07-04-2025
Battle for the Ages as Ford Beats Chevy in SCORE San Felipe 250
Less than 60 seconds separated the two fighters after 250 miles of racing in the desert in the King Shocks 38th SCORE San Felipe 250 in Baja.
Mexico's own Alan Ampudia drove his No. 1 Ford Raptor Mason AWD Team Papas and Beer Trophy Truck like a hero, even getting out to fix a flat tire in the last few miles of the 250.06-mile racecourse to win the SCORE San Felipe 250 for the second consecutive year. He finished in 3 hours, 55 minutes, and 13 seconds.
Two-time San Felipe winner Luke McMillin drove his No. 83 Chevy 1500 Mason AWD Trophy truck across the line just 49 seconds later, after a day-long battle that saw 'The Luke' get out to fix his own flats throughout the course.
But Ampudia's battles actually began early on with another racer—and fellow Ensenada resident—Tavo Vildósola.
'That was insane,' said Ampudia at the finish line. 'All day battling with Tavo. We caught up to him at checkpoint one, and we just had to keep the truck moving, no stopping. Then Luke caught us in the pits. But I knew we just had to stay in his dust (since the race is scored on corrected time).'
What followed was a battle of the flat tires, as each racer would hit a rock, get a flat, then get out to change it.
'We were battling so hard and the converter started overheating because we were sending it in the whoops,' Ampudia said. 'So Luke got 30-40 seconds ahead. Then we clipped a rock and exploded another tire. I saw it but I thought I was going to miss it. And thought that was going to be the race, but then we got to the corner and he was changing a flat, too. He took off before me so we needed to stay within a minute of him, so I just sent it. I don't think I missed any VCPs (virtual check points) so hopefully we got the win.'
He did.
For his part, McMillin didn't seem too upset with second place. It was all just part of racing in the desert.
'It was a fun day. We had a good run. We got shuffled back at the beginning and lost some track time and a couple positions but made it all back up and kept pushing. We did have two flat tires that cost us some time. The truck was great, solid, fast. I was very happy with it. It was a fun day and great racecourse. Thank you to SCORE for putting it on.'
Series veteran and desert racing great Rob MacCachren was happy that his off-season development and testing paid off with a podium.
'It was a super-fast pace from the start. Everyone that qualifies in the top 10 up there hauls the mail. We ran strong. We wanted a good finish, to make sure we got to the finish line. We struggled with the truck a little last year, so we have done some testing in the off season. We are making improvements and things are getting better. We are pushing as hard as we can.'
On the opposite end of the grid from the massive Trophy Trucks that won overall, UTVs continue to grow in popularity in off-road racing. A UTV won overall at the brutal King of the Hammers just a few months ago, beating the larger, purpose-built machines that have traditionally placed first in the KOH.
And now the season-opening SCORE San Felipe 250 saw a record 91 UTVs divided into five different classes, surpassing last year's total of 69 UTV entries in the 2024 SCORE San Felipe 250.
This time it was Brock Heger from El Centro, California, who celebrated another victory in the Pro UTV Open class as part of the Polaris factory/SCI Motorsports team. Heger also won the last SCORE Baja 1000 in November, the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia in January of this year, and the Mint 400 in Nevada just a few weeks ago. Heger finished in San Felipe in 4:37:47, driving a Polaris RZR Pro R Factory.
On two wheels it was Tyler Lynn, 24, of Mona, Utah, along with Carter Klein, 20, of Agua Dulce, California, and Ryan Surratt, 28, of Perris, California, riding the SLR No. 7x Honda CRF450X for the Slam Life Racing team that extended Honda's dominance in Baja by winning the 250 on bikes.
The trio completed the course in 4 hours, 49 minutes, and 3 seconds at an average speed of 51.89 miles per hour.
The win marked Honda's 25th overall victory in the SCORE San Felipe 250, with a significant lead over its closest competitor, Kawasaki, which has just seven wins. There are now three races left in the 2025 SCORE World Championship, which takes place entirely in Baja California, which it is now celebrating for the 10th consecutive year.
The rest of the races are:BFGoodrich Tires 56th SCORE Baja 500—June 4-8, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico6th SCORE Baja 400—September 10-14, Ensenada, Baja California, MexicoBFGoodrich Tires 58th SCORE Baja 1000—November 10-16, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
