ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico — Following his third consecutive SCORE Trophy Truck race victory in the iconic SCORE Baja 1000, Luke McMillin was crowned the SCORE Overall and SCORE Trophy Truck season point champion of the four-race 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship.
For McMillin, it’s his second points championship in three years in the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division, and the first SCORE Overall season point crown in his ever-expanding resume.
At the end of the 49th season of the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization, the top 15 overall point leaders were separated by just 68 total points after the finale of four races in the 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship Overall point standings.
A total of 13 classes have at least one racer in the top 30 overall points for the season.
POINT REGS
SCORE point regulations has all four races counting for final points toward season point championships. Racers are allowed one substitute driver/rider for the season but the driver/rider of record has to either start or finish the season-ending SCORE Baja 1000.
SCORE points are calculated on a set amount of start points and finish points for each race along with a variable amount for placement points for finishers based on the number of starters within each class.
THE LUKE: SCORE OVERALL/SCORE TROPHY TRUCK/SCORE TRUCK CHAMPION
Third-generation desert racer McMillin, 29, roared his way to the top of the point leaderboard in the SCORE Trophy Truck division and eventually the top of the SCORE Overall point leaderboard as well in 2022.
Driving solo the first three races of the year, McMillin finished first in the SCORE San Felipe 250, sixth place in the SCORE Baja 500, second-place in the SCORE Baja 400 and capped the season with the help of Rob MacCachren by winning the season-ending SCORE Baja 1000 to complete his championship 2022 season in the SCORE World Desert Championships.
The youngest of the current active McMillin racers, McMillin won the featured SCORE Trophy Truck division for high-tech, 1000-horsepower, unlimited custom trucks and the SCORE Overall and SCORE Truck title with 534 points in his McMillin Racing No. 83 4 Wheel Parts All Wheel Drive Chevy 1500 built by Mason Motorsports.
McMillin now has four career SCORE Trophy Truck race wins and earned a three-peat in this year’s BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts, splitting the driving with MacCachren as his second driver. McMillin won the 2021 SCORE Baja 1000 as the second driver for MacCachren and in 2020 he won the iconic race with Larry Roeseler as his additional driver.
Last year, McMillin allowed MacCachren to run his No. 11 on McMillin’s truck and with the victory gave MacCachren the 2021 SCORE Trophy Truck season point championship.
This year, MacCachren returned the favor. He entered the race second in points, but returned the favor by being the second driver and helping The Luke win the race and the season championship.
QUINN CAPTURES CLASS 1
For many years a second driver for Wilson Motorsports team, Kyle Quinn stepped into the lead driver position in one of the team’s entries this year and won the unlimited Class 1 at the SCORE San Felipe 250 in the No. 138 Chevy-powered Jimco open-wheel desert race car.
With regular Brian Wilson not available for all races in 2022, Quinn took the lead and shared driving duties in San Felipe with Kyle’s uncle Ronny Wilson At the SCORE Baja 400, with Brian Wilson’s cousin Brad Wilson as the second driver, Quinn finished on the podium in third place again and took the lead in Class 1. At the season-ending SCORE Baja 1000, Quinn won Class 1 with Ronny Wilson and Greg DiStefano as his driving mates to earn the season point title with 452 points and finish 22nd in the SCORE Overall Season points.
RUVALCABA CLAIMS CLASS 10/SCORE OVERALL OPEN-WHEEL
Mexico’s J. David Ruvalcaba won Class, was the SCORE Overall Open-Wheel point champion and was eighth overall.
A former SCORE motorcycle champion racer, Ruvalcaba was sixth place in his class of 19 starters in San Felipe and 11th place out of 26 starters in Ensenada in June and winning Class 10 out of 18 starters in Ensenada in September and third in Ensenada in November in his No. 1009 Alumi Craft-Honda open-wheel desert race car.
WRIGHT WAY WINS OVERALL MOTORCYCLE/PRO MOTO IRONMAN
Following several seasons co-rider on winning Pro motorcycle age group classes, Brandon Wright not only won the Pro Moto Ironman (for solo riders) class in this year’s King Shocks SCORE San Felipe 250 over 10 starters in his class, he won the season championship in his class and earned the 2022 SCORE Overall Motorcycle title as well with second-place finishes in the second and third SCORE Baja races and a third place finish in the SCORE Baja 1000 out of 20 starters this year.
Wright rode the No. 750x Husqvarna FE501 motorcycle.
“It was really rough the whole way. I did pretty well for most of the time and was just trying to decide what pace to keep as I wasn’t sure where my competition was at,” Wright said. “I was just trying to stay comfortable and everything was going well until about 15 miles to the finish when the whoops finally hit me. I thought I was done. I was just on survival mode at that point. But I made it. And I won my class!”
MONSTER MATT OVERALL UTV/PRO UTV FI CHAMP
With three fourth-place finishes and one ninth-place, consistency provided big dividends for Matt Burroughs as he won the 2022 Pro UTV FI (Forced Induction) class championship, but also the SCORE Overall UTV point champ as well with his 485 season points. All the numbers added up and his point total placed him fifth in the 2022 SCORE Overall point standings as well.
Burroughs, a Senior Vice-President for SCORE-sponsor Monster Energy, and a Can-Am Factory driver, drove his No. 2948 Monster Energy Can-Am X3 to his second season championship in three years. In 2020 he was also the SCORE Overall point champion.
The largest UTV class in the SCORE World Desert Championship saw 29 starters in the SCORE San Felipe 250, 24 in the SCORE Baja 500, 23 in the SCORE Baja 400 and 27 in the SCORE Baja 1000.
There was a total of 55 starters in the five SCORE UTV classes in the season-ending SCORE Baja 1000.