SCORE President/Race Director projects plans, announces rule changes for 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, dominic@score-international.com
March 9, 2020
Season Opener March 24-29

SCORE President/Race Director projects plans, announces
 rule changes for 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship

 

ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico – A veteran racer to start with and now working with SCORE International since 2013, Jose A. Grijalva is ready, willing and able for this month’s start of the four-race 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship at 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.
ENTRIES
The course has been plotted and marked with several sections not used before or not in several years as 165 total entries to date have come from 21 U.S. States along with host country Mexico, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru and Spain.
ABLE ABELARDO
As SCORE President and Race Director, Abelardo or Jose G. as he is known, has overseen the opening and maintaining of the SCORE Ensenada Race Office in Mexico as well as being instrumental in developing the myriad safety improvements SCORE has implemented while plotting race courses, working with local and state governments, police agencies, Mexican military and the multitude of area Ejidos (Ranchers) who allow SCORE to use their land for its ultra-popular SCORE Baja races.
Grijalva also oversees all of the SCORE course workers which can number as many as 350 people depending on the race and the logistics involved with the course.
Adding even more to his busy plate, Grijalva also directs and works closely with the SCORE tracking company as well as overseeing and helping determine penalties and review of protests that may occur in a particular event. And he helps determine rule additions, changes and modifications that are needed to keep the SCORE Rule book as the leading example for the entire sport.
To honor his untiring an dedicated efforts, Grijalva was honored at the 2019 SCORE Awards Night in January in San Diego as the first recipient of the SCORE Staff Person of the Year Award.
NEW DECADE
Leading SCORE into a promising new decade, Grijalva, 48, of Ensenada, is extremely optimistic regarding SCORE International and the SCORE World Desert Championship moving forward.
“There are obviously factors in play that we cannot control, like the weather and the economy, everything that we can do we are doing to help ensure a strong-safe, ever-expanding and always-exciting future for SCORE desert racing,” commented Grijalva.
“Our primary objectives as we begin a new decade of SCORE International is to provide the highest level, the safest possible, the most magnificent and creatively challenging courses while continuing to move forward with the latest technology to conduct the races and colorful on-site, innovative live streaming of our events as possible.”
“SCORE has always been on the cutting edge of unprecedented growth, development and innovative technology in our sport. We will strive diligently to maintain that position and take it even further.”
SAFETY FIRST
“Safety first is our ‘mantra’ at SCORE as we continue to provide the quality and quantity of medical equipment, communications and personnel needed to appropriately staff our events,” added Grijalva. “We are adding a second medical helicopter this year as well as providing additional rescue vehicles as needed to supplement those we already have along with the ambulances we have from Cruz Roja Mexicana.”
“For the San Felipe race alone we will have six additional fully-equipped rescue vehicles. These additions will reduce our response time considerably for medical incidents during our races. SCORE considers the medical aspect of our events as the very highest priority and there is no other racing organization the world that can match our medical equipment, communication and personnel for our events.”
2020 RULE BOOK
Grijalva also reported that the 2020 SCORE Rule Book is now online on the SCORE website.  The link for specific updates is located at…
http://score-international.com/raceinfo/rule-book/addendum/rule-book-addendum/.
“Changes in the rule book for 2020 are relatively minor,” stated Grijalva. “As with all competition Rule Books they are a work in progress but we are overall very pleased with our SCORE Rule book. We changed things that didn’t make sense and added items that we hope will help bring back entries into many of the slower classes in SCORE racing. With more challenge courses, we must allow the racers to modify their vehicles to make them more capable of finishing and running faster.”
Grijalva said that the three classes with the most ‘minor’ changes are SCORE Lites, Class 9 and Class 11.
COURSE SNAPSHOT
With pre-running opening Saturday for the 34th SCORE San Felipe 250, Grijalva has put together another memorable race course to challenge the world’s best desert racers.
Starting and finishing on the Malecon in San Felipe, the second-longest course in the history of the race at 326.7 miles will run in a counterclockwise direction and feature three physical full stop checkpoints and 141 virtual checkpoints.
It also runs through five of the glorious infamous Baja washes in this order: Las Cuevitas, Chanate, Huatamote, Azufre and half of Matomi.
The course map is available on the SCORE website. The GPS files will become available this Thursay night (March 12).
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. Official pre-running on the 326.7-mile race course will open at 8 a.m. PT on Saturday.
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 on a four-mile section of the race course near the San Felipe airport, which is located on the south end of San Felipe.
RACER REGISTRATION
A special on-site racer registration at the Hotel Stella del Mar 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

SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (29*)
1 Andy McMillin
2 Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez
7 Bryce Menzies
10 Alan Ampudia
11 Rob MacCachren
14 Bobby Pecoy
16 Cameron Steele
17 Dan McMillin
21 Gustavo ‘Tavo’ Vildsola
24 Adam Householder
26 Dave Taylor
27 Kyle Jergensen
40 Chris Miller
41 Justin Lofton
45 Gary Magness
50 Zak Langley
71 Josh De Jong
77 Robby Gordon
83 Luke McMillin
85 Mike Lawrence
97 Robert ‘BJ’ Baldwin
*TOTAL INCLUDES LEGEND
SCORE TT LEGEND (8)
25L Mark Winkelman
37L Rolf Helland
47L Jim Bult
50L John Langley
55L Jose de Jesus Flores
72L Rob Reinertson
79L Russell Buehler
81L David Westhem
CLASS 1 (13)
100 Mason Cullen
114 Al Torres
121 Rodimiro Amaya
123 Broc Dickerson
135 Ronny Wilson
138 Brian Wilson
143 Javier Robles Jr
150 Morgan Langley
153 Brad Wilson
162 Brendan Gaughan
163 Ruben Torres
168 Shelby Reid
179 Mario Fuentes
TROPHY TRUCK SPEC (15)
208 Andrew Entwistle
209 Rafael Navarro IV
211 Pat Sims
213 Karl Ebdrup
219 Tony Murray
220 Craig Christie
223 Neal Drickey
244 Brad Lovell
260 Santiago Creel
272 Victor Calderon
273 Jordan Brenthel
277 John Currier
294 Vincent Munoz
298 Jorge Sampietro
299 Charles Dorrance
CLASS 10 (18)
1000 Hiram Duran
1002 Clay Lawrence
1004 Ben Hagle
1005 Arnoldo Gutierrez Jr
1006 Freddie Willert
1009 J. David Ruvalcaba
1011 Cesar Cuevas
1012 Luis Barragan
1013 Harley Meservey
1027 Arturo Malo
1045 Matt Rusich
1048 Kevin Price
1051 Adam Gonzalez
1062 J.J. Schnarr
1075 Eliseo Garcia
1078 Augie Cortez
1081 Matt Winslow
1087 Ivan Tagle
PRO UTV FI (19)
2904 Cory Sappington
2910 Scott Trafton
2912 Tony Riggs
2914 Martin Christensen
2918 Justin Lambert
2919 Brandon Schueler
2920 Roberto Ruiz
2926 Christine Giampaoli Zonca
2930 Sean Cook
2931 Craig Scanlon
2936 Jacob Carver
2940 Erick Kozin
2949 Alonso Lopez
2978 Jose Juarez
2983 Nicholas Gurries
2987 Edgar Garcia Leon
2989 Wes Miller
2998 Cameron Ornales
2971 Wayne Matlock- RS
SCORE LITES (7)
1202 Matias Arjona IV
1205 Miguel Cortez
1211 Oscar Alvarez
1216 Matt Ferrato
1229 Doug Satterfield
1234 Phillip Jones
1255 Darren Walsh
PRO UTV NA (5)
1910 Jose Angulo
1912 Rickey Arslanian
1978 T. Bradley Millner
1995 Kaden Wells
1954 Kristen Matlock- RS
CLASS 1/2-1600 (2)
1616 Eli Yee
1696 Chris Racan
PRO UTV STOCK (4)
3911 Victor Esparza
3922 Pete Cate
3930 Douglas Cornwell
3933 Randy Emberton
CLASS 8 (2)
802 Scott Ulrich
852 Spencer Morgan
HEAVY METAL (0)
CLASS 7 (4)
700 Daniel Chamlee
703 Scott Brady
710 Mike Shaffer
727 Rhys Millen
CLASS 4700 (0)
HAMMER TRUCK UNLTD (1)
4421 Mike Hales
PRO UTV UNL (0)
CLASS 5 (5)
500 Gerardo Ibarra
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 (1)
BC 4 Edward Muncey
CLASS 7F (2)
714F Justin Park
720F Doug Siewert
CLASS 7SX (1)
741 Gerardo Novelo
STOCK FULL (0)
CLASS 2 (0)
CLASS 11 (3)
1108 Luis Garcia
1156 Art Penner
1196 Alex Gonzales

SPT UNLTD TRUCK (1)
1414 Jessalyn Sells
SPT OPEN-WHEEL (0)
SPT UTV UNLIMITED (2)
1830 Byrnes Lambert
1840 Jason Willett
SPT UTV STOCK (1)
3978 Chris Clifton

PRO MOTO UNLIMITED (3)
4x Ray Dal Saglio
14x Ian Luenberger
66x Santiago Creel
PRO MOTO 30 (4)
308x Greg Bardonnex
325x Jano Montoya
365x Nick Lanning
370x Francisco Septien- 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 (3)
716x Roger Bowie
735x Dustin Ashe-Everest
771x Risto Niemi
PRO MOTO 60 (1)
611x Mark Winkelman

Pro Quad (2)
1a Adolfo Arellano
37a Ricardo Villafana

SPT M/C (6)
201x Scott Borden
203x Giovanni Aviles
213x Bradley Loveday
215x Carlos Guereca
218x Sean Willitts
275x Albert Devora
SPT QUAD (5)
101a Ery Sandoval
102a Andres Pak
112a Daniel Gaytan
123a Hector Camacho
148a Alejandro Amador