ENSENADA, Mexico – For the second straight race, third-generation desert racing champion Andy McMillin roared to overall and SCORE Trophy Truck race victories Saturday by winning the 51st SCORE Baja 500 in dynamic fashion.
McMillin started first, never lost the physical lead and finished first in the elapsed-time race.
The second race of the four-race SCORE World Desert Championship started and finished in Ensenada, the seaside port on the Pacific Ocean which sits 80 miles south of San Diego.
McMillin, 32, recorded a penalty-free winning time of nine hours, 49 minutes and 12 seconds, averaging 49.39 mph in his No. 31 Red Bull McMillin Racing Chevy Silverado built by Mason Motorsports.
After starting the season with the overall at the 33rd SCORE San Felipe 250 in April, McMillin’s 11th career SCORE Trophy Truck race win moved him into a tie for second with Ed and Tim Herbst, Larry Ragland and Robby Gordon.
That group trails Rob MacCachren, the all-time winningest SCORE Trophy Truck racer with 17 career victories.
It was also Andy McMillin’s third overall victory in the SCORE Baja 500, winning in 2010 with his father Scott McMillin along with his solo driving efforts in 2017 and this year.
A. McMillin joins his father and uncle Mark McMillin with three overall wins each in this race, giving his family a combined 11 overall wins in this race.
Family patriarch Corky McMillin has two career overall victories in the SCORE Baja 500.
Joining Andy McMillin, who won the season-opening SCORE San Felipe 250 in April, on the podium were Andy’s cousin Luke McMillin, also of San Diego and Mexico’s Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez.
Luke McMillin, 26, finished second with a penalty-free time of 9:51:06 (49.23 mph) in his No. 83 Mark Racing Ford F-150. Lopez, 24, came home with a penalty-free finishing time of 10:12:43 (47.49 mph) in his No. 9 RPM Racing Chevy Rally Truck.
Besides podium finishers A. McMillin, L. McMillin and Lopez, 11 of the top 12 overall finishers were SCORE Trophy Trucks. The class had a race-high 38 vehicles start the race.
Fourth were brothers Alan, Aaron and Rodrigo Ampudia (No. 10 Ford Raptor-ID), fifth were Las Vegas brothers Tim Herbst and Ed Herbst (No. 19 Ford F-150-Herbst/Smith), sixth after penalties were assessed was Bryce Menzies (No. 7 Ford Raptor (Huseman) and seventh in class was Mike Lawrence. (No. 85 Ford F-150-Herbst/Smith).
Several returning class winners in the SCORE Baja 500 won again this year. Among them were Jeff Proctor, Glendora, Calif. (Class 7, Honda Ridgeline), David Heredia, Hacienda Heights, Calif. (Class 5-1600, VW Baja Bug), Brad Lovell, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Pro UTV Stock FI, Polaris RZR XP4 Turbo), Francisco Septien, Ensenada, Mexico, Calif./Shane Esposito, Temecula, Calif. (Pro Moto 30, Honda CRF450X), Giovanni Spinali, El Cajon, Calif. (Pro Moto 50, Honda CRF450X) and Said Sanchez, Tijuana Mexico (Pro Quad, Honda TRX450R).
Justin Davis captured the unlimited Class 1 while finishing eighth overall among four-wheel vehicles in the No. 185 Green Army Motorsports Chevy-powered Jimco open-wheel desert race car. His winning effort was completed in 10:59:48 (44.10mph).
Davis defeated 13 starters in his class. Starting first he never looked back and finished with a victory margin of 38 minutes, five seconds.
Riding the No. 1x Honda CRF450X, Justin Morgan and his three-rider team raced to the overall motorcycle victory for his sixth consecutive overall motorcycle win in the SCORE World Desert Championship and his fourth overall win in the last five years in this race.
The trio crossed the finish line in 10:50:11 at an average speed of 44.76mph.
Morgan split the riding with Mark Samuels, Yucca Valley, Calif. who won his third overall moto title in this race in three years and Justin Jones, Murrieta, Calif. who won his second consecutive SCORE overall motorcycle title in this race.
Morgan rode from the start to race mile 180, Samuels rode from there to race mile 450, and Jones took it home from that point.
Defeating 24 starters in his class and 37 total UTVs to win the overall UTV win title in this year’s race was former Polaris key executive Craig Scanlon, with a winning time of 13:26.41 in his No. 2931 Polaris RZR Turbo. It was his first SCORE race win as a driver of record.
Besides this year’s SCORE San Felipe 250 overall winner Andy McMillin (SCORE Trophy Truck), other San Felipe class winners who won their class in this year’s SCORE Baja 500 to give them two straight wins to start the season were SCORE Baja 500 motorcycle winners were Justin Morgan, El Cajon, Calif. (Pro Moto Unlimited—No. 1x Honda CRF450R).
The other San Felipe 2-wheel class winner who won this race was Giovanni Spinali, El Cajon, Calif. (Pro Moto 50—No. 500x Yamaha YZ450FX). Spinali’s teammates for this race were Earl Roberts, Mexicali, Mexico/Troy Pearce, Ramona, Calif./John Griffin, Lake Forest, Calif./Jim O’Neal, Simi Valley, Calif.
The veteran O’Neal earned his race-record 21st career class win in the SCORE Baja 500.
Pro Quad San Felipe winner Said Sanchez, Tijuana (No. 1a Honda TRX450R) won again for his second class win in this race to remain unbeaten in the 2019 SCORE World Desert Championship.
In one of the closest class finishes in this year’s race a battle of veterans saw the team of Clyde Stacy/Nick Vanderwey defeat Mark Post/Larry Roeseler by just 41 seconds in the SCORE TT Legends class for SCORE Trophy Truck drivers over 50 years old.
Stacy, 74, Bristol, Va. and Vanderwey, 52, Phoenix, drove the No. 5L Chevy Rally Truck V-16 (Geiser) to top Post, 61, Las Vegas and Roeseler, 62, Imperial, Calif., in their 30-year old No. 3L Ford F-150 (Riviera Racing).