SCORE Trophy-Truck:
97 BJ Baldwin—“I was a big fan of Jason Baldwin when I was a kid and it was really sad to hear what happened to him. I put this sticker of his number 66 on my truck in honor of him. My number 97 is the year, 1997, that I started racing. This is my first Score race win, first trophy truck win. A win is a win. When you’re on the course everything is huge out there. Everything is so big. This is a new truck, its maiden voyage. I actually started off in front today, which was pretty good, because I didn’t have dust until the second lap. The wind had an effect. The wind helped me out. It blew all of the dust out of the way. The course got really bad the last couple of laps. I kept hitting stops and bangin’ the truck. So I kinda tried to take it easy and not go so fast and not beat up the truck to try to get to here to the finish line. It’s really bad out there right now on the course. I don’t want to do another lap, that’s for sure. It was worse than yesterday. We had to make some suspension adjustments last night to add more compression, making it a little bit stiffer, so it wouldn’t hit bottom out so much. But after today, if we were going to race this course tomorrow, I’d have to have even more compression to make my truck even stiffer than it is now. It’s really torn up out there. Overall, we had a good day Saturday. We had some brake issues that put us behind. Today we didn’t have issues, we had clean air. I’m definitely looking forward to San Felipe.
17 Carl Renezeder—“This one is for Jason Baldwin. I just knew he was pushing me today and we tried everything we could, but that’s all we had. I drove it really hard and the truck stayed together. This old BFGoodrich truck is just awesome. Even though this course was short, it was pretty brutal. For this truck, it is one of our best finishes. It’s a very fast truck. I loved the course. I thought it was great. I was surprised that they watered part of the track out there. They don’t typically do that. So I thought they did a really good job. I loved the format and I loved the course and I loved the fans. It’s great for the sport. My overall experience here at Laughlin was awesome. We won the Laughlin Leap, we had the fastest truck on Saturday, but we came up a few seconds short today. We had a flat today and when you get a flat here, that’s all it takes. There was plenty of dust, plenty of dirt. It was a very, very gnarly track.”
CLASS 1:
135 Gary Weyrich—“Saturday we were clean, not a problem. We started way back. It took us a while to get up there. Today it was just the dust. It was horrible. There was no wind so it was hard to get up there. No flats or other vehicle problems on either day. With the course, Sal did a good job with what he had to work with. But with the more laps we were doing each day, the course got really chewed up. It was unbelievable. I’m sore. It was rough. We had to take it easy today. The holes that weren’t so bad yesterday are bad today from everyone driving through them. I drove both days. It’s ten times worse out there today than yesterday.”
112 Randy Wilson—“The drive was pretty good. We really didn’t have any problems. A few guys in front of us broke and went away early so it kinda gave us a little clear runnin’. The only problem was the guys stuck out there and we got stuck behind them. So we had to back up and move around and didn’t get stuck for long. That was good. It was getting ugly out there. It was rougher out there today, twice as rough. Holes are big. It’s a good experience. We always enjoy coming out here. It’s always good for the sport. It gets a lot of fans out here that normally don’t get to see the sport. It’s fun.”
133 Brian Parkhouse—“I raced both days. The course got rougher. The holes got bigger. The ruts got deeper. I just decided to deal with it. It was fun. There was no wind like yesterday so that made it worse today. I was hangin’ more. We did good so our experience here was good. Anytime we finish and we finish well, we’ll take it. As long as we have fun.”
CLASS 1-2/1600:
1612 Rob MacCahren—“This is a very different type of off-road race here at the Laughlin Desert Challenge. This is a sprint race. The track is very short. It’s also very rough out there. We had a really good run with this car. We are very happy to bring this car to the winner’s circle. We got a lot of laughs in this weekend already. I haven’t even counted them. I’ve kinda lost track. I love racing here at Laughlin. Thanks to all these people who came out here to support us.”
1625 Arden Dennington—“I’m glad it’s over with. It was a really, really good time. I think we ran pretty good. We just had a few minor problems. I’m just happy to be at the finish line. It’s a good way to start the 2006 series. I’ve come down here to Laughlin for 7 or 8 years. I’ve enjoyed it. This was a good course. The dust wasn’t as bad as I thought it was gonna be. We get out there in the desert and get into all the silt beds out there. It’s just a part of desert racing. That’s what makes it one of the toughest sports in the world. I am really happy with this outcome.”
CLASS 3:
300 Donald Moss (driver of record)
Dennis Dunne (co-rider)—“It went well. We basically just tried to stay out of the dust and try to pick smooth lines and cruise right along. There was a couple of times that neither of us could see anything and we were off the course and we were like ‘right, left.’ We couldn’t figure out which way to go. The course, since it is short, gets pretty crowded. It’s great that there is a lot of people out here, but you’re stackin’ a lot of people on a short course, especially in this particular race. It’s overall a good time, though.”
CLASS 5:
501 Michelle Bruckmann—“I am happy. The first day was lunatic. I couldn’t see anything. It was just like go, go, go. Because we crashed. Four cars would crash together and I lost seven minutes. The 12 cars started to lap me. So then you get dust from 26 cars in front of me again. More dust and more dust. I was so disappointed because Seeley was like 5 minutes and 1 second, I think, in front of me. So today I thought no way I can’t put a minute on Seeley, come on, he’s the champion for I don’t know how many years. Luckily, we did and we won. No problems with the vehicle at all. I drove both days. This is my first time driving at Laughlin and my second Score race as the driver. I drove in the Baja 500 last year and then now. I usually co-ride with my husband, Vic. I am exhausted right now. It’s fun when you win, but the course is dangerous and tough. There is a lot going on.”
502 George Seeley (driver of record)
Bruce Anderson (co-driver)—“Today was a great follow-up to George’s first place win yesterday. We had some issues with the car today. We had a long pit today otherwise I think we could have pulled another first. We’re not gonna let that championship slide away this year. We are really gonna go for it. I’ve been teamed up with George for about 8 or 9 years now. It has been a real great run with George. He’s a real gentleman in the sport, to say the least. George drove yesterday and I drove today. We usually split up the driving in the longer races. He called me out for the Laughlin Challenge here. I think he likes to spectate once in a while and see how I’m treating his baby. It was a real pleasure to drive this short course race. Sal puts on a fantastic course to say the least. The rougher the better for this car. It just really soaks up the bumps. The Bruckmann team is a real solid program and I think we’re gonna have to raise the bar a little bit. I love this. I’m smilin’ ear to ear. It’s never a bad time. Anytime time you can get out with family and friends and all the people involved in off-road racing, get to run your car and get outside along with the comradery, there’s just nothing above it.”
CLASS 5/1600:
557 Danny Ledezma—“The first lap is the most memorable moment out there for me. Everyone is just challenging everyone and going around each other and seeing who is gonna be fast.”
Xavier (co-driver)—"Mario Ledezma drove the first day with Danny finishing up today. I co-drove both days. This has been incredible. Both days had extreme dust. Yesterday was smoother because we were the first cars off the line. Today it was a lot tougher. It was beat up out there. Nonetheless, Danny pulled through even though he didn’t pre-run. I was acting more of his rally teammate. It was great, incredible, a really good run.”
552 Brent Shermak—“It was tiresome. We tried so hard to get to the front, through the dust and the problems with the car that we had. When we had to stop and fix the car and had cars passed was what killed us both days. The water truck just flooded the truck so bad. We just tried to stay out of the water. I just wish the water wouldn’t have been so bad. Our results would have been different. I just know we are a few seconds off. I drove both days. This is a great track, my hometown track. I live over the river from here. This is a big family ordeal. Everyone came out for this. We are having a great time. We have a big fiesta with a circus tent and all the food is being catered. Everyone is enjoying themselves. We love this track. It is our favorite one other than the Baja 1000. We are looking forward to San Felipe. We are gonna have a big battle with Ledezma. The game is on.”
CLASS 10:
1012 Darren Hardesty—“It was a great race. The car ran perfect. My car was really fast. I don’t think we lost any time from yesterday and it was a tough race. It was a rough track. It got really tore up, but you just have to pick better lines. We had a fun time. I hope we get to come back next year.
SCORE Lite:
1205 Cameron Steele (driver of record)—“That was alot of work. My steering servo blew up at the second lap. I just battled it. It’s real tough when you’re trying to hold the wheel. You can’t wrap your thumbs around it because the spokes will brake your finger. So you have to hold it as tight as you can with an open grip. One time today it just sucked my arm inside the wheel. I already have 11 pins and 2 plates in my left arm. So the plates might have just shifted. Sometimes when I ride my dirt bike I feel the same kind of pain. It usually doesn’t last this long, though. I think I might have broke it.” When asked if the plates in his head were alright, he teasingly replied “No plates in my head. The screws might be loosed, but actually if I would have had one of my team guys with me I might have held it a little harder. Because I had my wife in there with me and I had to make sure the baby, the dog, has someone to cuddle with at night. We both can’t be in the hospital so I had to tone it down just a bit. No problems yesterday with the vehicle, just a lot of dust. A friend of mine, DJ List, I met at a motocross race that had never been to an off-road race navigated for me yesterday. When we met he came up to me and told me that he was a big fan of mine so we hung out that night and he has been flying out from Connecticut for every off-road race for a year ever since. So he rode with me yesterday and my wife rode today. Today was his first time in an off-road vehicle. My wife was gonna drive today, but we had a good lead and it is so violent out there with the short course style. We don’t run these bang bars for nothing. We run these things to go side to side with people if we need to. I just didn’t want to subject my wife to that. She never has driven here at Laughlin, so now she’s ridden here. I missed some of Laughlin last year because I was working the Phoenix Supercross and I had to be there all day so I couldn’t race both days. I got to race both days this year because I flew out to Phoenix last night, worked and then flew back this morning to race again today. So I finished the trophy truck race last night and didn’t even debrief my engineer. I just jumped in a truck, went down and got in a private plane, called the Supercross, went back and got in a plane and flew here today. We were entered in 3 classes here at Laughlin, in 12, 10 and Trophy Truck. But because we won in Score Lites yesterday, we elected not to race in class 10 and save the car for this race today. It would have been a bad thing if we would have broke the servo yesterday in the10 car race. We wouldn’t have been able to fix it and we wouldn’t have been able to stomp by everybody today. A win’s a win and that’s all we came here for. I’m stoked. We came for the points here in class 12, myself, Justin Smith and my wife.” When asked about the course today compared to yesterday, He replied, “I don’t know what the math is, but with 35 trophy trucks and 40 class 1 cars going around that six times, the holes, its just ridiculous how deep it is. I mean, this is a 33 inch tire, the Yokohama, on here. It dragging the whole time the bottom of the car through the giant ruts. It’s just crazy. Hopefully, I can get in the Trophy Truck later today.” Cameron Steele gave this interview with a banged up and bloody nose and possible broken arm. Later he raced in the Trophy Truck event, having seemingly recovered, with no severe injuries.
Heidi Steele (co-driver)—“We had a lot of fun out there. We couldn’t figure out what happened to the car and Cameron and I didn’t have our communication system set up. So I didn’t know it was the power steering. I just knew something was wrong with the front. And I didn’t know that he had probably broke his arm while we were racing out there, which is probably a good thing. We couldn’t talk without the intercom system, but of course with his perseverance he wanted to win and drove four laps like he was. This is a very rough course. For the future, we are putting together a program right now and hopefully I will be out at San Felipe running a small truck class.”
DJ List (co-rider)—“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. It was exactly as I expected. It was awesome. Everyone should experience this for sure. I never got a chance to ride in a car before and they said ‘your weight’s right. Let’s go’ and I was all for it.”
1211 Jason Batulis—“We had a really good day. It’s great here. It’s really fun. Compared to last year, this course was too short, way too dangerous, and way too narrow and until the trophy trucks drove yesterday and opened it up a little bit there was no room to pass. You had to be a jerk and run into people and stuff and that’s not fun. It’s more fun to go around people. Way better today since the course was blown open by the big cars.”
CLASS 11:
Eric Solorzano(driver of record)
Mario Ranova (co-driver)—“Eric drove yesterday. I co-rode with Roman Perayda today. The course was as difficult as any course, because you have a time limit. This course is very demanding on the suspension, especially today because racing is tougher on the second day. The big trucks tear up the course. It’s a very short course. Overall, it was interesting race compared to the long ones. It’s a different way of racing. You have to make different strategies in this race. We had a great finish. We had a lot of fun the last mile. We were along side Gary Helming [1149], bumping into each other. We already had the race won because they didn’t finish yesterday. But you never want to give up the opportunity to get the checkered flag first, every race, every time.”
STOCK FULL:
861 Gregory Foutz—“We didn’t have any trouble out there on the track. The only thing we found is that we burned the back brakes off, so we put new brake pads on this morning and everything was perfect. This truck it lets me get away with murder sometimes. It is so tough. I can make big mistakes, but it never makes me pay for it. I drove both days here at Laughlin.”
PROTRUCK:
204 Gus Vildosola Jr.—“Today was a was little slower pace than yesterday to conserve our lead and it looks like we did that. This is my third Laughlin race. I think we have had a great time every time. It’s great for the spectators. It’s great for our team. We really don’t do any pit stops here, but everyone gets to come out and enjoy it. And when you win, it’s a lot better.”
SPORTSMAN CAR:
1402 Mark Weger (driver of record)
Barry Beacham (co-driver)—“It was great. No Problems. We actually thought we had one lap left to go today. We didn’t know we were finishing there when they flagged us. The car ran great. Mark did a great job yesterday. He was stuck in second gear all day. So we fixed that. It was perfect today. It was easy. It was one of those kind of races you dream about. We’ve had a great time here in Laughlin. I rode in a class 1 yesterday. We drove this today. I am riding with Jesse Jones in the Trophy Truck later today. I love Laughlin. It’s a short track and it’s crazy in the class 1 cars because of the dust. It’s a fun track.
1404 Cissy Baldwin (driver of record)
Kelly Renezeder (co-driver, wife of SCORE Trophy-Truck driver Carl Renezeder) —“I loved it here at Laughlin. We did this race to get seat time because we have been thinking about doing the Baja 5oo this year. So I was going to make the decision after today’s race and I’ve pretty much made the decision that we are going to race the Baja 500. This is exhilarating. It is a lot of fun. I definitely could do this for longer hours. We both race short course so to feel this exhilaration is awesome. I definitely think after racing this we could go even faster. I think I can handle it. It was pretty rough today compared to what we are used to, where everything is normally groomed with yellow flaggers and people on your radios telling you where to go. Yesterday you couldn’t see the race because of the dust. It cleared up for us today.The ruts were a lot rougher. I drove today and Kelly drove yesterday. It was a lot of fun. We got chances to pass other cars.” When asked what the review mirror was for she jokingly replied, “That’s actually to check out and make sure your makeup is properly applied at the end of the race.”
SPORTSMAN TRUCK:
1599 Matt Torean—“I raced both days. The track is kinda small and short. Today was just ridiculous with dust. We were going like 5 % throttle this whole time because of the dust. You can’t see anything. We made the most of it, just drove smart. We just drove when we could see basically. No problems at all in the truck. I loved the back section of this course. They got whoops there. They were a lot of fun. I am really happy right now”
1597 Charles Anderson (driver of record)
Robert Anderson (co-driver)—“It was a good race. I thought it would be messy, but it was clean. My brother, Robert, drove yesterday. I drove today. This was my first time at Laughlin. The course was great. It was very dusty. You can’t see anything. It was great. I’ll be back.”
