Herbst brothers clean up at SCORE

LAUGHLIN -- Las Vegas racing brothers Ed, Tim and Troy Herbst turned the fifth annual SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge into a family affair.

Ed and Tim Herbst split the driving duties in the two-day race and captured enough points to win the featured Trophy-Truck division despite experiencing transmission troubles on Sunday, and younger brother Troy won the Class 1 title.

"It wasn't pretty, but it was a victory and we're happy to have it to start the season," Ed Herbst said. "It's such a short, fast sprint-like race that any serious problems like what Tim experienced Sunday, and you're cooked.

"This race lives up to its name every year -- it's a real challenge."

Ed Herbst drove the team's Ford F-150 Saturday and led all five laps. Tim Herbst took over in the driver's seat Sunday but finished only two laps in the 85-minute time limit due to an overheating transmission.

The combined points earned by the team for leading Saturday's race and finishing seventh (out of eight trucks) Sunday was enough to capture the title in the season-opening event of the six-race SCORE series.

Troy Herbst dominated the unlimited Class 1 division, posting the fastest time of the day Saturday for five laps (1:05:03). The youngest Herbst brother also ran the fastest lap of the event on Saturday, averaging 63.42 mph (12:18) in his third lap.

The Las Vegas driving team of Dale White and Brian Collins captured the title in Class 8 after Collins led Saturday's race and White duplicated Collins' feat on Sunday.

Henderson's Bekki Freeman, who became the first female driver to win a SCORE class championship last season, opened defense of her title with a disappointing fifth-place finish in Class 1-2/1600.

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