Festivities, start/finish adjacent to Riviera del Pacifico CC in Ensenada Nov. 19-24;
265 entries to date from 39 U.S. States, host Mexico and 22 total countries;
Pre-running on 800.5-mile route continues for finale
of 4-race 2019 SCORE World Desert Championship;
With famous desert racing names like MacCachren, Herbst, Gordon, McMillin, Baldwin, Menzies, Roeseler, Vildosola, Lopez, Steele, Arciero and Jones at the forefront, 35 SCORE Trophy Trucks are revved to rock and roar next Friday to lead the field from around the world into Baja California, Mexico at the iconic BFGoodrich Tires 52nd annual SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts.
Celebrating its 46th year as the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization, this year’s Granddaddy of All Desert Races will start and finish in the heart of Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico with race-week festivities and the race itself being held next Tuesday through Sunday (Nov. 19-24).
52nd BAJA MIL
The SCORE Baja 1000 endures at the pinnacle of motorsports as the most iconic, oldest, prestigious, toughest and longest continuously held desert race in the world.
Many of the world’s best desert racers will be in action at this year’s massive BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts. The race will be televised on a delayed basis as a one-hour special on ABC TV’s World of X Games programming.
Ensenada, “The Off-Road Capital of the World” is a coastal city on the Bahia de Todos Santos area of the Pacific Ocean, 80 miles south of the U.S. border at San Diego.
Over 275 vehicles are expected at the start line with racers from nearly 40 U.S. States and as many as 25 countries anticipated.
Long-time SCORE sponsor BFGoodrich Tires has also posted a US$40,000 contingency bonus for the overall 4-wheel winner to help commemorate the celebration of this legendary SCORE race.
This year’s SCORE Baja 1000 will be a loop race of 800.5 miles in the northern state of Mexico’s majestic Baja California peninsula.
It will start for the 45th time and finish for the 26th time in Ensenada and the race is annually the finale of the four-race SCORE World Desert Championship, which has been held exclusively for the past four years on Mexico’s Baja California peninsula.
The race and its festivities will be held primarily in and around the historic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in the heart of Ensenada and the start and finish of the legendary race will be adjacent to the Riviera.
With a total time limit of 34 hours in the elapsed-time race, the motorcycle and quad classes will start at 3 a.m. (PT) next Friday (Nov. 22) and the car, truck and UTV classes will follow with their start on at 10:30 a.m. (PT). While the fastest vehicles are expected to cover the course in approximately 16 hours, all vehicles will have 34 hours from the time each starts to become an official finisher.
TOP GUNS
To say that the SCORE Trophy Truck ‘Monsters of the Desert’ field is loaded is clearly an understatement. A total of 20 racers who have combined to win 95 of the 131 all-time SCORE races that have included the marquee racing division for high-tech, 950-horsepower unlimited custom trucks are entered in this year’s epic SCORE event.
Between them, Las Vegas’ Rob MacCachren has 17 all-time SCORE Trophy Truck race wins to top the list followed by Las Vegas’ Tim Herbst (11), Robby Gordon, Charlotte , N.C. (11), Andy McMillin, San Diego (11), Las Vegas’ B.J. Baldwin (6), Mexico’s Gustavo ‘Tavo’ Vildosola (6), Las Vegas’ Bryce Menzies (5), Ryan Arciero, Foothill Ranch, Calif. (4), Curt LeDuc, Cherry Valley, Calif. (4), Larry Roeseler, Imperial, Calif. (3), Gus Vildosola Sr, Mexicali, Mexico (3), Jesse Jones, Litchfield Park, Ariz. (2), Mexico’s Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez (2) Mexico’s Juan C. Lopez (2), Cameron Steele, San Clemente, Calif. (2) and Roger Norman, San Diego (2).
Menzies will be the second driver this year for Andy McMillin in the No. 31 all-wheel drive Chevy Silverado.
Steele will be racing in SCORE Trophy Truck No. 16 as well as being the driver of record also for the No. 2069 Class 2 Ford Bronco R racing prototype in memory of the legendary desert racer Rod Hall.
eDuc will be racing in Class 2 this year with Steele and Norman will be racing in the Baja Challenge class.
Vildosola Sr will be racing this year with Scott Bailey, Riverside, Calif. in the SCORE TT Legend class for drivers over 50 years old.
With one SCORE Trophy Truck race win each are Dale Dondel, Murrieta, Calif., Rick D. Johnson, Barstow, Calif., Eduardo Laguna, Mexicali and Mexico, Billy Wilson, Corpus Christi, Texas. Johnson is racing this year in the SCORE TT Legend class for SCORE Trophy Truck racers over 50 years old. Laguna will be racing in the unlimited Class 1.
Of that group of illustrious drivers who have won SCORE Trophy Truck individual races are eight racers who have combined to win 19 of the 25 all-time SCORE Trophy Truck season point championships.
Season champs entered in this race are Tim Herbst with four season SCORE Trophy Truck crowns with his older brother Ed Herbst (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003), Baldwin who also has four season titles (2006, 2008, 2012, 2013), Lopez (2015, 2016 and 2017) and McCachren (1994, 2007, 2018) each have three championships, Gordon who has two (1996, 2009), LeDuc who has one (1997), Jones who has one (2010) and Menzies who has one (2011).
LATEST ENTRY TOTAL
Entering late, on-site racer registration next Tuesday through Thursday, 265 official entries to date includes racers from 39 U.S. States and 22 Countries, the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck class leads the way with 35 entries (including six in SCORE TT Legend for drivers over 50 years old).
Besides the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck, other 4-Wheel classes with double-figure entries so far are Pro UTV FI (Forced Induction) with 26, Trophy Truck Spec with 23, the unlimited Class 1 with 14, Class 10 with 14, Pro UTV NA (Naturally Aspirated) with 13 and SCORE Lites with 12.
The Motorcycle classes with double-figure entries so far are Pro Moto Ironman with 16, Pro Moto 30 with 10, Pro Moto Unlimited with 8 and SPT Motorcycle with 16.
More about this news here: https://score-international.com/
_Text: SCORE Baja 1000
Photo: Vildosola Racing
