Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Herbst’s season not so terrible

Friday, Dec. 6, 2002 | 9:57 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Troy Herbst of Las Vegas continued his desert domination by claiming both the Class 1 and overall championships in the 2002 Optima SCORE Desert Series -- and made a little off-road racing history in the process.

Herbst, 36, became the first racer to capture the overall SCORE season championship four times. Herbst also was overall champion in 1997, 1998 and 2000. In addition, Herbst added to his SCORE record by winning his sixth consecutive class title.

Herbst overcame a blown transmission midway through last month's season-ending Baja 1000 and finished third in Class 1 and fifth overall to seal his fourth SCORE class and overall championships.

Herbst will be surrounded by familiar faces when he is feted Saturday night at the annual SCORE awards banquet at the Primm Valley Resort; brothers Ed and Tim became the first racers to win the marquee Trophy Truck class title for the third time. Ed and Tim Herbst also won Trophy Truck championships in 1999 and 2000.

Troy Herbst also is one of seven recipients of the 2002 Toyota Milestone Award for finishing every mile of every race during the 2002 SCORE season. Other Toyota Milestone Award winners were Scott Steinberger (Trophy Truck), Dale Ebberts (Class 1), Brian Jeffrey (Class 1/2-1600), Jake Maness (Class 1/ 2-1600), Dan Fresh (Class 7S) and John Griffin (Stock Full).

Another Las Vegas resident, Jimmy Stephensen, became the first local racer to win the SCORE Overall ATV championship, capturing Class 25 this year on his Honda 400EX.

Steve Hengeveld of Oak Hills, Calif., won the Overall Motorcycle championship.

The 2003 Optima SCORE Desert Series opens Jan. 18 with the Laughlin Desert Challenge.

"The addition of Casey adds a lot of excitement and energy to the team," Ganassi said. "Our company is about winning races and adding value to our sponsors' investments and we're confident that Casey's work ethic and talent, coupled with (crew chief Jimmy Elledge's) experience, can help us do just that for Target."

The 2002 season was the 24-year-old Mears' first in the NASCAR Busch Series and his first full season racing stock cars. The nephew of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears posted two top-10 finishes and was 21st in points.

Elledge moves over to TCGR after four years as a crew chief at Andy Petree Racing.

Marlin suffered a non-displaced fracture of the No. 2 cervical vertebra in an accident at Kansas Speedway on Sept. 29.

Renshaw was to run a full 2003 Busch schedule with team owner Rick Goodwin before she was involved in an accident during an ARCA practice at Lowe's Motor Speedway in October that claimed the life of fellow driver Eric Martin. Renshaw gave no reason why she opted not to run in the Busch Series next season.

"Deborah knows whenever she feels she's ready to drive a Busch car, I'm here to give her the opportunity," Goodwin told the Associated Press. "I still believe wholeheartedly she is going to be a superstar in NASCAR."

Goodwin said he hopes to announce a new driver for his team's second car in a few weeks, and he wants a woman to take Renshaw's place.

"This team has had some great battles with General Motors these past few years," Cheever said. "When we sat down to analyze the best fit for our team, everything pointed to Chevrolet. The way they have structured their racing program allows teams to actively participate in the research and development. This is one of the founding principles of the IRL and one I believe will be vital to winning races and championships in the upcoming years."

Both teams will operate as separate entities but will share technological resources from the jointly owned MCT.

Nelson is one of four winners of the Red Bull F1 Driver Search, which aims to place an American driver in Formula One.