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The 31st running of the SCORE San Felipe 250 took place this last weekend with veteran driver Rob MacCachren taking home the checkered flag. The veteran driver seems untouchable as of late winning the Baja 1000 in November, the Mint 400 in March, and now the San Felipe 250. Unlike the Mint 400, MacCachren has won the San Felipe 250 in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2012, and once again in 2017.
“I clipped a rock about race mile 50 and got a flat tire which allowed Apdaly (Lopez) and Cameron Steele to get in front of us,” MacCachren said. ” We tried to work away and chop off that gap that they put on us. Apdaly was pulled over on the side of the road a little bit later and we got in front of him. Cameron Steele was running really strong and we made up a few minutes on him coming through mile 125 to mile 175. It started to stabilize and I think he got the word that we were coming. He started right behind me so we were going to have to pass him to beat him.”
San Felipe is known for the miles and miles of whoops and unforgiving desert terrain, but this year the race saw some of the fastest speeds across Diablo Dry Lake Bed. The faster times meant a faster race where any mistake could put the driver off the podium.
“Coming up on mile 200 there were gnarly sand whoops and we were just hammering down and I started getting in his dust,” MacCachren continued. “I got really close to him at about 100 feet back and I couldn’t see for a moment and went off into a cactus and it ended up coming into the cab. It stuck in me and my co-driver Wayne so we were trying to pull that out of us and let Cameron get ahead a little bit. I told Wayne to tell me not to be a wimp and just go and leave that stuff in there. He said ‘don’t be a wimp’ and then we got going. We got out ahead of Cameron right before the Huatuamote wash. We were running hard the last 30 miles to make sure he didn’t get us on time.”
Out of the 24 Trophy Trucks that started the 2017 San Felipe 250 only 16 of them finished.
Among his nearly 250 career race wins, MacCachren has also won the overall title at the season-ending SCORE Baja 1000 for the last three consecutive years. Up next for MacCachren is the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series opener April 22-23 at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona.
