El Rey Network airing two-hour special show Sunday on iconic 51st annual SCORE Baja 1000 desert race

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, dominiccnv@aol.com

January 19, 2019

Racing in Ensenada, Mexico

El Rey Network airing two-hour special show Sunday

on iconic 51st annual SCORE Baja 1000 desert race

 

Season finale of the four-race 2018 SCORE World Desert Championship in Baja California;  

806.76-mile race included 285 Pro, Sportsman cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles & quads

 

    ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico—Coverage of the four-race 2018 SCORE World Desert Championship concludes on the El Rey Network Sunday with a two-hour show spotlighting the iconic 51st annual SCORE Baja 1000. The season-finale show will premiere on Sunday (February 24) at 8 p.m. ET and is scheduled to air again at Midnight ET as well on Sunday. Check local listings to confirm the time in your area.

     Hosts of the ERN shows from the 2018 SCORE World Desert Championship are SCORE champion racers Cameron Steele and Aaron Ampudia.

     Producing the shows for SCORE is award-winning BCII TV of Los Angeles. Bud Brutsman is the executive producer.

GLOBAL PARTICIPATION

     Officially in Ensenada for the 51st SCORE Baja 1000 there were racers from 41 U.S. States, one U.S. Territory and 19 countries competing.

     In addition to the United States, the U.S. Territory of Guam and host country Mexico, the other countries with racers entered wereArgentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, England, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Peru, Spain and Sweden.

BFGOODRICH TIRES UNMATCHED

      BFGoodrich Tires celebrated over four decades as a major player in SCORE Baja racing. In addition to being the official tire of SCORE International for over four decades, BFGoodrich Tires has now produced the tire of choice for 30 of the overall 4-wheel vehicle winners in the SCORE Baja 1000, including 30 of the last 33 years along with a record-run of 20 straight from 1986 through 2005. In total, BFGoodrich Tires has now be the tire of choice for the overall 4-wheel vehicle winner in 91 SCORE Baja races including 32 in the SCORE Baja 500.

     BFGoodrich Tires also provides unmatched pit support for racers using their tires with five full service pit areas and more than 200 support crew personnel spread along the race course and complete radio relay the entire race course.

     BFGoodrich Tires also awarded $25,000 contingency bonus money to the overall winner of this year’s SCORE Baja 1000 who ran exclusively on BFGoodrich Tires.

51ST BAJA MIL

     The world’s most iconic, oldest, prestigious and longest continuously held desert race, this year’s epic 51st SCORE Baja 1000 was held over a rugged 806.76-mile race course over the Northern part of Mexico’s majestic Baja California peninsula, starting and finishing in Ensenada, Baja California Norte.

     The week was a heart-warming, memory-building, risk-taking, nostalgic celebration of the world’s most iconic desert race—the legendary Granddaddy of all Desert Races. Pre-race festivities and the start/finish line area were held in Ensenada, 80 miles south of the U.S. Border at San Diego.

SCORE TROPHY TRUCK WINNER

     Popular action sports TV announcer/desert racer Cameron Steele was officially awarded the overall 4-wheel vehicle and SCORE Trophy Truck race victory at the epic 51st SCORE Baja 1000 in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.  Finishing second physically behind apparent winner Rob MacCachren, Steele was later awarded the victory after MacCachren was penalized for a course infraction.

     Steele finished the radically challenging 806.76-mile race in 16 hours, 24 minutes, 02 seconds in his No. 16 Monster Energy Desert Assassins Geiser Bros. built Ford Raptor with an average speed of 49.19 miles per hour.

     For the No. 16 Monster Energy Desert Assassins Ford Raptor built by Geiser Bros., Las Vegas’ Pat Dean started the race and drove to race mile 538 and Steele drove the rest of the way.

     After 13 years racing in the marquee SCORE racing division for high-tech, 950 horse-power unlimited custom trucks, Steele, 50 of San Clemente, Calif., won his second career SCORE Trophy Truck race and second straight after winning in Tijuana in September of 2018.

     Both drivers drove a steady pace after starting in 12th spot in the class. Biding their time, they were there when they needed to pass all but Rob MacCachren to end up earning the SCORE Overall 4-wheel vehicle and SCORE Trophy Truck victory at the iconic race.

     SCORE Trophy Truck celebrated its 25th year in 2018 as the featured SCORE racing division for high-tech, 950 horsepower unlimited custom trucks.

MORGAN MOTORCYCLE MAGIC

     Justin Morgan led his team to a perfect season in the 2018 SCORE World Desert Championship, capped by a convincing overall motorcycle victory in the 51st SCORE Baja 1000. Morgan, 28, El Cajon, Calif., led from green-to-checkered to earn his second overall win in this race.  Morgan split the riding on the No. 7x Honda CRF450X with Mark Samuels, 28, Yucca Valley, Calif. and Justin Jones, 27, Murrieta, Calif. in a winning time of 16: 23:26 with an average speed of 49.22 mph.

     His time was also the fastest of all vehicles in the race. It was the first time since 2013 that a motorcycle had the fastest time of all vehicles in the race. In race history, motorcycles have now had the overall fastest time in the race 38 times compared to just 13 for the 4-wheel vehicles.

     Completing their first season as a team, it was the fourth SCORE Baja 1000 overall motorcycle win for Samuels and the third for Jones.

     The victory was also the 28th overall motorcycle win in this legendary race for American Honda.

PRO UTV OVERALL WINNER

     Veteran champion SCORE racer Wayne Matlock, 40, dove solo in his Polaris RZR XP4 Turbo to lead all 49 Pro UTV finishers in three different classes while winning his Pro UTV FI (Forced Induction) class to earn the Overall Pro UTV title as well over a field of 29 starters in his class. It was his second class race win of the year and it was his seventh all-time class victory in this epic event. His time was a penalty-free 20:25:18.

RACE REPORT

     The 2018 race started for the 44th time and finished for the 25th time in Ensenada, Baja California. The start/finish line compound was once again on Blvd. Costero in the heart of Ensenada adjacent to the picturesque Bahia de Todos Santos one side and to the iconic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center on the other with the first several spectator-friendly miles running up and back through the Ensenada Arroyo.

     There were a total of 285 starters and 177 official finishers (62.1 percent) racing to Pro and Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads.

     The total number of starters was the 15th most in the history of the SCORE Baja 1000. The number of finishers was the 11th most in the 51-year history of the iconic race.

TV TIME

     The four races of the 2018 SCORE World Desert Championship have been airing on the El Rey Network domestically.

     El Rey Network is a 24-hour, English-language lifestyle network and is available in 45 million homes across the country through cable and OTT providers and via satellite on DirecTV Channel 341 and Dish Network Channel 253. For more information on how to watch El Rey visit http://elreynetwork.com.

SCOREscope

2019 SCHEDULE

     Here is the four-race 2019 SCORE World Desert Championship and for the fourth consecutive year all races are being held in Baja California, Mexico:

33rd SCORE San Felipe 250, April 3-7, San Felipe, Mexico
51st SCORE Baja 500, May 29-June 2, Ensenada, Mexico
Inaugural Lucerna SCORE Baja 400, Sept. 18-22, Ensenada, Mexico
52nd SCORE Baja 1000, Nov.19-24, Ensenada, Mexico

SCORE SPONSORS…

     Official SCORE Sponsors: BFGoodrich Tires-Official Tire and official race title sponsor, Monster Energy-Official Energy Drink, King Shocks-Official Shock Absorber, Polaris RZR-Official UTV, RACELINE Wheels-Official Wheel, VP Racing Fuels-Official Fuel, Lucerna Hotels & Resorts-Official Hotel and official race title sponsor, Wide Open Excursions-Official Arrive and Drive Company, Crystal Bay Casino-Official Casino.

     SCORE Official Partners: PCI Race Radios, 4 Wheel Parts, The Satellite Phone Store, Satellite Del Norte.

     Additional SCORE Associate Partners: Proturismo Ensenada, Baja California Secretary of Tourism, Mexicali Ayuntamiento, COTUCO Mexicali/San Felipe, Cruz Roja Mexicana, Corporate Helicopters, McKenzie’s Performance Products, Advanced Color Graphics.

     Lucerna Hotels & Resorts 22nd Tijuana SCORE Desert Challenge Special Partners: XXII Ayuntamiento de Tijuana, Baja California State Secretary of Tourism, Comite de Turismo and Convenciones, Comite de Marcadotecnia Turistica, Lucerna Hotels and Resorts, Asociacion de Hoteles del Noroeste.

     For more information regarding SCORE, visit the official website of the SCORE World Desert Championship atwww.SCOREInternational.com.