Round 2 of four-race 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico; Airing on ESPN2 World of X Games;
Racer registration, event info available at www.SCORE-International.com
First it was government elections, then two years of the worldwide pandemic, but the good news is that for the first time in four years, the upcoming BFGoodrich Tires 54th SCORE Baja 500, presented by 4 Wheel Parts, will start/finish and colorful pre-race activities will return to the heart of Ensenada at the iconic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center and the adjacent fantastically fan-friendly Boulevard Costero.
Ensenada, ‘The Off-Road Capital of the World’, is located 80 miles South of the U.S. Border near San Diego.
Entries from all across the United States and around the world are expected as online registration continues for Round 2 of the four-race 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship to be held June 1-5 in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.
EARLY BIRDS
Leading the early entries to date are Las Vegas’ Rob MacCachren, San Diego’s Andy McMillin, Las Vegas’ Bryce Menzies in the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division and the Sourapas twins (Christian and Brett) of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. in the Trophy Truck Spec class.
FAST REWIND
In 2019, this extremely popular SCORE Baja 500 that launched the SCORE legacy in Mexico in 1974, was held in the off-road stadium at the Estero Beach Resort, 2020 it was moved in San Felipe, Mexico and held in September and last year the pre-race and start/finish line compound was located on the outskirts of Ensenada back in its normal dates in June.
DETAILS
With over 250 entries expected from 30 U.S. States and 15 countries, 45 competition classes are offered for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads.
Most the world’s best desert racers will be in action at this year’s celebration of one of the top 10 motorsports events in the entire world. The race will be televised on a delayed basis as a one-hour special on the ESPN2 World of X Games programming.
Domestically, the race will be televised on a delayed basis on the World of X Games show on ESPN2 as co-produced by SCORE International and award-winning BCII TV of Los Angeles. Intro announcer for the race show will be Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame Inductee and SCORE champion desert racer Cameron Steele who will again pull double duty racing in the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck class as well in his No. 16 Desert Assassins Monster Energy Ford Raptor.
SCORE Live will be streaming throughout race week on the SCORE website. Colorful Rat Sult is in his seventh season as the host and lead announcer of SCORE Live. Assisting him again at this race will be veteran voice Dave Arnold.
All four 2022 SCORE races are being held on Mexico’s magnificent Baja California peninsula for the seventh consecutive year.
SCORE, the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization, is celebrating its 49th season in 2022.
G.O.A.T.--THE ONE AND ONLY
Seeming to set another record each time he dons his driver’s suit and straps on his helmet, MacCachren, 57, the unchallengeable G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time) of this sport, is the winningest off-road racer in history with over 300 career race wins in the desert, stadium and short-course racing.
A driving force in the sport and proven winner since his youthful days in the early 1980s as a valet parking attendant at Michael Gaughan’s Gold Coast Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, MacCachren has a SCORE-record 18 career SCORE Trophy Truck race wins including the 1994, 2018 and 2021 SCORE Trophy Truck season point championships.
He is also one of just nine all-time winners of the SCORE Triple Crown of Baja. The award honors the individuals who have won the overall victory at the all three traditional SCORE Baja races—the SCORE San Felipe 250, the SCORE Baja 500 and the SCORE Baja 1000.
In the SCORE Baja 500, the legendary Mac Attack has seven career class wins including two in SCORE Trophy Truck (1996 and 2018).
MacCachren returns behind the wheel of his durable and dependable No. 1 BFGoodrich Tires Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy Truck built by Geiser Brothers of Phoenix.
In this year’s season-opening SCORE San Felipe 250, mild-mannered Rob Mac finished fourth out of 42 starters in the marquee racing division for high-tech, 1000-horsepower, unlimited custom trucks.
BIG BLUE M
The veteran elder statesman of the legendary McMillin Racing team of San Diego, Andy McMillin, 34, will be another of the top favorites heading into the SCORE Baja 500.
A key part of the McMillin legacy that includes his late grandfather Corky McMillin, father Scott McMillin, uncle Mark McMillin and cousins Dan McMillin and Luke McMillin, is tied for second with 11 career SCORE Trophy Truck race wins and was the 2019 season point championship.
Driving the powerful No. 31 all-wheel drive Chevy Silverado built by Mason Motorsports, Andy McMillin, like MacCachren, is one of just nine racers who have won the SCORE Triple Crown of Baja.
In the SCORE Baja 500, Andy has four class wins and three overall titles (2010, 2017 and 2019). In 2010 he split the driving with his father Scott and in 2017 and drove solo in the other two races.
In this year’s SCORE San Felipe 250, Andy McMillin qualified in the fourth spot, just behind his cousin Luke and just ahead of his other cousin Dan.
Andy experienced some mechanical issues but still managed to finish 20th out of 34 starters in the preeminent class in all of desert racing.
AWD MENZIES
A one-time protégé of Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas’ Bryce Menzies has molded his own substantial career in desert racing and rally racing out of the Menzies Motorsports race shop in his hometown.
Menzies, 34, literally exploded onto the SCORE desert racing scene in 2011 winning the SCORE Overall point championship, the SCORE Trophy Truck season point crown, two individual race wins and was voted as the 2011 SCORE Rookie of the Year.
Menzies has seven career SCORE Trophy Truck race wins, the most recent being in last September in the SCORE Baja 400.
A great start that has evolved into branching out into short-course racing, rally race, long-jump record feats and rock-crawling victories.
In 2016 Menzies made history by jumping his off-road truck 115.6m (379.4ft) over a New Mexico ghost town to set a new truck distance record.
With three overall SCORE Baja 500 race wins (2011, 2012, 2012), he is obviously among the favorites in his No. 7 Red Bull Menzies Motorsports Ford Raptor all-wheel drive SCORE Trophy Truck built by Mason Motorsports. He opened the 2022 season with a second-place finish in the SCORE San Felipe 250 after winning the same race in 2021.
SOURAPAS TWINS
Following in their famous father’s championship dirt tracks (Steve Sourapas), Sourapas twins Christian and Brett, both 25, are poised on the threshold of making their own resume in SCORE Baja racing.
The Sourapas brothers will be racing in Ensenada in the Trophy Truck Spec Class.
Following in their dad’s tracks in SCORE racing, the Sourapas twins will sharing the driving duties in their No. 219 Coors Light Herbst/Smith-Ford truck. The very popular class is expected to have over 30 entries in Ensenada. The Sourapous brothers opened the season in San Felipe with a 20th place finish out of 36 starters in their class.
Christian Sourapas graduated from the University of Southern California (USC) where he was part of the Trojan Track and Field team and is involved in the real estate industry. Brett Sourapas attended the University of Arizona and is in the beverage business in San Diego County.
Souce of text: SCORE International
Photo: Bryce Menzies official
