Pre-running Opens Saturday--loop race-record 898.40 miles--SCORE Baja 1000

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, dominic@score-international.com
October 23, 2020
Race week Nov. 17-22

BFGoodrich Tires 53rd SCORE Baja 1000,
presented by 4 Wheel Parts
Pre-running opens Saturday on rugged loop record 898.40
mile race course—starts and finishes in Ensenada, Mexico

 

    ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico— As online racer entry applications continue to climb in these uncertain times, pre-running opens Saturday at 8 a.m. PT on the rugged loop-race record 898.40-mile race course for next month’s iconic internationally-televised season-ending BFGoodrich Tires 53rd Annual SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts, in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.
To date, 68 official entry applications have come from 20 U.S. States along with host country Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala and South Africa.
Starting and finishing under strict BioSecurity health and safety protocols in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, the final round of the pandemic-abbreviated two-race 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship race-week festivities and the Granddaddy of All Desert Races itself will be held Nov. 17-22.
The SCORE Baja 1000 is at the pinnacle of motorsports as the most iconic, oldest, prestigious, toughest and longest continuously held desert race in the world.
Because of the Pandemic BioSecurity protocols mandate that all race-week activities and the start/finish line area will be closed to the public. Spectators, adhering to the protocols, will be allowed to watch the race from around the race course.
PRE-RUNNING
Pre-running on the official 898.40-mile loop race course will open at 8 a.m. PT on Saturday. The course will run in a counter-clockwise direction after the two-way section to the Ojos Negros area and down along the Pacific Ocean and around San Felipe and the Sea of Cortez before heading back up through Cordillera de Molina and back to Ojos Negro and the finish in Ensenada.
Pre-running will start at race-mile 33.53 and finish at rm864.87. The first 33.53 miles of the course, which will be run in both directions during the race, will be open for pre-running outbound only on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday or race week (Nov. 17-19).
This year’s course map, GPS files, racer’s pre-run brief and schedule of events are available on the SCORE website under race info on the SCORE Baja 1000 page at www.SCORE-International.com.
ONLINE RACER ENTRY APPLICATIONS
Racer entry applications are available at www.SCORE-International.com under Race Info on the SCORE Baja 1000 page. Questions should be directed to SCORE Registration and Membership Director Audreonna Garcia at 775. 852.8907 or via email at registration@score-international.com. Online racer entry applications will be accepted through 8 p.m. PT on Friday, Nov. 6.
53rd SCORE BAJA 1000
Many of the world’s best desert racers will be in action at this year’s massive BFGoodrich Tires 53rd SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts. The race will be televised on a delayed basis as a one-hour special on ABC TV’s World of X Games programming.
Ensenada, “The Off-Road Capital of the World” is a coastal city on the Bahia de Todos Santos area of the Pacific Ocean, 80 miles south of the U.S. border at San Diego.
Over 200 vehicles are expected at the start line with racers from nearly 30 U.S. States and as many as 15 countries anticipated. 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 the renewal of this legendary SCORE race.
This year’s SCORE Baja 1000 will be a loop race of a spectacular 898.40 miles in the northern state of Mexico’s majestic Baja California peninsula.
It will start for the 46th time and finish for the 27th time in Ensenada and the race is annually the finale of the SCORE World Desert Championship, which has been held exclusively for the past five years in Baja California.
With a total time limit of 40 hours in the elapsed-time race, the motorcycle and quad classes will start at 4 a.m. (PT) on Friday, Nov. 20 and the car, truck and UTV classes will follow with their start on at 10 a.m. (PT).  While the fastest vehicles are expected to cover the course in approximately 18 hours, all vehicles will have 40 hours from the time each starts to become an official finisher.
OH! WHAT A COURSE
This year’s 53rd SCORE Baja 1000 race course will be the longest loop race in the history of the Granddaddy of all Desert Races at 898.40 miles. The previous longest loop race course was 883.1 miles in 2013.
The race features a course, as finalized and plotted by SCORE President/Race Director Jose A. Grijalva runs in a counterclockwise direction on both the West and East sides 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 will be four physical full-stop checkpoints and 355 numbered virtual checkpoints. Physical checkpoints: CP1 (race mile 206.60), CP2 (rm407.95), CP3 (rm602.85) and CP 4 (rm838.50). The race route also has a total of 20 Speed Zones.
     The course starts with a two-way section to Ojos Negros before heading down the Pacific coast through Uruapan, Santo Tomas, San Vicente, Colonet, Camalu, San Quintin and El Socorro.
The course then turns northeast back to Vicente Guerrero on the east side of Highway 1, through Pena Colorada/Santo Domingo wash, Rancho Meling, Rancho El Coyote, downhill on Simpson’s trail, Leandro Valley, Valle de Trinidad, San Matias pass and Las Cuevitas canyon.
The challenging race course then winds its way through four of Baja California’s infamously magnificent washes: Amarillas, Chanate, Huatamote and Matomi before heading through the San Felipe area along the Sea of Cortez and through Cordillera de Molina and then back to Ojos Negros to the finish in Ensenada.
All Sportsman classes along with Pro classes 7SX, 11 and 9 will run an abbreviated course of 767.06 miles.
STATES, COUNTRIES
Included in the first 68 official entries of the more than 200 anticipated for this year’s renewal of the world’s most iconic desert race are racers from 20 U.S. States and seven countries.
U.S. States represented in the field of competitors to date are from Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
Besides the United States and host Mexico, countries represented to date in the total entry field are from Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala and South Africa.
BIOSECURITY PROTOCOLS
As was the case at the recent SCORE Baja 500, significant BioSecurity health and safety protocols are being finalized by SCORE and the government authorities and health officials to be implemented at the event. With everything still fluid in regards to this pandemic, announcement of the specific protocols for this race are expected to be similar to those implemented at September’s SCORE Baja 500.
For certain though, no spectators will be allowed to attend pre-race contingency, the start or the finish of the race itself. They will be allowed to watch the race around the course, following BioSecurity protocol requirements.
SCOREscope
2020 SCORE SKED
BFGoodrich Tires 53rd SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts—
November 17-22, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
2021 SCORE SKED
Here are the dates for the four-race 2021 SCORE World Desert Championship which will be held in Baja California, Mexico for the sixth consecutive year:
34th SCORE San Felipe 250—
February 9-14, San Felipe, Mexico
BFGoodrich Tires 53rd SCORE Baja 500, presented by 4 Wheel Parts—
April 14-18, Baja California, Mexico
2nd SCORE Baja 400—
September 14-19, Baja California, Mexico
BFGoodrich Tires 54th SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts—
November 15-20, Baja California to La Paz, Baja California Sur, 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.

BFGoodrich Tires 53rd SCORE Baja 1000,
presented by 4 Wheel Parts

(Numerical order, by Class)
SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (9)
1 Andy McMillin
7 Bryce Menzies
16 Cameron Steele
22 Jax Redline
23 Daniel McMillin
70 Kevin Thompson
83 Luke McMillin
89 Mike Walser
90 Raul Gomez
SCORE TT LEGEND (2)
5L Clyde Stacy
53L Wade Porter
CLASS 1 (3)
127 Cody Parkhouse
162 Brendan Gaughan
179 Mario Fuentes
TROPHY TRUCK SPEC (7)
230 Chad Hall
231 Guillermo Zamacona
237 Robert Malone
260 Santiago Creel
261 Jeff Bader
280 Bryan Scheible
294 Vincent Munoz
CLASS 10 (4)
1001 Oliver Flemate
1046 Ben Hagle
1075 Eliseo Garcia
1085 Jeremy Davis
PRO UTV FI (7)
2918 Justin Lambert
2919 Brandon Schueler
2927 Justin Smith
2931 Craig Scanlon
2956 Eduardo Peredo
2974 Jorge Cano
2977 Justin Elenburg
SCORE LITES (1)
1218 Gustavo Pinuelas
PRO UTV NA (4)
1919 Paul Barnhart
1945 Francisco Arredondo
1978 T. Bradley Millner
1995 Kaden Wells
CLASS 1/2-1600 (2)
1616 Eli Yee
1662 Julie Boyer
PRO UTV STOCK (2)
3910 Dave Davenport
3930 Douglas Cornwell
PRO UTV UNLIMITED (1)
1851 Herman Johnson
CLASS 5 (3)
501 Trey Hernquist
507 Greg Sullivan
508 Miguel Pabloff
PROTRUCK (1)
8103 John Marshall
CLASS 3 (1)
313 David Orzolek
CLASS 5-1600 (1)
555 Tomas A. Fernandez
BAJA CHALLENGE (1)
BC4 Edward Muncey
CLASS 7F (1)
714F Justin Park
CLASS 7SX (1)
742 Brandt Anderson
CLASS 3000 (1)
6005 Alex Prinster
CLASS 11 (2)
1100 Kent Thygerson
1111 Eric Solorzano

SPT UNLTD TRUCK (2)
1414 Jessalyn Sells
1423 David Pryor

PRO MOTO UNLIMITED (1)
66x Santiago Creel
PRO MOTO 30 (2)
321x Robert Smith
327x Stephen Squires
PRO MOTO 50 (2)
500x Giovanni Spinali
504x David Hunter
PRO MOTO 40 (2)
440x Bernardo Segura
441x Alirio Amado
PRO MOTO IRONMAN (3)
718x Francisco De Paiva
770x Harvey Grant
785x Fabricio Fuentes

SPT M/C (2)
201x Scott Borden
241x Brent Walsh