Cayden MacCachren: The Next Generation

Images via The California 300

Only the freshest of faces to the world of off-road racing don’t know the name “MacCachren,” but those newcomers tend to get up to speed quickly. Such is the case when you’re talking about Rob MacCachren, a 2011 Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee but still one of the foremost names in desert racing. A decade removed from his induction, MacCachren is still winning major races like the Mint 400 and contending for top honors in SCORE, taking last year’s Baja 1000 and Trophy Truck title and in contention to go back-to-back this year.

Earlier this month, MacCachren’s familiar black-and-white machine rolled up on both the inaugural California 300 and Best in the Desert’s season-ending Laughlin Desert Classic and took two Unlimited Truck class wins in two weeks. But while the name on the roof rail and the number looked familiar, the face behind the wheel was a new one: Cayden MacCachren, the son of the legend himself.

Granted, the events in Barstow and Laughlin weren’t the first time “Mini-Mac” spent time in an Unlimited Truck at all; in fact, he’d been co-piloting for his legendary father when Rob won his most recent Mint 400 last December. But they did mark Cayden’s first two events behind the wheel as driver of record, and proved that the future of off-road racing—and the MacCachren name in it—were in good hands.

Through his teenage years, Cayden MacCachren honed his off-road racing skills primarily in UTV racing, and his ascent through the ranks was incredibly rapid. He won his first WORCS title in 2019 in the Stock 1000 class, and swept the Stock 1000 and Production 1000 divisions in 2020 by winning all but six races. In 2021, he stepped up to the Pro Stock 1000 class, taking six wins and yet another championship.

Between his legendary pedigree and incredible results, it didn’t take long for desert racing opportunities to come. At just 18 years old, MacCachren joined Brandon Schueler and Jagged X Racing for the 2021 SCORE World Desert Championship, and the duo won on their first time out in the San Felipe 250. In six races together across two seasons, Schueler and MacCachren never finished outside of the top 10 in Pro UTV Forced Induction in a race, taking three podiums and finishing third in class points last season. The partnership only ended when MacCachren got the call to step in for Christian Sourapas in a Spec Trophy Truck for the Baja 400 earlier this fall.

But with the Baja 1000 fast approaching and Rob’s points focus purely on defending his SCORE title, the decision was made to give Cayden seat time in the independent California 300 and BITD season finale. With Barstow not having hosted an off-road race in more than two decades, and no series title contenders to face, the California 300 proved to be just the equal playing field that the younger MacCachren needed. He posted the fastest qualifying time on Thursday to kick off the weekend, and got extra seat time as a last-minute fill-in alongside Cisco Bio in the winning Class 11 entry. On Saturday, MacCachren led most of his first-ever Unlimited Truck start, never yielding the class lead and coming within two and a half minutes of an overall victory.

Going into the unforgiving 17-mile Laughlin short course with a one-week turnaround is a brave ask for any off-road team, much less one whose driver is still adjusting to the most powerful vehicle he’s ever raced. MacCachren handled it with a veteran’s poise, outqualifying eventual BITD champion BJ Baldwin by nearly two seconds and pacing the field over eight laps across two days by nearly a minute and a half. This time, though, MacCachren was able to lay claim to the overall win as well with his time of 2:03:08.

From here, the career prospects for the younger MacCachren are wide open and trending upward. He’ll split driving duties with Sourapas in the Spec truck at this year’s Baja 1000, armed with the confidence that big wins can bring, while his dad returns to his customary seat in the Trophy Truck and goes for back-to-back race and season titles. For 2023 and beyond, though, off-road fans have to be dreaming about the prospects of both MacCachrens teaming up once again—or even maybe going head-to-head someday.