Primm: Series round four event report

Defeats field of 115 starters
Jesse Jones captures Overall and SCORE Trophy-Truck victory; Schwarz tops Class 1 at SCORE Las Vegas Terrible's Primm 300

McNeil, K. Smith, Caspino, Chamlee, Moss, Lopez, also class winners at Round 4 of the five-race 2010 SCORE Desert Series

PRIMM, Nev.--Weaving his way through the field and hitting the hammer on the final lap, Jesse Jones jumped over a star-studded field of 30 SCORE Trophy-Trucks Saturday to capture the overall and SCORE Trophy-Truck victory at the 15th Annual SCORE Las Vegas Terrible's Primm 300 desert race.

Coming from behind, Jones won his second race of the 2010 SCORE season and his second career SCORE Trophy-Truck race win, rambling his No. 76 Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy-Truck to a adjusted winning time of 4 hours 46 minutes, 39 seconds while averaging 57.44 mile per hour over 274.4-miles over the four laps of rugged, rock-strewn Southern Nevada desert course of 68.6 miles each in Primm, Nev., 45 miles south of Las Vegas.

Jones, who owns an Aerospace Engineering firm in Phoenix, started 15th in the star-studded field of 30 starters in SCORE Trophy-Truck in the elapsed-time race, overcoming leader Andy McMillin on the final lap and then holding off the charging team of Robbie Pierce, Santee, Calif./Mike Julson, Alpine, Calif.,driving the No. 30 MasterCraft Racing Chevy Silverado,who finished second in and adjusted time of 4:50:08, 3 minutes, 29 seconds behind Jones.

Jones ran his four laps in 1:08:11, 1:14:00, 1:14:15 and ending with a 1:10:13. He now has two wins, one eighth and one 11th-place finish in the four SCORE races so far this season.

Round 4 of the five-race 2010 SCORE Desert Series, the world's foremost desert racing series, featured racers from 15 States and six countries racing on a typically rugged Southern Nevada race course under brilliantly sunny skies with a light northerly wind and temperatures in the mid 90s.

For the ninth consecutive year, the race was split into two groups with the limited classes running in the morning. SCORE Trophy-Truck division along with the unlimited Class 1 open-wheel class, raced in the afternoon.

The main pits and start/finish area for the 68.6-mile loop course was located on the north side of Buffalo Bills Resort. The race course, which ran again in a counter-clockwise direction, was virtually the same layout as last year, although weather and use had altered the terrain.

"This is just great," reflected Jones at the Buffalo Bill's finish line area. We had a really, realy great day. We had a flat on lap two and we lost a driveline. It was just dusty and we were fighting our way through the slower traffic. You're so anxious to go but you know you better not do that because three guys will go by you when you're changing your tire. The truck ran well. We passed 12 trucks physically so we started 15th and finished third on the road. Andy (McMillin, No. 31) had me by one (minute) on the last lap and I really stepped it up. Andy was down to me by four minutes at the last pit when he pulled in. Oh, man, maybe we'll get some points out of this thing heading into the SCORE Baja 1000!"

SCORE officials reviewed the data in the 'black boxes' that each entry is required to use during the race and which are provided by Southern California's International Racing Consultants and issued time penalties to numerous racers for speeding on either short paved sections of the official race course or through the three pit areas along the race route.

Keeping SCORE Trophy-Trucks from sweeping the podium with their third straight overall in this race was the All German Motorsports unlimited Class 1 winning BMW-powered Jimco open-wheel desert race car driven by Germany's Armin Schwarz and Martin Christensen of Escondido, Calif. With Schwarz starting and driving the first half of the race and Christensen bringing their car across the finish line in third place overall with a penalty-free elapsed time of 4:51:30, averaging 56.48 mph for their third consecutive Class 1 victory in Primm.

It was the second Class 1 win of the year for Schwarz, a former World Rally Championship series star, and Christensen, a veteran SCORE desert racer who is originally from Denmark.

Fourth overall and third in SCORE Trophy-Truck was the brother team of Gary and Mark Weyhrich of Troutdale, Ore., who finished in a penalty-free time of 4:59:17 in the No. 9 TSCO Racing Ford F-150.

Finishing fifth overall and fourth place in his first race in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck racing division for high-tech, 850 horsepower unlimited production trucks was Dave Crinklaw, Reedley, Calif., in the No. 27 Chevy Silverado with a time of 5:01:51.

SCORE's 37th anniversary season continued with 78 survivors out of 115 starters, competing in 21 Pro and 2 Sportsman classes for cars and trucks finishing within the seven-hour time limit in the elapsed-time race. The race had an amazing 67.8 percent finishing rate, very high considering the difficulty of the course.

SCORE Trophy-Trucks, the marquee SCORE racing division captured six of the top 10 finishing positions with Class 1 claiming the other four spots. SCORE Trophy-Trucks have now won 11 overall titles in this race, including the last eight straight. Class 1 has won the other four overalls.

The sixth through 10th place overall finishers in Primm were: Kory Scheeler, Las Vegas, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck), Ronny Wilson, Long Beach, Calif./John Herder, Tucson, Ariz., Jimco-Chevy (Class 1), Josh Daniel, Canyon Lake, Calif., Racer-Chevy (Class 1), Justin Smith, Capistrano Beach, Calif., Penhall-Chevy (Class 1) and Pete Sohren, Phoenix, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck).

In the 16-car SCORE Lite class, Perry McNeil, Lemon Grove, Calif. and Alfie Bueno, El Cajon, Calif., teamed up for victory against a very talented field in a Lothringer-VW with a time of 5:24:22. Second behind McNeil was Justin Davis, Chino Hills, Calif./Daniel Folts, La Habra, Calif., in a Seagrove.

Kevin Smith, of LaVerne, Calif., defeated an 11-car field in a Mirage-VW in Class 1-2/1600. Second and third place went to cousins Brian and Brad Wilson of Long Beach, Calif. Brian's second driver was Las Vegas' Sammy Ehrenberg while splitting the driving with Brad was Justin Munyon of San Clemente, Calif.

The Wilson family ended up with four of their five entries finishing on the podium in their respective classes. In addition to two podiums in Class 1-2/1600, Ronny Wilson finished second in Class 1 and third in SCORE Lite. Randy Wilson, Ronny's older brother, drove their other Class 1 car to a ninth-place class finish.

David Caspino, Woodland Hills, Calif., remained undefeated in Class 6 in 2010, capturing his fourth consecutive SCORE race in a Ford Ranger.

Winning Class 5 in an unlimited Baja Bug for the third time in the last four years in Primm was Kevin Carr, San Diego, who picked up his third win in four races in the 2010 SCORE Desert Series.

Donald Moss, Sacramento, Calif., who is a seven-time SCORE season point champion, raced for the first time in 2010, winning Class 3 for the seventh time in Primm while picking up his 35th career SCORE class win.

Norman Turley, Long Beach, Calif., won Class 7SX in a Ford Ranger for his second win in the 2010 SCORE Desert Series. It was also his second straight class win in this race.

Other class winners included Gustavo Avina, Ensenada, Mexico (Class 5/1600, VW Baja Bug), Dan Chamlee, Carpenteria, Calif. (Class 7, Ford Ranger), Juan C. Lopez, Tecate, Mexico (Class 8, Ford F-150), Alex Crosthwaite, San Diego (Class 10, Jimco-Honda), Joe Bacal, Anthem, Ariz. (Stock Full, Lexus LX570), Justin Matney, Briston, Tenn., (Stock Mini, Ford Ranger), Troy Vest, Mollalla, Ore., (Protruck, Chevy Silverado), Eduardo Laguna, Mexicali, Mexico (Class 9, TRFab), Mike Shaffer, Dayton, Nev. (Class 17, Jeep Cherokee), Reid Rutherford, Montrose, Colo. (Class 702, Mason-Chevy) and John Langley, Santa Monica, Calif. (Class 4, Racer-Chevy).

The wins for Chamlee, Lopez and Vest were there third class triumphs of the season.

The fastest Sportsman vehicle in the race was the Chevy Silverado driven in Sportsman Truck by Ken Fraizer, Waddell, Ariz.

The stage is now set for the season-ending 43rd anniversary of the legendary Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race to be held November 16-20 in Baja California, Mexico. The world's most popular desert race will start in Ensenada, Baja California and finish in La Paz, Baja California Sur.

In addition to season point class point championships, drivers in the Pro car and truck classes are also racing to earn prestigious SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards given to all car and truck class drivers who complete every required mile of the five-race season. Being presented by Toyota Motorsports for the 25th consecutive year, a total of 22 drivers remain eligible after Round 3 of the 2010 SCORE Desert Series. Racers are also competing for the annual SCORE Off-Roadsman of the Year awards, including the MasterCraft Safety SCORE Rookie of the Year award.

-source: score