Defeating a field of 233 starters including 33 in the marquee racing division for high-tech, 850-horsepower, unlimited production trucks, McMillin drove to victory over a tremendously tough 513.76-mile race course, finishing in the No. 31 McMillin Ford F-150 in 10 hours, three minutes, four seconds, averaging 51.12 miles per hour.
After qualifying fifth on Thursday, McMillin quickly drove to the front of the pack of world class drivers, earning a victory margin of three minutes, 26 seconds over Justin Matney, who finished second overall in 10:06:36 at 50.83 mph in the No. 4 RPM Racing Chevy Rally Truck.
For McMillin, whose cousins Dan McMillin and Luke McMillin were also racing in their own SCORE Trophy Trucks, it was his third class win and second overall triumph in the SCORE Baja 500 and his ninth career SCORE Trophy Truck win. Luke finished fourth overall and in class while Dan finished 15th overall 13th in SCORE Trophy Truck.
“The hardest part of this race was the distance and the different types of terrain,” said said McMillin. “It was really gnarly. Getting over to the beach it was super mountainous and rocky. It was wide-open along the beach, then up over the mountains to Valle Trinidad. The deserts in San Felipe and the whoops are so gnarly. The truck drives differently in different types of terrain so adjusting your driving style is tough. Keeping the truck on the course is important. We had one flat tire in San Felipe when we took a line and punctured the right rear. Luckily we had a pit a couple of miles up and we nursed it in.
“The heat today wasn’t too bad, but nothing like last year,” said McMillin. “Ever since I was a little kid I’ve been coming down here to Baja with my family that has been SCORE racing for 40 years and being the first vehicle to finish is something not a lot of people get to experience. When you are the first one coming through like I was today and all the fans are screaming it is a lot of fun.
“The team was great and the pits were flawless. Everyone was right where they needed to be. To win is really a team effort and I just drive. I’ve got my co-driver Brady (Thompson) who calls all of the corners and all the dangers and keeps me in check.”
Storming back from a 19th-place qualifying run, Las Vegas’ Rob MacCachren, who won the season-opening 31st SCORE San Felipe 250 in April, drove himself up to the final spot on the podium with a third-place overall and SCORE Trophy Truck finish in the No. 11 MacCachren Motorsports Ford F-150, just 15 seconds behind Matney in 10:06:45 while averaging 50.81 mph.
For the second straight race, the Wilson family race team led by Brian Wilson defeated a talented group of 11 starters to win the unlimited Class 1 for open-wheel desert race cars in their Chevy-powered Jimco driven on BFGoodrich Tires, finishing 18th overall in the race in 11:43:32. His cousin Brad Wilson won Class 1 in the season-opening SCORE San Felipe 250.
Riding the No. 45x Chris Haines Adventure Co. Honda CRF450X, Guatemala’s international rally racer Francisco Arredondo and his four-rider team raced to the overall motorcycle victory. A multi-time age-group class winner, Arredondo earned his first SCORE overall motorcycle title as well as his first win in the Pro Moto Unlimited class. His teammates were Shane Esposito, Justin Morgan and Roberto Villalobos.
Winning over a SCORE-record field of 25 starters in Pro UTV FI and 11 starters in Pro UTV, Justin Lambert was the overall UTV winner and Pro UTV FI class winner.