Decade of Excellence -- SCORE World Desert Championship

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, dominic@score-international.com
January 6, 2020
2010-2019

Decade of Excellence expands SCORE World Desert

Championship progress deep into 21st century

 

     ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico—Beginning a new year always echoes a time of reflection as well as a visionary hope for the future. Even more so at the start of a new decade and SCORE International looks back on the last 10 fruitful years of the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization with justifiable pride, poise and passion.
A SCORE Decade of Excellence has seen many milestones reached and pinnacles climbed as the SCORE World Desert Championship prepares to launch its 2020 four-race series. For the fifth consecutive year all four of the SCORE races will be held in Mexico’s majestic Baja California peninsula.
Astonishing, amazing and astounding would be three key adjectives that best describe the last 10 years of SCORE desert racing. Most notable of which runs the spectrum from the surprising retirement of iconic SCORE owner Sal Fish after the 2012 season to the 2019 signing of the unprecedented signing of the special Strategic Tourism Alliance between SCORE and the Mexican Federal government.
Among the myriad other accomplishments, milestones and benchmark moments in SCORE history during the last 10 years included are the 50th anniversary celebrations of both the iconic SCORE Baja 1000 and the legendary SCORE Baja 500 along with the release of the historic Dust2Glory movie, completing 26 years of the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division, the successful launch of the acclaimed digital magazine SCORE Journal, a barely 20-year old Mexican racer capturing the SCORE Trophy Truck season point championship three consecutive years and continuing initiatives and expansion of the SCORE safety procedures and protocols for its popular events.
SCORE REFLECTS
“SCORE is the standard for the sport of desert racing world-wide and this past decade saw SCORE increase its reach and impact significantly,” said Jim Ryan, SCORE Marketing and Sales Director. “SCORE has initiated and implemented several expanded safety resources and education which are both key elements for the growth of our sport and series.”
“The SCORE World Desert Championship continues to attract the world’s best racers not only from desert racing, but also Formula 1, NASCAR, Indy Car, Sports Car racing and Dakar Rally racing. In these past 10 years we have made tremendous progress in developing our live streaming capabilities, technology for the race vehicles and introducing an expansive digital media presence led by the award-winning SCORE Journal online monthly digital magazine.”
     Here’s a brief look at several of the many memorable moments during the last decade of SCORE International…
-THE NORMANS
SCORE Trophy Truck champion racer Roger Norman and his gregarious, multi-talented wife Elise Norman have overseen the great treasure known as SCORE International starting with the 2013 season.
Business entrepreneurs based in Reno, Nev., their tremendous tireless efforts have helped SCORE achieve the highest standards for safety, media presentation and technology while their staff continues to produce the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Series.
As a racer, Norman won the SCORE Baja 1000 in SCORE Trophy Truck in 2008 with Larry Roeseler and then started the last decade in 2010 by finishing third in a peninsula run while driving solo in that year’s SCORE Baja 1000.
-SAL FISH RETIREMENT
After 38 at years at the helm of SCORE International, iconic Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Famer Sal Fish, the godfather of SCORE desert racing, retired after selling SCORE on Dec. 20, 2012.
Fish brought many innovations to the sport and developed the rule book that has been the standard template in the sport for over four decades.
The crown jewel of his career was creating the featured SCORE Trophy Truck racing division for high-tech, 950-horsepower, unlimited custom trucks in 1994.
He also was the mastermind behind the old SCORE World Championships short-course event that was held for over 20 years at the old Riverside International Raceway.
And he was one of the key catalysts in putting together the combined HDRA/SCORE Desert Series that successfully ran for seven years from 1985-1991.
-STRATEGIC ALLIANCE WITH MEXICO
In early November 2019 in Mexico City, SCORE signed an unprecedented Strategic Tourism Alliance with the Mexican Federal Government.
Marking the first time a special initiative like this has been finalized by the Mexican government with an international racing organization, Baja California State Senator and SCORE Baja racer Gerardo Novelo, of Ensenada, was a key catalyst in developing this expanded relationship with the Federal Secretary of Tourism (SECTUR) and SCORE.
The historic agreement was officially announced during a special media conference at the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in Ensenada, Mexico on Friday, Nov. 22, 2019 on the eve of the BFGoodrich Tires 52nd SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts.
Among those joining Senator Novelo in Ensenada for the announcement conference at the Riviera were Baja California Governor Jaime Bonilla, Federal Secretary of Tourism (SECTUR) Representative Nicolas Cano, Ensenada Mayor Armando Ayala, Baja California Under Secretary of Tourism Ivete Casillas, ProTurismo de Ensenada President Nico Saad as well several local business representatives.
The actual signing of the unprecedented alliance agreement took place on Nov. 6, 2019 in Mexico City. The agreement is between SCORE and the Mexican Government through the Federal Secretary of Tourism (SECTUR).
-TWO 50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS
This past decade also saw SCORE celebrate anniversaries of two of the top motorsports events in the world. The BFGoodrich Tires 50th SCORE Baja 1000 was held in 2017 and the BFGoodrich Tires 50th SCORE Baja 500 was held in 2018.
Mexico’s youthful superstar Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez (22 in 2017) teamed with his veteran father Juan C. Lopez (43 in 2017) to etch their name indelibly as the overall and SCORE Trophy Truck winners at the 50th annual BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 Nov. 16-18, 2017 on Mexico’s magnificent Baja California peninsula.
The world’s most iconic, oldest, prestigious and longest continuously held desert race was held over a 1,134.40-mile rugged race course down Mexico’s majestic Baja California peninsula, starting in Ensenada, Baja California Norte and finishing in La Paz, Baja California Sur.
There were 404 total starters and 237 official finishers (58.66 percent) racing in Pro and Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads. Racers came from 44 U.S. States, the District of Columbia, two U.S. Territories and 28 countries.
     Patience and fortitude along with a trusty steed carried Las Vegas’ iconic Hall of Fame desert racer Rob MacCachren (53 in 2018), as he won the golden anniversary celebration of the 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 500 in dynamic fashion by starting first, never losing the physical lead.
Round 2 of the four-race 2018 SCORE World Desert Championship was held June 2-3 in Mexico’s Baja California, starting and finishing in Ensenada, the seaside port on the Pacific Ocean, 80 miles south of San Diego. The course distance was 542.12 miles.
With the 321 official starters being a solid eighth-most and the 187 finishers the fifth-most in the 50-year history of the SCORE Baja 500, entries came from 32 U.S. States, two U.S. Territories and 14 total countries in the 2018 race.
-HALLmarks
For the first eight years of the decade (2010-2017), the late great Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Famer Rod Hall competed in the final eight of his unmatchable streak of racing in the first 50 SCORE Baja 1000 races. He capped his career in 2017 by capturing his race-record 25th class victory in the Granddaddy of all Desert Races.
Hall passed away after a lengthy illness at home in Reno, Nev. in June of 2019.
-BAJA BOOKS
In conjunction with both 50th anniversary celebrations, SCORE produced special commemorative books for each race. Edited by SCORE Marketing and Sales Director Jim Ryan with art direction by Jack Wright and numerous contributors both editorially and pictorially, the colorful books are massive, full of engaging feature stories, thousands of pictures and historical data for the two premier races in the desert racing world.
Both hard-bound collector’s items, the 2017 SCORE Baja 1000 book is 416 pages and the 2018 SCORE Baja 500 edition is 432 colorful pages.
Each phenomenal book includes extensive coverage in print and image of the 50th anniversary race of each respective event, but complete historical records of each race as recorded and developed by long-time SCORE Media Operations Director Dominic Clark along with dramatic images from SCORE Official Photographer Art Eugenio.
Both books are still available individually or as a special two-book set through the SCORE store on the SCORE website at www.score-international.com.
-SCORE SAFETY PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE
The significant and ever-expanding SCORE safety initiatives were at their highest level at the 2017 BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000. And innovations continue in this significantly important area.
That race utilized the new STELLA tracking system and there were 25 rescue vehicles and ambulances stretched along the race course provided by Cruz Roja Mexicana (Mexican Red Cross).
There were also three dedicated rescue vehicles with full complement of extrication tools, medical supplies and professional Fire-Rescue crews monitoring and advancing along with the race.
There were two medical Air Ambulances staffed with a critical care nurse and paramedic.
The SCORE Medical/Rescue Helicopter was staffed with two advanced life support rescue paramedics and supplies.
“Weatherman” race communications was at three locations with one fixed on Mount Diablo and two in separate airplanes following the race course for constant communications and safety for the participants.
Over 50 satellite radios/phones were utilized for direct safety communications along the course. There was also full internet capability throughout the command centers and Rescue units monitoring live updates, locations, communications and any race-related emergencies that may arise.
The event’s experienced staff of medical and rescue/safety professionals also standard VHF radio communications as well as cell phone communications.
SCORE continues to adhere to the ‘safety-first’ philosophy and continually contributes significant resources to this vitally important aspect of its massive events.
-SCORE JOURNAL
The SCORE Journal, launched in 2015, is published as 12 monthly online digital magazines, which includes four print editions that are available as the SCORE race programs at the four events that comprise the SCORE World Desert Championship along with another print edition for the annual SCORE Awards Night.
While the magazine has many contributors, the publisher is Jim Ryan and editor is Dan Sanchez.
The SCORE Journal sees an average of nearly 2 million unique viewers each month of its English edition and over 200,000 per month unique viewers each month of its Spanish version.
-SCORE AWARDS NIGHT IN SAN DIEGO
SCORE International will celebrate this Saturday (Jan. 11, 2020) for the third straight year at the popular San Diego Air & Space Museum at the historic Balboa Park as the event will commemorate the 2019 SCORE World Desert Championship.
At the San Diego Air & Space Museum, nearly 600 SCORE racers, family, friends, crews, sponsors and media will bask in the sunny Southern California spotlight as the SCORE Awards Night will honor the history and fame of the name which is the standard for desert racing worldwide while honoring the four-race 2019 SCORE World Desert Championship.
-DUST 2 GLORY RELEASE
Nearly 18 months in the making, Dana Brown’s long-awaited ‘Dust 2 Glory,’ the follow-up motorsports documentary to highly-acclaimed ‘Dust to Glory,’ launched in 2005, had a successful special nationwide premiere event in U.S. Cinemas on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017.
‘Dust 2 Glory’ was produced by BCII in association with SCORE International and Dana Brown Films. BCII’s Bud Brutsman was the executive producer.
Following in the trail of ‘Dust to Glory,’ the ‘Dust 2 Glory’ movie chronicled each of the four races in the 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship as well as the 2015 SCORE Baja 1000. Brown’s original ‘Dusty to Glory’ became an iconic classic showcasing the legendary SCORE Baja 1000.
-‘APDALY’ LOPEZ TRIPLE
Starting when he was just 20 years old, Mexico’s Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez earned a record three-straight SCORE Trophy Truck season point championships. From Tecate, Mexico, Lopez continues to drive for the champion RPM Racing team from Bristol, Tenn. in the No. 9 Chevy Rally Truck, built by Geiser Brothers of Phoenix. He captured his three consecutive SCORE Trophy Truck season championships in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
His milestone moment saw him split driving with his father Juan C. Lopez to win the 50th anniversary SCORE Baja 1000, a peninsula race to La Paz in November of 2017 to earn the US$50,000 contingency bonus from race title sponsor BFGoodrich Tires.
-MORGAN MAGNIFICENCE
Repeating his 2017 and 2018 SCORE Overall Motorcycle and Pro Moto Unlimited class point championships by amazingly winning his class and the overall titles in all four races in 2018 as a new team and again in 2019 for 11 straight SCORE Baja race wins for Justin Morgan, 29, El Cajon, Calif. on his No. 1x SLR Honda CRF450X.
With his regular teammates Mark Samuels, 29, Yucca Valley, Calif. and Justin Jones, 27, Murrieta, Calif., both sidelined with injuries, Morgan topped his third straight championship season by enlisting three different co-riders to win the 2019 SCORE Baja 1000 last November. Splitting the riding with Morgan in that race were David Kamo, Caldwell, Idaho, Max Eddy Jr, Barstow, Calif. and Shane Esposito, Temecula, Calif.
-SCORE TROPHY TRUCKS 
Launched in 1994 by then SCORE owner Sal Fish, SCORE Trophy Truck, the marquee desert racing division for high-tech, 950-horsepower, unlimited custom trucks, culminated its 26th season in 2019. SCORE Trophy Trucks were the SCORE Overall point champions in eight years of the last decade.
Running its first four seasons (1994-97) as its own race series (The Tecate SCORE Trophy Truck Series), SCORE has produced 135 races in 25 years that have featured SCORE Trophy Truck.
The Monsters of the Desert are driven by many of the top desert racers in the world. The high-powered vehicles themselves are serious investments, ranging in cost from $500,000 to over $1 million each.
There have been 16 drivers who have combined to win the 26 SCORE Trophy Truck season point championships. Eight of those racers have won the season title more than once.
On the All-Time SCORE Trophy Truck multiple season point champions list are Las Vegas’ four-time champs Ed Herbst/Tim Herbst (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003) in the No. 19 Monster Energy Terrible Herbst Motorsports Ford F-150 and Las Vegas’ B.J. Baldwin (2006, 2008, 2012, 2013) in the No. 97 Monster Energy Baldwin Motorsports Toyota Tundra.
Mexico’s three-time season champ is Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez (2015, 2016, 2017) in the No. 5 RPM Racing Chevy Rally Truck and the other three-time season champion is Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas (1994, 2007, 2018), in the No. 11 Rockstar MacCachren Motorsports Ford F-150.
Former NASCAR team owner/driver and IndyCar racer Robby Gordon, Charlotte, N.C. (1996, 2009) has two season point crowns in the No. 77 Speed Energy Gordon Motorsports Chevy Silverado. Retired racers David Ashley/Dan Smith (1998, 2001) also won the SCORE Trophy Truck season point title twice driving a Ford truck.
Racers with one SCORE Trophy Truck season point championship are Ivan Stewart (1995), Curt LeDuc (1997), Jason Baldwin (2004-deceased), Bob Shepard (2005), Mark Post (2007 with MacCachren), Jesse Jones (2010), Bryce Menzies (2011), Steven Eugenio (2014) and Andy McMillin (2019).
-W. MATLOCK TAKES ’18 OVERALL POINTS IN UTV
Veteran champion desert racer Wayne Matlock, Alpine, Calif. drove solo for the entire 1,802.68 rugged desert miles to become the first UTV racer to win the SCORE Overall Point season championship, capturing the title in the four-race 2018 SCORE World Desert Championship.
Tied in the SCORE overall point’s race for 2018 with eventual SCORE Trophy Truck season point champion Rob MacCachren of Las Vegas entering November’s season-ending 51st SCORE Baja 1000, Matlock capped his remarkable season with his solo drive to the 2018 SCORE Overall and his extremely popular Pro UTV FI (Forced Induction) class.
Matlock doubled up in 2019 by becoming the SCORE Overall Pro UTV point champion and winner of his Pro UTV FI class for the second consecutive year.
Matlock, 41, Alpine, Calif. had finishes of first, fourth, fifth and second in 2019 in his No. 2971 Monster Energy Polaris RZR XP4 Turbo to earn his seventh career SCORE season class point crown.  Among his many titles was the 2010 Class 25 season title for Pro Quads.
-SCORE BAJA TRIPLE CROWN
Honored for the first time at the 2016 SCORE Awards Night were the nine all-time winners of the SCORE Triple Crown of Baja, presented by BFGoodrich Tires. The award honors the individuals who have won the overall title at the three traditional SCORE Baja races—the SCORE San Felipe 250, the SCORE Baja 500 and the SCORE Baja 1000.
Winning the 2016 SCORE Baja 500 to complete his overall trifecta was Mexico’s Gustavo ‘Tavo’ Vildosola Jr of Mexicali. Vildosola Jr has joined the others in the elite group of overall SCORE Baja race winners—Dave Ashley, Robby Gordon, Rob MacCachren, Andy McMillin, Scott McMillin, Larry Ragland, Dan Smith and Ivan Stewart.
-B.J. BALDWIN FOUR-TIMER
Las Vegas’ B.J. Baldwin, a two-time SCORE Overall point champion (2012, 2013) in the past decade, is a four-time SCORE Trophy Truck season point champion (2006, 2007, 2012, 2013). Baldwin also has six career SCORE Trophy Truck race wins. Now he drives in the No. 97 Monster Energy Toyota Tundra.
-MAC ATTACK
Legendary Las Vegas Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame racer Rob MacCachren enjoyed a strong decade, pushing his career win total in SCORE Trophy Truck to 17 while earning his third SCORE Overall Season point titles (2018) and his third SCORE Trophy Truck season championship (2018).
Pushing his career victory total to 315 in desert, short-course and stadium racing, MacCachren’s decade included winning a US$25,000 contingency bonus from BFGoodrich Tires for winning the 2017 50th anniversary race of the SCORE Baja 500.
Turning 55 in 2020, MacCachren teamed with Mark Post to win the 2007 title and drove most of his 2018 championship season solo. He also won the first SCORE Trophy Truck season championship in 1994 when he was racing for the old BFGoodrich Tires Ford Roughriders team.
The winningest all-time desert racer, MacCachren also won three consecutive SCORE Baja 1000 races in the last decade. He won in 2014 with Jason Voss and Andy McMillin, 2015 with McMillin and 2016 with Voss.
-MAN OF STEELE
Veteran SCORE racer, TV Action Sports Announcer and Baja tour guide, popular Cameron Steele and his Desert Assassins race team pulled off a very special double to end the 2018 season. Steele, of San Clemente, Calif., won the SCORE Desert Challenge in Tijuana in September 2018 and then backed up his first SCORE Trophy Truck race win by capturing the 51st SCORE Baja 1000 in Ensenada in November 2018.
Prior to his first two SCORE Trophy Truck race wins, the dedicated Steele had been an active competitor in the marquee racing division for 13 consecutive years.
-MENZIES UNBELIEVABLE ’11
Las Vegas’ Bryce Menzies burst onto the SCORE racing seen in 2011 by winning two races, capturing the 2011 SCORE Overall and SCORE Trophy Truck point championship as well as being voted the 2011 SCORE Rookie of the Year.
Through 2019, Menzies has five career SCORE Trophy Truck race wins.
-OFF-ROAD EXPO
For the entire decade, SCORE provided a major display at the spectacular Off-Road Expo trade show at the Los Angeles County Fairplex in Pomona, Calif.
Filling upwards of half of an exhibit hall at the Fairplex at the SCORE Baja 1000 exhibit with SCOREvision, vehicle displays, apparel, autograph sessions with the legends of Baja, SCORE also unveiled the official course map for that year’s SCORE Baja 1000 at the popular public show.
-UDALL FOURSOME
Before he was beset with numerous injuries, Colton Udall had a run of four SCORE Overall motorcycle and Pro Moto Unlimited season point championships in six years in the last decade (2011, 2012, 2015, 2016) riding on Honda motorcycles.
During that run Udall, from San Clemente, Calif., also won the SCORE Baja 1000 four times in five years (2012, 2013, 2015, 2016).
-SEMA SHOW/LVMS QUALIFYING
For five years in the last decade (2014-2018) SCORE participated in the largest industry trade show in the world as well as presented a special qualifying event for the SCORE Baja 1000.
SCORE Baja 1000 Qualifying, presented by BFGoodrich Tires, was part of the massive celebratory SEMA SCORE Baja 1000 Experience, also presented by BFGoodrich Tires, that for five straight years was a major spotlight attraction during the popular annual SEMA Show trade gathering being held at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The qualifying was held for five years in front of capacity crowds each year of over 3,000 fans at the off-road track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
While there were other classes some years, SCORE Trophy Trucks were featured all five years.
With a second-driver often running the trucks for qualifying, the previous fastest SCORE Trophy Truck qualifiers in the five years of this special Las Vegas qualifying event at LVMS were Robby Gordon, Mooresville, N.C. in 2014 and 2017, Ricky Johnson, Trabuco Canyon, Calif. (Driver of Record-Justin Matney, Bristol, Tenn.) in 2015 and again in 2018 (DOR-Larry Connor, Miamisburg, Ohio) and Kyle LeDuc, Temecula, Calif. (DOR-Mark Post, Las Vegas) in 2016.
- SCORE NEWS IN LA CRONICA & FRONTERA
Starting in 2017 and written by SCORE General Manager Juan Tintos Funcke, SCORE News has been a colorful bi-weekly column in the La Cronica and Frontera newspapers in Baja California, Mexico.
The columns have been a great communication tool for SCORE with its hundreds of thousands of fans in Mexico.
-PRICE PULLS OFF IRONWOMAN CLASS WIN
Sara Price, an accomplished motocross, rally, X Games and Stadium Super Trucks racer has made her presence felt in the SCORE World Desert Championship.
After finishing eighth in season points in the super-competitive Trophy Truck Spec class as a rookie in 2018, she ended the decade by winning the 2019 Trophy Truck Spec season point championship.
From Canyon Lake, Calif., Price, 27, drove solo each race and finished in second place on the podium in each race to also earn her first Rod Hall SCORE Milestone Award in the No. 204 RPM Racing Geiser-Chevy.
-RECORD SCORE MILESTONE AWARDS
After rough-riding their way through 2,025.43 dusty, crusty, challenging, grueling and unforgiving SCORE Baja desert racing miles, 47 of the world’s best desert racers survived the challenge of the four-race 2019 SCORE World Desert Championship and emerged to earn coveted 2019 Rod Hall SCORE Milestone Awards, presented by VP Racing Fuels.
The 47 racers, competing in 18 different classes in the series for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads, earned their prestigious honors by finishing every required mile in the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Series.
SCORE is presenting these prestigious awards to the world’s toughest desert racers for the 34th consecutive year. The SCORE Milestone awards will be presented to the car, truck, UTV drivers and motorcycle, quad riders who finish every required mile in the 2019 SCORE World Desert Championship.
-CHAMLEE UNDEFEATED IN DECADE
Veteran champion desert racer Dan Chamlee had a remarkable decade of consistency, winning the Class 7 season point championship each of the 10 years (2010-2019) in his No. 700 Ford Ranger.
From Montecito, Calif., Chamlee has now won season point championships in 15 of the last 16 years, including 14 straight in his class for unlimited six-cylinder, production appearing trucks or SUVs.
-SCORE DESERT CHALLENGE
After 18 years in Laughlin, Nev., including 2010, 2011 and two rounds in 2012, the unique-format two-day SCORE Desert Challenge was also held four more times in the last decade.
In 2014 it was held in Plaster City, Calif. where it was won by Steven Eugenio who is from nearby El Centro, Calif.
After a one-year hiatus, the SCORE Desert Challenge was then held in Mexico for the first time for three years. In 2016 in Rosarito Beach, Juan C. Lopez was the winner followed by two years in Tijuana (2017 won by Josh Daniel and 2018 won by Cameron Steele).
-MCMILLIN MAGIC
After building up a huge lead following his tenacious victories in the 33rd SCORE San Felipe 250 and the 51st SCORE Baja 500 along with his second place finish in a brand new race truck at the Inaugural Lucerna SCORE Baja 400, San Diego’s ‘youthful’ veteran third-generation desert racer Andy McMillin held on in the season-finale to earn the 2019 SCORE Overall and the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck season point championship in the four-race 2019 SCORE World Desert Championship.
McMillin, 32, who has 11 career SCORE Trophy Truck race wins, drives the No. 31 McMillin Motorsports Mason-built all-wheel drive Chevy Silverado.
-CREEL SCORES
International Motorcycle Rally Racer Santiago Creel has made a major impression in his three years competing in multiple classes in the SCORE World Desert Championship (2017, 2018, 2019).
Creel, of Mexico City, with several international teammates who are also international motorcycle rally racers, he has won four season point titles in three years competing in three motorcycle classes (2017, 2018 and two in 2019).
Further, he has now earned six Rod Hall SCORE Milestone Awards with his talented teams—one in 2017, two in 2018 and a SCORE record three SCORE Milestone Awards in 2019 (Pro Moto Unlimited, Pro Moto Limited and Pro Moto 30).
-SCORE TT LEGEND
Always on the cutting edge of innovation, SCORE introduced the SCORE TT Legend class in 2017 for SCORE Trophy Truck drivers over 50 years old that choose to race in this new class.
Clyde Stacy, Bristol, Va., won both the season class point title in 2017 and 2019. He won in 2017 with WRC racer Armin Schwarz of Germany and in 2019 with Nick Vanderwey, Phoenix.
Stacy drives the No. 5L Chevy Rally Truck and he won two races in 2019.
The 2018 title for SCORE TT Legend was won by the team of Mexico’s Gus Vildosola Sr and Scott Bailey, Riverside, Calif.
-SCORE BAJA 400 DEBUTS
SCORE introduced a new race in 2019, the Inaugural Lucerna SCORE Baja 400 in Sept. The race start/finish line area was at the Estero Beach Resort on the south end of Ensenada. It marked the first time SCORE had ever started or finished a race at the luxurious resort.
SCORE second-generation veteran racer Ryan Arciero, Lake Forest, Calif., was the overall and SCORE Trophy Truck winner in his No. 32 Ford F-150. The race that saw 189 total starters and 146 total finishers.
It also marked the first year that SCORE would have three races in Ensenada, the ‘Off-Road Capital of the World’.
SCOREscope
2020 SCHEDULE
Here is the four-race 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship and for the fifth consecutive year all races will be held in Baja California, Mexico:
34th SCORE San Felipe 250, March 25-29, San Felipe, Mexico
BFGoodrich Tires 52nd SCORE Baja 500, presented by 4 Wheel Parts, June 3-7, Ensenada, Mexico
2nd SCORE Baja 400, Sept. 16-20, Ensenada, Mexico
BFGoodrich Tires 53rd SCORE Baja 1000, Nov.16-21, presented by 4 Wheel Parts, Ensenada, Baja California to La Paz, Baja California Sur
ABC TV IN 2019
The 2019 SCORE World Desert Championship aired on the ABC family of networks. The season was capped by the Jan. 5 airing of the one-hour special on the BFGoodrich Tires 52nd SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts on ABC TV’s World of X Games program.
It marked the return of Baja racing to ABC for the first time since the 1967 and 1968 Baja 1000 races on the old ABC Wide World of Sports show.
All of the SCORE race coverage shows also continue to air internationally in nearly 25 countries in Europe, Asia, Latin America and South America via syndication and ESPN International.
SCORE SPONSORS…
Official SCORE Sponsors: BFGoodrich Tires-Official Tire and Race Title Sponsor, Monster Energy-Official Energy Drink, 4 Wheel Parts-Official Off-Road Retailer and Race Presenting Partner, Ford-Official Truck and SUV, King Shocks-Official Shock Absorber, Polaris RZR-Official UTV, RACELINE Wheels-Official Wheel, VP Racing Fuels-Official Fuel, Wide Open Excursions-Official Arrive and Drive Company, Crystal Bay Casino-Official Casino.
SCORE Official Partners: PCI Race Radios, The Satellite Phone Store, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance and Lucerna Hotels.
Additional SCORE Associate Partners: Baja California Secretary of Tourism, XXIII Ensenada Municipal Government, XXIII Mexicali Municipal Government, Mexicali and San Felipe COTUCO, Cruz Roja Mexicana.
For more information regarding SCORE, visit the official website of the SCORE World Desert Championship at www.SCOREInternational.com.