Rob MacCachren is “Robbed” Again at the SCORE Primm 300
The Greek philosopher Plato once said, “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” It would seem as though more profound words have never been spoken as this quote still holds true almost 2,500 years later.
On Wednesday, September 8th, 2010 the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) handed down the unprecedented and arbitrary action of disqualifying Rob MacCachren from this weekend’s Terrible’s Primm 300 race for engaging in limited testing of the SCORE Trophy Truck No. 20 in the dry lake bed area of Jean, Nevada. There is no question that Rob MacCachren was not engaged in pre-running or reconnaissance of the course. Rob was merely doing what racers have always done for years, without this type of sanction or consequence.
When asked exactly what transpired team owner, Robbie Pierce, commented “After leaving the engine builder and dyno-tuning facility on Wednesday afternoon, Rob MacCachren and my Crew Chief wanted to verify the engine tuning changes and test No. 20 SCORE Trophy Truck in a very limited capacity. To accuse Rob MacCachren, a Las Vegas native, of pre-running the race course in a race vehicle is absolutely absurd. We certainly would not have parked the MasterCraft Safety semi-truck in plain sight and would not have been running a fully branded race vehicle if we were trying to sneak on course for reconnaissance. Rob lives in the Las Vegas area, knows the race course well, and could come out to pre-run at anytime throughout the year if he wanted to.”
It has often been said, rules were made to be broken, right? Well in this instance, BLM representatives could not fairly explain when exactly testing of trucks in this area became subject to sanctions. When questioned at length by MasterCraft Racing representatives and Robbie Pierce, BLM officials could not easily answer the question, “If the testing had been done earlier in the week or 48 hours ago, would it have been a violation?”
When pressured further for a clear delineation of the rules, BLM representatives could also not answer, “When does the area in question cease to be public land and when does it become an absolute and clearly defined closed area?” MasterCraft Racing has now received two diametrically opposed answers from two different representatives. One answer from BLM representative, Bob Dieli, indicated, “When the race course is marked,” while the other BLM representative present at the meeting indicated, “When the event permit was signed and accepted by the race promoter.”
It is MasterCraft Racing’s official opinion that all governmental agencies owe the public fair notice of any change in policy, especially a change that carries such a drastic impact. In this case, BLM has failed to set forth a specific, appropriate and unambiguous policy and to provide fair notice of the policy. This is wrongful, and if the disqualification is not rescinded, the MasterCraft Racing team will suffer significant economic damages and the ripple effect of the BLM’s decision is unquantifiable to the off-road racing community. The verdict establishes an entirely new precedent and further limits our sport and our public lands.
“While I fully respect Sal Fish and the tremendous amount of pressure he is under to appease the governmental agencies in order to continue off-road racing in the United States, I also feel it is SCORE International’s responsibility to clearly state the rules and regulations for which we are accountable. A simple statement of ‘No pre-running’ does not adequately cover this specific circumstance. I stand by Rob MacCachren and fully support him. He was absolutely NOT pre-running and the vague rules detailed on SCORE’s website by no means apply to this incident and this set of circumstances,” stated Robbie Pierce, owner of MasterCraft Racing.
Pierce further commented, “Unfortunately, for SCORE International to be provided an event/race permit, the promoter has agreed that BLM has the absolute and final say and veto power to penalize and disqualify racers in the 2010 SCORE Primm 300 competition as they see fit. They say that the third time is the charm, however at this point, I do not want to leave it to chance.”
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