Gordon, Menzies, McMillin duo, Matlocks, Stacy, Dickerson, Cafro more early entries for BFGoodrich Tires 52nd SCORE Baja 500
- Season opener of two-race 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship Sept. 22-27;
- Televised on ABC World of X Games; start/finish at El Dorado Ranch resort
- in San Felipe, Baja California; deadline for Start Draw—Friday, Sept. 11
- Qualifying--SCORE Trophy Truck, SCORE TT Legend, Class 1, Trophy Truck Spec
- will be held south of San Felipe on Wed., Sept. 23; pre-running opens Sat., Sept. 12
- event info available under race info at www.SCORE-International.com
Veteran champions Robby Gordon and Bryce Menzies lead the most recent group of early entries along with champion racing brothers Dan McMillin, Luke McMillin and fellow SCORE desert racing champs Wayne Matlock and his wife Kristen Matlock, Clyde Stacy, Broc Dickerson and Mike Cafro for next month’s BFGoodrich Tires 52nd Annual SCORE Baja 500, presented by 4 Wheel Parts, in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico.
To date, 43 earliest entries have come from 15 U.S. States along with host country Mexico.
The first of two races on the pandemic-abbreviated 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship schedule will be held September 22-27 in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico.
San Felipe is the serene fishing village on the Sea of Cortez, 125 miles south of the U.S. Border at Calexico, Calif. All 2020 SCORE races will be held on Mexico’s magnificent Baja California peninsula for the fifth consecutive year.
Competition will include classes for cars, trucks UTVs, motorcycles and quads for the internationally-televised BFGoodrich Tires 52nd SCORE Baja 500, presented by 4 Wheel Parts.
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 ABC Network World of X Games programming and syndicated internationally to as many as 25 countries.
ONLINE RACER REGISTRATION
Online registration, by class, for Pro and Sportsman cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads, is now open through the SCORE website. Information on all SCORE races can be found on the home page under the Race Info tab.
For more info, visit http://score-international.com/raceinfo/baja-500-2/.
Official entries received after the drawing will be given the next available starting position within their respective classes. Online entries will be accepted until 8 p.m. PT on Friday, Sept. 11.
GORDON RETURNS
Champion second-generation desert racer Robby Gordon, 51 of Charlotte, N.C., will be heading to Baja with his No. 77 Chevy Silverado. Gordon, who has had successful careers in both NASCAR and IndyCar, is back in his desert racing roots. He is tied for second on the all-time win list with 11 career SCORE race wins and he is a two-time SCORE Trophy Truck season point champion (1996, 2009).
Gordon has five class wins in the SCORE Baja 500, 1988, 1989 and 1990 in Class 8 and 2005 and 2013 in SCORE Trophy Truck.
MENZIES IN
Back for another run at a SCORE race win, former SCORE Trophy Truck season point champion and international rally racer Bryce Menzies, 32 of Las Vegas, has entered this year in his No. 7 Mason Motorsports-built AWD Ford Raptor.
Menzies has five career SCORE Trophy Truck race wins, including three in the SCORE Baja 500 (2011, 2012 and 2014) and he was voted the 2011 SCORE Rookie of the Year on his way to capturing the 2011 SCORE Trophy Truck season point champion.
He has won two major U.S desert events this year including the King of the Hammers.
McMILLIN BROS
Third-generation desert San Diego racing brothers Dan McMillin and Luke McMillin have each entered the race in the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division. Dan, 32, will be driving in his new No. 23 Mason-Built Mark Racing AWD Chevy 1500 while Luke, 27, will be behind the wheel of his No. 83 Racer-built Mark Racing Ford F-150.
Luke has two class wins in the SCORE Baja 500. He won Class 1/2-1600 in 2011 as an 18-year old phenom and moved up to win Class 1 in the 2012 SCORE Baja 500.
Two of the rising stars in the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck racing division, Luke finished in second place just one minute, 54 seconds behind his winning cousin Andy McMillin in the 2019 SCORE Baja 500 while Dan finished eighth in last year’s race out of 38 starters in the division for high-tech, 950-horsepower unlimited production trucks.
THE MATLOCKS
Clearly the most prolific husband/wife racers in the SCORE World Desert Championship, Wayne Matlock, 42, and his wife Kristen Matlock, 39, from Alpine, Calif., are another pair of veteran SCORE desert racers and both had superlative seasons in the last two years racing in two separate UTV classes. The Matlocks also have two young children, both boys.
With two race wins and two second-place finishes, Wayne Matlock was the 2018 SCORE Overall season point champion while winning the Pro UTV FI (Forced Induction) class in his No. 2971 Polaris RZR XP4 Turbo. He repeated his class point title last year as well with one race win.
Wayne Matlock has won seven SCORE class season point championships in his illustrious career, the first five on a quad and he has five class wins in the SCORE Baja 500.
Kristen Matlock finished third in the season points in the Pro UTV NA (Naturally Aspirated) in 2018 after starting the season with two impressive class victories. In the 2018 SCORE Baja 500 she was also the overall UTV winner, defeating over 50 UTVs in the race.
Kristen Matlock finished second in season points in her class in 2019 earning two race wins along the way.
CLYDE STACY
Co-owner of the prominent RPM Racing of Bristol, Tenn., SCORE champion racer Clyde Stacy, 75 of Bristol, Va., has entered this race in the SCORE TT Legend class for drivers over 50 years old in his No. 5L RPM Racing Geiser-built Chevy V16.
Starting SCORE racing at age 64 and a veritable Southern Gentleman, Stacy has earned 10 SCORE season class point titles in 13 years of race. In 2019 he won the season crown in the SCORE TT Legend class.
BROC DICKERSON
The son/father duo of Broc, 19, and Jeff Dickerson, 45, of Brawley, Calif., both former SCORE Class point champs, will be racing in the unlimited Class 1 in their No. 123 Ford-powered Jimco open-wheel desert race car. Jeff Dickerson was the SCORE Class 20 motorcycle season champion in 1991 while Broc Dickerson, just 16 at the time, won the Class 10 season title in 2017.
Broc Dickerson also has two Class 2 wins in the SCORE Baja 500, both in 2017 and 2018.
MIKE CAFRO
A veteran SCORE season class point champion in quad classes where he has three titles with his brother Carmen, Mike Cafro, 50 of Fallbrook, Calif., also has six career class wins in the SCORE Baja 500 (1994, 1995, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2013) has switched to racing in UTVs and has entered two classes in this year’s SCORE Baja 500.
For the upcoming race, he will be the driver of record in the No. 2975 Polaris RZR Turbo in Pro UTV FI as well as the No. 3955 Polaris RZR Turbo S in the Pro UTV Stock class.
EL DORADO RANCH S/F
Following planning with and approval from city and state governments, SCORE International has announced that all the official pre-race activities and the start/finish line compound for this year’s SCORE Baja 500 will be held in a restricted area at the prominent El Dorado Ranch resort with no spectators allowed. Spectators following health and safety protocols will be allowed in the open areas around the 495-mile race course.
With the safety and health restrictions in place, SCORE will produce extensive live streaming of the race and pre-race festivities air on the SCORE website and SCORE social media platforms.
START ORDER/DRAW DEADLINE
For all the non-qualifying classes, the starting order within each class for this race will be determined by a start order drawing, if the individual entry is received and all fees paid in full by 8 p.m. on Friday, September 11.
The results of the drawing, to determine the remainder of the start order within each class, will be posted on the SCORE website at 5 p.m. on Friday, September 18.
Between September 11 and 5 p.m. PT on September 18, entries will be accepted in the SCORE Ensenada office but those entries will not be able to qualify or be in the start draw. Late, on-site racer registration will be held on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (September 23, 24, 25) and will be given the next available start position within their respective classes.All entries received after 8 p.m. PT on Friday, September 11 will be given the next available starting position within their respective classes.
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