Primm: Series round four preview

11 of top 15 finishers return
'09 podium-R. Gordon, MacCachren, Schwarz/Christensen-back this week as SCORE Desert Series visits for SCORE Las Vegas Terrible's Primm 300

S/F line area is only spectator area; Limited vehicles start -6 a.m.,

PRIMM, Nev.--It won't be a mirage alongside Interstate-15 this weekend as desert racing's brightest stars illuminate the Southern Nevada desert with 11 of last year's top 15 overall finishers, led by podium finishers Robby Gordon, Rob MacCachren and Armin Schwarz/Martin Christensen all being part of the glistening lineup for the 15th annual SCORE Las Vegas Terrible's Primm 300 desert race. Round 4 of the five-race 2010 SCORE Desert Series will be held in Primm, Nev.

The SCORE Las Vegas Terrible's Primm 300 will feature 21 Pro and 2 Sportsman classes for cars and trucks from 15 States, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, and Mexico in Primm, located 45 miles south of Las Vegas at the California border. This year's starting grid is expected to reach nearly 125 vehicles. Late entries will be accepted up until race morning.

For the ninth consecutive year, the race is split into two groups with the open wheel, slower truck and VW baja bug classes starting at 6 a.m. The featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division, which has 31 entries (second-most in race history) along with the unlimited Class 1 open-wheel desert race cars, which has 20 entries, will start at 1 p.m. One vehicle will start every 30 seconds in the elapsed-time race. The faster classes will be required to cover four laps of the 68.6-mile loop course to become official finishers within the seven-hour time limit.

The main pits and start/finish area for the 68.6-mile loop course is located behind Buffalo Bills Resort on the North side of the property. The race course, which runs again in a counter-clockwise direction, is virtually the same layout as last year, although weather and use has altered the terrain.

The course will have one designated spectator area, the parking lot behind Buffalo Bill's Resort adjacent to both the Start/Finish line and the straightaway that parallels the eastside of the parking lot. Admission is free to the designated spectator area.

Pre-race festivities on Friday, including tech and contingency and the SCORE Manufacturer's Midway, will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. behind Buffalo Bill's Resort. The post-race awards celebration will be held at 10 a.m. Sunday in the conference center at Terrible's Primm Valley Resort.

Eleven of last year's 17 class winners in the SCORE Las Vegas Terrible's Primm 300 have entered so far, led by the star-studded 31 SCORE Trophy-Trucks, the marquee SCORE racing division for high-tech, 850-horsepower unlimited production trucks.

NASCAR Cup team owner/driver and defending overall race and SCORE Trophy-Truck winner Robby Gordon is entered again this year. Gordon, of Charlotte, N.C., who drives the No. 1 Team Gordon Chevy CK1500 SCORE Trophy-Truck as the reigning SCORE Overall point champion, is a two-time overall winner in this race, having won both the inaugural race in 1996 as well as last year.

Like he did last year, Gordon is scheduled to have a replacement driver behind the wheel of his NASCAR Toyota Camry in Richmond, Va., while he competes in his SCORE Trophy-Truck in the Southern Nevada desert.

Starting after SCORE Trophy-Truck will be the unlimited Class 1 for open-wheel desert race cars. In the first 14 years of the SCORE Las Vegas Terrible's Primm 300, SCORE Trophy-Trucks have 10 Overall race wins while Class 1 has four. SCORE Trophy-Trucks have won seven straight overall titles.

In an extremely close race last year, Las Vegas' Rob MacCachren ended up second by just over one minute to Gordon. MacCachren, an eight-time SCORE season class point champion who has four class wins in Primm without an overall victory yet, returns in the No. 20 MasterCraft Ford F-150.

Among the entries in Class 1 is the international team of Germany's World Rally Championship veteran Schwarz and Denmark's Christensen, who lives in Escondido, Calif. Schwarz/Christensen have teamed up to win Class 1 in this race the last two consecutive years and were third overall last year in their BMW-powered Jimco. Driving the second All German Motorsports entry in Class 1, a Jimco-Chevy, will be the veteran WRC team of Germany's Armin Kremer and Austria's Andreas Aigner.

Besides Gordon, MacCachren and Schwarz/MacCachren, the other four top 10 overall finishers from last year who have entered this year are Harley Letner/Kory Halopoff, Orange, Calif. (Class 1-Alpha-Chevy, fourth overall in 2009, second in Class 1), Jesse Ashcraft, San Marcos, Calif. (No. 78 SCORE Trophy-Truck, Ford F-150, seventh overall, fourth in class), Mike Lawrence, Sunset Beach, Calif. (No. 1000-Class 10, Lothringer-VW, eighth overall, first in class) and Mark McMillin, El Cajon, Calif. (No. 23 SCORE Trophy-Truck, Ford F-150, ninth overall, fifth in class).

Among the other entries in the field is Donald Moss, Sacramento, Calif., who is a seven-time SCORE season point champion, has six wins in Class 3 in Primm in a Ford Bronco. This will be his first race in 2010 in the SCORE Desert Series.

Live vehicle tracking during the race will be available at www.racetheworld.net, live race news updates will be available at www.dirtnewz.com.

The highly-competitive 2010 SCORE Desert Series has 20 racers separated by just 65 points in the Overall standings after January's 16th SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge, March's 24th Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 and June's 42nd Tecate SCORE Baja 500 desert races.

While November's season-ending 43rd Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 race in Mexico will finalize the individual class and overall point champions for the 37th year of the world's foremost desert racing series, the SCORE Las Vegas Terrible's Primm 300 will surely determine the final group of contenders for this year's titles.

With two wins in three races this year, third generation desert racer Andy McMillin of National City, Calif. leads the SCORE Overall and SCORE Trophy-Truck point standings with 249 championship points so far in the No. 31 McMillin Realty Ford F-150, but with all the points still remaining on the desert floor, his first SCORE championship is anything but secure.

Behind SCORE Trophy-Truck and Class 1, the classes with the most entries are SCORE Lite with 15 entries to date and Class 1-2/1600 with 10.

Besides Gordon and Schwarz/Christensen, the other defending class winners in this race entered as of today are Justin Smith, Capistrano Beach, Calif. (Class 1-2/1600, Fraley-VW), Dan Chamlee, Carpenteria, Calif. (Class 7, Ford Ranger), Norm Turley, Long Beach, Calif. (Class 7SX, Ford Ranger), Clyde Stacy, Bristol, Va./Justin Matney, Bristol, Tenn. (Class 8, Chevy Silverado), Ronny Wilson, Long Beach, Calif. (SCORE Lite, Jimco-VW), Mike Lawrence, Sunset Beach, Calif., (Class 10, Lothringer-VW), Mike Shaffer, San Leandro, Calif. (Class 17, Jeep Cherokee), Peter Lang, Santa Rosa, Calif. (Sportsman Car, Homebuilt-Chevy) and Joe Aguayo, San Jacinto, Calif., (Sportsman Truck, Ford F-150).

In addition to season point class point championships, drivers in the Pro car and truck classes are also racing to earn prestigious SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards given to all car and truck class drivers who complete every required mile of the five-race season. Being presented by Toyota Motorsports for the 25th consecutive year, a total of 22 drivers remain eligible after Round 3 of the 2010 SCORE Desert Series. Racers are also competing for the annual SCORE Off-Roadsman of the Year awards, including the MasterCraft Safety SCORE Rookie of the Year award.

-source: score