Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Huge field likely for Las Vegas Primm 300 off-road event

Thursday, Aug. 12, 2004 | 9:17 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.

Next month's SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300 desert race is expected to draw an event-record field of 175 car and trucks for the ninth annual event at the Nevada/California border.

A record 160 vehicles had pre-entered the event in time for Saturday's computerized draw for starting positions that was at SCORE International headquarters in Los Angeles. Trophy Truck driver Alan Pflueger of Honolulu drew the coveted the first starting position for the 315-mile race, to be held Saturday, Sept. 11.

Pflueger, who is in his first full season in the featured Trophy Truck class, is coming off a victory in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 in June in Ensenada, Mexico and is fifth in points in the class heading into the Las Vegas Primm 300.

"We have an awesome team and we've climbed the ladder quickly in SCORE Trophy Truck," Pflueger said. "Now, to draw the first starting position for the SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300 will put even more pressure on us, but it's all good.

"Our Chevy Silverado is up to the challenge, but we will definitely be keeping an eye on the thundering herd behind us. We're going to have to run hard and fast -- especially because there are several top racers with a home-desert advantage."

Among those would be brothers Ed and Tim Herbst of Las Vegas, who teamed to win the overall title in Primm in 1998 and 2003 in the Trophy Truck class and Las Vegan Troy Herbst, a two-time overall race winner (1999 and 2001) in Class 1.

Ed and Tim Herbst drew the sixth starting position in Trophy Truck for this year's race while Troy Herbst will start 28th (out of 35 pre-entries) in Class 1.

The ninth annual SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300 will be run as a five-lap race over a 63-mile course. The start/finish line --and primary spectator area -- will be located in the special events compound behind the Buffalo Bill's hotel-casino in Primm. There will be no charge for admission.

For the third year in a row, the race will be split in two segments, with the open-wheel and VW Baja Bug classes starting at 6 a.m. and the truck classes (and Class 1) starting at 1 p.m. One vehicle will start every 30 seconds in the elapsed-time race and have an 8-hour time limit in which to finish.

Travis and Brad Fletcher are third overall, 26 points off the pace while Rick Boyer and Steve Roberts are fourth, 33 points behind Jeffrey and Pfankuch. Class 1's Andy and Scott McMillin of Poway, Calif., are fifth in points and the only racers in the top five who do not compete in Class 1-2/1600.

Mark Post and Jerry Whelchel, from Southern California, are the highest-ranked Trophy Truck team in the overall standings, in sixth place, and trail Jeffrey and Pfankuch by 37 points.

Drivers who compete in the non-factory-backed classes (1-2/1600, 5, 10 and SCORE Lite) are eligible for a $12,000 bonus from Toyota for completing every mile during the season. The bonus is divided equally among the class point champions in those four classes who are also Toyota Milestone Award winners.

Among the drivers eligible for the award are Las Vegas' MacCachren, who has completed every mile in each of the first three races of the season in Class 1-2/1600, and Henderson's Mark Hutchins, who leads the Class 10 points standings.

MacCachren is a three-time Toyota Milestone winner (1992, 1993 and 2001) and twice has earned a share of the $12,000 Toyota True Grit Award (1990 and 2001).