Monster Energy Athletes Score Class Wins, Podiums in SCORE Season-Opening San Felipe 250

The 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship kicked off on Saturday with the 35^th SCORE San Felipe 250, and as always, Monster Energy racers were among the biggest winners of the weekend. The trophy haul was led by former Baja 1000 winner Justin Lambert, who scored the hotly contested Pro UTV Forced Induction class victory, while multiple top Monster-backed racers kicked off their chase for the SCORE title with strong finishes of their own.

Lambert’s Pro UTV FI win came against one of the biggest and most capable classes in the field, with 29 entries and 22 finishers. The #2918 Cognito Motorsports Polaris RZR completed the 277-mile course in 6:13:15, with more than eight minutes in hand on his next closest competitor. He was joined in the top five by 2020 SCORE World Desert Champion Matt Burroughs, who scored a fourth place result, while Marc Burnett (ninth) and Rodrigo Ampudia (17^th) were each successful in taming the course as well.

In the premier Trophy Truck class, a grand total of 42 entries started the race across two divisions. When the dust settled, it was 2022 Mint 400 runner-up Tim Herbst who led the Monster charge, finishing fifth with a time of 4:40:52 and continuing his strong start to the year. Not far behind him was seventh place finisher Alan Ampudia, who has his sights set on further improving last year’s impressive fourth place points finish.

Not to be outdone, the Trophy Truck Spec class boasted three dozen entries and a close-fought battle for the podium of its own. Pierce Herbst led the Monster squad in the Spec division, finishing in third and securing his podium position by just 14 seconds over fourth place. Former class champion Jorge Sampietro joined Herbst in the top 10 in seventh place, just under a minute ahead of fellow Monster teammate EJ Herbst in eighth.

With over 270 entries, the 35^th SCORE San Felipe 250 boasted the third largest entry list in the history of the event. Television coverage of the race will debut on ESPN2’s World of X Games on Sunday, May 15. The 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship will continue on June 1-5 with the 54^th Baja 500, with Monster Energy continuing to serve as the Official Energy Drink of the SCORE World Desert Championship and supporting numerous entries in the race.