October 12, 2008

Nearly 350 entries expected
Collins in SCORE Trophy-Truck, G. Steele in M/C - Draw Pole positions for 41st Tecate SCORE Baja 1000

Racers from 37 States, 14 countries entered to date in nationally-televised Granddaddy of all desert races;
Race to be held in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, Nov. 19-23
 

LOS ANGELES—If Saturday's ‘live’ drawing for starting positions is any indication, November's 41st Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race should add another colorful chapter to the legacy of the world’s best known desert race. Brian Collins in SCORE Trophy-Truck and Grant Steele in Class 22 for open motorcycles drew the pole positions for the legendary granddaddy of all desert races.
An impressive total of 296 vehicles officially entered in time for Saturday’s live drawing for starting positions, by class, held during the SCORE Fiesta at the newest Off Road Wareouse facility in Temecula, Calif.

With nearly 350 entries expected to compete in 28 Pro and 7 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs, the granddaddy of all desert races will be held Nov. 19-23 in Ensenada, Mexico. Completing its 35th year as the World’s foremost desert racing sanctioning body, the event is the finale of the five-race 2008 SCORE Desert Series. To date entries have come from 37 U.S. States and 14 countries.

While late entries are accepted up to race day, the total of 296 entries officially entered in time for Saturday’s live start drawing represents the third-largest drawing total in the 41-year history of the storied event.

The SCORE Baja 1000 day Saturday included the Baja Pits bar-b-que, a pit crew competition, vendor’s village, along with appearances by several of the top SCORE desert racers and numerous SCORE desert racing vehicles on display. There were also be special showings of official SCORE Baja race DVDs produced by Aura360 along with a raffle for Coco’s Corner and another for Baja Pits.
With massive crowds reaching nearly 300,000 anticipated to again be spread out along the rugged course that travels through the Pine Forest to near Mexicali, down Laguna Salada to San Felipe and back to the Pacific Coast through Santo Tomas covering much of the northern half of the majestic Baja California peninsula. The race will start for the 34th time and finish for the 19th time in Ensenada.
The motorcycle and ATV classes will start their journey at 6:30 a.m. (Friday, Nov. 21) with the car and truck classes starting at approximately 10:30 a.m., or three hours after the last ATV leaves the line. Vehicles will leave in 30-second intervals in the elapsed-time race and while the fastest finishers are expected to complete the course in approximately 14 hours. All vehicles will have a 31-hour time limit to become official finishers in the legendary adventure.

The race will start and finish on Boulevard Costero along the picturesque Bahia de Todos Santos in front of the historical Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in the heart of Ensenada.

Collins, 46, of Las Vegas, is currently second in SCORE Trophy-Truck points and won this year’s Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 in March in his No. 12 Dodge Ram1500. Splitting the driving with Collins will be veteran racer Chuck Hovey, Escondido, Calif. The drawing featured a season-high 30 entries in the SCORE Trophy-Truck, the marquee SCORE racing division for high-tech, 800-horsepower, unlimited production trucks.

Grant Steele, 38, Temecula, Calif., and his team, will lead 14 entries to date in Class 22 for open motorcycles on a Honda CRF450X.
Drawing the first start in the ATV classes was the veteran team led by Greg Row, 45, Alpine, Calif., who will ride a Bombardier DS650 in Class 25.

A unique part of Saturday’s drawing was the special drawing for the top 10 finishers from the nearest previous SCORE Baja race entered in the current race in both SCORE Trophy-Truck and the unlimited Class 1. For this race it was the top 10 finishers from this year’s 40th Tecate SCORE Baja 500.

NASCAR Sprint Cup team owner/driver Robby Gordon, Charlotte, N.C., whose roots are in SCORE desert racing, drew the 28th starting position in SCORE Trophy-Truck in the Team Gordon No. 77 Chevy CK1500. Gordon will be heading to the the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 right after driving in the NASCAR Sprint Cup season finale in Florida on Nov. 16.

Making its debut in the race in the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck division will be the new No. 81 Volkswagen Baja Race Touareg TDI, the first clean Turbo-diesel vehicle ever raced in SCORE Trophy-Truck. The new vehicle will be driven by the veteran team of Mark Miller, Cave Creek, Ariz./Ryan Arciero, Foothill Ranch, Calif. With seven career SCORE Trophy-Truck race wins between them, including three together, Miller/Arciero drew the 14th starting position for the race in the first Turbo-diesel to run in the featured SCORE racing division.

Three entries with second-generation SCORE desert racers feature drivers who are running NASCAR series. Las Vegas’ Brendan Gaughan is a NASCAR Truck Series regular who will race in the unlimited Class 1 in Baja, while Justin Loftin, Westmorland, Calif., who drives in the NASCAR West Series and Brian Ickler, Poway, Calif., who has won four races this year in the NASCAR East Series
“To have 295 entries in the drawing for start positions for the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 is incredible any year, but to have it this year with everything going on in the U.S. and the world is phenomenal,” said Sal Fish, the legendary desert racing pioneer who has been part of SCORE since soon after it was founded in 1973. “We have had eight races in 40 previous races in this event with 300 or more starters so it looks like this year’s race will join the very elite 300 club.”

Pre-race festivities on Thursday, Nov. 19, for the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, including the vastly popular tech and contingency of all vehicles and the SCORE Manufacturer’s Midway will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Boulevard Costero in front of the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center. The pre-race mandatory driver/rider briefing will be held Thursday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. in the Cathedral Room at the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center. Racer and media registration will be held at the San Nicolas Resort Hotel from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 19 and from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20.

While entries will be accepted up to race morning (Friday, Nov. 21), late entries will be assigned the next available number and starting position within each class.

The post-race Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 Survivor’s Celebration will be held poolside at the San Nicolas Resort Hotel at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 23.

Besides Collins/Hovey, Miller/Arciero and Gordon, other entries among the veterans in the talented 30-truck field in the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck division include Mark Post, Laguna Beach, Calif./Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas (No. 1-Ford F-150), B.J. Baldwin, Las Vegas (97-Chevy Silverado), Roger Norman, Reno, Nev./Larry Roeseler, Irvine, Calif. (8-Ford F-150), Robbie Pierce/Mike Julson, Santee, Calif. (35-Chevy Silverado), Cameron Steele, San Clemente, Calif./Rick Geiser, Phoenix (Cadilllac Escalade), Chad Ragland, Vista, Calif./Larry Ragland, Cave Creek, Ariz. (33-Toyota Tundra), Mexico's Gus Vildosola/Gus Vildosola Sr. (No. 4-Ford F-150), Honolulu’s Alan Pflueger (28-Chevy Silverado), Ron Whitton, Mesa, Ariz. (39-Ford F-150), Pete Sohren, Glendale, Ariz. (2-Ford F-150), Scott Steinberger, Cypress, Calif./Mike Childress, Wrightwood, Calif. (7-Ford F-150), Jesse James, Sunset Beach, Calif. (54-Chevy CK1500), Rick D. Johnson, Barstow, Calif./Ricky Johnson, Trabuco Canyon, Calif. (72-Ford F-150), Nick Vanderwey, Phoenix (84-Chevy Silverado), Ed Stout, Irvine, Calif. (13-Ford F-150) and Bobby Baldwin, Las Vegas (96-Chevy Silverado).

The car and truck classes with the most entries to date are SCORE Trophy-Truck (30), Class 1 (27), SCORE Lite and Class 5/1600 (13 each), Class 1-2/1600 (12) and Class 10 (10).

Among the motorcycle and ATV classes, Class 22 has the most entries to date with 14, followed by Class 30 with 11.
Leading the seven Sportsman classes in the race is Sportsman Motorcycle over 250cc which had 32 entries and Sportsman Motorcycle under 250cc which had 16 entries in the drawing.

Drawing first start in Class 1 was Chuck Dempsey, Oak Hills, Calif., in a HMS-Chevy, while first off in SCORE Lite will be Jake Jones, Aliso Viejo, Calif., in a Henry-VW. First off in Class 5/1600 will be Ernie Negrete, San Diego in a 1600cc VW Baja Bug, first in Class 1-2/1600 is Adam Pfankuch, Carlsbad, Calif., in a Mirage-VW and leading Class 10 into the desert will be Adam Ashcraft, Vista, Calif., in an AlumiCraft-VW.

Among the other early entries is the venerable Rod Hall, Reno, Nev., who is one of the only two individuals who has raced in all 40 previous Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 races.

The legendary Hall, 69, of Reno, Nev., has a race-record 19 career class wins in this race and is the only driver to have competed every year in a car or truck class. Hall returns this year as the defending class champion in a Hummer H3 in the Stock Mini class.
Pre-running on the approximately 634-mile loop course will officially begin on Saturday, Nov. 1. Pre-running will be allowed only from Ojos Negros and back. One way pre-running from the start to Ojos Negros will be allowed only on Wednesday and Thursday of race week (Nov. 19 and 20).

It’s the oldest and most well known of all desert races, and it remains as the single most appealing accomplishment to a driver. Since 1967, the Granddaddy of all desert races has been run over the mysterious Baja California peninsula.

This year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race will be televised on a delayed basis as a one-hour NBC Sports special for the fifth consecutive year, scheduled to air at 1 p.m. (EST) on Sunday, Dec. 14 on the NBC Television Network. It will also air on a delayed basis outside of the U.S. on ESPN International.

The 2008 SCORE Desert Series also includes the chase for the $20,000 Volkswagen of America Point Leader Bonus and the run for the Toyota Milestone Awards for car and truck racers who complete every required mile of the season.

The Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 also features the $5,000 Volkswagen bonus to the highest finishing Volkwagen-powered vehicle in the race. Among the other special awards at the event will be the Sal Fish SCORE IronRider award presented to all declared motorcycle and ATV riders who are official finishers of the race while riding solo.

Current SCORE official annual sponsors are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Volkswagen of America-official vehicle, Sunoco Race Fuels -official fuel supplier, Bilstein-official shock, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance-official Mexican auto insurance, Slime-official tire sealant and Red Bull--official energy drink. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Las Vegas Events, Terrible Herbst Inc., Blue C Enthusiast Advertising, Kartek Off-Road, American Suzuki, SignPros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.

Additional associate sponsors, for the 2008 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 is the Fideicomiso Publio para la Promocion Turistica de Ensenada.

The new 6,000-square foot ORW Temecula store is the fifth outlet of the popular group in San Diego County. Off Road Warehouse, headquartered in the Kearny Mesa area of San Diego has been a racer’s favorite since 1972. The Temecula store celebrated its grand opening on Sept. 27. With over 1 million items to choose from, ORW outlets present over 600 product lines in their colorful showrooms.
Red Bull provided entertainment for the fiesta and among the vendors participating were Baja Pits, Dion & Sons and MasterCraft.
For more information on the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters 818.225.8402 or visit the official website of the 2008 SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com.

For more information on the Off Road Warehouse, visit www.offroadwarehouse.com .

41st Annual TECATE SCORE BAJA 1000
Nov. 19-23, 2008
Final round of five-race 2008 SCORE Desert Series
Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico

TOTAL ENTRIES in Saturday's Start Draw: 296
(37 States, 14 Countries)(as of 10/11/08)

PRO CARS & TRUCKS
SCORE TROPHY-TRUCK (30)
12 Brian Collins
7 Scott Steinberger
35 Robbie Pierce
97 B.J. Baldwin
8 Roger Norman
33 Chad Ragland
39 Ron Whitton
1 Mark Post
71 Rick D. Johnson
16 Cameron Steele
47 James Bult
92 Jeff Smith
13 Ed Stout
81 Mark Miller
2 Pete Sohren
84 Nick Vanderwey
28 Alan Pflueger
4 Gus Vildosola Jr.
38 Garron Cadiente
50 Jason McNeil
72 Kash Vessels
51 Kory Scheeler
20 Justin Lofton
54 Jesse James
69 Francisco Cervantes
96 Bobby Baldwin
22 Damen Jefferies
77 Robby Gordon
34 Dan Friedkin
78 Lloyd Sproule
CLASS 1 (27)
101 Chuck Dempsey
102 B.J. Richardson
103 Rob Bruce
104 Eric Chase
105 Dale Ebberts
106 Brian Parkhouse
107 Armin Schwarz
108 Pat Dean
109 Luis Ramirez Jr.
110 Todd Welling
111 Charles Rudolph
112 Josh Rigsby
113 Brian Robinson
114 Mike Voyles
115 Steve Raskett
116 Mike Walser
117 Ron Brant
118 Harley Letner
119 Armin Kremer
120 Jay Manning
121 Lobsam Yee
122 Ronny Wilson
123 Brendan Gaughan
124 Randy Wilson
125 Dale Lenk
126 Lee Patton
127 Mark Weyhrich
CLASS 1-2/1600 (12)
1601 Adam Pfankuch
1602 Chris Langmayer
1603 Edgar Alvarez Jr.
1604 Eliseo Garcia
1605 Cody Robinson
1606 Arturo Velazco
1607 Scott Graham
1608 Brent Parkhouse
1600 David Caspino
1610 Manuel Cruz
1648 Cory Boyer
1649 Josue Delgado
CLASS 3 (4)
301Gale Pike
300 Donald Moss
303 Darren Skilton
349 Scott Wooden
CLASS 5 (3)
501 Kevin Carr
502 Jim Anderson
519 Vince Wavra
CLASS 5/1600 (13)
551 Ernie Negrete
552 Ruben Gutierrez Jr.
550 Mario Reynoso
554 Mark Low
555 Colin Campbell
556 Alonso Angulo
557 Tommy Craft
558 Carlos Iribe
575 Pedro Athie
576 Javier Morales
577 Jose Montoya
578 Marcos Nunez
579 Greg Perryman
CLASS 6 (2)
601 Marc Burnett
602 Benjamin Wright
CLASS 7 (4)
701 Scott Ulrich
702 Chris Taylor
700 Dan Chamlee
704 Bandon Walsh
CLASS 7SX (6)
741 Alberto Iriarte
742 Heidi Steele
740 Rich Severson
757 Jim Hinesley
758 Billy Bunch
759 John Holmes
CLASS 8 (5)
801 Joan C. Lopez
802 Andrea Tomba
803 Tom Bradley Sr.
804 Noah Ostanik
805 Glen Greer
CLASS 9 (1)
901 Jay Wells
CLASS 10 (10)
1001 Adam Ashcraft
1002 Mike Lawrence
1003 Jesus Gonzalez
1004 Tim Pangborn
1005 Brendan Fikes
1006 Brady Helm
1007 Mark Hutchins
1008 Will Higman
1009 Lonny Hart
1049 John Hsu
SCORE LITE (13)
1201 Jake Jones
1202 Steve Mamer
1203 Perry McNeil
1204 David Callaway
1205 Matt Drever
1206 Luis Barragan
1207 Lee Banning
1208 Gary Johnson
1209 Bill Hernquist
1210 Rick St. John
1211 Roberto Encinas
1248 Derek Hill
1249 Brian Martin
CLASS 11 (3)
1101 Eric Solorzano
1102 Jim Graham
1103 Michael Brown
STOCK FULL (5)
861 Chad Hall
862 Kent Kroeker
863 Josh Hall
860 John Griffin
879 Clyde Stacy
STOCK MINI (3)
760 Rod Hall
761 Steve Kovach
779 Gavin Skilton
PROTRUCK (7)
250 Gary Magness
260 Nils Castillo
235 Jason Voss
277 Jason Horsley
203 Dave Creagan
253 Ken Losch
240 Rob Kittleson
CLASS 17 (3)
1701 Cliff Cook
1718 Bryant Layton
1719 Scott Watkins
BAJA CHALLENGE (13)
BC 1 Mike Cassling
BC 2 Erik Harp
BC 3 Matt Christensen
BC 4 Barry Ellis
BC 5 John McInnis
BC 6 Bill Weber
BC 7 Charles Ferguson
BC 8 Tim Dollander
BC 9 Jay Culbertson
BC 10 Mike Dillard
BC 11 Ron Bauer
BC 12 Victor Avila
BC 20 Chris Kemp

PRO MOTORCYCLES
CLASS 22 (14)
2x Grant Steele
3x Cory Evenson
4x Jack McCormick
5x R. Hank Salyer
6x Ryan Penhall
7x Mike Childress
1x Robby Bell
9x Gabriel Williams
10x Caleb Gosselaar
11x Jimmy Lopez
12x Justin Wiberg
13x Jesse Sharpe
14x Rod Thornton
15x Norman Thornhill III
CLASS 21 (4)
101x Marco Bernaldez
102x Jon Kolbensvik
103x Francisco Arredondo
104x Edy Garcia
CLASS 20 (5)
151x Larry Perkins
152x Tony Rutter
153x Chad Black
168x Mario Acosta
169x Anna Cody
CLASS 30 (11)
301x Rodak Burkat
302x Mordechay Eldar
303x Lloyd Andrew
304x Carlos Chavez
305x Scott Myers
306x Rolf Helland
300x Jim O’Neal
308x Chris Parker
309x Mike Johnson
310x Larry Gross
311x Rob Swan
CLASS 40 (7)
401x Stuart Goggins
402x Darren Griffiths
403x Steve Corrie
404x Mike Prunty
405x Michael Korenwinder
406x Brian Campbell
400x Brett Helm
CLASS 50 (6)
501x Ben van Ziltveld
502x Kenny Hayden
503x Gary Barr
504x Charles Wallace
548x Chris Haines
500x Jim O’Neal
CLASS 60 (2)
618x Richard Jackson
600x Donald E. Lewis

PRO ATVS
CLASS 25 (7)
2a Greg Row
3a Jason Greenhaw
1a Danny Prather
5a Stefano Caputo
6a Javier Robles
7a Reid Rutherford
8a Wayne Matlock
CLASS 24 (5)
101a Craig Christy
102a Shawn Robins
103a Tom Wright II
104a Benjamin Lopez Jr.
105a Abraham Romero

SPORTSMAN
SPT CAR (5)
1400 Peter Lang
1401 Jerry Smith
1402 Shaun Dunbar
1403 George Jackson
1419 Jose Quintero
SPT TRUCK (3)
1501 Mike Long
1500 Keith Growe
1503 Bob Land
SPT UTV (4)
1801 John Crowley
1802 Sergio Castillo
1800 Thomas Graves
1819 Mark Lindsay
SPT SIDECAR (1)
1SC Lanaro Sandro
SPT M/C 250< (16)
201xTravis Armitage
202x Mark Springer
203x Bernard Caradec
204x Matt Ladendorf
205x Scott Anderson
206x Jesus Rios
207x Seppo Saarinen
208x Greg Willitts
209x Anthony Nicodemo
210x Yuval Sharon
211x Tim Pritchard
212x Fred Sobke
213x Ronnie Wilson
214x Jason Lulis
215x Sol Saltzman
249x Yoram Lavee
SPT M/C 250> (32)
251x Randy Roy
252x Stephan Duchaine
253x John Crowley
254x Erik Litzenberg
255x Tomoki Hayashi
256x Jeff Moore
257x Adrian Lovelace
258x Michael Ott-Eulberg
259x Jay Wilgus
260x Mike Kaplan
261x Jeff Leonard
262x Ray Grupp
263x Mark Lucke
264x Jeff Martin
265x Bill Gilbert
266x Adam McCamish
267x Jack Pflueger
268x Jeff Chapman
269x Andrew Vela
270x Vernon Smith
271x Gary Gonzales
272x Carlos Becerril
273x Luis Napoles
274x Duncan Ragsdale
275x Matt DeVall
276x Craig Anstine
277x Greg Matherly
278x Yvan Perroud
279x Davy Patterson
280x Andy Padulo
281x Graham Wilson
282x Robbie McAlerney
SPT ATV (10)
51a Martin O’Leary
52a Marco Geraldo
53a Josh Hogan
54a Joselito Muro
55a Mario Yorba
56a Roberto Ruiz
57a Warren Lovelace
58a Ken Lehmann
98a Gustavo Ameca
99a Mike Penland