads and several slower car/truck classes and the UTVs raced in the early morning. The remaining classes, starting with the featured SCORE Trophy Trucks and unlimited Class 1 open-wheel desert race cars, started in the late afternoon.
Following complete data tracking review of the participants, a total of 27 of the 85 official starters (31.76 percent) finished the elapsed-time, staggered start race within the eight-hour time limit.
WINNING V COMMENTS
Vildosola was elated at the finish line Saturday night as he secured the win with a consistent run and racing good fortune when Steven Eugenio, driving the No. 1 Galindo Motorsports Chevy Silverado, went out of the race with engine failure within five-miles of the finish line after leading the entire race.
“It was less than a perfect race for us,” said Vildosola afterwards. Primarily because we made a lot of navigational mistakes today. It was one of those wins that just falls into your lap. It is about perseverance and continuing to chip away. We are excited about the win and we came out here to points block for the Bud Light SCORE Baja 1000 because if we won then nobody would go further up on us in points. We hope to go out and do well enough to win the championship, which was the goal last year and is the goal again this year.”
“Our strategy here was to beat him (No. 1 Steven Eugenio) off the line (vehicles started two at a time) and we did but he knows this desert like the back of his hand. There was a reason he was ahead of us the whole race and that's an indication of talent and knowing this race course really well. He passed me right as we left the infield section and I followed him all day long. He was putting down a really good pace so I thought he would probably take this race and we would be fighting with Andy (McMillin, driving for No. 11 Rob MacCachren) for second place.”
“During our pit at the end of the second lap Andy went by us and when we got on the road he was stopped so we went by him and then we got a flat. I thought he would go by us again but he never did so we cruised it in and passed Steven Eugenio who was broken down about five miles from the finish.”
“It was really hot and the dust didn't move especially in the third lap when the sun went down and the light was reflecting off the dust particles. We couldn't see much of anything so following the slower classes made it a rough race. We came out here thinking that second place was no good for us and we needed the win because we couldn't have Steven, Apdaly (Juan Lopez) or Rob win because they would move closer to us or further ahead of us in points. We called this our points blocking race and if we won it we would leave in the same shape as we came in.”
M/Cs & QUADS
Jano Montoya, Winter Garden, Fla./Shane Esposito, Lake Elsinore, Calif., teamed up to capture the overall motorcycle and Class 40 (riders over 40 years old) victory in a penalty-free run of 6:36:38, averaging 43.61 mph on a KTM 450XCW.
The team of Javier Robles Jr, Guadalupe Victoria, Mexico/Josh Row, El Cajon, Calif./Roberto Villalobos, Tijuana, Mexico in another penalty-free run of 6:19:00 on a Honda TRX450R. Robles Jr, rider of record for the team, used his one excused absence to earn the team victory while Row and Villalobos split the riding time in this race.
THE UNBEATEN
With their impressive class wins in the Rigid Industries SCORE Imperial Valley 250, remaining undefeated after their fourth win in the 2015 SCORE World Desert Championship were Larry Connor, Miamisburg, Ohio (Trophy Truck Spec, Chevy Silverado) and Chad Broughton, Scotts Valley, Calif. (Class 3000, BajaLite-Chevy).
THREE-TIME WINNERS
While Connor and Broughton are the only two undefeated racers in the 2015 SCORE World Desert Championships with three class race wins each are Mark Winkelman, Cedar Hill, Texas (Class 30, Honda CRF450X) and Juan Dominguez, Yuma, Ariz. (SPT Quad, Honda TRX450R).
TWO TIMERS
Besides Vildosola Jr, other SCORE racers who now have two class wins each this season after their victories in this race are Wayne Matlock, El Cajon, Calif. (Class 19, Polaris RZR XP4 1000, Jano Montoya, Winter Garden, Fla. (Class 40, KTM 450XCW) and Javier Robles Jr, Guadalupe Victoria, Mexico (Pro Quad, Honda TRX450R).
FIRST TIMERS
Several racers won for the first time in 2015 including Mark Samuels, Yucca Valley, Calif. (Open M/C, Honda CRF450X), Shelby Reid, Apple Valley, Calif. (Class 1, Custom-Chevy), Todd Winslow, Clovis, Calif. (Class 10, Alumi Craft-Chevy) and Johnny Burnworth, Holtville, Calif. (Class 1/2-1600, Lothringer-VW).
CBS SPORTS NETWORK COVERAGE
All races in the 2015 SCORE World Desert Championship series, along with the special SEMA SCORE Baja 1000 Experience and qualifying for the Bud Light SCORE Baja 1000 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway will once again be aired in the USA and Canada on the CBS Sports Network. New for 2015, in addition to SCORE Trophy Truck coverage, the shows will also feature top action and highlights from many other classes of trucks, buggies, motorcycles, quads and UTVs – making sure that the most exciting footage and most compelling stories are now part of each race event broadcast.
Capping off the 2015 broadcast season, the Bud Light SCORE Baja 1000 broadcast on CBS Sports Network will be expanded to a full two-hour program – providing the most expansive television coverage of the “Main Event” of all desert races ever, allowing all the major class action to be showcased around the globe to the SCORE International fan base.
2015 CBS Sports Network Original Broadcast Schedule (subject to change, check local listings)
Remaining Shows:
· Rigid Industries SCORE Imperial Valley 250 presented by the City of El Centro (first telecast-Sunday, November 15, 9 p.m. ET; key repeat broadcast-Sunday, November 29, 9 p.m. ET)
· Bud Light SCORE Baja 1000 Qualifying @SEMA SCORE Baja 1000 Experience (first telecast-Sunday, January 10, 9 p.m. ET)
· Bud Light SCORE Baja 1000 (two-hour special) (first telecast-Sunday, January 17, 9 p.m. ET)
Completed Broadcasts:
· Bud Light SCORE San Felipe 250 (first telecasts-Tuesday, March 17, 7 p.m. ET & 11 p.m. ET)
· Bud Light SCORE Baja Sur 500 (first telecast-Sunday, May 31, 9 p.m. ET; key repeat broadcast-Sunday, June 7, 9 p.m. ET)
· Bud Light SCORE Baja 500 (first telecast-Sunday, July 26, 9 p.m. ET; key repeat broadcast-Sunday, August 2, 9 p.m. ET)
CBS Sports Network is available across the country through local cable, video and telco providers and via satellite on DirecTV Channel 221 and Dish Network Channel 158. For more information, including a full programming schedule and how to get CBS Sports Network, go to www.cbssportsnetwork.com.
SCOREscope
The five-race 2015 SCORE World Desert Championship includes four special events in Baja California, Mexico, and one in the United States. Here is the complete 2015 SCORE World Desert Championship schedule:
Remaining race:
· 48th Bud Light SCORE Baja 1000, Nov.18-21, Ensenada, Mexico
Completed races:
· 29th Bud Light SCORE San Felipe 250, held Jan. 22-25, San Felipe, Mexico
· Inaugural Bud Light SCORE Baja Sur 500, held April 15-19, Cabo San Lucas to Loreto, Mexico
· 47th Bud Light SCORE Baja 500, held June 4-7, Ensenada Mexico
· Rigid Industries SCORE Imperial Valley 250, presented by the city of El Centro, Sept. 24-27, Coyne Powersports Motorplex-Plaster City, Calif.
SCORE JOURNAL
Issue No. 8 of the SCORE Journal, the new monthly on-line digital magazine of SCORE International and the five-race SCORE World Desert Championship, is live on the SCORE website at www.SCORE-International.com and is available through SCORE social media channels as well as a direct link at http://scorejournal.digital.
The new digital magazine, which includes numerous linked video segments, is a major element in the media expansion that SCORE is implementing for 2015 which includes its most aggressive national and international television packages, four new online video series, each with 26 episodes and a new consumer based SCORE website.
SCORE SPONSORS…
SCORE corporate offices are located in Reno, Nev. and the SCORE Tech Shop is in El Cajon, Calif., just east of San Diego.
Official Sponsors: Bud Light-Official Beer/Official Race Sponsor, Monster Energy-Official Energy Drink, BFGoodrich Tires-Official Tire, Rigid Industries LED Lighting-Official Lights/Official Race Sponsor, King Shocks-Official Shock Absorber, Polaris-Official UTV, Vision Wheel – Official Wheel, Axial R/C-Official R/C Vehicle, CBS Sports Network-Official Television Partner, Coca-Cola-Official Soft Drink, Coyne Powersports-Official Powersports Supplier,Wide Open Excursions- Official Arrive and Drive Company, Crystal Bay Casino-Official Casino.
Associate Sponsors: All Road Satellite, Symons Ambulance Company, Aero Calafia, Tessco.
Additional SCORE Partners: Proturismo Ensenada, Visit Baja California Sur, Baja California Secretary of Tourism, Baja California Sur State Government, Mexicali Ayuntamineto, COTUCO Mexicali/San Felipe, Cruz Roja Mexicana, Corporate Helicopters, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, GoPro, PCI Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products, Advanced Color Graphics.
For more information, visit the official website of the SCORE World Desert Championship at www.SCORE-International.com.
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