Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Baja 1000 race to coincide with Mexican holiday

Thursday, July 10, 2003 | 10:33 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.

SCORE International, the Los Angeles-based group that sanctions desert races in Nevada and Mexico, announced it has moved the date of the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 to Nov. 20-23 at the request of the Mexican government.

By moving the race a week later, the event would coincide with the country's Mexican Revolution Day -- a national holiday in Mexico. Last year's race also was moved back to that weekend and the event attracted huge crowds to many of the pre-race festivities.

SCORE also will receive an additional benefit by staging the race on that weekend: The change would allow NASCAR Winston Cup driver Robby Gordon and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Brendan Gaughan of Las Vegas to return to their off-road roots and participate in the event. The original date of the Baja 1000, Nov. 13-16, conflicted with NASCAR's season-ending "Championship Weekend" at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"I hope to race in this year's Baja 1000 and I hope my daddy does it with me," Gaughan said, referring to his father, Coast Resorts Inc. chairman Michael Gaughan. "I have never raced with him before and if I can get my daddy into shape, he promised me he would race in the 1000 with me."

Michael Gaughan, a longtime off-road racer, was a High Desert Racing Association champion in 1978 and 1979 and was a regular in the old Mint 400. The elder Gaughan was injured in the 1990 Nevada 500 desert race and retired from racing.

"My father got hurt before I could race with him," Brendan Gaughan said. "I raced against him once but never with him. I would love the chance to do the 1000 with him."

Gordon, who competed in last year's Baja 1000, is said to be building a new Ford F-150 Trophy Truck for this year's race.

Las Vegas brothers Ed and Tim Herbst hold the SCORE record with three Trophy Truck season championships (1999, 2000 and 2002) and are in a three-way tie with the team of Dan Smith and David Ashley and retired off-road legend Ivan Stewart with nine career victories in the class.

Gus Vildosola and Las Vegan Rob MacCachren lead the Trophy Truck standings heading into this weekend's race and are 10th in the overall SCORE points standings.

Eric Allen and Adam Pfankuch, who are teaming for the first season in Class 1-2 /1600, and 17-year-old Brian Ickler, a rookie in the SCORE Lite class, are the only unbeaten drivers after the Laughlin Desert Challenge, the San Felipe 250 and the Baja 500.

Allen and Pfankuch hold both the Class 1-2/1600 and overall points lead while Ickler leads SCORE Lite and is fourth overall.

This is the first time the parties have signed a multiyear agreement for the race, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary next January. The first seven races were run on one-year contracts. The 2004 race will be Jan. 15-18.