Echoes from the Past’ provide prolific, poignant race notes, and super stats, notable numbers for 51st SCORE Baja 500

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, dominiccnv@aol.com
May 21, 2019
Next week in Baja, Mexico

‘Echoes from the Past’ provide prolific, poignant race notes,
and super stats, notable numbers for 51st SCORE Baja 500 

     ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico—History is the foundation for the present, the present is structure for the future and echoes from the past resonate resoundingly as racers from around the globe are anxiously awaiting next week’s memorable internationally-televised 51st SCORE Baja 500.
Round 2 of the four-race 2019 SCORE World Desert Championship will be held next Wednesday through Sunday (May 29-June 2), starting and finishing in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, the seaside port on the Pacific Ocean, 80 miles south of San Diego.
SHOWTIME
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. Los Angeles’ award-winning BCII TV will provide the production work of the telecast.
An elapsed-time race with staggered starts as the green flag on Saturday (June 1) will drop first for the motorcycles and quads at 4 a.m. (PDT) and 8 a.m. (PDT) for the cars, trucks and UTVs. While the fastest vehicles will complete the rugged 487.11-mile course in around 10 hours, all vehicles will have a 20-hour time limit to become an official finisher.
The start/finish line area will be at the Lucas Oil Off-Road Stadium at the Estero Beach Resort in Ensenada.
Over 250 vehicles are expected at the start line with racers from as many as 30 U.S. States and 15 countries anticipated. Long-time sponsor BFGoodrich Tires has posted a US$25,000 contingency bonus to help commemorate this year’s 51st Anniversary.
ECHOES FROM THE PAST
      Here’s a brief look back at some of the plethora of prolific poignant race notes, superlative stats, notable numbers that this legendary desert race has etched indelibly into the dusty desert sands of time…
ECHO 1—SCORE Baja 500
The legendary Baja 500 is celebrating its 51st anniversary next week in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. The race was first held in 1969, organized by the NORRA racing organization for four years.
In the inaugural Baja 500 in 1969 winning the overall 4-wheel vehicle title was the team of Bud Ekins/Guy Jones in an Oldsmobile-powered Baja Boot open wheel desert race car and the fastest motorcycle was the Ducati riden by Doug Douglass and Jim McClurg.
ECHO 2—SCORE Baja 500
In 1973 the Baja Sports Committee, local tourism group in Ensenada, produced the event.
Later in 1973 after the NORRA group was no longer sanctioned by the State government to produce events in Mexico, Baja California tourism advocate and prominent Ensenada hotelier Nico Saad introduced Mickey Thompson to the governor of Baja California that resulted in SCORE being named as the official non-Mexican promoter authorized and sanctioned by the Baja California government to produce events in this Mexican state.
ECHO 3—SCORE Baja 500
Thus came the birth of the SCORE Baja Internactional (legal issues precluded SCORE from gaining the rights to use the name Baja 500 until 1991). The first SCORE Baja Internacional (produced by Mickey Thompson and Sal Fish) was held on July 26, 1974 in Ensenada with 279 official starters and 173 official finishers.   But fans, media and racers alike have always called it the Baja 500.
Noted Hollywood stunt driver Bobby Ferro won the overall 4-wheel vehicle title for the third of four times in his career in 1974, this time in a VW-Sandmaster open-wheel desert race car. The fastest overall motorcycle in this race was the Husqvarna with Mitch Mayes and A.C. Bakken sharing the riding duties.
ECHO 4—SCORE Baja 500
Racers like Ivan Stewart, Larry Roeseler, Bobby Ferro, Parnelli Jones, Larry Ragland, Robby Gordon, Malcolm Smith, Dr. Bud Feldkamp, Troy Herbst, Rob MacCachren, Bryce Menzies, Steve Hengeveld, Johnny Campbell, Justin Morgan and McMillin family racers—Corky, Scott, Mark and Andy—are all part of the legacy of all-time multiple overall four-wheel and multiple two-wheel vehicle winners of the SCORE Baja 500.
Also on the iconic overall winner’s list with one 4-wheel victory each are active racers B.J. Baldwin (2008), Kory Halopoff (2009), Mike Julson (1995), Curt LeDuc (1995), Harley Letner (2009), Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez (2015) and Gustavo ‘Tavo’ Vildosola Jr (2016).
With three motorcycle overall wins is active racers Justin Morgan (2015, 2017, 2018) and with two wins each on two-wheels are Max Eddy Jr (2014, 2015) and Mark Samuels (2016, 2018).
With one motorcycle overall win each are active racers Mike Childress (2005), Shane Esposito (2017) and Justin Jones (2018)..
ECHO 5—SCORE Baja 500
Governors of Baja California during the years of the SCORE Baja 500—Raúl Sánchez Díaz...1965-1971; Milton Castellanos Everado...1971-1977; Roberto De la Madrid Romandia...1977-1983; Xicontecatl Leyva Mortera...1983-1989; Oscar Baylon Chacón...Interim for eleven months in 1989; Ernesto Ruffo Appel...1989-1995; Héctor Terán Terán...1995-1998 (Died while in office); Alejandro González Alcocer...1998-2001 (Interim); Eugenio Elorduy Walther...2001-2007; José Guadalupe Osuna Millán...2007-2013 and Francisco Arturo Vega De la Madrid...2013-2019.
ECHO 6—SCORE Baja 500
Legendary Hall of Fame former SCORE owner Sal Fish joinws Hall of Fame retired racer Ivan ‘Ironman’ Stewart as co-Grand Marshals for last year’s 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 500.
Fish, the ‘godfather’ of desert racing who ran SCORE from its Baja start in 1974 for 38 years through the end of the 2012 season joined the iconic ‘Ironman’ Stewart  to share duties for the special golden anniversary race that they both have been such a major part of over the years.
Fish, who turned 80 this May 2 and Stewart who will turn 74 on June 4, were both active parts of the Golden Anniversary celebration of the popular early summer race.
ECHO 7—SCORE Baja 500
Among the drivers from other arenas who have tested the Baja 500 have been Indy Car racers Rick and Roger Mears, Parnelli Jones, Danny Ongias, Danny Sullivan, Jimmy Vasser, Roberto Guerrero, Michel Jourdain Jr., Johnny Unser and Mike and Robbie Groff, NASCAR’s Robby Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Boris Said and Brendan Gaughan, SCCA legend Elliot Forbes-Robinson, Pike’s Peak Hill Climb record holder Rod Millen, Drifting and Pike’s Peak champion Rhyss Millen, World Rally Championships’ Armin Schwarz, Armin Kremer, Andreas Aigner and Harri Pavanpera, world motorcycle champions Malcolm Smith, Larry Roeseler and Destry Abbott, Motocross legends Ricky Johnson and Jeremy McGrath, Dakar Rally Champions Cyril Dispres and Marc Coma, XGames star Travis Pastrana, Sports Car champion Larry Connor, drag racers Don Prudhomme and Larry Minor and legendary SCORE founder and motorsports innovator Mickey Thompson.
ECHO 8—SCORE Baja 500
Part of the legacy of this iconic race, SCORE presents the racers who have been overall winners of the SCORE San Felipe 250, SCORE Baja 500 and SCORE Baja 1000—the SCORE Baja Triple Crown Award.
The nine individuals who have earned this amazing honor are: Dave Ashley, Robby Gordon, Rob MacCachren, Andy McMillin, Scott McMillin, Larry Ragland, Dan Smith, Ivan Stewart and Gustavo ‘Tavo’ Vildosola Jr. Gordon, MacCachren, A. McMillin and Vildosola are all entered in this year’s race.
ECHO 9—SCORE Baja 500
Ensenada has hosted nearly all of the Baja 500 races.  The race officially became the SCORE Baja Internacional in 1974 and Sal Fish was finally able to negotiate the use of the name it was always called and it became the SCORE Baja 500 in 1991.
Overall, the world’s most well-known desert race has started 45 times in Ensenada, three times in Ojos Negros, once in Barstow, Calif. (USA), and once in San Felipe.
Overall, the SCORE Baja 500 has finished in 41 times in Ensenada, five times in Santo Tomas, twice in Ojos Negros, once in Barstow, Calif. (USA) and once in San Felipe.
Motorcycle classes have run in this race every year but 1989 when the race was moved to San Felipe very close to the race date.
ECHO 10—SCORE Baja 500
Legends are born at the SCORE Baja 500.  Drivers with the most overall wins in the race, Larry Roeseler is on top with 11 (including nine on a motorcycle and two in an open-wheel desert race car).
Second is Ivan ‘Ironman’ Stewart with the most overall 4-wheel victories by far with 10 (and he also has 17 total class wins including the 10 overalls).
Third in overall wins with five overall 4-wheel wins is ‘Lightning’ Larry Ragland.
With four overall 4-wheel wins each are Bobby Ferro, Robby Gordon and Malcolm Smith (including one on a motorcycle).
With three overall 4-wheel wins each are Dr. Bud Feldkamp, Troy Herbst, Mark McMillin, Mark’s brother Scott McMillin and Bryce Menzies.
With two overall 4-wheel wins each are Brian Collins, Bob Gordon (Robby’s father), Parnelli Jones, Rob MacCachren, Andy McMillin (Scott’s son), Corky McMillin (McMillin family patriarch) and Dan Smith (including one on a motorcycle).
Besides Roeseler with nine, the leaders in overall motorcycle wins are Steve Hengeveld (7), Johnny Campbell, Paul Krause, Bruce Ogilvie and Kendall Norman with five each.
With four each are Robby Bell and Ted Hunnicutt Jr and with three each are Scot Harden, Justin Morgan and Jonah Street.
ECHO 11—SCORE Baja 500
In the battle of manufacturers, several categories are presented.
Leaders in overall car/truck wins are Ford Truck (13), Chevy Truck (8), Funco, Chenowth and Toyota trucks with seven each and Jimco and Smithbuilt with three each.
Leaders in overall Tire manufacturers’ wins for cars/trucks are BFGoodrich Tires (32), Western Auto (5), Toyo Tires (3) and tied with two each are Firestone Tires, Goodyear Tires and Yokohama Tires.
The leaders in overall motorcycle wins are Honda (20), Husqvarna (12), Kawasaki (11) and Yamaha (4).
The leaders in overall engine wins for cars and trucks are Ford (15), Volkswagen (13), Chevy (12), Toyota (7) and Porsche (5).
ECHO 12—SCORE Baja 500
There are 12 racers who have overall victories in both the SCORE Baja 500 and the SCORE Baja 1000, which celebrated its 51st race last November.
Clearly leading with way was legendary Larry Roeseler who has 13 overall wins in the SCORE Baja 1000 and 11 in the SCORE Baja 500. Second is Larry Ragland who has five in each of the iconic SCORE races.
The other racers who have overall victories in both races along with their overall wins in each race are Andy McMillin (2 SCORE Baja 500, 5 SCORE Baja 1000), Robby Gordon (4, 3), Rob MacCachren (2, 4), Troy Herbst (3, 2), Scott McMillin (3, 2), B.J. Baldwin (1, 2), Gustavo ‘Tavo’ Vildosola Jr (1, 1), Mark Samuels (2, 4), Justin Morgan (3, 2) and Justin Jones (1, 3).
ECHO 13—SCORE Baja 500
In 50 years of this great race, non-U.S. drivers have been the fastest overall 4-wheel winners in this race twice and once in the motorcycle division. Both Mexican nationals, Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez of Tecate was the first non-American winner in 2015 in at Chevy SCORE Trophy Truck and Gustavo ‘Tavo’ Vildosola Jr of Mexicali followed up in 2016 by winning in a Ford SCORE Trophy Truck.
In 2017, Francisco Arredondo of Guatemala became the first non-U.S. racer to win the overall motorcycle titles as he was rider of record on the winning team of Americans—Shane Esposito/Justin Morgan and Mexico’s Roberto Villalobos of Tijuana.
ECHO 14—SCORE Baja 500
Looking at some overall stats from this legendary race, a total of 13,093 vehicles have started the first 50 races for an average of 261.9 starters per race. A total of 7,240 vehicles have finished the first 50 races for an average of 144.8 finishers per race. Percentage-wise, 55.3% is the average finishing rate for this legendary race.
In the first 50 years, the most ever starters came in 2007 when 492 vehicles left the start line and the second most starters was in 2006 when 438 started the race.
In the first 50 years, the most ever finishers came in 2007 when 228 finished race and the second most finishers was in 2006 when 221 vehicles finished the race.
In the first 50 years of the world’s most famous desert race, the fewest number of starters was the first race back in 1969 when there were 163 and the fewest number of finishers was also in 1969 when there were 73 finishers.
Overall there have been 10 SCORE Baja 500 races with 300 or more starters.
It will be memorable to see what these numbers are this year for the 51st anniversary race.
ECHO 15—SCORE Baja 500
In last year’s Golden Anniversary of the SCORE Baja 500, held over a race-record long race course of 542.12 miles, Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame racer Rob MacCachren earned the overall and SCORE Trophy Truck victory in his No. 11 Ford F-150 in a time of 11 hours, 21 minutes and 15 seconds.
Leading the motorcycles overall while winning the Pro Moto Unlimited Class was the three-rider team of rider of record Justin Morgan, Mark Samuels and Justin Jones with a time of 11:54:58 on the No. 7x Honda CRF450X.
ECHO 16—SCORE Baja 500
In the May issue of SCORE Journal digital magazine (www.SCORE-international.com) there is a special pictorial feature on the legendary BFGoodrich Tires Chevy Blazer built for the let Frank ‘Scoop’ Vessels by 1963 Indy 500 winner and two-time SCORE Baja 500 champion Parnelli Jones (1970, 1973). It is also a major preview issue for this year’s SCORE Baja 500.
ECHO 17—SCORE Baja 500
While the magnificent mystery of Baja California is infamous, the masters of SCORE Baja 500 have etched their names in the lasting legacy with their class wins in this legendary race.
There are 16 racers who have earned seven or more class wins in this event. History shows that the masters of this race are age-group motorcycle racer Jim O’Neal with 20 class wins, venerable Rod Hall with 18, Ivan ‘Ironman’ Stewart and Larry Roeseler with 17 each and age-group motorcycle legend Richard Jackson with 15 class wins.
While Roeseler leads with 11 overall wins (including nine on motorcycles), Stewart is right behind him with 10 overall victories (all in four-wheel vehicles and seven in PPI Toyota Trucks).
Tied with nine class wins each in this race are 4-wheel vehicle drivers Marcos Nunez and Donald Moss while tied with eight class wins each are veteran age-group motorcycle racer Lou Franco and Steve Hengeveld (with seven of his being overall motorcycle wins as well).
Seven racers are tied with seven class wins each—Sergio Gutierrez, Troy Herbst, Jeff Kaplan, Rob MacCachren, Larry Ragland, Arnoldo Ramirez and Eric Solorzano.
Of this illustrious group, expected to race in the 51st anniversary race and add to their legacy are O’Neal, Roeseler, Hengeveld, Herbst, MacCachren and Solorzano.
ECHO 18—SCORE Baja 500
SCORE Trophy Truck, which debuted in 1994, is celebrating its 26th season as the marquee racing division in the sport. It is the marquee racing division for high-tech, 950-horsepower, unlimited custom trucks.
The SCORE Baja 500 has seen the second largest fields of SCORE Trophy Truck in SCORE history, have 39 starters both in 2007 and in 2010.
Winning SCORE Trophy Truck and the overall in 2007 was the team of Larry Ragland/Brian Collins and in 2010, the SCORE Trophy Truck and overall winners were the son/father team of Andy McMillin/Scott McMillin.
The next highest total of SCORE Trophy Truck starters in SCORE history was in this race that had 37 starters in 2006, 2013 and 2014. The team of Brian Collins/Larry Ragland won the class and the race in 2006, Robby Gordon won in 2013 and Bryce Menzies won in 2014, his third SCORE Trophy Truck win in this race in a four-year period.
ECHO 19—SCORE Baja 500
SCORE Trophy Truck Take 2. SCORE Trophy Truck racers have won the overall in 14 out of the last 15 years in the SCORE Baja 500, including the last nine consecutive years.
The last overall winner in this race not driving a SCORE Trophy Truck was the team of cousins Harley Letner and Kory Halopoff who won the overall and the unlimited Class 1 in 2009 in a Chevy-powered Tatum open-wheel desert race car.
ECHO 20—SCORE Baja 500
The 51st anniversary SCORE Baja 500 race course, designed and finalized by SCORE President/Race Director Jose A. Grijalva, is a rugged, challenging 487.11 miles. The course will run in a clockwise direction starting and finishing for approximately one mile in each direction on the off-road track at the Lucas Oil Off-Road Stadium. The first and last 30.41 miles up to Uruapan and back will be shared course outbound and inbound.
The historic race course is another memorable example of all that Mexico’s Baja California has to offer, including high-speed dirt trails, sandy, rocky and silty natural terrain, majestic Baja washes and canyons, stretches along the Pacific Ocean seashore with elevations from sea level to over 3,000 feet. The course will be another jewel reflecting the mesmerizing, stark beauty of Baja California.
This year’s 51st anniversary course will have four physical checkpoints, 146 virtual checkpoints and 11 speed zones (total of 41.72 race miles).
The four checkpoints will be located as follows: Checkpoint No. 1-Nuevo Junction (Race Mile 144.50), Checkpoint No. 2-San Matias (RM 256.32), Checkpoint No. 3-Vicente Guerrero (RM 343.47) and Checkpoint No. 4-Santo Tomas (RM 446.08).
ECHO 21—SCORE Baja 500
As of today, there are 220 total entries for this year’s race from 25 U.S. States,. In addition to the USA, other countries with a racer entered so far this year are Host country Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Peru, Spain and Venezuela.
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. 19-23, Ensenada, Mexico
52nd SCORE Baja 1000, Nov.19-24, Ensenada, Mexico
ABC TV IN 2019
The 2019 SCORE World Desert Championship will be televised on the ABC TV family of networks, marking the first time back on the ABC network since the 1967 and 1968 coverage of the Baja 1000 on ABC’s old Wide World of Sports show.
The one-hour shows on the 33rd SCORE San Felipe 250, 51st SCORE Baja 500 and the 52nd SCORE Baja 1000 will be televised as part of ABC’s World of X Games year-long programming. Presented by SCORE sponsors Monster Energy and BFGoodrich Tires, the ABC World of X Games series profiles iconic action sports figures and also highlights athletes, artists, event previews and recaps.
The show for the SCORE San Felipe 250 is scheduled to air on ABC on Saturday, June 1 at 2:30 p.m. ET and 1:30 p.m. PT. Check local listings for time in each are of the country.
The inaugural Lucerna SCORE Baja 400 next September will air as a one-hour special on ESPN TV.
All of the SCORE race coverage shows will continue to air internationally in nearly 25 countries in Europe, Asia, Latin America and South America via syndication and ESPN International.
For more information regarding SCORE, visit the official website of the SCORE World Desert Championship at www.SCOREInternational.com.