249 Starters roar in Mexico
Post/Whelchel take overall, SCORE Trophy-Truck victories
Saturday at 18th Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 desert race
Honda's Hengeveld/Campbell continue desert domination
with eighth straight SCORE motorcycle overall win

LOS ANGELES (February 28, 2004) -- Southern California's Mark Post and Jerry Whelchel teamed up to a conquer the elements and a near-record field of 249 starters, capturing the overall victory Saturday at the 18th Annual ecate SCORE San Felipe 250 desert race. Splitting the driving time in the Riviera Racing Ford F-150, the pair won the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck class, covering the rugged 227.79-mile course in a race-record 3 hours, 36 minutes, 44 seconds with an amazingly high average speed of 63.06 miles per hour.

With the second-most racers in the history of this race competing in 24 Pro and Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs, American Honda factory team stalwarts Steve Hengeveld, Oak Hills, Calif./Johnny Campbell, San Clemente, CA, were the overall motorcycle winners on a Honda XR650R while the overall ATV winners were the Mexican team of Ruben Martin and Gilberto Santana of Tijuana on a Bombardier Baja X. Racers came from 16 U.S. States, Canada, Japan and Mexico.

For Post, who drove from race-mile 110 to the finish and Whelchel, who drove the first 110 miles, it was a 'near perfect day' that produced the team's second overall win in this race, but first in SCORE Trophy-Truck. The win gives them four career victories in the 11-year history of the top SCORE racing division. Post/Whelchel also won the overall here in 1998, driving a Chevy-powered Riviera open-wheel desert race car in the unlimited Class 1.

Round 2 of the five-race 2004 SCORE Desert Series was held Saturday in the tiny fishing village of San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico, 120 miles south of the U.S. Border on the Sea of Cortez.

Post/Whelchel led a talented group of 21 SCORE Trophy-Truck starters, a race-record for the class. Starting tenth in the elapsed-time race (one vehicle every 30 seconds), the had a 56-second lead in the race when they made Whelchel turned the wheel over to Post at race mile 110.

When the dust settled, Jason Baldwin, Irvine, CA, was second overall in a Ford F-150, 3 minutes, 16 seconds behind Post/Whelchel, as SCORE Trophy-Trucks claimed the top four and five of the top 10 overall finishing positions.

Finishing third overall and in SCORE Trophy-Truck to give Ford F-150s the top three on the podium as the team of Pete Sohren, Glendale, AZ, and truck builder Rick Geiser, Phoenix, 6:28 behind the winners and 3:12 behind Baldwin.

Fourth overall and in SCORE Trophy-Truck in a Chevy Silverado was the team of Larry Ragland, Cave Creek, Ariz./Brian Collins, Las Vegas, 8:44 back of Post/Whelchel. On corrected time, Collins was just 56 seconds behind Whelchel when both teams switched drivers during pitstops at the same race mile. Ragland had a flat tire just 20 miles from the finish, and Post physically past him at that point after driving in his dust from nearly 50 miles.

Amazingly, the top four overall finishers all averaged over 60 mph over the difficult desert terrain. Baldwin averaged 62.13mph, Sohren/Geiser 61.23mph and Ragland/Collins 60.16mph.

"It was a good race with no problems and it actually feels better to win this race than it did the first time," said the winning Post. "Jerry had a super run before he got to me. The Riviera Racing team did a great job getting us ready for the race and pitting and chasing throughout the day. We had a solid truck, but it was a very rough San Felipe course. I couldn't believe we were in the lead when I got into the truck because there were so competition between SCORE Trophy-Truck and Class 1. It is so brutal a course, it's amazing that Jerry averaged over 70 miles an hour for the first 110 miles when I got it. This is my favorite place to race."

For the dominating motorcycle desert duo of Hengeveld/Campbell, the win was Hengeveld's fourth straight overall in San Felipe and third with Campbell. For Campbell, it was his seventh motorcycle class win and sixth overall triumph in San Felipe.

"It went good, it was really a lot of fun this time," said the veteran Campbell, 33, who continues to add to his SCORE Baja racing legacy. "The rain made the washes wet, adding variety to the dry sand and rock, definitely making it easier to get through the terrain. When it is a comfortable lead like we had, the rider can ride safer, especially on the rough course. You don't want to jeopardize your lead, so if you back off five to 10 percent, you are less likely to make a mistake. Our Honda is one lean, mean, racin' machine."

Except for a tie for seventh place overall, fifth through 10th place overall was a very interesting family affair in the unlimited Class 1 starring the McMillins, the Wilsons and the Feldkamps.

In fifth place overall was Mark McMillin driving solo to win the unlimited Class 1, which had 31 starters, by a scant one second. Mark McMillin, 47, picked up his first career SCORE win in San Felipe by beating his 16-year old nephew Andy, who split driving time with his father Scott, 43, who is Mark's brother. Andy and Scott McMillin finished second in Class 1 and sixth overall. Both vehicles were Jimco-Chevy open wheel desert race cars.

Dan Smith/David Ashley, Riverside, CA, finished fifth in SCORE Trophy-Truck in a Ford F-150, tying for seventh overall with brothers Ronny Wilson, 41, Long Beach, CA, and Randy Wilson, 45, Lakewood, Calif. The Wilsons drove a Jimco-Chevy to the exact same finishing time of 3:56:30 as Smith/Ashley.

Rick Wilson, the oldest of the Wilsons at 47, split driving time with Las Vegas' Bekki Wik, one of only two female drivers in the race, to finish ninth overall and fourth in Class 1 in another Jimco-Chevy. They finished 2:31 behind seventh place.

Completing the top 10 was Buddy Feldkamp, Redlands, CA, who split the driving with his father Bud in a Penhall-Chevy.

McMillin Racing, the prominent three-generation racing team from San Diego, became the first family in SCORE racing history to field four separate cars featuring five different family members as drivers and remarkably all four cars finished the grueling race.

Besides Mark, Scott and Andy in Class 1, also racing were family patriarch Corky McMillin, 75, and Mark's 16-year old son Daniel who were also finishers. Corky McMillin finished eighth in Class 1 and 16th overall.

Driving in his first SCORE race, Daniel McMillin, finished an impressive third in Class 1-2/1600 in a Jimco-VW with help from long-time McMillin Racing co-driver Gary Arnold, El Cajon, Calif.

In Class 1-2/1600 which had a race-high 39 starters, the 2002 season point champion Brian Jeffrey, Acton, CA, teamed with last year's season champ Adam Pfankuch, Carlsbad, CA, to win in a Dunrite-VW.

Mexico's Eric Solorzano, of Tijuana, won Class 1 for the sixth straight year in San Felipe in a stock VW sedan.

Four racers won their respective classes for the fourth time: John Griffin, Mission Viejo, CA, (Stock Full, Hummer) and Jim O'Neal, Chatsworth, Calif. (Class 40 for motorcycle riders over 40 years old, Honda XR650), Eric Fisher, Ensenada, Mexico (Class 9, Garibay-VW) and David Flores, Reseda, Calif. (Class 50 for motorcycle riders over 50, Honda XR650R). Griffin and O'Neal won for the fourth consecutive year. O'Neal and his co-riders Tim Withers, Pepeekeo, Hawaii/Jeff Kaplan, Thousand Oaks, CA, and Louis Franco, Sherman Oaks, CA, also were the fifth overall motorcycle finishers.

Capturing their third straight class wins in San Felipe were brothers Lobsam and Eli Yee, Tijuana, Mexico, (Class 10, Jimco-Honda) and brothers Donald and Kenneth Moss, Sacramento, Calif. (Class 3, Ford Bronco).

Three drivers remained undefeated in the 2004 SCORE Desert Series with their class wins in San Felipe: Bob Graham, Yorba Linda, Calif. (Class 7S, Toyota Tacoma), Rich Severson, Mesa, Ariz. (Class 7SX, Ford Ranger) and Dave Raimonde, Phoenix (Class 8, Chevy C1500). Graham teamed with Mike Horner, Mission Viejo, CA, to win in San Felipe for the second straight year.

Among the other class winners were: Tom Brown, Phoenix (Class 5, open VW Baja Bug), Brent Shermak, Fort Mohave, Ariz. (Class 5/1600, 1600cc VW Baja Bug) and James Golden, Costa Mesa, Calif./Jason Hatz, Lemon Grove, Calif. (SCORE Lite, Jimco-VW).

Corky McMillin was one of three septuagenarian drivers in San Felipe and all three finished. The oldest driver of record was traveled Ed McLean, Sverna Park, Md., is 77 years young, who finished second in Class 9 while 75-year old Bill Krug, Glendale, AZ, finished 23rd in Class 1-2/1600.

With 149 of 249 official starters finishing within the nine-hour time limit, the 'celebrity' racers entered in San Felipe had a difficult time. Among the non-finishers were NASCAR Nextel Cup racer Robby Gordon in SCORE Trophy-Truck and former Indy car-racing brothers Robbie and Mike Groff in Class 1. Cameron Steele, an ESPN sportscaster for the X-Games motorcycle events and Supercross, did salvage a 25th place finish in Class 1-2/1600.

The SCORE Desert Series will return to Mexico for Round 3: the 36th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500, June 4-6 in Ensenada.

For information contact:
SCORE International at its Los Angeles headquarters
(818) 225-8402 or visit
the official Optima SCORE Desert Series website at:
www.score-international.com

Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 All-Time Overall Winners

Cars & Trucks
Year Driver(s), Vehicle (Class)
1982 Dan Cornwell, Chenowth-VW (Class 1)
1983 Mike Julson, Jimco-VW (Class 1)
1984 Larry Ragland, Chaparral-VW (Class 1)
1990 Brian Collins/Jack Johnson, Chenowth-VW (Class 1)
1991 Larry Ragland, Chevy C1500 (Class 8)
1992 Bob Richey/Boyd Cox, Raceco-Porsche (Class 1)
1993 Scott Douglas, Ford Ranger (Class 7)
1994 Ivan Stewart, Toyota SR5 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)
1995 Ed/Tim Herbst, Smithbuilt-Porsche (Class 1)
1996 Robby Gordon, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)
1997 Curt LeDuc, Jeep Grand Cherokee (SCORE Trophy-Truck)
1998 Mark Post/Jerry Whelchel, Riviera-Chevy (Class 1)
1999 Ed Herbst/Tim Herbst, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)
2000 Tim Herbst/Ed Herbst, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)
2001 Tim Herbst/Ed Herbst, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)
2002 Dan Smith/David Ashley, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)
2003 Gus Vildosola/Rob MacCachren, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)
2004 Mark Post/Jerry Whelchel, Ford F-150 (SCORE Trophy-Truck)

Motorcycles
Year Rider(s), Vehicle
1982 Bob Balentine, Honda XR500 (Class 22)
1983 Jack Johnson, Honda XR500 (Class 22)
1984 Dan Smith/Dan Ashcraft, Husqvarna XR500 (Class 22)
1990 Dan Smith/Danny Hamel, KTM (Class 22)
1991 Larry Roeseler/Ted Hunnicut Jr, Kawasaki KX500 (Class 22)
1992 Larry Roeseler/Ted Hunnicut Jr, Kawasaki KX500 (Class 22)
1993 Danny Hamel, Kawasaki KX500 (Class 22)
1994 Danny Hamel, Kawasaki KX500 (Class 22)
1995 Danny Hamel, Kawasaki KX500 (Class 22)
1996 Paul Krause, Kawasaki KX500 (Class 22)
1997 Tim Staab, Honda XR650 (Class 22)
1998 Johnny Campbell/Tim Staab, Honda XR650 (Class 22)
1999 Johnny Campbell/Cole Marshall, Honda XR650 (Class 22)
2000 Johnny Campbell/Tim Staab, Honda XR650 (Class 22)
2001 Steve Hengeveld/Jonah Street, Honda XR650R (Class 22)
2002 Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell, Honda XR650R (Class 22)
2003 Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell, Honda XR650R (Class 22)
2004 Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell, Honda XR650R (Class 22)

For information contact:
SCORE International at its Los Angeles headquarters
(818) 225-8402 or visit
the official Optima SCORE Desert Series website at:
www.score-international.com