Gordon, COPS, Vildosola, Matlocks new entries--34th SCORE San Felipe 250

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, dominic@score-international.com
March 2, 2020
Season Opener March 24-29

Gordon, COPS, Vildosola Jr,  Matlocks among 19 States,
5 countries on latest entry list for 34th SCORE San Felipe 250

 

ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico – Countdown to race week shows 21 days as racers from across the U.S. and around the globe are making preparations for the start of pre-running and the big show itself—the 34th Annual SCORE San Felipe 250 in Baja California, Mexico.
The season-opening event of the four-race internationally-televised 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship will be held March 24-29 in San Felipe, the peaceful fishing village on the Sea of Cortez, 125 miles south of the U.S. Border at Calexico, Calif. All four 2020 SCORE races will be held on Mexico’s magnificent Baja California peninsula for the fifth consecutive year.
Domestically, the race will be televised on a delayed basis on the World of X Games show on the ABC Television Network as co-produced by SCORE International and award-winning BCII TV of Los Angeles.
The course has been plotted with several sections not used before or not in several years and COPS Racing has entered three vehicles in premier classes as 94 total early entries to date have come from 19 U.S. States along with host country Mexico, Canada, Denmark and New Zealand. Also leading the latest entries in the race are SCORE’s NASCAR and IndyCar veteran Robby Gordon, Mexico’s Gustavo ‘Tavo’ Vildosola and husband/wife racers Wayne Matlock and Kristen Matlock.
ROBBY
SCORE Trophy Truck champion racer Robby Gordon, of Charlotte, N.C., has entered this year’s SCORE San Felipe 250 in his No. 77 Chevy Silverado.
A second-generation desert racer, Gordon, 51, who also owns, operates and races in his own stadium super truck off-road series, has four career SCORE season point titles including two in the featured SCORE Trophy Truck (1996 and 2009). He also has 11 career SCORE Trophy Truck race wins which ties him for second on the all-time list with Ed/Tim Herbst, Andy McMillin and Larry Ragland.
Gordon was also the 2009 SCORE Overall season point champion and he is one of just nine racers who have won the SCORE Baja Triple Crown Award presented to drivers who have won at least one Overall victory in each of the traditional SCORE Baja races—SCORE San Felipe 250, SCORE Baja 500 and SCORE Baja 1000.
COPS RACING TEAM
As if award-winning Hollywood executive John Langley wasn’t busy enough creating and producing 1081 episodes over the last 32 seasons of the acclaimed COPS reality TV show, he is also celebrating the 12th year of his colorful COPS Racing Team by entering three vehicles among the early entries in next month’s SCORE San Felipe 250 in Baja California, Mexico.
GODFATHER OF ‘REALITY TV’
The creator and executive producer of the COPS show that debuted in 1989, John Langley is considered the ‘godfather’ of reality TV by his peers and in 2011 was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the television industry. COPS has been airing on the FOX Network for nearly a decade.
In 2008 Langley and his sons Morgan and Zak launched the COPS Racing Team which has successfully competed for the last 12 years in the SCORE World Desert Championship.
While the affable and philanthropic John Langley might end up with the COPS logo on other vehicles, the official COPS Racing Team entries for this year’s SCORE San Felipe 250 from their race shop in Carson, Calif., will be in SCORE Trophy Truck, SCORE TT Legend and the unlimited Class 1 divisions. All three race vehicles were built by ES Motorsports.
Zak Langley, 44, will race the No. 50 ESM-built Ford F-150 in the featured SCORE Trophy Truck division for high-tech, 950 horsepower unlimited custom trucks, family patriarch John Langley, 76, will be ‘DOR’ in the No. 50L ESM-Ford truck and Morgan Langley, 46, will be the driver of record in the No. 150 ESM-Chevy powered open-wheel desert race car in the unlimited Class 1.
All three plan on having a second driver in San Felipe. Steve Hengeveld, Flagstaff, Ariz., will be Zak Langley’s second driver in the No. 50 SCORE Trophy Truck while John Langley’s second driver in the No. 50L SCORE TT Legend (drivers over 50 years old) will be veteran desert racing champion and AMA and Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Famer Ricky Johnson, 55, Trabuco Canyon, Calif. Paul Keller, El Cajon, Calif. will be the other driver for Morgan Langley’s No. 150 Class 1 car.
Zak Langley and Kyle Jergensen teamed up for the 2018 SCORE Baja 1000 where they finished eighth out of 36 starters in SCORE Trophy Truck.
Hengeveld has four overall motorcycle wins in the SCORE San Felipe 250 (2001 through 2004) and along with Kash Vessels, Mooresville, N.C., helped John Langley defeat 26 starters in Trophy Truck Spec to win their class in the epic 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 in 2017.
Morgan Langley and Keller teamed to win Class 1 in the 2018 SCORE Baja 1000.
‘TAVO’ TIME
Gustavo ‘Tavo’ Vildosola Jr, one of the very top desert racers in all of Mexico, has entered as well in SCORE Trophy Truck. Tavo, whose father Gus Sr was the SCORE TT Legend point champion with Scott Bailey in 2018, has six class wins in the SCORE San Felipe 250.
Tavo won his first three in the ProTruck class and then became the first racer to win three straight years in SCORE Trophy Truck (2013, 2014 and 2015), sharing the wheel with his father in 2013 and driving solo for the other two victories.
This year in San Felipe, Tavo will drive his No. 21 Ford Raptor SCORE Trophy Truck built by Vildosola Racing.  He has six career SCORE Trophy Truck race wins and he is one of just nine racers who have won the SCORE Baja Triple Crown by winning the overall in the three historic SCORE Baja races—SCORE San Felipe 250, SCORE Baja 500 and SCORE Baja 1000.
THE MATLOCKS
Clearly the most prolific husband/wife racers in the SCORE World Desert Championship, Wayne Matlock, 42, and his wife Kristen Matlock, 39, from Alpine, Calif., are another pair of veteran SCORE desert racers and both had superlative seasons in the last two years racing in two separate UTV classes. The Matlocks also have two young children, both boys.
With two race wins and two second-place finishes, Wayne Matlock was the 2018 SCORE Overall season point champion while winning the Pro UTV FI (Forced Induction) class in his No. 2971 Polaris RZR XP4 Turbo. He repeated his class point title last year as well with one race win.
Wayne Matlock has won seven SCORE class season point championships in his illustrious career, the first five on a quad and he has seven class wins in the SCORE San Felipe 250, four on a quad and the last three straight in the Pro UTV FI class.
Kristen Matlock finished third in the season points in the Pro UTV NA (Naturally Aspirated) in 2018 after starting the season with two impressive class victories. In last year’s SCORE Baja 500 she was also the overall UTV winner, defeating over 50 UTVs in the race.
Kristen Matlock finished second in season points in her class in 2019 earning two race wins along the way.
In the last two SCORE San Felipe 250 races, the Matlocks each won their respective classes and Wayne Matlock has now won his class in San Felipe the last three straight years.
SPRING BREAK
Celebrating the 34th anniversary of the youngest of the three legendary SCORE Baja races, sometimes referred to as the SCORE ‘baby Baja’, entries are being accepted on the SCORE website under Race Info at www.SCOREInternational.com for Pro and Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads.
Pre-race festivities will be held in San Felipe on March 24, 25, 26 and 27 with race days on Saturday and Sunday March 28, 29 concluding with the post-race awards fiesta at Noon PT on Sunday, March 29.
The deadline to enter online in time to be in the drawing for starting positions within each class is 8 p.m. PT on Friday, March 13. Official pre-running on the approximate 330-mile race course will open at 8 a.m. PT on Saturday, March 14.
SCORE TROPHY TRUCKS & SCORE TT LEGENDS
SCORE Trophy Truck, the marquee SCORE racing division for high-tech, 950-horsepower unlimited custom trucks leads the early entry list with 20 vehicles (including five SCORE TT Legend entries) in the lineup so far. In addition to Gordon and Zak Langley, the other early SCORE Trophy Truck entries are defending race and season point champion Andy McMillin, 32, San Diego (No. 1 Chevy Silverado), his cousins Luke McMillin, 27, San Diego (No. 83 Ford F-150) and Dan McMillin, 32, San Diego (No. 17 Chevy 1500), B.J. Baldwin, Las Vegas (No. 97 Toyota Tundra), Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez, Tecate, Mexico (No. 2 Chevy Silverado), Cameron Steele, San Clemente, Calif. (No. 16 Ford Raptor), Devin Housh, Desert Hot Springs, Calif. (No. 45 Ford F-150), Alan Ampudia, Ensenada, Mexico (No. 10 Ford Raptor), Mike Lawrence, Banning, Calif. (No. 85 Ford F-150), Bobby Pecoy, Yorba Linda, Calif.  (No. 14 Ford Raptor), Adam Householder, Anaheim, Calif. (No. 24 Ford F-150), Chris Miller, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (No. 40 Chevy Silverado) and Dave Taylor, Page, Ariz. (No. 26 Chevy Silverado).
In addition to John Langley, SCORE TT Legend (for drivers 50 years and older), entries so far are Russell Buehler, Kansas City, Kansas (No. 79L Ford Raptor), Rob Reinertson, Woodside, Calif. (No. 72L Ford F-150), Dave Westhem, Tahoe City, Calif. (No. 81L Ford F-150) and Jim Bult, Monee, Ill. (No. 47L Dodge Ram2500).
QUALIFYING
For just the second time in the history of this popular ‘Spring Break’ race, SCORE will hold a qualifying session starting at 8 a.m. PT on Wednesday, March 25 to determine the starting positions within each class for the SCORE Trophy Truck, SCORE TT Legend, Class 1 and Trophy Truck Spec classes. Entries in these classes must also be completed by Friday, March 13 to be eligible to qualifying.
Starting positions for the other classes will be determined by a random drawing after the close of online racer registration which is at 8 p.m. on Friday, March. 13.
Late, on-site entries will receive the next starting position within the class entered.
The first time qualifying was held for this race was in 2017 when Rob MacCachren, Cameron Steele and Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez were the top three qualifiers in the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division for high-tech, 950-horsepower, unlimited custom trucks.
Qualifying will again be held near the San Felipe airport, which is located on the south end of San Felipe.
LATE RACER REGISTRATION
A special on-site racer registration will be held on Tuesday (March 24) from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. PT for the racers who will be part of qualifying. Regular on-site, late racer registration will start at 2 p.m. PT on Wednesday in San Felipe.  It will be held Wednesday (March 25) from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. PT as well as Thursday (March 26) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday (March 27) from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT with no new entries accepted after 3 p.m. PT on Friday.
SCORE FIESTA TIME
Colorful pre-race festivities will be held in San Felipe during race week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with race days on Saturday and Sunday concluding with the post-race awards celebration at Noon PT on Sunday.
The colorful pre-race contingency and Manufacturer’s Midway, the starting line and the finish line will be on the Malecon in the heart of San Felipe for the fourth straight year.
Contingency will be held on two days for the second time in the history of this race with classes split with some, including all UTVs, motorcycles and quads going through the line on Thursday and the balance, including the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division, SCORE TT Legend, Class 1 and Trophy Truck Spec, going through  on Friday. Contingency will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT each day with pre-race tech lasting until 6 p.m. PT on both Thursday and Friday (March 27-28).
The post-race awards celebration will be held on the start/finish line ramp on the Malecon on Sunday (March 29) at Noon PT.
GREEN FLAG SATURDAY
The motorcycle and quad classes will start at 6:20 a.m. PT Saturday (March 28) while the car, truck and UTV classes will begin their journey starting at 9:30 a.m. PT (March 28). SCORE Trophy Truck and the Pro Moto Unlimited classes will start one vehicle every 60 seconds race while all other classes will start one every 30 seconds.
While the fastest vehicles in the elapsed-time race are expected to finish in approximately six hours, all vehicles will have 16 hours from the time each starts to become an official finisher in the historic race.
BFGOODRICH TIRES UNMATCHED
As part of their massive SCORE Contingency program for 2020, long-time SCORE sponsor partner BFGoodrich Tires is offering a large contingency bonus for each overall winner in the 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship. For the 34th annual SCORE San Felipe 250, the contingency bonus is US$10,000. BFGoodrich Tires is entering its 44th year as the Official Tire of SCORE and in 2020 the company will also be the title sponsor of both the 52nd SCORE Baja 500 and the 53rd SCORE Baja 1000.
Presenting sponsor of both of those iconic races will be 4 Wheel Parts.
BFGoodrich Tires is celebrating 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 34 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 92 SCORE Baja races including 32 in the SCORE Baja 500.
EL BANCO
For over three decades, the annual motorsports festival that has brought the largest economic impact of any single event held annually in this lightly-populated portion of the rugged, rough and bountifully beautiful Baja peninsula has been the SCORE San Felipe 250.
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 24-29, 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 AGAIN IN 2020
For the second straight year, the 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship aired on the ABC family of networks. The four-races air as one-hour specials on ABC TV’s World of X Games program with replays on ESPN2.
ABC first covered the 1967 and 1968 Baja 1000 races on the old ABC Wide World of Sports show with Jim McKay and again in the late 1980s with veteran motorsports journalist Sam Posey.
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, Lucerna Hotel.
Additional SCORE Associate Partners: Baja California Secretary of Sustainable Economy and 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.
34th SCORE San Felipe 250
Round 1 of the four-race 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship
March 24-29, 2020—330 miles –San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico
Total Entries: 94 (as of 3/2/20)
(from 19 U.S. States, host Mexico, Canada, Denmark and New Zealand)

SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (21*)
1 Andy McMillin
2 Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez
10 Alan Ampudia
14 Bobby Pecoy
16 Cameron Steele
17 Dan McMillin
21 Gustavo ‘Tavo’ Vildsola
24 Adam Householder
26 Dave Taylor
40 Chris Miller
45 Devin Housh (DOR-Gary Magness)
50 Zak Langley
77 Robby Gordon
83 Luke McMillin
85 Mike Lawrence
97 Robert ‘BJ’ Baldwin
*TOTAL INCLUDES LEGEND
SCORE TT LEGEND (5)
50L John Langley
47L Jim Bult
72L Rob Reinertson
79L Russell Buehler
81L David Westhem
CLASS 1 (5)
100 Mason Cullen
114 Al Torres
123 Broc Dickerson
150 Morgan Langley
168 Shelby Reid
TROPHY TRUCK SPEC (10)
208 Andrew Entwistle
213 Karl Ebdrup
219 Tony Murray
220 Craig Christie
223 Neal Drickey
244 Brad Lovell
260 Santiago Creel
294 Vincent Munoz
298 Jorge Sampietro
299 Charles Dorrance
CLASS 10 (8)
1000 Hiram Duran
1002 Clay Lawrence
1004 Ben Hagle
1005 Arnoldo Gutierrez Jr
1075 Eliseo Garcia
1078 Augie Cortez
1081 Matt Winslow
1087 Ivan Tagle
PRO UTV FI (9)
2912 Tony Riggs
2918 Justin Elenberg
2914 Martin Christensen
2931 Craig Scanlon
2936 Jacob Carver
2940 Erick Kozin
2983 Nicholas Gurries
2987 Edgar Garcia Leon
2971 Wayne Matlock- RS
SCORE LITES (3)
1229 Doug Satterfield
1234 Phillip Jones
1255 Darren Walsh
PRO UTV NA (4)
1912 Rickey Arslanian
1978 T. Bradley Millner
1995 Kaden Wells
1954 Kristen Matlock- RS
CLASS 1/2-1600 (2)
1616 Eli Yee
1609 J. David Ruvalcaba- RS
PRO UTV STOCK (4)
3911 Victor Esparza
3922 Pete Cate
3930 Douglas Cornwell
3933 Randy Emberton
CLASS 8 (0)
HEAVY METAL (0)
CLASS 7 (2)
703 Scott Brady
710 Mike Shaffer
CLASS 4700 (0)
HAMMER TRUCK UNLTD (1)
4421 Mike Hales
PRO UTV UNL (0)
CLASS 5 (4)
501 William Hernquist
502 Mark McNeil
507 Greg Sullivan
528 Victor Cesena
CLASS 3 (1)
313 David Orzolek
CLASS 5-1600 (1)
571 David Heredia
BAJA CHALLENGE (0)
CLASS 7F (0)
CLASS 7SX (1)
741 Gerardo Novelo
STOCK FULL (0)
CLASS 2 (0)
CLASS 11 (2)
1108 Luis Garcia
1156 Art Penner

SPT UNLTD TRUCK (1)
1414 Jessalyn Sells
SPT OPEN-WHEEL (0)
SPT UTV UNLIMITED (1)
1840 Jason Willett
SPT UTV STOCK (1)
3978 Chris Clifton

PRO MOTO UNLIMITED (2)
4x Ray Dal Saglio
66x Santiago Creel
PRO MOTO 30 (1)
370x Francisco Septien-1st RS
PRO MOTO LIMITED (0)
PRO MOTO 50 (3)
500x Giovanni Spinali
501x Robert Creemers
505x Steve Hatch
PRO MOTO 40 (1)
496x TJ Joun
PRO MOTO IRONMAN (2)
716x Roger Bowie
735x Dustin Ashe-Everest

Pro Quad (0)

SPT M/C (4)
201x Scott Borden
203x Giovanni Aviles
213x Bradley Loveday
275x Albert Devora
SPT QUAD (0)