Brothers Tim and Ed Herbst of Las Vegas won their second straight race Saturday, roaring to an impressive victory in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division on the way to the overall triumph of the 8th Annual SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300.
In winning this race for the second straight year, the Herbst brothers came from behind, driving their Terrible Herbst Motorsports Ford F-150 over the 315-mile race in four hours, 59 minutes and one second, averaging a blistering 63.21 miles per hour.
For Tim, 40, who drove the last two 63-mile laps and Ed, 42, who drove the first three, the brothers increased their record win total in the featured SCORE racing division for unlimited production trucks to 11.
SCORE’s 30th anniversary season continued with 61 of 134 starters, competing in 17 Pro and 2 Sportsman classes for cars and trucks finishing within the eight-hour time limit in the elapsed-time race.
Round 5 of the six-race SCORE Desert Series, the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Series, featured racers from 10 States and Mexico racing in windy conditions as temperatures peaked at a comfortable 90 degrees under sunny skies.
As it was last year for the first time, the race was split into two groups with the open wheel and VW baja bug classes running in the morning.
The truck classes, including the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division along with the unlimited Class 1 open-wheel class, raced in the afternoon.
Sitting in third after the first two laps, Ed Herbst moved to second after the third lap as Las Vegas’ Brian Collins set the early pace, leading the first three laps before falling off the pace with mechanical problems. Tim took the lead on the fourth lap and held it to the finish. Running consistently the entire race, the Herbsts turned in lap times of 58:29, 58:25, 1:00:54 and 59:18.
“For the second straight race, the combination of our new experimental 39-inch BFGoodrich Tires and less weight on the truck has done the job for us,” said Tim, who has teamed with his older brother to win a record three SCORE Trophy-Truck season point titles. Eddie did a great job putting us right where we needed to be and then I took over and moved to the front when Brian (Collins) had his problem. Ed and I are getting more and more confidence in this truck and Mike Smith preps so incredibly well. This race was the first time in four or five years that we have had a vehicle perform this perfectly.”
Finishing second overall, 8:02 behind the Herbsts, while winning the unlimited Class 1 while driving solo in his Chevy-powered Jimco open-wheel desert racecar was Chuck Hovey, Escondido, Calif. Hovey, who won his first SCORE race when he captured the overall and Class 1 wins at last year’s inaugural SCORE Henderson’s Terrible 250, ran steady and strong in second place for both of the first two laps, slipped to third after three laps, but got and held the lead for the final two laps.
Hovey diced back and forth with SCORE Class 1 point leader Dale Ebberts, Canyon Lake, Calif., who eventually finished in third place in a Jimco-Toyota. Ebberts splits driving time with Ernie Castro Jr., Newport Beach, Calif., and the pair finished 8:39 behind Hovey and were third overall.
Fourth overall and second in SCORE Trophy-Trucks was Gary Dircks, Anthem, Ariz., in a Ford F-150.
Finishing fifth overall and fourth in Class 1 was brothers Mark and Gary Weyhrich, of Troutdale, Ore., in another Jimco-Chevy.
With a race-high 27 starters, the unlimited Class 1 race was extremely competitive. Troy Herbst, the youngest of the three Herbst brothers, and his driving partner Larry Roeseler, Hesperia, Calif., led the first three laps of the race in Class 1 in the Terrible Herbst Motorsports before problems slowed them down. Herbst, who is bidding to extend his record SCORE Class 1 season point championship string to seven, drove the first two laps and Roeseler the final three.
Troy Herbst held the lead for the first two, Roeseler kept it for lap 3, before two flats on lap 4 along with losing the power steering belts put them down to third. Another flat on the fourth lap put the team in fourth for the race in Class 1 and seventh overall.
Third in SCORE Trophy-Truck and sixth overall was the team of Scott Steinberger, Cypress, Calif./Jesse Jones, Phoenix, in a Ford F-150.
Seventeen-year-old Poway (Calif.) High School student Brian Ickler continued his stunning season in the SCORE Lite class, driving his VW-powered Jimco to his fourth victory in five races. Amazingly, Ickler was 13th overall, with only SCORE Trophy-Truck and Class 1 vehicles finishing ahead of him. He has driving solo in four of the five races this season.
In Class 10, the team of Steve Myers, Newport Beach, Calif./George Erl, Huntington Beach, Calif., outdueled a field of 21 starters in their Jimco-Toyota for their first win of the season. Second in Class 10 just under four minutes behind Myers/Erl was the father and son team of Mark and C.J. Hutchins of Henderson, Nev., in a Jimco-Honda.
Courtney Whipple of Henderson, Nev., and Las Vegas’ Danny Anderson beat a field of 19 starters in Class 1-2/1600 in a Frayley-VW. It was Whipple’s first SCORE win while Anderson is a two-time SCORE Class 10 season champ.
In Class 5 for unlimited VW Baja Bugs, George Seeley of Glendale, Calif., who his second straight race this season while staying the winningest drive in this race with his sixth win in eight years.
In Class 11 for stock VW Sedans, Mexico’s Eric Solorzano won for the third time this season and fifth time in Primm.
Also winning for the third time this season were Honolulu’s Alan Pflueger (Protruck, Chevy Silverado), Dave Sykes, Del Mar, Calif. (Class 8, Chevy Silverado) and Mexico’s Eric Fisher (Class 9, Garibay-VW).
Mexico’s Hector Salazar won for the second time this year in a Ford Ranger in Class 7.
The race was also part of the annual Toyota Milestone Awards and $12,000 Toyota True Grit programs. The prestigious Toyota Milestone Awards are presented to every racer who completes every required mile of every race in the 2003 SCORE Desert Series. The $12,000 Toyota True Grit purse is split among the SCORE season point champions who are also Toyota Milestone award winners in four non-factory-backed classes. This is the 18th consecutive year that Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. has teamed with SCORE to present these prestigious awards.
The season finale of the six-race 2003 SCORE Desert Series will be the 36th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, the granddaddy of all desert racing, to be held Nov. 20-23 in Ensenada, Mexico.
SCORE official sponsors for 2003 are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Southern California Ford Dealers-official vehicle, 76 Racing Fuel-official fuel and Rental Service Corporation-official equipment supplier. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca Cola of Mexico, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, Bilstein, Signpros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie’s, Off Road Innovations and Advanced Color Graphics.
The title sponsors of the SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300 are the Primm Valley Resorts and Las Vegas Events in association with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
For more information, contact SCORE at (818) 225-8402, or visit the Score-International web site.
