Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: SCORE points title on line in Baja

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2002 | 9:30 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.

One of the closest battles for the overall points title in SCORE off-road racing history will be settled this weekend as the 2002 Optima SCORE Desert Series concludes its six-race season with the 35th annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000.

Only 17 points separate the top five drivers in the chase for the overall title going into the 1000, which started this morning. Competitors have a 40-hour time limit to complete the 1,017.31-mile course from Ensenada to La Paz.

Las Vegas' Troy Herbst, racing in unlimited Class 1, holds a narrow three-point lead over Kash Vessels (Class 1-2/1600), 266-263. Steve Barlow (Protruck) is third with 258 points and Chuck Hovey (Class 1) and John Harvey (Stock Full) are tied for fourth with 249 points.

Herbst, at 36 the youngest of the three racing Herbst brothers, has won the past five Class 1 championships and was crowned the series' overall points champion in 1997, 1998 and 2000.

Herbst is sharing driving duties in the Baja 1000 with longtime off-road racer Larry Roeseler of Hesperia, Calif. Herbst teamed with Roeseler in June to capture the overall title at the Baja 500.

Charlie Townsley of Las Vegas and Doug Fortin of La Mesa, Calif., won last year's Baja 1000 overall (cars and trucks) and Class 1 titles in 14 hours, 35 minutes, 42 seconds.

The team of Mark Post and Jerry Welchel lead second-place Scott Steinberger by only two points, 237-235. Ed and Tim Herbst of Las Vegas are six points out of the lead with 231 points.

There have been four different Trophy Truck winners in five races this season. Defending class champions Dan Smith and David Ashley won the first two races of the season but are in fifth place in points, 63 off the lead.

MacCachren, who raced a limited schedule this season due to a lack of sponsorship, last year joined off-road legends Ivan Stewart and Roger Mears as the only desert racers to be accorded first-team All-America honors by the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association.

Hall, from Reno, is the all-time winningest racer in the 1000 with 16 class wins. This year, he is racing with his sons, Chad and Josh, in the Stock Full class. Hall turns 65 on Friday.

The 59-year-old Bishop, from Escondido, Calif., will ride a KTM in Class 40 for motorcycle riders over 40 years of age. Hall is the only racer who has competed in a car or truck in every Baja 1000 and Bishop holds the same distinction on a motorcycle.