SAN FELIPE, Mexico — Picking up where he left off last year, San Diego’s defending race and season champion Luke ‘The Luke’ McMillin roared through the Baja desert to defeat a massive 285 starters in Saturday’s King Shocks 36th SCORE San Felipe 250, fueled by Baja Vida.
McMillin, 30, drove solo to power his stunning No. 1 Mason-built all-wheel drive Chevy 1500 to lead the third-largest number of starters and finishers in race history to an awe-inspiring, error-free, penalty-free winning time of four hours, 29 minutes and 27 seconds over the sun-drenched, rock-filled, silt-strewn 282.51 miles for a remarkable average speed of 62.91 miles per hour.
PODIUM FINISHERS
Second at the finish line after qualifying sixth was Mexico’s Alan Ampudia, 32, of Ensenada, who ran a patient race, just under seven minutes behind ‘The Luke,’ driving his No. 10 Papas Y Beer Racing AWD Ford Raptor build by Mason Motorsports, in 4:36:43, with an average speed of 61.26mph.
Menzies, 35, won this race in 2021, was second in 2022 (to McMillin) and ended up finishing third in this race, driving his No. 7 Menzies Motorsports AWD Ford Raptor built by Mason Motorsports in 4:43:37, with an average speed of 59.77mph.
The first two SCORE Trophy Trucks all had average speeds of over 60mph.
LUKE TIME
Following in the dusty tracks of his grandfather Corky McMillin and his father Mark McMillin in desert racing, Luke McMillin, who qualified fourth, took the lead by race-mile 100 and didn’t look back. The first 100 miles was a battle as he eventually worked his way up to the top spot and charged to the finish line.
McMillin has diligently worked his was to the top of the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division he earned the No. 1 plate after winning last year’s season championship and now has five career SCORE Trophy Truck race wins, including the SCORE San Felipe 250 the last two years.
After winning the SCORE Baja 1000 a record-tying three straight years in 2020 (splitting driving with Larry Roeseler) and 2021-’22 (splitting the driving with Rob MacCachren), he now has back-to-back wins in San Felipe, joining his grandfather, uncle Scott McMillin and cousin Andy McMillin with two overall wins each.
“It was awesome. We had a perfect day. We just cruised all day,” Luke McMillin said. “We just stopped one time at our planned pit stop and took 18 seconds of fuel, that was it.
“Not a single flat tire. These are the same great BFGoodrich Tires that were on here this morning. They went the whole way. Jason Duncan (Navigator) called a perfect race. We didn’t make one mistake. We didn’t bobble once. We just drove 80% all day, we just drove it around. That’s what it takes.”
OVERALL MOTORCYCLE WINNER
Maybe a surprise overall motorcycle winner to many, but definitely not to themselves, Ciaran Naran and Tucker Hopkins split the riding to capture the overall win along with their own Pro Moto Unlimited Class.
Both experienced racers in the U.S. and Baja, Naran, 23, Huntington Beach, Calif., and Hopkins, 28, Venice Beach, Calif. rode their No. 3X Husqvarna FE450 to finish first among the motorcycles in a time of 6:08:05 (42.95mph) over the motorcycle course of 263.50 miles to each earn their first SCORE Overall motorcycle victory. Naran started and rode to race-mile 125 and Hopkins took the motorcycle from there to the motorcycle finish at race-mile 263.50.
OVERALL UTV WINNER
Providing another top trophy for Mexico’s popular Ampudia family of Papas Y Beer Racing, Rodrigo Ampudia, 38, drove the fastest UTV in the race, defeating a SCORE-record 67 UTVs in five classes in the race.
With his younger brother Alan Ampudia finishing in second place overall and in SCORE Trophy Truck, Rodrigo Ampudia, Ensenada, added to the family’s fame as well by winning the Pro UTV FI (Forced Induction) class that had a SCORE-record 30 starters in a time of 6:16:18 in his No. 2910 Can-Am X3 XRS Turbo R.
MORE CLASS WINNERS
Among the other class winners in this year’s King Shocks 36th SCORE San Felipe 250, presented by Baja Vida, included Thor Herbst, 23, Las Vegas (Trophy Truck Spec, No. 219 Herbst/Smith), Justin Buckley, 32, Long Beach, Calif. (Class 10, No. 1064 Alumi Craft-Chevy), Scott Wisdom, 55, Lake Forest, Calif. (SCORE Lites, No. 1221 Raceco-VW), Eric Pavolka, 54, Sonoita, Ariz. (Class 1/2-1600, No. 1625 Foddrill-VW), Bud Pecoy, 64, West Des Moines, Iowa (Baja Challenge, No. BC3 BTC-Subaru) and Oliver Flemate, 46, Ensenada, Mexico (Class 11, No. 1155, VW Sedan).
Among the other two-wheel class winners were Juan Zunino, 28, Argentina (Pro Moto Ironman, No. 793x Honda CRF450X), Vance Kennedy, 52, Peoria, Ariz. (Pro Moto 50, No. 522x Husqvarna FX450) and Alirio Amado, 45, The Woodlands, Texas (Pro Moto 40, No. 441 Yamaha WR450F), Kevin Ward, 61, Longview, Texas (Pro Moto 60, No. 644x Honda CRF450x) and Robert Creemers, 58, New Zealand (Pro Moto 50 No. 501x Honda CRF50X).
In Pro Quad, the winners were: Faelly Lopez, 39, Puerto Rico (No. 83a Honda TRX450R) and Nicolas Velez, 16, San Felipe, Mexico (Pro Quad No. 1a Honda TRX450R).