2020 Baja 1000: Ford BroncoR, Herbst, ‘New Kids I & II’, Gordon, Dickerson, Novelo, Matlocks, Septien, Lesle, Hales, all latest entries

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, dominic@score-international.com
November 2, 2020
Race week Nov. 17-22

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

Ford BroncoR, Herbst, ‘New Kids I & II’, Gordon, Dickerson,
Novelo, Matlocks, Septien, Lesle, Hales, all latest entries

 

    ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico—With the legendary Ford Bronco SUV back in the marketplace, the purpose-built Ford BroncoR with SCORE racing champion Cameron Steele at the helm, is back in the starting grid along with other SCORE champions Tim Herbst/Pat Dean, ‘New Kids I’ Pierce Herbst/Thor Herbst, ‘New Kids II’ Eliott Watson and Brett Sourapas, Broc Dickerson and his father Jeff Dickerson, Robby Gordon, Gerardo Novelo, Francisco Septien, Mike Lesle and Mike Hales who are all among the latest entries for this month’s iconic internationally-televised season-ending BFGoodrich Tires 53rd SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts, the final round of the pandemic-abbreviated two-race 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship.
Starting and finishing under strict BioSecurity health and safety protocols in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, race-week activities 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, all race-week activities and the start/finish line area will be closed to the public. The start/finish line compound will be located East of downtown Ensenada at Dona Petra Canyon.
Spectators, adhering to the protocols, will be allowed to watch the race from around the race course.
ONLINE RACER ENTRY APPLICATIONS
Racer entry applications are now 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 this 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 the ABC TV Network’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. The distance is a race-record for a SCORE Baja loop race.
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.
STATES, COUNTRIES
     Included in the first 155 official entry applications of the more than 200 anticipated for this year’s renewal of the world’s most iconic desert race are racers from 26 U.S. States and 12 countries.
U.S. States represented in the field of competitors to date are from Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, 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, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand and South Africa.
FORD BRONCOR RETURNS
As another tribute to the late, great, legendary Off-Road Hall of Famer Rod Hall and his overall win with Larry Minor in the 1969 Mexican 1000 in a 4X4 Ford Bronco, Ford Performance has again entered its purpose-built Ford BroncoR race prototype that compliments this year’s launch of the new Ford Bronco.
The Ford BroncoR—developed by Ford Performance in collaboration with builder Geiser Brothers and 2018 SCORE Baja 1000 4-wheel champion Cameron Steele—drops heritage-inspired design and proportion elements of what enthusiasts are seeing in the re-invented Bronco.
Racing in Class 2 in No. 2021, veteran Hall of Fame inductee/SCORE Trophy Truck racer/TV Action Sports announcer Cameron Steele is the driver of record in memory of Rod Hall and Rod Hall’s granddaughter Shelby Hall returns as one of the additional drivers for a portion of the course. An experienced desert racer, Shelby Hall drove several times with Rod Hall in the race he loved so much that he competed in it for the first 50 years of the legendary race.
In addition to Steele and Hall, other drivers announced for this special vehicle are Off-Road Hall of Fame inductee/SCORE Trophy Truck champion Curt LeDuc, legendary SCORE Baja motorcycle champion and Hall of Famer Johnny Campbell, and multi-time rock crawling champion Jason Scherer.
LOS TERRIBLES
Truly one of the first families of SCORE desert racing with many race wins and SCORE season championships, Las Vegas’ Terrible Herbst Motorsports has entered two trucks, one in the featured SCORE Trophy Truck division and the other in the Trophy Truck Spec class.
Second-generation desert racer, the middle of three sons of Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Famer the late Jerry Herbst, Tim Herbst, 57, is driver of record in the SCORE Baja 1000 in his Terrible Herbst Motorsports Monster Energy No. 19 Ford F-150 built by Herbst Smith Fab.
With over 200 career race wins between the three Herbst brothers (Ed, Tim and Troy) have multiple season point championships as well. Troy Herbst has seven careers SCORE season Class 1 season point titles while Tim (racing with his older brother Ed) won four SCORE Trophy Truck season point crowns to go along with 11 career SCORE Trophy Truck race wins. The 11 race wins are tied for the second most in the 26-year history of SCORE Trophy Truck.
In the SCORE Baja 1000, Tim Herbst has one career Class 1 win and numerous top five finishes in SCORE Trophy Truck. Finishing second in SCORE Trophy Truck in this year’s SCORE Baja 500, his second driver again will be veteran Las Vegas racer Pat Dean, 52.
Tim’s sons Pierce and Thor are entered in Trophy Truck Spec in this year race.
Troy Herbst’s son Riley is a regular driver in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
‘NEW KIDS ON THE ROCK I’
Joining Tim Herbst at this race in the Trophy Truck Spec class will be the third generation Herbst family team brothers Pierce Herbst, 18 and Thor Herbst, 21, both Tim’s sons. The youngest Herbst racers will be joined by a third driver in second generation desert racer Ryan Millen.
While the young Herbst brothers are in the start of their desert racing careers, Millen, 35, who lives in Southern California, has both U.S. and New Zealand citizenship, where is family is originally from, has been racing professionally for over 20 years in desert racing, rally racing and hill climb racing. Also a SAG stunt driving professional, Millen has championships in U.S. Stage Rally, the SCORE Baja 1000 and the International Pike’s Peak Hill Climb.
The youngest members of the Herbst family will be driving in the Terrible Herbst Motorsports Monster Energy No. 264 Chevy Silverado built by Herbst Smith Fab.
The trio finished fourth in their SCORE racing debut in the ultra-competitive Trophy Truck Spec class at this year’s SCORE Baja 500 in September.
‘NEW KIDS ON THE ROCK II’
The second pair of ‘New Kids’ entered in this race are second-generation desert racers Eliott Watson and Brett Sourapas.
Watson, 20, of El Centro, Calif., and Sourapas, 24, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., will both be racing in new Honda Talon UTVs in the Pro UTV Unlimited class. The pair are sons of former SCORE champion racers Tom Watson and Steve Sourapas, respectively.
This is the second SCORE race for the Honda Talon 1000R Turbo UTV. In his first SCORE race as driver of record, Watson finished second in his class in September’s SCORE Baja 500.
Watson will drive the No. 1893 Honda Talon while Sourapas while be the driver of the No. 1888 Honda Talon.
Watson started his short-course racing career at age 10, and as time went on, he took on management roles on his team, shouldering sponsorship and engineering responsibilities. He won his class again this season in the Lucas Oil Off-Road Series, winning eight of 10 races.
They are both part of the factory-backed Honda Off-Road Racing Team led by Class 7 racer Jeff Proctor, who drives the No. 709 Honda Ridgeline truck. He won his class in this year’s SCORE Baja 500.
Of note, the second driver for Sourapas is Trey Hernquist, 22, Encinitas, Calif. Hernquist is entered in two classes as he won Class 5 at this year’s SCORE Baja 500 and will be attempting to repeat in this year’s SCORE Baja 1000.
Brett Sourapas’ twin brother Christian Sourapas is the second driver in this year’s race for Chris Miller in the No. 40 Baja Jerky Cantina Racing SCORE Trophy Truck.
DICKERSON SON/FATHER
The son/father duo of Broc, 19, and Jeff Dickerson, 45, of Brawley, Calif., both former SCORE Class point champs, will be racing in the unlimited Class 1 in their No. 123 Ford-powered Jimco open-wheel desert race car.
Jeff Dickerson was the SCORE Class 20 motorcycle season champion in 1991 while Broc Dickerson, just 16 at the time, won the Class 10 season title in 2017.
Broc Dickerson also has two Class 2 wins in the SCORE Baja 500, both in 2017 and 2018.
The family duo finished fifth in Class 1 in this year’s SCORE Baja 500.
LESLE
Always looking for a different challenge, five-time SCORE season class point champion Mike Lesle, 59, Wildomar, Calif., came back to racing SCORE last year after over 20 years and won the season point title in Class 7SX in the same Jeep Comanche he won titles in in 1987 and 1988.
Lesle won the point title last year in his fourth different class this time in Class 7SX. He has also won season crowns in Class 5/1600 (1985), Class 7/4X4 (1987 and 1988) and Class 3 (1992).
In his long and successful SCORE racing career, he has also earned two Rod Hall SCORE Milestone Awards (1992 and 1993 in Class 3). The award is given annually to racers who complete every required race mile for that season.
This year he decided to switch classes again and came out of the box charging at the SCORE Baja 500 and won the Pro UTV Unlimited class in his No. 1869 Polaris RZR XP Turbo.
GORDON RETURNS
Champion second-generation desert racer Robby Gordon, 51 of Charlotte, N.C., will be heading to Baja with his No. 77 Chevy Silverado, custom built by Robby Gordon Enterprises. Gordon, who has had successful careers in both NASCAR, IndyCar, Rally Racing and Stadium Off-Road racing, is back in his desert racing roots.
He is tied for second on the all-time win list with 11 career SCORE race wins and he is a two-time SCORE Trophy Truck season point champion (1996, 2009).
Gordon has three class wins in the SCORE Baja 1000, 1989 and 1990 and 2006. In 2006 he split the driving time racing to victory in a peninsula run from Ensenada to La Paz with then 19-year-old phenom Andy McMillin.
STATESMAN NOVELO
Mexico’s influential Federal Senator from the state of Baja California and prominent Ensenada entrepreneur Gerardo Novelo, 55, will be racing once again in Class 7SX in his No. 741 Nissan Frontier King Cab.
Novelo, who has been a long-time supporter of SCORE in dealing with Mexican authorities locally, statewide and nationally, won the SCORE Class 7SX season championship in both 2017 and 2018.
His most recent victory was in Class 7SX at last year’s 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, 40, from Alpine, Calif., are another pair of veteran SCORE champion desert racers and both had superlative seasons in the last three 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 total class wins in the SCORE Baja 1000.
After leading much of the race before mechanical issues slowed him down, Wayne Matlock opened the 2020 season with a strong third place finish at the SCORE Baja 500 in his 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 the 2018 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.
Mrs. Matlock opened the 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship by winning not only her Pro UTV NA class but she was also the fastest overall UTV in the SCORE Baja 500, defeating nearly 40 UTVs in multiple classes in the race. She drives solo in the No. 1954 Polaris RZR XP4 1000.
She also won her class in last year’s SCORE Baja 1000, again driving solo.
SEPTIEN
Mexico’s Francisco Septien, 45, of Ensenada, is one of the most prominent age-group motorcycle riders in SCORE history.
He has seven career SCORE season motorcycle class point titles including five career race wins in the SCORE San Felipe 250. He also has seven wins in the SCORE Baja 500 including this year while racing in the Pro Moto 30 (riders over 30 years old) class and he has six class wins in the SCORE Baja 500.
Septien also has an amazing 12 class wins in the SCORE Baja 1000, all earned between in just 14 years between 2006 and 2019. Joining him in this year’s Pro Moto 30 class on his No. 370x Honda CRF450X will be regular teammates Shane Esposito, 45, Temecula, Calif. and Roberto Villalobos, 30, Tecate, Mexico.
HALES
In his first full SCORE racing season in 2019, Mike Hales, 40 of Rogers, Ark., won the Hammer Truck Unlimited season point championship in his No. 4421 Jeep Wrangler.
Hales started this year’s abbreviated SCORE World Desert Championship by winning his class at this year’s SCORE Baja 500 in September in San Felipe.
CHALLENGING COURSE
The official loop-race record 898.40-mile race course runs 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.
The continuing pre-running starts at race-mile 33.53 and finishes 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 of race week (Nov. 17-19).
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 West through Cordillera de Molina and then back to Ojos Negros to the finish just on the Eastern outskirts in Ensenada.
The start/finish line compound, closed to the public because of established safety and health protocols, will be located on the outskirts of Ensenada, east of downtown, at Dona Petra Canyon.
There are four physical full-stop checkpoints and 355 numbered virtual checkpoints. Physical checkpoints: CP1-El Socorro (race mile 206.60), CP2-Valle de Trinidad (rm407.95), CP3-End of Matomi Wash (rm602.85) and CP 4-El Alamo (rm838.50). The race route also has a total of 20 Speed Zones.
All Sportsman classes along with Pro classes 7SX, 11 and 9 will run a reduced course of 767.06 miles.
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.
MORE ENTRIES
More new entries since this past Thursday include Matt Burroughs, 51, Corona, Calif. (Pro UTV FI No. 2948 Can-Am X3), Shannon Campbell, 50, Gilbert, Calif. (Hammer Truck Unltd No. 4405 Campbell Ent.-Chevy), Joe Bolton, 63, Corona, Calif. (Pro UTV NA No. 1957 Polaris RZR XP1000), Pat Sims, 53, Eunice, N.M. (Trophy Truck Spec No. 211 ESM-Chevy), Chase Warren, 30, Phoenix (Class 10 1088 Alumi Craft-Chevy) and Darren Skilton, 53, Long Beach, Calif. (Class 2 No. 2022 Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus (SCG) Boot-Chevy).
MORE SCORE TROPHY TRUCKS & SCORE TT LEGENDS
SCORE Trophy Truck, the marquee SCORE racing division for high-tech, 950-horsepower unlimited custom trucks leads the entry list with 26 trucks (including six SCORE TT Legend entries) in the lineup so far. Besides Tim Herbst and Robby Gordon, SCORE Trophy Truck entries to date include Rob MacCachren, 55, Las Vegas (No. 11 Ford F-150), Andy McMillin, 32, San Diego (No. 1 Chevy Silverado), Bryce Menzies, 32, Las Vegas (No. 7 Ford Raptor), B.J. Baldwin, 41, Las Vegas (No. 97 Toyota Tundra), Cameron Steele, 52, San Clemente, Calif. (No. 16, Ford Raptor), A. McMillin’s cousins Luke McMillin, 27, San Diego/Larry Roeseler, 63, Boulevard, Calif. (No. 83 Ford F-150) and Daniel McMillin, 32, San Diego/Justin B. Smith, Las Vegas (No. 23 Chevy 1500), Ampudia brothers Alan and Aaron of Ensenada (No. 10 Ford Raptor), Zak Langley, 45, Manhattan Beach, Calif./Steve Hengeveld, 44, Flagstaff, Ariz. (No. 50 Ford F-150), Kevin Thompson, 47, New Braunfels, Texas/Harley Letner, 36, Corona, Calif. (No. 70 Ford F-150), Chris Miller, 46, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./Christian Sourapas, 24, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (No. 40, Mason-Chevy), Jonathan Brenthel, 41, La Cresta, Calif./Jordan Brenthel, 33, Temecula, Calif. (No. 27 Chevy Silverado), Rick Sanchez, 43, San Vicente, Mexico (No. 52 Chevy Silverado), Eric Hustead, 50, St. George, Utah/Kolton Hustead, 21, St. George, Utah (No. 38 Ford F-150) and Jax Redline, 15, Amarillo, Texas/Apdaly Lopez, 25, Tecate, Mexico (No. 22 Chevy Silverado).
In SCORE TT Legend for SCORE Trophy Truck drivers 50 years and older, entries so far are Clyde Stacy, 75, Bristol, Va./Nick Vanderwey, 53, Phoenix (No. 5L Chevy V16), John Langley, 77, Manhattan Beach, Calif./Ricky Johnson, 57, Encinitas, Calif./Larry Ragland, 77, Cave Creek, Ariz./Joe Lombardo, 58, Las Vegas (No. 50L Ford F-150), Bobby Patton, 57, Fort Worth, Texas/Robbie Pierce, 61, Alpine, Calif. (No. 20L Chevy Silverado), Mark Winkelman, 62, Cedar Hill, Texas (No. 25L Chevy Silverado), Jose De Jesus Flores, 57, Culiacan, Mexico. Oskar Slingerland, 55, Netherlands (No. 55L Chevy Silverado) and Wade Porter, 53, Durham, Calif. (No. 53L Ford Raptor).
BIOSECURITY PROTOCOLS
As was the case at the recent SCORE Baja 500, significant BioSecurity health and safety protocols have been 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, the specific protocols for this race are the same as what was mandated for September’s SCORE Baja 500.
No spectators will be allowed to attend pre-race contingency and the start or the finish line area 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 NETWORK 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’ Network's World of X Games.
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

PRO MOTO UNLIMITED (2)
12x Webster Whinery Jr
66x Santiago Creel
PRO MOTO 30 (4)
321x Robert Smith
324x Kris Regentin
327x Stephen Squires
370x Francisco Septien
PRO MOTO LIMITED (1)
180x Fernando Beltran
PRO MOTO 50 (3)
500x Giovanni Spinali
504x David Hunter
522x Vance Kennedy
PRO MOTO 40 (3)
423x Ryan Stephens
440x Bernardo Segura
441x Alirio Amado
PRO MOTO IRONMAN (7)
718x Francisco De Paiva
720x Robert Longhurst
725x Juan Carlos Salvatierra
754x Charles Harvey
770x Harvey Grant
772x Javier Perez Potzch
785x Fabricio Fuentes

SPT M/C (3)
201x Scott Borden
203x Giovanni Aviles
241x Brent Walsh
SPT QUAD (2)
101a Ery Sandoval
112a Daniel Gaytan