Las Vegas’ Collins pulls truck upset in Laughlin

Monday, Jan. 22, 2001 | 9:50 a.m.

LAUGHLIN -- Watching and waiting as the three front-runners all fell off the pace, Steve Sourapas came from behind in his Chevy-powered Jimco to capture the overall victory Sunday at the seventh annual SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge.

Racing in the unlimited Class 1, Sourapas beat a field of 181 racers in the first major motor sports race of the year -- the opening round of the five-race 20001 SCORE Desert Series, American's foremost desert racing series.

Las Vegas' Brian Collins pulled off a major upset by winning the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division in a Chevy Silverado.

Sourapas, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., fourth after Saturday's first half of the two-day race, kept himself in a position to win Sunday. He finished the 96.8-mile race run as eight laps over a 12.6-mile course in a total elapsed time of 1 hour, 45 minutes, 6 seconds, averaging 55.262 miles per hour.

"We outlasted them today," said Sourapas, who also won SCORE's last race in Nevada, last August's SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300. "This car is limited in what it can do; you have to drive it accordingly. I drove a conservative race like I always do. I just decided Thursday before last to run this race. It's an awesome way to the start the season."

Starting Sunday, John Herder, Troy Herbst and Dale Dondel were dueling just five seconds apart in Class 1, but Herder and Dondel both did not finish Sunday and Herbst slipped to third behind runner-up Jeff Quinn. Driving a Porsche-powered Jimco, Quinn finished in 1:48:44 while Herbst, in a Ford-powered Smithbuilt, ended up four seconds behind Quinn.

Looking for their third straight Laughlin win in the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck division, Las Vegas' Tim and Ed Herbst were in command after Saturday's first four laps, extending their lead on Sunday for the first three laps before fuel pump/vapor lock problems on the final lap put them out of contention.

For Collins, it was his first SCORE Trophy-Truck victory as he held off the hard-charging Duralast Ford F-150 of Dan Smith and David Ashley by just 41 seconds.

Danny Anderson of Las Vegas won Class 10 for 1650cc racecars in his Toyota-powered Jimco. Fourth after the first half of the race, Anderson picked up his second straight Class 10 win in Laughlin.

Las Vegas' Rob MacCachren, a prominent second-generation Southern Nevada desert racer, returned to his racing roots to win Class 1-2/1600cc in a racecar built by Las Vegas' Bruce Fraley.