Las Vegas teammates go for truck titles in Mexico

Thursday, Nov. 13, 1997 | 9:04 a.m.

Prior to the Laughlin Desert Challenge in September, off-road driver Brian Collins trailed White Lightning Racing teammate and fellow Las Vegan Dale White by three points in the SCORE Desert Championship Series Class 8 standings.

Looking ahead to the legendary Baja 1000, which starts Friday in Ensenada, Mexico, Collins said the ideal scenario would be for him to win Baja and White to capture the championship.

Now that Collins has the points lead, it is White who is doing a little wishing.

"I can win the race and (Collins) can finish third and still win the championship, so that's kind of our plan," White said of his team's strategy for the grueling endurance race. "That would give me three 1000 (wins) in a row so that's kind of what we're shooting for. That works out good for the team and we both would get what we want."

Collins, the consummate team player, said he has no problem with White's plan.

"We don't look at it as whether I win the championship or Dale wins the championship -- whoever wins, we win," Collins said.

"It's a team deal and we'd just like to bring home a championship for the guys who have worked so hard all year on this truck."

White and Collins may be on the same page in their run for the championship, but the drivers have different expectations going into the 30th annual Baja 1000.

"For me, it's a race I've never finished before, so that's something I have to think about," Collins said. "The nice part about me being on this truck team this year, I know getting a truck around a track won't be a problem. It's just a matter of me not having any problems (with) the booby traps getting in and out of the towns.

"My deal for the 1000 is to go down and drive a smart race and just get the truck to finish."

White, on the other hand, seemingly has mastered the race, winning Class 8 each of the past two years.

"This is a race we've worked for all year long," White said. "We're strong down there, we like Mexico and we're real familiar with the terrain down there -- that's where we shine, that's for sure."

Regardless of who wins the Class 8 championship, White and Collins said they will forego their two-truck plan for next year's SCORE series, concentrating their efforts as co-drivers of one Chevrolet C1500 in the desert series. In addition, the drivers plan to prepare a truck for Ivan Stewart's new Protruck Off-Road stadium series, which will debut Feb. 28 at Sam Boyd Stadium.