Standings summary after Laughlin

Ronco leads SCORE Trophy-Truck
Las Vegas teammates Dean, Richardson first & third in Overall 2008 SCORE Desert Series point standings

Drawing for start positions for March's 22nd Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 to be held on Feb. 15

LOS ANGELES--Following his impressive season-opening victory at the recent 14th SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge, Las Vegas' veteran desert racer Pat Dean leads the overall and unlimited Class 1 point standings in the 2008 SCORE Desert Series while his teammate B.J. Richardson is third in overall points and second in Class 1.

Racing for the Las Vegas Dissemination Company team in near-identical Chevy-powered Bunderson open-wheel desert race cars that are prepped by Valley Performance, Dean has 62 points while Richardson has 53.

Dean, who owns Patrick's Signs of Las Vegas, and Richardson, a Las Vegas businessman with interests both in real estate and casinos, have been teammates for several years with their vehicles prepped by Valley Performance, which is owned by Pat's father Butch Dean and is the oldest full-service off-road shop in Southern Nevada.

"We used a borrowed vehicle after I sold my old Class 1 car three weeks before the Laughlin race and the loaner was only a V6 which makes our win and start of the 2008 SCORE Desert Series even more impressive," said Dean, a veteran second-generation SCORE desert racer with numerous podium finishes in his SCORE racing career. "B.J. and I and our race cars have become almost like twins and to start the season with a 1-2 finish in Class 1 is better than we have ever started as a team before."

Round 2 of the 2008 SCORE Desert Series will be the 22nd Annual Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250, to be held March 14-15, in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico. The computerized drawing, by class, for the race, will be held Feb. 15 at the SCORE International headquarters in Los Angeles.

Second overall and leading the SCORE Trophy-Truck points after his Laughlin win is Rich Ronco. Another veteran desert racer, Ronco, Peoria, Ariz., is new to the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck racing division and has 59 points in his No. 45 Tatum Motorsports Chevy Silverado.

With SCORE points based both on number of starters and placing position within each class, Class 1 had 27 starters in Laughlin while SCORE Trophy-Truck had 24. Class 1 has five drivers in the top 10 of SCORE Overall points while SCORE Trophy-Truck has three.

Las Vegas' B.J. Baldwin, the 2006 SCORE Trophy-Truck season point champion, is fourth in overall points and second in his class with 53 points in his No. 97 Baldwin Motorsports Chevy Silverado.

Steve Barry, Jamul, Calif., is fifth overall and third in Class 1 with 52 points in a Jimco-Chevy.

Class 1-2/1600 point leader Cory Boyer, Bakersfield, Calif., leads the second-five in overall points at sixth with 51 in a Lothringer-VW.

Tied for seventh overall with 49 points each are: Damen Jefferies, Apple Valley, Calif., who is third in SCORE Trophy-Truck in his Chevy Silverado and Chuck Dempsey, Oak Hills, Calif., who is fourth in Class 1 in a HMS-Chevy.

Enrique Zazueta Jr., La Paz, Mexico, leads Class 5/1600 in a VW Baja Bug and is ninth overall with 48 points while 10th overall and fifth in Class 1 with 47 points is Dale Lenk, Costa Mesa, Calif., in a Penhall-Chevy.

The 2008 SCORE Desert Series also includes the chase for the $20,000 Volkswagen Point Leader Bonus and the run for the Toyota Milestone Awards.

-credit: www.score-international.com.