Motor Sports: 2001 desert racing series returns to southern Nevada

Southern California's Baldwin Racing and Arizona's Jeff Darland have drawn the first starting positions for next month's Sixth Annual SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300, in Primm, Nev., 35 miles south of Las Vegas at the Nevada/California border.

Baldwin Racing's Ford F-150, with Jim Baldwin sharing driving duties with his sons Jason and Josh, will be the first vehicle to leave the start line, leading the field in the featured Trophy-Truck division.

Darling will start first in the unlimited Class 1, which features a race-high 32 entries, in his Jimco open-wheel desert race car which is powered by a Chevy V6 racing engine.

Nearly 150 vehicles, from 12 States, Australia and Mexico, competing in 17 classes for cars and trucks, will begin taking the green flag at 6:30 a.m.(Sept. 15), as America's Foremost Desert Racing Series makes its only visit to the Las Vegas area for round 4 of the five-race 2001 Duralast SCORE Desert Series.

Vehicles will leave the start/finish line area, located in the special events compound on the grounds of Buffalo Bills resort in Primm, one every 30-seconds in the elapsed-time race. The SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge opened the season, Jan. 20-21.

Nine of the classes will be required to cover four laps of the 69.8-mile race course within an 11-hour time limit to become official finishers in the 279.2-mile race. The eight slowest classes will be required to cover three laps for a total distance of 209.40 miles within the 11-hour time limit to become official finishers.

The Baldwins, whose development company is based in Newport Beach, Calif., finished third in the SCORE Trophy-Truck division in June's Tecate SCORE Baja 500 in Mexico.

Darland, 37, of Glendale, Ariz., is a long-time SCORE racer and will split driving time with Arizona brothers Rick and Jeff Geiser. Rick Geiser lives in Desert Hills and Jeff Geiser resides in Peoria.

Among the top challengers for the overall title, will be Class 1 point leader Steve Sourapas, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., and Las Vegas racing brothers, Ed, Tim and Troy Herbst.

Troy Herbst, who won Class 1 in this race in 1999, is just three points behind Sourapas this year in Class 1 and will again be driving the Terrible Herbst Motorsports' Smithbuilt open-wheel desert race car, which is powered by a 750-horsepower Ford V8 engine. Sourapas drives a Chevy-powered Jimco open-wheeler.

Tim and Ed Herbst, who won the SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300 in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division in their Ford F-150 in 1998, are very familiar with the desert terrain where they honed their gifted racing skills.

Troy Herbst is the four-time defending Class 1 point champion in the Duralast SCORE Desert Series, and his older brothers have won the last two SCORE Trophy-Truck season titles. He has yet to win a race this year, however.

This year, Tim and Ed Herbst are second in SCORE Trophy-Truck points behind the Ford F-150 of David Ashley/Dan Smith, both of Riverside, Calif.

Besides the Herbst brothers, several other "hometown" drivers could be factors in the battle for class wins. Nearly 20 Southern Nevada racers are expected in the final starting grid.

Las Vegas' Rob MacCachren is the current SCORE overall and Class 1-2/1600 point leader while Henderson's Mark Hutchinson and Las Vegas' Danny Anderson are 1-2 so far in Class 10.

Making her debut in Class 1 will be Bekki Freeman, of Henderson, Nevada. SCORE's first lady of desert racing has won two SCORE season point championships in Class 1-2/1600, and she is expected to be a factor in the car built by prominent engine builder Adam Wik, who also is Freeman's fiancee.

With entries accepted until race time, nearly 20 Southern Nevada drivers are expected in the final starting grid.

Among the other 2001 Duralast SCORE Desert Series point leaders who have entered in the SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300 are: Dan Fresh, San Juan Capistrano, Calif., Jeep Comanche (Class 7S), Jesse Jones, Litchfield Park, Ariz., Chevy C1500 (Class 8), Dennis Boyle, Ventura, Calif., Mirage (SCORE Lite),and Class 5 co-leaders George Seeley Jr., Glendale, Calif., VW Baja Bug and Michael James, Alpine, Calif., VW Baja Bug.

Seeley, the defending Class 5 season champion, won his class in this race the first four years before James won it last year.

The race will also include the Mini-Metal Class 7S Shootout, which will carry a supplemental $10,000 purse for the nearly 20 stock mini-trucks expected to enter.

Pre-race festivities will include the colorful manufacturer's midway and technical inspection of all race vehicles, from Noon to 7 p.m. on Friday (Sept. 14). Also, the day before the race, a Class 7S Pit Crew Challenge will be held.

Post-race festivities will start with a SCORE bar-b-que in the Star of the Desert Arena in Primm at 7 p.m. followed by the awards celebration at 9 p.m.

Admission is free for spectators to grandstands at the start/finish line area in the special events compound at Buffalo Bills resort.

After the SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300, the final remaining race on this year's five-race Duralast SCORE Desert Series schedule is the 34th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, Nov. 8-11, which will start and finish in Ensenada, on the Pacific Ocean side of the Baja California peninsula in Mexico.

For more information, contact SCORE at (818) 225-8402, or visit the Score-International website.