Fastest of the Fastest--BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, dominic@score-international.com
November 3, 2020
Who is really the fastest?

Motorcycles have had the fastest overall time 38 years,
Cars/Trucks 14 times in annual iconic SCORE Baja 1000

 

    ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico—While SCORE clearly recognizes three overall group winners, the endless armchair debate on whether two-wheel or four-wheel vehicles are fastest in the desert will play out once again at this month’s iconic internationally-televised season-ending BFGoodrich Tires 53rd SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts—the Granddaddy of All Desert Races.
The SCORE Baja 1000 endures at the pinnacle of motorsports as the most iconic, oldest, prestigious, toughest and longest continuously held desert race in the world.
There will be SCORE Overall 4-Wheel, SCORE Overall 2-Wheel and SCORE Overall UTV champions at this year’s race—awarded to the vehicle with the fastest elapsed time in each of the three groups of classes. But the never-ending debate will rage on way past the final checkered flag on whether the 4-wheel vehicles or the 2-wheel vehicles are the fastest in this legendary international motorsports event.
A total of 158 entries to date have come from 26 U.S. States and 12 countries.
The final round of the pandemic-abbreviated two-race 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship will start and finish one the outskirts of downtown Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico with race-week activities and the race itself being held Nov. 17-22.
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 just East of downtown Ensenada and 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.
NUMBERS SAY—BIKES RULE?
Statistics relate a telling story and while the endless debate on who is the fastest of the fastest overall in the iconic SCORE Baja 1000, motorcycles have had the fastest, fastest time overall 38 times in this race while car/truck classes have produced 13 overall, overall fastest times.
Interestingly, car/truck vehicles won six of the first seven years of the legendary behemoth race as well as seven of the last 10 years, but in between, the fastest, fastest overall times in the race have gone to motorcycles except in 1993 when Ivan ‘Ironman’ Stewart was the fastest, fastest in his unlimited Class 1 Toyota SR5 truck.
The longest motorcycle streak has been 18 consecutive years with the fastest, fastest overall time in this race from 1975 through 1992.
With help first from factory teams from Kawasaki and later from American Honda, motorcycles also had another run of fastest, fastest overall times for 16 years from 1994 through 2009.
In 2010, Mexico’s Gustavo Vildosola and his son Gustavo ‘Tavo’ Vildosola Jr broke the motorcycle streak by becoming the first Mexican Nationals to win the featured SCORE Trophy Truck division and be the fastest of the fastest in the peninsula run from Ensenada to La Paz.
With the course distance and actual terrain different each year, times between years can’t be accurately compared.
Individually, a trio of legendary SCORE Baja desert racers have recorded the fastest, fastest overall times in the iconic event. Johnny Campbell leads the way with 11 top times on Honda motorcycles. His 11 fastest of the fastest times were earned in just a 12-year period from 1997 through 2008.
Next is Larry ‘Mr. Baja’ Roeseler with nine top times on three different motorcycles—Husqvarna, Yamaha and his final five on Kawasaki. Roeseler earned his fastest of the fastest between 1976 and 1994.
Steve Hengeveld earned seven fastest of the fastest top times all on Honda motorcycles in an eight-year period between 2000 and 2007.
Recording fastest of the fastest times in seven of the last 10 years have been SCORE Trophy Truck, the marquee SCORE racing division for high-tech, 950 horsepower, unlimited custom trucks. Pacing this group has been Rob MacCachren who won three consecutive times (2014, 2015, 2016) in his No. 11 Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy Truck.
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 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 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.
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 the Dona Petra Canyon.
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 158 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, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, 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, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Ireland, Netherlands and South Africa.
PRE-RUNNING
Pre-running on the official loop-race record 898.40-mile race course opened on Oct. 24. The 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.
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 or 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.
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 NETWORKS 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 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.

SCORE Baja 1000 FASTEST Overall Champions

YEAR DRIVERS/RIDERS VEHICLE TIME
1967 Vic Wilson/Ted Mangels Meyers Manx VW 27:38
1968 Larry Berquist/Gary Preston Honda 20:38:28
1969 Larry Minor/Rod Hall Ford Bronco 20:48:10
1970 Drino Miller/Vic Wilson Miller VW 16:07
1971 Parnelli Jones/Bill Stroppe Ford Bronco 14:59
1972 Parnelli Jones/Bill Stroppe Ford Bronco 16:47
1973 Bobby Ferro/Johnny Johnson Funco VW 16:50:25
1974 NO RACE (Fuel Crisis)
1975 Al Baker/Gene Cannady Honda 18:22:55
1976 Larry Roeseler/Mitch Mayes Husqvarna 11:30:47
1977 Brent Wallingsford/Scot Harden Husqvarna 14:37:07
1978 Larry Roeseler/Jack Johnson Husqvarna 10:23:47
1979 Larry Roeseler/Jack Johnson Husqvarna 19:48:04
1980 Larry Roeseler/Jack Johnson Yamaha 12:45:13
1981 Scot Harden/Brent Wallingsford Husqvarna 17:14:05
1982 Al Baker/Jack Johnson Honda 17:25:27
1983 Dan Smith/Dan Ashcraft Husqvarna 14:48:10
1984 Chuck Miller/Randy Morales Honda 14:34:34
1985 Randy Morales/Derrick Paiement Honda 17:44:42
1986 Bruce Ogilvie/Chuck Miller Honda 18:05:52
1987 Dan Ashcraft/Bruce Ogilvie Honda 12:02:14
1988 Paul Krause/Larry Roeseler/Danny LaPorte Kawasaki 11:33:45
1989 Larry Roeseler/Danny LaPorte/Ted Hunnicutt Jr. Kawasaki 17:53:16
1990 Larry Roeseler/Ted Hunnicutt Jr./Danny LaPorte Kawasaki 11:11:45
1991 Larry Roeseler/Ted Hunnicutt Jr./Marty Smith Kawasaki 13:35:25
1992 Danny Hamel/Garth Sweetland/Paul Ostbo Kawasaki 16:50:12
1993 Ivan Stewart Toyota SR5 13:29:11
1994 Danny Hamel/Larry Roeseler/Ty Davis Kawasaki 10:20:47
1995 Paul Krause/Ty Davis/Ted Hunnicutt Jr. Kawasaki 19:31:19
1996 Paul Krause/Ty Davis/Greg Zitterkopf Kawasaki 14:11:02
1997 Johnny Campbell/Tim Staab/Greg Bringle Honda 13:19:59
1998 Johnny Campbell/Jimmy Lewis Honda 18:58:48
1999 Johnny Campbell/Tim Staab Honda 14:15:42
2000 Johnny Campbell/Tim Staab/Craig Smith/Steve Hengeveld Honda 30:54:12
2001 Johnny Campbell/Tim Staab Honda 13:51:40
2002 Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell/Andy Grider Honda 16:17:28
2003 Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell/Bruce Ogilvie Honda 15:39:52
2004 Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell/Kendall Norman, Honda 15:57:37
2005 Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell/Mike Childress, Honda 14:20:30
2006 Steve Hengeveld/ Mike Childress/Quinn Cody, Honda 18:17:50
2007 Robby Bell/Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell/Kendall Norman, Honda 24:15:50
2008 Robby Bell/Kendall Norman/Johnny Campbell, Honda 12:29:18
2009 Kendall Norman/Timmy Weigand/Quinn Cody, Honda 13:27:50
2010 Gus Vildosola Jr./Gus Vildosola Sr., Ford F-150, 19:00:04
2011- Kendall Norman/Quinn Cody/Logan Holladay, Buellton, Calif., Honda, 14:14:25
2012- B.J. Baldwin, Ford F-150, 20:00:59
2013- Timmy Weigand/Colton Udall/David Kamo/Mark Samuels, Honda, 18:29:14
2014- Rob MacCachren/Andy McMillin/Jason Voss, Ford F-150, 22:31:28
2015- Rob MacCachren/Andy McMillin, Ford F-150, 15:58:32
2016- Rob MacCachren/Jason Voss, Ford F-150, 17:12:58
2017- Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez/Juan C. Lopez, Chevy Silverado, 19:53:36
2018- Justin Morgan/Mark Samuels/Justin Jones, 16:23:26
2019- Alan Ampudia/Aaron Ampudia, Ford Raptor, 16:10:36
4-wheel vehicles victory Total: 14
Motorcycles victory Total: 38