Samuels draws first M/C start, entries from 18 States, 7 countries in start draw for BFGoodrich Tires 52nd annual SCORE Baja 500

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, dominic@score-international.com
September 17, 2020
Presented by 4 Wheel Parts

Samuels draws first M/C start, entries from 18 States, 7 countries
in start draw for BFGoodrich Tires 52nd annual SCORE Baja 500

 

ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico – While qualifying for starting positions will be held during race week for four of the top 4-wheel vehicle classes, SCORE champion racer Mark Samuels has drawn the first motorcycle starting position this week for next week’s internationally-televised BFGoodrich Tires 52nd SCORE Baja 500, presented by 4 Wheel Parts, in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico.
As pre-running on the challenging 493.00-mile course continues through next Friday, online entries from 18 U.S. States, host Mexico, Bolivia, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands and New Zealand are preparing for the legendary opener of the two-race internationally-televised 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship. The event will be held March 29-April 2 in San Felipe, the quaint fishing village on the Sea of Cortez, 125 miles south of the U.S. Border at Calexico, Calif.
Qualifying for the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division, SCORE TT Legend (drivers over 50 years old), unlimited Class 1 and Trophy Truck Spec will be held next Wednesday in San Felipe.
Samuels, 31, Yucca Valley, Calif., is a veteran champion SCORE racer who will be the rider of record on the No. 1x SLR Honda CRF450X. Samuels teammates and co-riders are Justin Morgan, 30, El Cajon, Calif., and Justin Jones, 29, Murrieta, Calif. Samuels has three overall motorcycle wins in this race, Morgan, who was rider of record the past two years, has four overalls and Jones has two overalls.
BACK TO BAJA
Prior to late, on-site racer registration next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in San Felipe, 129 official entries have been processed from 18 U.S. States along with host country Mexico, Bolivia, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands and New Zealand. The first of two races on the pandemic-abbreviated 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship schedule will be held Wednesday through Sunday in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico.
San Felipe is the peaceful village on the Sea of Cortez, 125 miles south of the U.S. Border at Calexico, Calif. Both 2020 SCORE races will be held on Mexico’s magnificent Baja California peninsula for the fifth consecutive year.
THE SCOOP
Competition will include classes for cars, trucks UTVs, motorcycles and quads for the internationally-televised BFGoodrich Tires 52nd SCORE Baja 500, presented by 4 Wheel Parts.
Many of 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 and syndicated internationally to as many as 25 countries. The shows are produced by SCORE in association with prominent SoCal company BCII TV. Lead announcer for the show will be veteran Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame (ORMHoF) inductee (2018), SCORE Trophy Truck champion racer and action sports TV announcer Cameron Steele.
It is an elapsed-time race with staggered starts as the green flag on Saturday (Sept. 26) will drop first for the motorcycles and quads at 3 a.m. PT and approximately 7 a.m. PT for the cars, trucks and UTVs.
While 130 entries are entered to date, nearly 150 vehicles are expected at the start line. Long-time SCORE sponsor and race title sponsor BFGoodrich Tires has also posted a US$25,000 contingency bonus for the overall 4-wheel winner to help commemorate this year’s race.
MORE FIRST STARTS
Among the many classes where starting positions were drawn, starting on the pole in their respective classes will be Sean Cook (Pro UTV FI) where there were 17 vehicles in the draw.
Also drawing first starts were Harvey Meservey (Class 10, Mario Alcala (SCORE Lite), Travis Wells (Pro UTV NA), Eliott Watson (Pro UTV Unlimited) and Giovanni Spinali (Pro Moto 50).
EL DORADO RANCH S/F
Following planning with and approval from city and state governments, SCORE International has announced that all the official pre-race activities and the start/finish line compound for this year’s SCORE Baja 500 will be held in a restricted area at the prominent El Dorado Ranch resort with no spectators allowed.
Spectators following health and safety protocols will be allowed in the open areas around the 493.00-mile race course.
MAIN COURSE
The race features a course, as finalized and plotted by SCORE President/Race Director Jose A. Grijalva of 493.00 miles. It runs both North and South of San Felipe in a counterclockwise direction on the East side of the Baja California peninsula.
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, dry lake beds, majestic Baja washes and canyons, stretches along the ocean with elevations from sea level to over 3,000 feet. The course is another jewel reflecting the stark beauty of Baja California.
There are three physical full-stop checkpoints and 198 virtual checkpoints. Checkpoint 1 is at race mile 155.63 (Laguna Salada), CP2 is at rm278.11 (Laguna Amarga) and CP3 is at rm459.11 (Camino altura Percebu). There are just six speed zones for a total of only 8.65 miles.
     Much of the course runs through Laguna Salada as well as going through parts of four of Baja California’s infamously magnificent washes: Amarillas, Chanate, Huatamote and Azufre.
All Sportsman classes along with Pro classes 7SX, 11 and 9 will run an abbreviated course of 433.34 miles.
COURSE MAP, ETC.
Official practice, or pre-running, on the official 493.00-mile race course for this year’s BFGoodrich Tires 52nd SCORE Baja 500, presented by 4 Wheel Parts continues until Friday starting at race mile 0.11 and finishing at race mile 492.89.
The official SCORE Racer Brief, course map and GPS files are available under racer info on the SCORE website.
QUALIFYING
SCORE will hold a qualifying session for this race starting at 7 a.m. PT on Wednesday (Sept. 23) to determine the starting positions within each class for the SCORE Trophy Truck, SCORE TT Legend, Class 1 and Trophy Truck Spec divisions. Entries in these classes had be completed by last Friday to be eligible to qualifying. Start order for qualifying will be based solely on entry order into race, by class.
Qualifying will be held on a 3.47-mile course South of San Felipe near the local airport.
HEALTH & SAFETY
Because of the significant health and safety Biosecurity protocols developed by SCORE in conjunction with and the approval of state and local health authorities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, all race-week festivities and the start/finish line compound will be restricted access only and closed to the general public.
LIVE STREAMING
On the two days of contingency Wednesday and Thursday and during the race on Saturday, Sept. 26 until the course closes on Sunday morning, Sept. 27, there will be extensive live streaming from the start/finish line compound broadcasting race activities and start and finish line interviews.
Popular Rat Sult will again serve as primary host of the SCORE live streaming.
With no spectators allowed in the start/finish line compound, all of the week’s activities will be streamed both live and same-day including the race, airing via the internet on the SCORE website and social media platforms.
DETAILS
As required by the health and safety Biosecurity protocols required to conduct this race, race week activities will have restricted access at the Eldorado Ranch with no spectators allowed for contingency, tech inspection and the start/finish compound.
On-site Racer Registration and Media Registration, again with restricted access, will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (September 22-25) at the Pavilion at El Dorado Ranch.
Racer registration will be held for racers who are qualifying from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday (Sept. 22). Racer registration for the balance of the entries will be held on Wednesday (Sept. 23) from Noon to 7 p.m. PDT, on Thursday (Sept. 24) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday (Sept. 25) with no new entries accepted after 3 p.m. PDT on that final day of registration.
SCORE Media registration will be held in the Pavilion at El Dorado Ranch from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday (Sept. 22) from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. PDT on Wednesday (Sept. 23) and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT on both Thursday and Friday (Sept. 24-25).
GRAN HISTORIA
The SCORE Baja 500 is one of the top motorsports events in the world. It was started originally in 1969 by the NORRA organization.
With tremendous assistance from Ensenada tourism advocate Nico Saad, Mickey Thompson and his fledgling SCORE International organization were invited by the Mexican government to take over the event starting in 1974. Sal Fish ran and later owned and produced the SCORE Baja 500 for 39 years until he sold SCORE in December of 2012.
Prior to this year, only four times has the race not been held in Ensenada at all. Because of continuing friction between the government and land owners, Sal Fish moved the 1984 race to the desert near Barstow, Calif., USA and again in 1989 for the same reason Fish moved the race to San Felipe.
With no spectators allowed because of the Biosecurity Protocols, this year’s race will start and finish at the El Dorado Ranch resort in San Felipe.
While this will be just the second time for the SCORE Baja 500 to be held in San Felipe, the SCORE San Felipe 250, which was not held in 2020 because of the pandemic, has been held in San Felipe for 32 of its 33-year history.
SCOREscope
2020 SCORE SKED
BFGoodrich Tires 52nd SCORE Baja 500, presented by 4 Wheel Parts—
September 22-27, San Felipe, Mexico
BFGoodrich Tires 53rd SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts—
November 17-22, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
ABC TV AGAIN IN 2020
For the second straight year, the 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship will air on the ABC family of networks. The two-races will air as 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. The shows are co-produced by SCORE International and SoCal’s award-winning BCII TV.
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.#scorebaja500.

BFGoodrich Tires 52nd SCORE Baja 500,
presented by 4 Wheel Parts

(Start order within class)

SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (20)
(Qualifying Order)
26 Dave Taylor
85 Mike Lawrence
23 Dan McMillin
83 Luke McMillin
77 Robby Gordon
17 Josh de Jong
10 Alan Ampudia
1 Andy McMillin
17 Josh De Jong
11 Rob MacCachren
40 Chris Miller
41 Justin Lofton
43 Larry Roeseler
19 Tim Herbst
35 Carlos Penunuri Ibarra
38 Eric Hustead
*5L Clyde Stacy
*20L Bobby Patton
*55L Jose de Jesus Flores
*25L Mark Winkelman-2nd RS
*47L Jim Bult-1st RS
*SCORE TT LEGEND
CLASS 1 (8)
(Qualifying Order)
114 Al Torres
123 Broc Dickerson
162 Brendan Gaughan
127 Cody Parkhouse
103 Gabriel Torres
163 Ruben Torres
121 Rodimiro Amaya-2nd RS
179 Mario Fuentes-1st RS
TROPHY TRUCK SPEC (10)
(Qualifying Order)
260 Santiago Creel
285 Clay Lawrence
211 Pat Sims
210 Ted Moncure
294 Vincent Munoz
264 Pierce Herbst
295 William Hedrick Jr
241 Chase Laven
225 John McNeil
274 Elias Hanna
CLASS 10 (8)
1013 Harley Meservey
1001 Oliver Flemate
1006 Freddie Willert
1088 Chase Warren
1078 Augie Cortez
1087 Ivan Tagle
1051 Adam Gonzalez
1000 Hiram Duran-1st RS
PRO UTV FI (17)
2930 Sean Cook
2914 Martin Christensen
2931 Craig Scanlon
2977 Justin Elenberg
2978 Jose Juarez
2999 Bob Jablonsky
2948 Matthew Burroughs
2920 Roberto Ruiz
2917 Jason Murray
2927 Justin Smith
2989 Wes Miller
2918 Justin Lambert
2974 Jorge Cano
2910 Scott Trafton-4th RS
2940 Erick Korzin-3rd RS
2975 Mike Cafro-2nd RS
2971 Wayne Matlock-1st RS
SCORE LITES (6)
1201 Mario Alcala
1205 Miguel Cortez
1211 Oscar R. Alvarez
1229 Douglas Satterfield
1218 Gustavo Pinuelas
1247 Wes McKenzie
PRO UTV NA (6)
1995 Travis Wells (DOR-Kaden Wells)
1957 Joe Bolton
1938 Kolton Hustead
1911 Scott Bergen-3rd RS
1954 Kristen Matlock-2nd RS
1912 Rickey Arslanian-1st RS
CLASS 1/2-1600 (3)
1662 Julie Boyer
1696 Chris Racan
1616 Eli Yee-1st RS
PRO UTV STOCK (4)
3957 Torey Rush
3955 Mike Cafro
3930 Douglas Cornwell
3933 Randy Emberton
CLASS 8 (1)
828 Jesus Beltrones
CLASS 7 (3)
700 Daniel Chamlee
713 Mario Murillo Jr
709 Jeff Proctor
CLASS 1700 (1)
1755 Bruce Geveden
HAMMER TRUCK UNLTD (1)
4421 Mike Hales-1st RS
PRO UTV UNLIMITED (6)
1893 Eliott Watson
1855 Blade Hildebrand
1894 Christopher Polvoorde
1850 Jesus Mendez Jr
1851 Herman Johnson
1869 Mike Lesle-1st RS
CLASS 5 (1)
500 Gerardo Ibarra
CLASS 3 (1)
313 David Orzolek
CLASS 5-1600 (1)
553 Cesar Iniguez
BAJA CHALLENGE (1)
BC4 Edward Muncey
CLASS 7F (2)
720F Doug Siewert
714F Justin Park
CLASS 7SX (1)
742 Brandt Anderson-1st RS
CLASS 11 (2)
1108 Luis F. Garcia
1147 Francisco Valdez

SPT UNLTD TRUCK (1)
1404 Jessalyn Sells
SPT OPEN-WHEEL (1)
1501 Christian Courtney

PRO MOTO UNLIMITED (3)
1x Mark Samuels
66x Santiago Creel
5x Colton Udall
PRO MOTO 30 (1)
370x Francisco Septien
PRO MOTO LIMITED (2)
121x Ana Rivas
180x Fernando Beltran
PRO MOTO 50 (3)
500x Giovanni Spinali
514x Lawrence Janesky
522x Vance Kennedy
PRO MOTO 40 (0)
PRO MOTO IRONMAN (1)
725x Juan Carlos Salvatierra

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

SPT M/C (5)
203x Giovanni Aviles
200x Carlos Silva
299x Shane Redline
213x Bradley Loveday
201x Scott Borden
SPT QUAD (7)
105a Francisco Valle
123a Hector Camacho
106a Imanol Gormez Fierro
119a Estevan Ramirez
129a Sergio Gutierrez
112a Daniel Gaytan
114a Luis Ortega