Trophy News from Los Angeles, CA…….
Baldwin Snags SCORE Trophy-Truck Crown
After all of the dust settled following the recent 41st Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, the last man standing atop the podium with the crown of 2008 SCORE Desert Series Overall point champion was veteran Las Vegas racer B.J. Richardson.
Richardson, 43, a prominent Southern Nevada businessman and casino developer, drove the Las Vegas Dissemination Company Chevy-powered Bunderson open-wheel desert race car to the unlimited Class 1 season point title that also earned him the coveted 2008 SCORE Overall point championship as well. During the five-race season, he had second place class finishes at the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge, the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 and the SCORE Terrible’s Primm 300 along with a 10th at the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 and a ninth in the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000.
Racing in one of the two most competitive classes in the series, Richardson claimed the title with 414 total points. By finishing every mile of every race, Richardson also earned his first Toyota Milestone Award.
Richardson and all the 2008 SCORE Desert Series point champions will be honored Saturday during the annual SCORE Awards Night at Terrible’s Resort in Primm, Nev. The evening begins with a reception at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and the awards at 7:30 p.m.
In one of the closest overall point battles in the 35-year history of the world’s foremost desert racing series, Richardson won the overall crown by just three points over fellow Las Vegan B.J. Baldwin. Baldwin, 29, won the season point championship in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division for the second time in three years in the No. 97 Baldwin Motorsports Chevy Silverado. Baldwin, whose father Bobby Baldwin finished ninth in the SCORE Trophy-Truck season points, earned his third consecutive Toyota Milestone Award.
After leading the SCORE Overall points much of the season, San Diego County racer Adam Pfankuch, 26, finished third overall while winning Class 1-2/1600 in a Mirage-VW with 403 season points. Pfankuch earned a Toyota Milestone Award as well as winning the $20,000 Volkswagen of America bonus for earning the most points of any VW-powered vehicle this season.
A total of just 36 points separated the top 10 in the final 2008 SCORE Overall point standings led by four drivers from Class 1, three from SCORE Trophy-Truck, two from Class 1-2/1600 and one from Class 5/1600.
SCORE points are based on starting and finishing as well as the number of starters in each class in every race.
“What an unbelievable season, especially when you consider I’ve been hanging around the desert for over 20 years,” said the soft-spoken Richardson. “This was a dream season, and we were able to stay consistent, finish every race and win Class 1 and the 2008 SCORE Overall point championship without winning a race. That goes to show you how competitive SCORE desert racing is in general and our class in particular. I can’t stay enough, though, about our entire Las Vegas Dissemination Company team, my teammate Pat Dean, our dear friend and sponsor John Gaughan, our co-driver T.J. Flores and the magnificent prep our cars get from Valley Performance in Las Vegas. Without all of the ingredients, we would have never won this championship.”
While this is Richardson’s first SCORE class point championship, it was Baldwin’s second and third for Pfankuch, who owns Powerbox Transaxles. Pfankuch was the second driver for two season point championship teams. He was the second driver for the title team in Class 1-2/1600 SCORE points both in 2003 (with Eric Allen) and in 2004 (with Brian Jeffrey). In 2004, the Jeffrey/Pfankuch tandem was also the SCORE Overall Point champions. This was the first season Pfankuch won a class title as driver of record.
While Baldwin drove the entire season solo, Pfankuch did almost the same, but had help from Steven Eugenio, El Centro, Calif., in both the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 and the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000.
Baldwin, was second in Laughlin, seventh in San Felipe and earned his third career SCORE Trophy-Truck race win at the Tecate SCORE Baja 500, slipped to 10th in Primm but kept his point lead and clinched the his second career title with a second at the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 in the marquee SCORE racing division for high-tech, 800-horsepower, unlimited production trucks. (more…)
