Team wins first race in new class

By Chris McManes
Review-Journal

      LAUGHLIN -- Dan Smith toppled a few 55-gallon barrels Sunday in the Short Course Off-Road Enterprises (SCORE) Laughlin Desert Challenge. Then he toppled the competition.
      Smith, whose teammate Dave Ashley drove the truck to a third-place finish Saturday, piloted the Duralast team to victory in its Trophy Truck debut by five points over Ed Herbst of Las Vegas.
      "Dan did a great job," Ashley said. "It was close racing all weekend."
      Reigning class champion Curt LeDuc placed fourth behind Las Vegan Mike Tieman.
      Instead of using cumulative times, finishers were awarded points for their performance each day.
      Smith and Ashley, both of Riverside, Calif., drove the same Ford F-150 they have used to win the past three Class 8 points championships. The move to Trophy Truck takes them from the full-sized two-wheel drive division to the premier unlimited-production class.
      "It's really doing something to be able to take an old Class 8 truck against these exotic Trophy Trucks and come out and win," said Smith of his team's 8-year-old vehicle. "We're just proud as can be."
      Smith ran over the barrels at the end of the first 13-mile lap when his vehicle stalled and he lost power steering. It took him about 30 seconds to resume.
      "I was going about 60 mph and the truck just went into a slide and ran over like eight 55-gallon drums," Smith said. "When it came to a stop, it was parked up in the air on top of them, and the wheels wouldn't turn. So I had some course workers push me off backward and I took off."
      Smith averaged 55.954 mph and won Sunday's race by 18 seconds over Jason Baldwin. The team won $1,350 plus contingency fees.
      "I think it's awesome that they were able to come out here and basically run with a Class 8 and take first," Baldwin said. "It's just terrific."
      San Diego driver Dave Westhem is happy to see Ashley and Smith leave Class 8. Westhem powered his Chevrolet C1500 to a 16-point victory in the division over Las Vegas' Brian Collins. The win was the third straight for Westhem Racing, which is based in Las Vegas and headed by crew chief and co-driver Tony McCormack.
      Las Vegan Troy Herbst, who won the 1997 Class 1 points title, drove to a third-place performance behind winner John Herder and runner-up Doug Fortin. Herbst, plagued by mechanical problems Saturday, lost a cylinder and second gear Sunday. Despite this, he finished second Sunday, just three seconds behind Herder.
      Rick Johnson of Barstow, Calif., won the Protruck divsion by nine points over first-day leader Andrew Wehe. Johnson averaged 52.29 mph Sunday to win easily over Jimmy Nuckles.
      -- NOTE -- Robby Gordon, who won the 1996 Trophy Truck championship, will race this year on CART's FedEx Championship Series. Gordon, who ran on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series last year, said he also plans to qualify for the inaugural Las Vegas 400 on March 1 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.