Cameron Steele's team wins at desert truck race
The opening round of the SCORE desert series went down this weekend
on the banks of the Colorado River where casinos were overrun by the
entire off-road community. The Desert Assassins came to town for a
three class assault which included the premiere Trophy Truck class
where their #16 McGraw Insurance Services truck would battle with 34
other 800 horse power monsters. The eight mile track would see the
trucks 6 times each day of the two day event with times combined for a
weekend total.
The Desert Assassins plan to race their 12 car in both 12 and 10 was
supported by Lake Elsinore Casino and Yokohama tires. The DA crew
came to Nevada with extra number plates and a crew that was ready to
attack. The first race of the weekend for the DA was the SCORE Lites
(A.K.A. class 12) where a sixth starting position was a strong asset in
a class with over 20 entries. By lap two the now pink DA car was first
on the road and pulling away. With day one in the books as planned, the
crew and driver Cameron Steele knew that the over three minutes they
had amassed on the competition would be nearly impossible for other
drivers to overcome on day two. A team vote was taken and the class 10
idea was killed in favor of going for the win in 12 both days.
Starting again on row three, the start procedure on the short track was
2 cars side by side every 20 seconds; the car was second on the road
before mile 3. At the beginning of lap two the power steering servo
gave up and Cameron had to drive nearly 40 miles waging war not only
with the other drivers but with his own car as well. Overcoming beating
his left arm (which has 11 screws and 2 plates in it) on the tubes of
the racecar due to the power steering failure he was able to stay in
contention for the day and was never passed while on the move. The
overall SCORE Lite class victory would come home to the DA’s bunker in
So. Cal. with two minutes to spare.
In SCORE Trophy Truck competition the black #16 started with the
disadvantage of 31st starting position out of 35 in the random drawing.
The course was a one line trail with deep ruts and black out dust which
Cameron and Clyde had to battle through on day number one. Passing was
hell as they moved through the pack and made worse by a decision on
Cameron’s part to run a wire windshield which ruined their depth
perception. The only mechanical problem the DA would face was with a
power steering belt that the boys had to stop and change after it
turned over and stopped working. This would leave them just outside of
the top ten for the day, however their finish put them in the game for
day two.
An eighth row start for the #16 Trophy Truck on day two would position
the boys to battle hard with FOX Shox guru and DA sponsor John Marking,
both trucks would move way up by the end of the race. As the field
started to sort and the wind came up a bit to clear some of the dust
the race took shape as Cameron and Clyde were able to power towards the
front and would finish just outside the top three on the day for a 6th
overall in the Trophy Truck class. Team engineer Tim Carroll may have
said it best “$17,500,000.00 in trucks took the green flag and you
finished in the top $3,000,000.00”, he was figuring the average cost of
a Trophy Truck to build at around half a million dollars.
The Desert Assassins will next battle at the SCORE San Felipe 250 in
both SCORE Trophy Truck and SCORE Lite and may have a little surprise
for fans when they all roll into San Felipe!
The DA would like to thank…..McGraw Insurance Services / Yokohama Tire
/ Cabo Wabo Tequila / Lake Elsinore Casino / Prudential California
Realty / Board Ford, Whittier CA / ATX Series Wheels / Lucas Oil / FOX
Racing Shox / Alloy USA / Lightforce / Etnies / Prime Fabrication and
Powder Coating / Richardson’s RV / UNI / Fram / Bassani /Autolite /
Prestone / Bendix / Donahoe Racing / Trail Ready / Dragon Optical /
Suzuki / Metal Mulisha and all the kick ass fans that support our brand
of debauchery that we call racing.
Additionally, 12 car sponsors; Major Performance Motors, BTR Wheels and JG Transworks.
Special thoughts to the family and friends of Josh Turner whose ashes
rode with us on day one, they made it a special weekend for our whole
team and their cheering from the hills was all time. Josh lost his life
in an auto accident and it was his dream to race a Trophy Truck and
local racer Steve Roberts made it happen, Godspeed.
For more check out www.desertassassins.com.
