Laughlin Desert Challenge Saturday Post Race
Quotes
SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, 702.735.7123
January 20, 2007
SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge
January 18-21, 2007
Laughlin, Nevada
Saturday Leaders Quotes
SCORE Trophy-Truck
3 Mark Post, driver of record
(1st Place)
Quotes from Rob MacCachren, Co-driver and driver in Saturday’s
race (and Class 1-2/1600 No. 1648 Driver of Record (1st Place)):
(How does it feel to be leading two classes after the first race?)
It’s awesome. All the guys at Riviera racing and all the
guys at the shop worked their butts off. You know, we both needed
a change for this season. Hopefully this is going to work out.
I’ve had some hard luck the last few years in racing and
I needed to make a change over here with Riviera racing. I want
to thank those guys for having me come to their team and hopefully
this is the start of a really good year.
Mark (Post) is going to drive tomorrow.
We’ll run the 1600 tomorrow. Hopefully we can do a repeat
of what happened today with the 1600 car. Everything went good.
I think I’m only leading by 20 to 30 seconds in that class.
It’s a tough race. We started in back today and we had
to get through the field. In the 1600 car tomorrow, we’ll
hopefully get started up more toward the front. We’ll hand
the Trophy-truck over to Mark Post tomorrow and Kelly will continue
co-driving with him and we’ll go from there.
No problems at all. The course got really chewed up in the
corners. If you can imagine when you come into the corners, it’s
getting big ruts and also, because we’re accelerating it’s
getting big rollers so it’s like a roller coaster through
the ruts. You can kind of see a little bit out in the infield.
Out there it’s much, much worse. There are probably corners
with four foot, five foot rollers in them. It is what it is.
We’ll look over the truck really good tonight and maybe
make some adjustments for the track tomorrow and hopefully give
Mark a better truck than we had today. That’s us improving
all year.
In the buggy, I ended up stiffening up the rear suspension
a little for that (Laughlin Leap) jump because I didn’t
even want to break the motor out of two cars in one weekend.
You know, we compromised the whole rest of the course for the
one jump in the 1600 car. This truck is awesome. It pretty much
takes anything. It lands like a marshmallow off the Laughlin
Leap but it’s really a shame – this morning we were
leading that Class 10 race I’m pretty sure. We hit the
ground so hard it broke the motor out of the car. It’s
not as bad as that sounds. You know, breaking the motor out of
the car sounds really bad, but it broke the motor mound and separated
the two and there was no fixing it tomorrow so we won’t
even be in Class 10. It’s a real disappointment because
if we could have won that one we might have done a sweep all
day like we did three years ago or so.
28 Alan Pflueger
(2nd Place)
We had fun out there. We got to race with our brothers over there
in the Red Bull truck and had a great run. Man, they smoked us.
We got them off the start then they just schooled us out there
on the course. We just kept working, trying to stay smooth. It
was really rough. There was a lot of attrition out there. You
know it was just really good. I love racing against Andy (McMillin),
he’s a great guy. We swapped a little paint. It’s
good sportsmanship and thumbs up at the finish. Hopefully I’ll
be out there running to win. I tell you what – this Monster
Energy racing truck is solid.
(Are you ready for tomorrow?) You better ask the competition
that!
We don’t come to bunt. We come to swing hard and the
other guys can get out of the way.
I love the course. You know, it’s tough, it’s
rough. You need horsepower, you need suspension, you need skill,
you need a great co-driver. Mike Emmerson did an excellent job
and I’m just really happy to get Monster Energy Drink Pfluger
Racing Team Trophy-truck up front. I’m curious to see what
the times are but we are definitely contenders for the overall
today and we had it going on out there. It was good. We had a
lot of fun.
Last year, the Laughlin Leap was 150 feet. This year it’s
120. I was actually talking to the guys at Monster Energy about
how they should make boxes of Kleenex with the Monster brand
on it and we could kind of pass it out to the other drivers.
You know, the last time I checked, this was not cheese and wine
racing, it was off-road. I race Trophy-trucks and you’ve
got to suck it up.
They’re a great competitor. I mean, they (the McMillins)
come from a great family line
You know what, hats off to a guy like that. We bump him, he signals,
we get to go by. I’ve got a lot of respect for guys like
that. I look forward to racing Andy (McMillin) no matter who
our sponsors are, I’m excited about the future of racing
with guys like that because he’s got a lot of respect.
31 Andy McMillin
(3rd Place)
No problems at all. It was a clean race. Me and (Alan) Pflueger
were going at it. This Red Bull truck ran awesome. I’m
really looking forward to tomorrow. The course is really chewed
up. But I’m looking forward to it.
I raced last year in a Trophy-Truck with Robby (Gordon). It’s
the same Red Bull sponsor but it’s a different truck. We
won the Baja 1000. So it’s good to come off that with some
momentum.
I like this stuff. It’s good to get out of Mexico. But
once this race is over, you’re always excited to get back
down to Mexico.
No problems at all. We just ran clean.
1 B.J. Baldwin
(4th Place)
(The course) changed totally. It will probably change even worse
tomorrow – better for me because my truck runs a little
better than Rob (MacCachren)’s. We’ll see how we
do tomorrow. I’m not sure what place we came in. Rob finished
ahead of us. He did a great job. We had a great race – I
was trying to outrun him all day. I beat him off the drag at
the start and then the first left hand corner I slowed down for
the pole and he drove right around me. So he’s a pro and
my hat is off to him, he did a great job today.
My vehicle ran great. It could have run better if it had more
horsepower. But I think we’re all the same on horsepower.
But Rob got me and I tried my best. Getting around Kory Scheeler,
I had a rock hit me in the helmet really hard and bust my visor
and I couldn’t see, I couldn’t get any clean air.
But we ran pretty good today. So we’re happy.
I want to go back to 1998 when they had an 18 mile loop. But,
you know, it is what it is and I if we’ve got to run 6
miles out here in Laughlin then I guess we’ve got to do
it. It’s a great course, I just wish there was more of
it. It’s a fantastic course. I love it.
51 Kory Scheeler
(7th Place)
Our power steering started to go away after a couple of laps
so we just kind of hung on just to finish. I think my gloves
got hot from the steering wheel spinning around in it. It’s
fixable. I think the power steering fluid gets hot in a race
like this, a course like this and starts getting a lot of feedback
and the steering kind of pulls. It’s pretty torn up out
there. We just want to get out with a finish this year, too.
On the second day, we always broke. We’ve been in it
quite a few years.
We’re good to go.
7 Scott Steinberger
(11th Place)
We had a mystery fuel problem. We’re going to try to figure
it out at the pit and clean her up and have her ready for tomorrow.
(The alternator) just fluctuated a little bit on the second
lap and then it didn’t. After that, we had no problem – we
had good voltage. But the fuel pump, on the third lap, started
acting up and got progressively worse. It was the nuttiest 36
miles I ever did. You just have to go for it here and hope you
don’t break anything.
91 Bill McBeath
(16th Place)
(This is your first SCORE race?) Yes, in a Trophy-Truck.
It was a lot of fun. No shortness of excitement starting in
the pole with all these drivers out here. We had a great time,
we had a lot of fun and that’s what it’s about.
My goal was to try to be as competitive...I just kind of said ‘I’ll
take the course being given.’ Smooth is fast. But there
was no smooth out there – you could park a Volkswagen in
the holes out there and never see it.
Laughlin is awesome. It’s a great event. The course
was nothing like what we pre-ran yesterday. The holes were giant.
The turns were sharper and there was a lot more competition than
the pre-run.
(The vehicle) ran great.
(Will you be driving tomorrow?) Me and my partner, Jeffrey
Shearer, my co-driver got me around today.
I need a double Crown Royal.
Class 1
102 Ronny Wilson
(2nd Place)
We had a great ride. We started in the front row. So we didn’t
have any dust until like the third lap, so I think that helped
us a little bit. We’re really happy. The car works great.
No problems at all. It was a lot of fun for us.
(The course) is only six miles and you really don’t
have time to breath. We’re not used to this. We’re
just here hopefully to finish in the top five or ten so we can
go to San Felipe to a real desert race. But this is great for
the fans to come out here and see this. I know everybody enjoys
this. It’s tough for us because our cars aren’t set
up for it but it’s a lot of fun.
108 B.J. Richardson
(3rd Place)
There were no problems. I was just trying to find a smooth line
and work my way around there. I tried a different line every
lap and they all sucked.
104 Vincent DeJong, driver of record
(5th Place)
Quotes from Dale Ebberts, Co-driver and driver in Saturday’s
race:
(Is this a last-minute deal for you?) Yeah, I found out about
it on Monday. I was kind of searching for a ride. I love this
race and I wanted to race something. Vince DeJong, the owner
of the car had never driven here before so he felt like it would
go better with a driver with some experience here. So he let
me drive it, probably both days.
I want to make sure we have everything ready. I think we finished
top five today. That’s down by about two minutes. Hopefully
we can make some of that up.
(Did the sun affect you?) It was blinding. There were good
lines and bad lines and you couldn’t see which was what.
You had to hold your hand up and go through the bumps and you
needed to hold on with both hands.
We’re just thinking about how we finished and times
and what we have to make up and hope for some attrition probably.
We’ll see if we can win our third overall. We’re
the only ones who have won it twice so far.
(Are you going to race with them the whole year?) I don’t
have any commitments yet. I’ve had offers, but no commitments.
Class 1-2/1600
1606 Adam Pfankuch
(2nd Place)
I think Rob’s (MacCachren) got it by about 30 seconds.
But it was a good run.
No problems. It ran good all day. Just the gearing was a little
off. The tranny was a little off. I didn’t have the short
course gearing ready. But I’m going to race class 1 here
in the next heat. I’m just pre-running with this thing
basically, so I’ll see what happens.
I’m running both days.
1601 Aaron Hawley
(3rd Place)
It was a pretty good run. I pushed as hard as I could. And everything
worked out pretty well. It was pretty rough. Luckily, I had nobody
to pass, no trouble, just me by myself. So that made it easier.
The track was alright. But nothing that a good 1600 driver like
all of us out here couldn’t take care of. But it was rough.
During practice, I got that leap. I went over the first time
and about broke my neck. The rest of the practice laps I took
it easy. This time I had my harness on and all my whole safety
system on and it really jars the crap out of you but it worked
out alright. It didn’t hurt me luckily. It just kind of
helps.
They say Adam (Pfankuch) probably beat me by about ten seconds
but you know I pushed hard and made a lot of mistakes but that’s
probably where you loose. He’s a great driver. It was a
good time.
1603 Cody Freeman
(7th Place)
I didn’t really have any problems. I think I picked the
wrong gearing. I didn’t have enough of what it took to
get to the right RPM.
When we did the Laughlin Leap initially, for the jump contest,
it actually was very, very hard on your body. But it’s
real good now. I don’t know if they did something to it
but it works real good.
1609 Dave Caspino
(10th Place)
(Being the leader today) is awesome but it makes tomorrow a lot
more difficult, you know that.
The only problem…just guys rolling in front of me.
Everybody who tried to race me rolled, every single one of them.
They just wanted to go too wide at every turn and every time
they rolled and I didn’t.
The course was busy. Tomorrow, it’s going to be a lot
worse. It’s brutal. A lot of cars are upside down out there.
(Did you say you hurt your back?) Yeah. Just some whiplash.
(Coming off the leap?) Nah, no. The leap is nothing. The leap
is a piece of cake.
Class 7SX
748 Tim Lawrence
(2nd Place)
It’s going to be close, I’ll tell you what. I believe
that’s John Holmes? He’s very fast. I’ve been
racing against him for about 20 years and I knew he was going
to be the guy to try and get. We ran basically about as hard
as we could. We’ve got a little bit left for tomorrow.
We’ve got a couple of places where we can run a little
harder, turn it up a notch.
I started in the back so I had to pass a lot of cars and that
took some time and it ended up pretty good.
The course is pretty rough and rugged. But this is a good
working TRL Ford here so we’re okay.
746 Gerardo Novelo
(3rd Place)
I feel very happy. Five years ago was my last race in SCORE and
I’m so happy to be back. This is a brand new truck, it’s
first race and we’re very happy with it. I don’t
know what position we finished, but we’re very happy. We’re
happy to be back.
Class 8
800 Nick Vanderwey
(2nd Place)
We got sideways. We don’t know how to do these Talladega
turns. We don’t know what that is. First of all it’s
a right turn instead of a left and it’s so high-tech I
don’t know what to do. We kind of got it sideways but you
know, just learning how to use that brake first time through – just
went wrong.
Class 10
1012 Adam Wik
(1st Place)
It’s pretty torn up out there but it was fun. They’ve
got it watered very well so there’s not a ton of dust.
It’s really challenging. It’s going to be really
tough to finish two days even though it’s only 36 miles
because it’s definitely rough.
My car was definitely bottoming out on Laughlin Leap also.
I could feel it but I kept jumping it. Hopefully it will make
it 36 miles. That’s how we look at it. We can definitely
work on the shocks. King set us up with some awesome bypass shocks.
And we can definitely stiffen them up for tomorrow and that should
take care of those problems. We had a good day. Hopefully we
beat everybody on time, but I don’t know.
1023 Lobsam Yee
(2nd Place)
This is LEG car but I’m driving it. Mine wasn’t ready
so I took his car.
We just kept running. We were last in the start so, you know,
we’ll see how we do tomorrow.
If they don’t do anything after Trophy-trucks today,
it’s going to be bad tomorrow because on the curves, the
ditches are going to be real deep. Actually I was thinking about
the outside line. I think it was faster. But after Trophy-Trucks,
that’s another thing.
I think the course is harder than last year’s but we
just kept running.
1021 John Cooley
(3rd Place)
The course is getting torn up. Yesterday, during the pre-run
it was real smooth but it’s really getting torn up like
a real off-road race. I wish it was longer – like a hundred
miles.
This car always runs good here in Laughlin.
We had a second last year. We really want to win. That’s
the bottom line. We’re here to win.
1004 Will Higman, driver of record
(14th Place)
Quotes from Rob MacCachren, driver in Saturday’s race:
It seems like the motor came undone from the tranny - probably
from hitting so hard at the Laughlin Leap. It hit the skid pan.
What are you going to do? The course is rough.
The course is good. It’s rough. It’s just going to
get rougher and rougher and rougher.
SCORE Lite
1206 Stan Potter, driver of record
(1st Place)
Dan Worley, Co-driver and driver during Saturday’s race:
It was good. It was rough but you get some good lines. Kind of
maybe get off the course, off the line a little bit. Once you’re
on the line, it works real well. You have to keep your seat up
in these limited motor cars.
Stan is going to drive tomorrow. Hopefully he’ll bring
it in for a win for us.
No problems. I’ve been coming here since day one in
Laughlin and it’s one of the funnest courses yet. It’s
a good course. It’s shorter, but it’s pretty technical.
It’s a driver’s course. It’s just not put the
pedal to the medal and get it to the end. You have to drive it.
1200 Tim Noe
(3rd Place)
We lost third gear on the fourth lap. I lost third so I was using
first, second and fourth. But we made it. I handicaped us a whole
lot. Other than that, we had no problems – no traffic.
The track is good and wide so there’s good passing. You
don’t have to bang and bump and tear stuff up. That’s
what is fun about it.
The course is awesome. It’s fun. It’s real fun.
It’s a blast. It’s getting to where it needs to be.
It’s getting chewed up like we need it to be. You know,
we like that rough stuff.
He (1st place Stan Potter) caught me on the second lap and
passed me. But he’s a good friend, so we’ll make
it up tomorrow.
It was fun. It’s awesome. It’s hot and lovely.
1202 Scott Wisdom
(5th Place)
The race was great. This was my first race with SCORE Lite. I
was a 1600 racer before. So this is kind of my trial test. It
was a lot of fun. There are some top-notch racers out there.
The only problem with dust is right as you are coming into
infield. So the rest of the course, when you catch somebody,
it’s clear to pass. It’s nice.
I think I can improve my driving (laughs). It was good. My
tire selection…I was really slippery out there. I noticed
some guys were running some different tires than I am, so that
might be a factor, too.
The experience was great. I love it.
Protruck
202 Wade Kelson
(4th Place)
We’re doing good. We almost tipped over about mile 5 and
we lost our ignition and flooded out the motor. We were stuck
for about a minute and a half to two minutes. We got back on
the throttle again and tried to work our way out. I don’t
know how we ended up but it was good.
The third lap, we ended up almost tipping over. We passed
203 where we came in too hot in a corner and almost tipped over,
bottled it, came back down, came to a stop, flooded out our motor
and it took us about two minutes to start it so we lost about
two minutes in the down time.
This course is really soft. We actually lost our power steering
the last two laps. I don’t know if we lost a tie rod or
something the last two laps. So we tried to slow it down a little
the last two laps.
Cameron Steele
Driver of record, 16 SCORE Trophy-Truck
Driver of record, 122 Class 1
Driver of record, 1011 Class 10
Co-driver, 741 Class 7SX (Heidi Steele, driver of record)
Driver of record, 1207 SCORE Lite
(From an interview in the SCORE media center)
Well, our motor in our SCORE Lite car wouldn’t run and
we were going to run that in Class 10 as well. So we decided
to withdraw and we’re trying to fix that motor now. But
the bigger problem is that we blew up the motor on the Trophy-Truck
and we’re taking the Class 1 car that we were going to
tech as a Class 1 and now we’re going to tech it as a Trophy-Truck
and my crew is over there right now welding all the body mounts
on it to put our Trophy-Truck body on the plate tech Class 1
car. So it’s a pretty interesting day so far.
We’ll go back out in the SCORE Lite car tomorrow but
what we’re hoping to do is to get the motor fixed in the
SCORE Lite car and race it in Class 1 this afternoon. So we’re
trying to keep a three-class dream alive but you never know what’s
going to happen.
Right now, we’re running with basically half the motor.
We had an electronic problem so if we get all the way back up
with the motor…last year we ran 9th overall in that car
with that same motor. So we should be able to compete with the
Class 1 cars but more importantly we want to come back and win
SCORE Lite tomorrow.
