SAN FELIPE, Mexico — Bryce Menzies, Justin Lofton and Luke McMillin, three of the top guns in all of desert racing, were the top three qualifiers Thursday among nearly 270 racers expected to start Saturday’s King Shocks 35th SCORE San Felipe 250.
Held over a five-mile course south of downtown Menzies, 34, powered his way in a time of six minutes, 10.408 seconds in his No. 7 all-wheel drive Mason-built Ford Raptor SCORE Trophy Truck. He was fastest of the 36 SCORE Trophy Trucks out of 44 entries in the class that attempted to qualify.
Lofton, 36, qualified second in his No. 41 AWD Mason-built Chevy Silverado in 6:15.001.
McMillin, 29, whose cousin Andy McMillin, 34, finished fourth and whose older brother Dan McMillin, 34, finished fifth in qualifying, completed the qualifying course in 6:15.302 in his No. 83 Mark Racing AWD Mason-Built Chevy 1500.
Fastest qualifier in Class 1 was Conner McMullen, 21, turning in a hot lap of 6:49.219 in the No. 140 Chevy-powered Alumi Craft open-wheel desert race car.
Top qualifier out of a SCORE record 37-tieing entries in the Trophy Truck Spec class was Ryan Hancock, 46, and Brock Heger, 21, in the No. 228 TSCO-Ford in a time 6:24.825.
Fastest in the SCORE TT Legend class for SCORE Trophy Truck racers over 50 years old was Ricky Johnson, 57. (Driver Of Record–Gustavo Vildosola Sr., 68,), in a time of 6:38.655 in the Vildosola Racing No. 21L Mason-built AWD Ford Raptor.
SCORE Trophy Truck, SCORE TT Legend, Class 1 and Trophy Truck Spec were the only four classes required to qualify for starting positions as the other start positions in the various classes were determined by a drawing.