The McM truck has a 750 hp Chevy motor and 36 inches of travel in the rear. Like other trophy vehicles, it’s completely custom-made, one of only about 40 in the whole world, according to Russ Florance, who handles the team’s marketing efforts. “Nothing is the same on any two trucks,” he told MaxxDaddy. “There’s a lot of common points, but they might be used differently. It [a SCORE event] is truly an endurance race that if you finish, you’re successful. I’ve known people that have raced for ten years and have never finished one of the Baja races. It’s survival of the fittest. In SCORE series races, less than 50% of vehicles finish.”

Drivers Albert McMullen and Mike Bell are using this year’s contests to get a feel for what works on their pricey new rig – and what’s worked like a charm are Maxxis Creepy Crawlers for desert races and Trepadors for shorter courses. “They performed fantastic,” Florance told MaxxDaddy. “The traction was incredible, the durability so far has been great – and the durability and traction are the two things we need in a tire. I would say they’ve worked flawlessly…Our first test was in May at a 250-mile race, and we came in third.”

What’s the best thing about this grueling sport? According to Florance, the thrill of racing a trophy truck just can’t be beat: ”The competition, the excitement, the adrenaline - I liken it to a drug addiction. It truly is either a passion that you either have or you don’t have. It’s so passionate that I have a buggy that I drive and I broke my back in it – and then went back to driving…The top speed’s probably 140 miles per hour. You can be going through the desert at 100 miles per hour, and you hit a hole that’s four feet deep by ten feet wide, and you’ll just go right through it without even feeling it. A driver last year flew 180 feet.”

Albert McMullen is the kind of seasoned off-road veteran who can handle those top speeds. He’s driven professionally for nearly two decades, and next year’s SCORE races, when McMullen and Bell will compete in the entire series, will be a stroll down memory lane for him: He’s competed in the Baja 500 and Baja 1000 before, and has several Pro Class 1 wins to his credit.

Mike Bell has been racing since age eight, and he’s been into extreme off-road racing since he was 13. A co-driver in several SCORE events, he also owns his own successful business, Bell Cement Tools. He teamed with McMullen after meeting at a race, and the rest is trophy truck racing history.