SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, dominiccnv@aol.com August 2, 2013
Nov. 13-17 in Ensenada, Mexico
Online racer registration opens at www.score-international.com
for legendary, season-ending 46th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000
With entries expected in Baja California from 40 U.S. States and from 25 countries around the globe,
live start draw to be held Saturday, Oct. 5 at SCOREville display at Off-Road Expo in Pomona, Calif.
SAN DIEGO—SCORE International announced today that online racer registration has officially opened for entries who will be competing in 40 Pro and 8 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs in November’s 46th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, the granddaddy of all desert races. The legendary season-finale of the SCORE Desert Series will be held Nov. 13-17, starting and finishing in Mexico’s Baja California Norte in Ensenada, 65 miles south of the U.S. border at San Diego along the Pacific Ocean.
In his first season as CEO and President of SCORE International, Roger Norman has also announced that the live drawing for starting positions, by class, will be held for the second straight year in the massive SCOREville display at the popular 2013 Lucas Oil Off-Road Expo at the Fairplex in Pomona, Calif.
“As we continue to implement our initiatives into the overall structure and foundation of SCORE, we recognize the importance and significance of the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 in the world of motorsports and are working diligently to expand the reach and impact of the event even further,” commented Norman. “The Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 is a great treasure and we are treating it with the care and respect it deserves. We are honored and humbled to be in the position we are to help maintain the stature and enhance the legacy of this amazing race.”
Registration has the Pro classes broken into three levels for Pro car and truck classes, a fourth for the Sportsman car and truck classes, one for Pro motorcycles and ATVs and one for Sportsman motorcycles and ATVs.
SCORE has also announced that this year’s race will have the longest course in history for the years when it is a loop race. This year’s course will be approximately 922 miles, starting and finishing in Ensenada and covering both sides of the Baja California peninsula in the Baja Notre state from Ensenada on the Pacific Ocean over to San Felipe on the Sea of Cortez and back.
The longest previous course distance in the 26 previous years it has been a loop race was 822 miles in 1985. The longest loop course since 2000 was 808 miles in 2003. The longest distance the course traveled in the history of this race was the once-in-lifetime 2000 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 which covered a total of 1,679.54 miles from Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas.
More details regarding the race will be announced over the next several weeks on the SCORE website at www.score-international.com.
SCOREville
Returning to the Lucas Oil Off-Road Expo again this year, SCOREville will be a massive two-day display that will include vintage vehicles as well as current SCORE race vehicles on display and the SCOREgear merchandise booth debuting items for this year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 1000.
Located this year in Building 5 in the heart of the expo at the Fairplex, SCOREville will also host a salute to SCORE Baja legends with autograph sessions from noon to 2 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 5-6). Also on Saturday, starting at 3 p.m. will be the official unveiling of the official course map as well as live drawing for starting positions. For those classes that will be identified as having qualifying during race week, the SCOREville drawing will determine the qualifying order for those classes.
Dirt LiveHD, SCORE’s high definition internet show will also broadcast live from SCOREville during the Lucas Oil Off-Road Expo.
THE POINTS
Las Vegas’ rising star of the desert Bryce Menzies is the Overall and SCORE Trophy Truck point leader in the 2013 SCORE Desert Series heading into the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. With a second place finish at the season opener at the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 and a third place at the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 in Ensenada, Menzies is in position to win his second SCORE season championship in the last three years.
Two years removed from his double-championship rookie season of SCORE racing in 2011, Menzies will lead the thundering herd of SCORE Trophy Trucks, the high-tech, 850-horsepower, unlimited production trucks back to Mexico. Over 40 SCORE Trophy Trucks are expected at the start line in Ensenada, Baja California for this year’s iconic race.
Menzies, who drives solo in the No. 70 Red Bull Menzies Motorsports Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy Truck, has racked up 196 points during the first two SCORE Baja races of 2013, but the star-studded class has his eight closest challengers only a total of 25 points behind him.
Striving to become the first Mexican national team to win the SCORE Overall and SCORE Trophy Truck season point championship, the father/son team of Gus Vildosola/Gus Vildosola Jr, are just a miniscule six points behind Menzies heading into the finale. This season, the Vildsola’s won the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 and were 12th out of 37 starters in SCORE Trophy Truck at the Tecate SCORE Baja 500.
SCORE is celebrating its 40th year as the world’s foremost desert racing organization in 2013.
With 35 starters in San Felipe and 37 in Ensenada, SCORE Trophy Truck has eight racers in the top 10 in SCORE points.
While SCORE racers come from all over the world with a heavy concentration of racers from Southern California, Las Vegas racers currently have four of the top overall point positions in the SCORE Overall and the SCORE Trophy Truck point standings.
While the Vildosola’s are second behind Las Vegas’ Menzies, the three other Southern Nevada who complete the top five in points are desert racing superstars Rob MacCachren, B.J. Baldwin and Tim Herbst.
SCORE points are based on starting, finishing, placement and number of official starters within each class.
MacCachren, a two-time SCORE Trophy Truck season point champion who drives the No. 11 Rockstar Energy MacCachren Motorsports Ford F-150, is third with 185 points, five behind the Vildosolas, while Baldwin, a three-time and reigning SCORE Trophy Truck season champ who drives the No. 1 Monster Energy Baldwin Motorsports Chevy Silverado, is just one behind MacCachren with 184 points. Tim Herbst, the all-time winningest SCORE Trophy Truck racer with four season crowns and 11 career SCORE Trophy Truck race wins in the No. 19 Monster Energy Terrible Herbst Mostorsports, is just one point behind Baldwin with 183.
Sixth in overall and SCORE Trophy Truck points with 181 is Mexico’s Juan C. Lopez, driver of the No. 18 Speed Energy RPM Racing Chevy Silverado.
By winning Class 10 in Ensenada over a solid field of 22 starters, SCORE rookie Mike Johnson, Santa Monica, Calif., is leading his class and is eighth overall with 173 points in a Chevy-powered Alumi Craft open-wheel desert race car.
CLASS 1
Establishing himself last season as a great second-generation desert racer, continuing to move out from the shadow of his father and his uncle’s experienced tracks, Southern California desert racer Cody Parkhouse continues to lead the unlimited Class 1 in a Chevy-powered Jimco open-wheel desert race car after opening the season with a Class 1 victory and a fourth place in Ensenada. Cody Parkhouse is 16th in overall points and leads Class 1 with 160 points, just three more than Tecate SCORE Baja 500 winner Justin Matney, Bristol, Tenn., who drives a RPM racing Geiser-Chevy.
MOTORCYCLES & ATVs
After two of the three SCORE Baja races, the 2013 overall Pro motorcycle and open Class 22 point leader is the JCR Honda team of Tim Weigand, Valencia, Calif./Colton Udall, San Clemente, Calif./David Kamo, Caldwell, Idaho. The team has won both SCORE Baja races this year and has earned 156 points on the No. 1x Honda CRF450X
Class 30 (riders over 30 years old) point leader is the team led by Mike Johnson, El Paso, Texas, who has 153 championship points with his San Felipe win and his second in Ensenada. Johnson has won his class season point championship in the SCORE Desert Series for the last four straight years on a Honda CRF450X.
Other Pro motorcycle class winners in San Felipe and Ensenada who like Johnson and Weigand/Udall are also defending 2012 season champs are Chad Broughton, Scotts Valley, Calif. (Class 20, Honda CRF250X) and Marc Prince, Malibu, Calif. (Class 50, Honda CRF450X).
Tied for the Overall ATV and Class 24 point winner in a class field of 12 racers in Ensenada are the teams led by Mexico’s Said Sanchez and Thomas Wright, Tabernacle, N.J. who both ride on a Honda TRX450R and are tied with 155 season points.
IT’s DIRT, LIVEHD!
Roger Norman’s Dirt LiveHD one-hour weekly internet show is broadcast live on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Pacific Time on the SCORE website. The show content is centered around his two desert racing series, the SCORE Desert Series and the High Desert Racing Association as well as the new bonus points program he has developed called the World Championship of Desert Racing. While the show is often at a remote location, broadcast studios are located at the SCORE tech shop in El Cajon, Calif., a suburb of San Diego.
DIRT LIVEHD CREW
Desert racing public address announcer George Antill is the co-host of all Dirt LiveHD programming along with co-host Diana Dahlgren, a Monster Energy Supercross TV commentator. One of the regular elements of the show will be a SCORE social media interchange, allowing fans and racers to comment and ask questions through the SCORE Facebook and SCORE Twitter platforms. Another special segment each week is Tech Tips with SCORE Tech co-director Jake Velasco along with SCORE Trophy Truck racer and prep-shop owner T.J. Flores.
Andrew Grimshaw, SCORE Media Production Manager, is the coordinating producer of the show. The program is hosted on ustream.com, the world’s largest streaming internet site.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP OF DESERT RACING
The 2013 SCORE Desert Series will also be part of the quickly-evolving World Championship of Desert Racing, which will combine points accumulated in two of the three SCORE Baja races along with points earned from three of the four-race 2013 HDRA Series, all held in the United States. Both the SCORE and HDRA series will crown their own individual class and overall point champions as well with a bonus purse for those racers who qualify for the World Championship of Desert Racing points bonus purse program to earn a desert racing World Champion title.
With a growing total, for the inaugural World Championship of Desert Racing bonus purse, an official total of $45,000 has been posted to date from new SCORE sponsors Amber Racing Services ($25,000), King Shocks ($10,000) and Rigid Industries ($10,000).
For car and truck classes with at least three starters in each qualifying race in 2013, the World Champion titles will be decided on combined points from the three SCORE races and three HDRA races with the bonus purse paid using the same formula based on total purse and number of starters in each class as is used currently for each SCORE race.
For the pro motorcycle and ATV classes, the World Championship of Desert Racing will include points earned in the three SCORE Baja races as well as the AMA National Hare and Hound race that was held during the HDRA Reno 500.
DAKAR CHALLENGE 2013
This year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 500 and Eldorado HDRA Reno 500 were part of a special program where the combined best qualified car/truck finisher will receive a special entry package into the 2014 Dakar Rally in South America. Regulations and other information on Dakar Challenge 2013 are available at http://www.dakar.com/dakar/2013/us/dakar-challenge.html. The winner of the special package is Class 10 racer Peter Hajas, Wayzata, Minn.
MORE AWARDS…
In addition to season class point championships and World Championship titles, the racers are also competing for part of the nearly $400,000 in cash purse and contingency postings each race. There are also the numerous annual SCORE Off-Roadsman of the Year Awards. Drivers in the Pro car and truck classes are also attempting to earn prestigious SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards given to all car and truck class drivers who complete every required mile of the race season. With 44 racers still in the hunt, these awards are being presented by Toyota Motorsports for the 28th consecutive year.
SCORE SPONSORS…
Official Sponsors: Tecate Beer-Official Beer/Official Race Sponsor, Monster Energy-Official Energy Drink, BFGoodrich Tires-Official Tire, Amber Racing Services-Official Race Fuels, Rigid Industries-Official Lights, King Shocks-Official Shock Absorber, Volaris Airlines-Official Airline, Wide Open Excursions- Official Arrive and Drive Company, Coca-Cola-Official Soft Drink, Crystal Bay Casino-Official Casino, Hotel Coral and Marina-Official Hotel.
Associate Sponsors: Graham Watchmakers, SatellitePhoneStore.com, Symons Ambulance Company, Azunia Tequila.
Additional SCORE Partners: Proturismo, Visit Baja California Sur, Ensenada, Baja California Secretary of Tourism, Mexicali Ayuntamineto, COTUCO Mexicali/San Felipe, Cruz Roja Mexicana, Blue C Advertising, PCI Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.
For more information, visit the official website of the new SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com.