Dan McMillin acquired a swanky new livery for the 2024 SCORE International season as Monster Energy’s The Beast Unleashed came onboard to sponsor his #23. He ended up finishing San Felipe 250 qualifying on Thursday with what resembled a rat rod with a duct taped #23 on the doors.
McMillin flipped his truck during the reconnaissance lap, navigating through a series of esses before hitting a lump in the ground leading into a lefthand turn and doing two rolls before landing on his roof. The McMillin Racing team removed the body, applied a blank backup shell that left the engine and rear fully exposed save, used duct tape to apply the numbers along the doors, and sent him out. Despite this, he managed to get back on track and complete a lap.
“There was a small mound and I didnt see it,” said McMillin. “I wasn’t going very fast but it just spit me over one or two times. The guys and Roger (Rogelio Pereira Jr.) got it back to the pits and got the truck running again and we went out there and put down a pretty conservative but good lap. The truck seems fine. We will take a good look at it and get ready to race on Saturday.”
Alan Ampudia narrowly edged out defending SCORE Trophy Truck champion Bryce Menzies and Toby Price for pole. Price had swept both qualifying sessions of the 2023 season at San Felipe and the Baja 400, but opted for a more conservative strategy this time around due to the course’s challenging terrain. Defending winner Luke McMillin, Dan’s brother, qualified fourth ahead of Christopher Polvoorde, the latter racing a new Mason all-wheel drive truck.
Mint 400 winner Adam Householder was twentieth in TT.
Jason McNeil, last year’s outright SCORE Four-Wheeler champion, continued his momentum by setting the fastest time in Trophy Truck Spec, just barely beating EJ Herbst. McMillin was not the only rollover of the day as Ryan Hancock did so, but he also reached the finish.
The same could not be said for Mavrick Gaunt, whose crash prevented him from setting a time. Five other trucks did not even make the start like Rob MacCachren, who had “some unforeseen issues” that kept from from doing so, meaning he will start at the rear in his first race back in a Jimco AWD TT for Fastball Racing.
Ampudia will be the first Four-Wheeler to start the race on Saturday at 9:00 AM local time.
