Luke McMillin puts 2025 slump behind him with San Felipe 250 win

Luke McMillin put a winless 2025 behind him, roaring back in dominant fashion with a spectacular overall victory and SCORE Trophy Truck win amid scorching temperatures at the King Shocks 39th SCORE San Felipe 250.

McMillin emerged victorious in the opening round of the 2026 SCORE World Desert Championship, conquering the 281.5-mile race course in 4h29m45s aboard his No. 83 Ford Raptor Mason AWD Mark McMillin Racing. It marked McMillin’s fourth career victory at the SCORE San Felipe 250, his third overall and his seventh triumph in SCORE Trophy Truck, the premier high-tech class featuring 1,000-horsepower trucks created by Sal Fish in 1994.

A third-generation racer and heir to SCORE champion Mark McMillin, Luke also delivered BFGoodrich Tires its 31st overall victory in 39 editions, running on the new 42-inch tire that dominated this week across the deserts of Northern Baja California.

A total of 232 race teams took the green flag on the San Felipe Malecon, the seventh municipality in Baja California, with 161 officially finishing the race, known as "Baby Baja," alongside the legendary SCORE Baja 1000 and the traditional SCORE Baja 500 – yielding a 69 percent finish rate.

Rob MacCachren added another chapter to his legendary career, earning his 11th victory in the history of the SCORE San Felipe 250 and his first in SCORE Trophy Truck 2WD, further cementing his status as the greatest off-road racer of all time. He defeated a 20-truck field with a time of 4h53m2s behind the wheel of his No. 11T Ford F-150 Geiser Bros MacCachren Motorsports.

MacCachren, an Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee and the first-ever SCORE Trophy Truck champion with Ford Rough Riders team, also capped off another successful weekend for BFGoodrich Tires, the winningest tire brand in off-road racing history.

David Payne and Larry Roeseler scored their first victory in SCORE Trophy Truck Legend, winning the SCORE San Felipe 250 in their No. 61 Chevrolet Silverado Mason AWD Payne Racing with a time of 5h22s. Roeseler is a seven-time SCORE San Felipe 250 winner, including two overall wins on motorcycles with the legendary Kawasaki Team Green, taking the checkered flag in 1991 and 1992 alongside Ted Hunnicut Jr.

Former NASCAR driver and prominent businessman Brendan Gaughan claimed the SCORE San Felipe 250 Class 1 victory after recovering from a rollover at mile 10 of the race course, with local fans helping him get back in the race behind the wheel of his HMS-Chevy.

Gaughan, aided by Tim Wilson over the 281.5-mile race course, crossed the finish line in 6h01m45s, running on his 42-inch BFGoodrich Tires.

Jorge Sampietro won the SCORE San Felipe 250 for the second consecutive year in the Trophy Truck Spec class, with new navigator Bruce Yee – a former SCORE Class 10 champion – crossing the finish line at the San Felipe Malecón in their No. 297 Mason-Chevy JS Racing in 4h47m46s. Sampietro notched his fifth career SCORE San Felipe 250 victory, including three wins in the ½-1600 Class in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Polaris RZR SCI Motorsports swept the Pro UTV Open class 1-2 at the SCORE San Felipe 250, thanks to Brock Heger and Joe Terrana, who dominated the 281.5-mile race course through iconic Baja California landmarks like Matomi Wash and the popular Zoo Road.

Heger expertly piloted the No. 1896 Polaris RZR Pro R Factory to a time of 5h21m59s, securing back-to-back victories in this race after winning in 2025. He is also the current two-time Dakar Rally champion in UTVs and previously competed in short course events in the old Lucas Oil Series.

Terrana finished second in the Pro UTV Open class with a time of 5h24m52s.

The second round of the 2026 SCORE World Desert Championship will be the BFGoodrich Tires 58th SCORE Baja 500, taking place June 3–7 in Ensenada, Baja California.