ON THE WIRE
Luke McMillin Is One Race From His Third Trophy Truck Title
Three straight wins, and history says the fourth crowns him.
Updated October 24, 2026
The No. 83 truck hangs in the air above a dirt crest, all four tires off the ground, a row of phones raised along the fence line and a Mexican flag snapping on a post behind them.
That is where Luke McMillin has lived all season. The 33-year-old from San Diego has won every round of the 2026 SCORE World Desert Championship in his McMillin Racing Ford Raptor: the San Felipe 250 in March, the Baja 500 in June and the Baja 400 in September. He carries 335 points into the season finale and is one race from his third Trophy Truck championship, after titles in 2020 and 2022. He is the son of Baja legend Mark McMillin, and the Big Blue M keeps adding chapters.
Bryce Menzies is the one keeping him honest. The Las Vegas driver has stacked three straight podiums in the No. 7 truck, third, third and second, and sits 26 points back at 309. Alan Ampudia of Ensenada is third with 296 in the No. 1 truck.
History leans hard toward McMillin. Robby Gordon in 1996, Curt LeDuc in 1997, Menzies in 2023 and Ampudia in 2025 each won the first three rounds, and all four went on to take the title.
Further down the board, nobody can breathe. In Trophy Truck Spec, Brent Fox leads with 359 points, defending champion Justin Davis is three back at 356, and only 14 points separate first from sixth. No Spec driver has won more than one race this year. Sam Baldi leads Trophy Truck 2WD with 328, and Pro UTV Open is dead even, with Dallas Gonzalez and Ethan Groom tied at 331.
Pre-running on the loop opened this morning. The 59th Baja 1000 starts Nov. 13 in San José del Cabo, 964.96 miles Cabo to Cabo, and it settles all of it.