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
All very well-known in racing circles with the familiar last names of Roeseler, McMillin, Herbst, Vildosola Sr, Wells, Salvatierra and Solorzano are all among the latest early entries for the upcoming BFGoodrich Tires 54th SCORE Baja 500, presented by 4 Wheel Parts.
To be held June 1-5 in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, the race will start/finish and colorful pre-race activities will return for the first time in four years 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.
EARLY BIRDS
Leading the latest early entries are Larry ‘Mr. Baja’ Roeseler, Boulevard, Calif., San Diego brothers Dan and Luke McMillin and Las Vegas’ Tim Herbst in SCORE Trophy Truck. Tim Herbst’s sons Pierce Herbst/Thor Herbst and nephew EJ Herbst with his father Ed Herbst (Tim’s older brother) in Trophy Truck Spec, Mexico’s Gus Vildosola Sr in SCORE TT Legend, Utah’s Kaden Wells in Pro UTV NA, Bolivia’s Juan Carlos Salvatierra in Pro Moto Unlimited and Mexico’s Eric Solorzano in Class 11.
DETAILS
With over 250 entries expected from 30 U.S. States and 15 countries, 45 competition classes are offered for Pro and Sportsman cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads. To date, there are 52 total early entries from 14 U.S. States and seven countries. Joining the USA in the field so far are racers from host country Mexico, Bolivia, Canada, France, New Zealand and Peru.
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.
LR ‘MR BAJA’
A racing legend on both sides of the Border, Hall of Famer Larry Roeseler simply goes by Mr. Baja in Mexico. Living in Boulevard, Calif., Roeseler, 65, has been racing in SCORE Baja races since the early 1970s with an unrivaled record of excellence both on two wheels as well as four wheels.
In the SCORE Baja 1000, LR, as he is also known by friends and competitors, has a race-record 14 overalls (including 10 on motorcycles) among his 18 career class wins. In the SCORE Baja 500, Roeseler has 11 overall wins (nine on motorcycles) among his 17 career class wins in this race.
This year Roeseler will again be the solo driver in SCORE Trophy Truck for the No. 43 Cantina Racing Baja Jerky Toyota Tundra built by ID Designs. Last year, Roeseler won the SCORE Baja 500 overall and drove solo to a strong finish in the SCORE Baja 1000 peninsula run. The SCORE Baja 500 victory last year gave him five career SCORE Trophy Truck race wins.
In the 2020 season finale at the SCORE Baja 1000, Roeseler drove the first half of the race for the overall winning Luke McMillin.
The popular Roeseler is an inductee into both the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame (ORMHOF) (2012) and the American Motorcycle Association (AMA) Hall of Fame (1999).
BIG BLUE M—DAN & LUKE
Brothers Dan McMillin, 34 and Luke McMillin, 29, third-generation SCORE desert racers from San Diego who are part of the Big Blue M Racing machine, have entered their Mason Motorsports all-wheel drive vehicles in the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck racing division for the upcoming BFGoodrich Tires 54th SCORE Baja 500, presented by 4 Wheel Parts.
Dan McMillin opened the 2022 season and pushed through mechanical difficulties to finish 22nd out of 34 starters while Luke McMillin battled to the finish line to earn the overall victory in San Felipe.
Dan McMillin won the 2020 SCORE Baja 500 which was held in San Felipe and he drives the No. 23 4 Wheel Parts Chevy 1500 built by Mason Motorsports. This year, splitting the driving with Dan McMillin is Las Vegas veteran racer Justin B. Smith.
Luke McMillin finished in the SCORE Baja 500 in 2020 driving solo and won the iconic season-ending SCORE Baja 1000 with teammate Larry Roeseler to earn the 2020 SCORE Trophy Truck season point championship in his No. 1 4 Wheel Parts Ford F-150 built by Racer Engineering. Last year, Luke offered Rob MacCachren the opportunity to be the driver of record in Luke’s AWD Chevy Silverado and the ‘McMac Attack’ split the driving, winning the SCORE Baja 1000 and earning Rob Mac the SCORE Trophy Truck season point title.
After winning the SCORE Baja 1000 in both 2020 (splitting driving with Larry Roeseler) and 2021 (splitting the driving with Rob MacCachren), McMillin drove solo to earn his first SCORE Trophy Truck win in San Felipe this year.
Luke McMillin has now earned three career SCORE Trophy Truck race wins and he also has four career SCORE season point championships include 2020 in SCORE Trophy Truck.
CINCO ‘LOS TERIBLES’
Another one of the most legendary families in all of desert racing, the Herbst family has part of its third generation as racers on the Terrible Herbst Motorsports Monster Energy team from Las Vegas.
Started by family patriarch the late Jerry Herbst back in the 1970s and carrying through until the 2010s with brothers Ed, Tim and Troy Herbst, part of the third generation of the Herbst boys has taken to desert racing. Five family members are entered in this year’s SCORE Baja 500 in three trucks.
For this year’s SCORE Baja 500, Terrible Herbst Motorsports will have three of their Herbst-Smith Fab custom trucks in the starting grid, one in SCORE Trophy Truck and two in Trophy Truck Spec with five Herbst family drivers who will be drivers in the race.
Driver of record in the No. 19 Monster Energy Ford F-150 in SCORE Trophy Truck will be Tim Herbst, 58, who will share driving duties with another celebrated second-gen desert racer from Las Vegas, Pat Dean, 53.
Driver of record in the No. 264 Monster Energy Chevy Silverado in Trophy Truck Spec will be Tim Herbst’s youngest son Pierce Herbst, 19. Second driver in the No. 264 will be Pierce’s older brother Thor Herbst, 20.
The third entry is the No. 263 Monster Energy Chevy Silverado in Trophy Truck Spec is EJ Herbst, 21, son of Ed Herbst, 60, who will be the second driver for his son.
Troy Herbst is on a sabbatical from SCORE desert racing currently, supporting his son Riley Herbst who is a regular in the NASCAR Xfinity national stock car racing series.
In this year’s San Felipe season opener, Terrible Herbst Motorsports saw Tim Herbst finished fifth out of 34 starters in SCORE Trophy Truck while in the Trophy Truck Spec class that had 36 starters, Pierce Herbst finished on the podium in third place and EJ Herbst finished eighth in class in his first SCORE Baja race.
Source SCORE International
