Mendeola Transaxles holds four of a kind at Laughlin
The desert racing season kicked off in nearly perfect form for Mendeola Transaxles as four out five classes in which the Mendeola gearboxes are allowed finished first. The attrition rate for this years SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge was the highest ever seen this due, in part, to poor weather conditions. There were many drivetrain failures sidelining most cars but the Mendeola transaxles held together perfectly. Class 5 was dominated by Kevin Carr. He was the only finisher in the class as all others DNF‘d due to mechanical problems. The Class 12 win was barely clinched by the team of Rick St. John and Adam Pfankuch over 2007 Championship winner of Tom Watson. Both Mendeola equipped race cars battled hard Saturday and Sunday with St. John finishing 2 minutes ahead of Watson. Chris Harrold aboard the factory Mendeola class 10 took an early lead and never looked back netting him an almost too easy but very well deserved class 10 win. The premiere class in SCORE desert racing is the Trophy Truck class. This year’s Laughlin Desert Challenge Trophy Truck win belonged to Tatum’s Rich Ronco. His Mendeola HD4 equipped Trophy Truck traversed the course flawlessly and earned the fastest overall time. Next, Mendeola will tackle what is known to be the toughest desert race in the U.S., The Parker 400.