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October
11, 2007
Pre-running Opens Saturday
24 SCORE racers still in hunt for special Toyota Awards
Heading into November's 40th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000
Featuring over 400 entries, season finale of six-race 2007 SCORE
Desert Series
To be a peninsula run in Mexico, Nov. 11-16
LOS ANGELES—Heading into November’s season-ending 40th Annual Tecate
SCORE Baja 1000 in Mexico and following five of six races in the 2007
SCORE Desert Series, 24 of SCORE’s toughest drivers are still in the
hunt to earn 2007 SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards. In addition, three of
those racers could split this year’s $12,000 SCORE Toyota True Grit
Awards.
Open pre-running starting at race-mile 37.67 begins Saturday. Practice
on the first section of the course will be allowed Nov. 9 through Nov.
12. This year’s race course will feature 10 outlying checkpoints where
each vehicle is required to quickly stop before continuing on.
To be held Nov. 11-16, this year’s historic 40th anniversary odyssey
of the world’s most famous desert race will be a grueling and
memorable 1,296.39-mile adventure down Mexico’s mysterious Baja
California peninsula starting in Ensenada, Baja California and
finishing in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California, Sur.
An amazing total of 392 vehicles from 40 U.S. States and 13 countries
are entered to date and the length of the course is second only to the
SCORE Baja 2000, the over 1,700-mile journey that started the new
millennium that also was the only other time the race finished in Cabo
San Lucas in its storied history.
The four-wheel vehicle classes with the most entries to date are SCORE
Trophy-Truck (31), Class 1 (30), Class 5/1600 and Class 1-2/1600 (22
each), Baja Challenge (18), SCORE Lite (17), and Protruck (12).
The motorcycle classes with the most entries so far are: Class 22
(24), Class 40 (16) and Class 30 (11).
Leading the six Sportsman classes in the race is Sportsman Motorcycle
over 250cc which has 46 entries to date.
This year’s memorable internationally-televised adventure will cover
the length of the rugged and tortuous Baja California peninsula,
starting on the Pacific Ocean side and stretching across and down the
majestic peninsula to the Sea of Cortez side and back to the Pacific
before hugging the coastline to the finish line on the southernmost
tip of Baja.
Over 400 entries from 40 U.S. States and 15 countries, competing in 28
Pro and 6 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs are
expected to be part of this year’s 40th anniversary tribute to the
world’s richest and most famous desert race. The granddaddy of all
desert races is the season-finale of the six-race 2007 SCORE Desert
Series, the world’s foremost desert racing series.
The motorcycle and ATV classes will start their journey at 6:30 a.m.
(PST) (Tuesday, Nov. 13) with the car and truck classes starting at
approximately 11 a.m. (PST), or three hours after the last ATV leaves
the line. The starting line will be on Blvd. Costero in front of the
Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in Ensenada. 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 22
hours.
The finish line area in Cabo San Lucas will be inside the Campos de
Futbol “Yenecamu” soccer fields next to the Villa del Palmar Resort,
the official SCORE race headquarters. The SCORE Media Center and SCORE
Race Operations will both be located at the Villa del Palmar. Passing
times from all BFGoodrich Tires pit locations, of all vehicles, will
be posted there as well to assist in monitoring the race progress.
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 fourth
consecutive year, airing on Dec. 30 on the NBC Television Network. It
will also air on a delayed basis outside of the U.S. on ESPN
International.
Toyota is presenting these prestigious awards to the world’s toughest
desert racers for the 22nd consecutive year. The Toyota Milestone
awards will go to those drivers who finish every required mile of
every race in the six-race 2007 SCORE Desert Series, the World’s
Foremost Desert Racing Series.
“Toyota is proud to honor the world’s best desert racing drivers,”
said Les Unger, national motorsports manager at Toyota Motor Sales,
U.S.A. “For over two decades, we have had the privilege of presenting
the SCORE Toyota True Grit and Milestone Awards to the toughest racers
on the planet.”
The $12,000 SCORE Toyota Truce Grit bonus purse will be split among
the point champions in the non-factory supported classes of Class
1-2/1600, Class 5, Class 10 and SCORE Lite. A total of nine drivers in
three of those four classes are still eligible to receive an equal
share of the $12,000 SCORE Toyota True Grit bonus purse for 2007.
After five races over rugged desert terrain in the U.S. and Mexico, 24
total racers in nine classes are still in the hunt for 2007 SCORE
Toyota Milestone Awards.
Class 1-2/1600 has six drivers still eligible for 2007 SCORE Toyota
Milestone awards while SCORE Trophy-Truck and the unlimited Class 1
each have five heading to Mexico.
Pre-race festivities on Monday, Nov. 12, for the Tecate SCORE Baja
1000, including tech and contingency and the SCORE Manufacturer’s
Midway will be held from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (PST) adjacent to Nico
Saad’s San Nicolas Hotel, the official SCORE race headquarters in
Ensenada. The pre-race mandatory driver/rider briefing will be held
Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. (PST) at the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center.
Racer registration will be held at the San Nicolas from 1 p.m. to 6
p.m. (PST) on Sunday, Nov. 11 and from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. (PST) on
Monday, Nov. 12.
The post-race Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 Award’s Celebration will be held
during the SCORE Fiesta at the Playa Cascadas (adjacent to the Villa
del Palmar) at noon on Friday, Nov. 16.
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2007 SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards
(24 Racers who have completed every required mile after five rounds
in the six-race 2007 SCORE Desert Series--*SCORE Toyota True Grit
Classes)
SCORE Trophy-Truck
B.J. Baldwin
Garron Cadiente
Travis Coyne
Mark Post
Larry Ragland
Class 1
Eric Chase
Bill Gasper
Dale Lenk
Dan Myers
Ronny Wilson
Class 1-2/1600*
Dave Caspino
Hiram Duran
Eliseo Garcia
L.J. Kennedy
Daniel McMillin
Arnoldo Ramirez
Class 5*
George Seeley
Class 5/1600
Mario Reynoso
Class 7SX
Rich Severson
Class 8
Nick Vanderwey
SCORE Lite*
David Callaway
Tim Noe
Stan Potter
Stock Full
John Griffin
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