Solorzano leads new entries for SCORE Baja 400

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, Dominic@SCORE-International.com
 
August 12, 2022
 
Airing on ESPN2 World of X Games
3rd SCORE Baja 400, Presented by VP Racing Fuels
Hall of Famer Solorzano, Jason McNeil, Baldi Racing,
Eli Yee, Penner, Sarabia, all among newest entries
 
Spectacular event is Round 3 of four-race 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship,
Sept. 13-18 in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico; Grand Marshal-Hall of Famer LeDuc;
more info at…
 https://score-international.com/raceinfo/2022-baja-400-sept-13-18-2022/
 
NOTE: Current unofficial entry list, in numerical order, by class, at bottom of text
 
     ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico—With just a month until race week in Baja California, the newest entries for September’s 3rd SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing Fuels, include Mexico’s Hall of Famer Eric Solorzano, class champion Jason McNeil, consistent charger Sam Baldi, Mexico’s veteran champion Eli Yee, class champion Arthur Penner of Canada and Mexico’s vet racer Hector Sarabia.
WHEN
The youngest race in the long and storied nearly 50-year history of the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization will be held Sept. 13-18 in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.
EARLY BIRDS
Among the latest of the 89 of over 225 official entries expected in this newest of the legendary SCORE Baja races are Mexico’s Eric Solorzano, Tijuana in Class 11, Jason McNeil, El Cajon, Calif., in Trophy Truck Spec, SCORE newcomer Sam Baldi, Beaumont, Calif., in SCORE Trophy Truck, Mexico’s Eli Yee, Tijuana, in Class 1/2-1600, Canada’s Arthur Penner also in Class 11 and Mexico’s Hector Sarabia also in Class 11.
WHAT
Online racer registration along with a detailed schedule of events both are available on the SCORE website for Round 3 of the four-race 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship. Entries from all across the United States and around the world are anticipated for the upcoming internationally-televised desert race in Mexico’s Baja California.
Inaugurated in 2019, the SCORE Baja 400 was not held in 2020 because of the global pandemic and in 2021 started and finished without spectators Northeast of the central city.
The two defending overall and SCORE Trophy Truck champions in this new race are Ryan Arciero, Foothill Ranch, Calif. (2019) and Las Vegas’ Bryce Menzies (2021).
ONLINE RACER REGISTRATION
Online registration, by class, for Pro and Sportsman cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads, is ongoing through the SCORE website. Information on all SCORE races can be found on the home page under the Race Info tab.
Online racer registration will close at 5 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, Aug. 31. In person registration will be held in the SCORE Ensenada office until 5 p.m. PDT on Thursday, Sept. 8.
For more info, visit
https://score-international.com/raceinfo/2022-baja-400-sept-13-18-2022/
WHERE
The race and pre-race festivities will be in the heart of Ensenada, the seaside port on the Pacific Ocean, 80 miles south of San Diego. All race festivities including racer registration, media registration pre-race contingency and the start/finish line compound will all be held in or adjacent to the iconic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center. Contingency and the start/finish line area will once again be the fantastic, fan-friendly Boulevard Costero.
THE FIELD
Nearly 225 vehicles are expected at the start line for this third-time SCORE race with racers from as many as 20 U.S. States and 10 countries anticipated. Pro and Sportsman Classes are offered for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads. To date there are racers from 17 U.S. States, host country Mexico, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Costa Rica, New Zealand and Peru.
DOUBLE DIGITS
Leading the list of entries with double-digit lineups so far are SCORE Trophy Truck with 31 entries (including six in SCORE TT Legend for drivers over 50 years old) and Trophy Truck Spec with 17 entries.
YO 11-11
Eric Solorzano is a legendary Mexican racer who has risen from humble beginnings as an orphan in Tijuana to becoming the winningest Mexican national in SCORE racing history.
Solorzano, 62, is also part of the Class of 2022 to be inducted into the prestigious Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame on Oct. 30 in Las Vegas.
He started racing off-road on motorcycles in local races around Tijuana in 1974 and continued until 1988 when he decided to trade two wheels for four after an injury so he could continue racing.
He bought his first VW Bug in 1989. His first race was in 1991. He still owns, and races, the same car, more than 30 years later.
Solorzano competes in Class 11, the stock VW class. He first competed in the Mexican Record Series and later SCORE. In SCORE racing, Solorzano has won 11 SCORE season point championships in his No. 1111 VW Sedan and still competes to this day.
A husband and father of eight, Solorzano also has 11 class wins in the SCORE San Felipe 250, nine in the SCORE Baja 1000 and seven in the SCORE Baja 500.
His thousands of fans in Mexico view him as an inspiration for what hard work and preparation can do for a person.
In the SCORE Baja 400, Solorzano did not finish in either of the first events.
TT SPEC CHAMP-McNEIL
Last year, with back-to-back class wins sandwiched between a sixth place to start the season and another sixth place to cap the season, SoCal’s veteran Jason McNeil won not only his Trophy Truck Spec class, but also captured the SCORE Overall Truck point title of the four-race 2021 SCORE World Desert Championship.
McNeil, 45, of El Cajon, Calif., is a veteran SCORE racer, and his FiberwerX team saw McNeil drive his No. 200 Geiser-Chevy solo to victory in both the SCORE Baja 500 and the SCORE Baja 400 in 2021.
He has had mechanical issues in both races this year and recorded DNFs for both races.
In the SCORE Baja 400, McNeil is the defending class champion and was a DNF in his class in the inaugural race in 2019.
BALDI RACING
With nearly 60 years at the time as a family in the heavy construction industry, Baldi Racing was formed in 2010 and this their first full season racing with SCORE.
Sam Baldi, 57, of Beaumont, Calif. is the driver of record in SCORE Trophy with his son Michael Baldi, 32, Beaumont, Calif. as the second driver.
After a decade of successful unlimited Class 1 racing in U.S. domestic series, have moved to the featured SCORE Trophy Truck division.
Baldi Racing builds, fabs and preps the vehicles that they race in. Their No. 82 Chevy Silverado (B-1 built by Baldi Racing) and powered by a Dougan’s Racing Engines has started this season with a pair of consistent eighth-place finishes in SCORE Trophy Truck, the marquee racing division for high-tech, 1,000-horsepower, unlimited custom trucks.
For the season, Sam Baldi is currently in seventh place in the SCORE Trophy Truck season point standings with 223 points, just 23 behind first place Rob MacCachren and four points out of third place.
ELI YEE
Another of the prominent and veteran Mexican racers in the SCORE World Desert Championship, Eli Yee, 48, of Tijuana has won numerous races and the 2020 class point title in Class 1/2-1600.
Yee has raced with SCORE for nearly 30 years and among his recent class wins are in the SCORE Baja 500 and the SCORE Baja 1000 in both 2020 and 2021.
He finished second in last year’s SCORE Baja 400 in his class and is currently third in points in his class for the 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship.
Yee and his team drive the No. 1616 PRC-VW.
PENNER
A veteran SCORE Class 11 racer, Arthur Penner, 66, from Abbotsford, British Columbia in Canada, was a SCORE regular until the global pandemic restricted his travel. And he has now returned.
He drives the No. 1156 Mooch Racing VW Sedan where he is currently in third place in his 2022 class points after a third-place finish in San Felipe and a dnf in the SCORE Baja 500 in June.
Among his Class 11 race victories are in the SCORE San Felipe 250 which he won in both 2018 and 2019.
SARABIA
Hector Sarabia, 61, of Ensenada, has been a long-time friend of SCORE who over the years has assisted SCORE in numerous ways in dealing with the government, ejidos and local communities in Baja California.
Sarabia has raced sporadically over many years in several classes with SCORE. In 2000 he won Class 9 in the SCORE World Desert Championship and this year is leading the points in Class 11 with a pair of second-place finishes in the 2022 campaign.
He and Espiritu de Ensenada race team drive the No. 1145 Stock VW Sedan.
LeDUC, GRAND MARSHAL
Adding to the glamour of the SCORE Baja 400, Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame Class of 2015 inductee Curt LeDuc, and SCORE champion truck racer has been named as the Grand Marshal for this year’s race.
Passionate to a flair with racing champion sons Todd LeDuc and Kyle LeDuc, Curt LeDuc, 67, of Cherry Valley, Calif., has been a winner in desert racing, short course racing, the Dakar Rally, the Pike’s Peak Hill Climb and elder LeDuc is like the energizer bunny…he’s still going, going and going.
Building most of the vehicles he raced in, many would call LeDuc an engineer, but he prefers to be referenced as an ‘imagineer’ for his mechanical acumen.
LeDuc has had a strong career in SCORE and has four career SCORE Trophy Truck race wins and he won the 1997 SCORE Trophy Truck season point championship driving a factory-sponsored Jeep Cherokee.
GREEN FLAG
It is an elapsed-time race with staggered starts with the green flag dropping on Saturday (Sept. 18). Ceremonial start in front of the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center will be 5:30 a.m. PT for Motorcycles and Quads and 9:15 a.m. PT for the Cars, Trucks and UTVs. here will be a minimum of three and one-half hours between the last SPT Quad and the first SCORE Trophy Truck.
Car, Truck and UTV classes will have a course of 393.82 miles while motorcycle and quad classes will have a race course of approximately 370 miles. All classes will have a time limit of 19 hours from the time each vehicle starters to become an official finisher in the race.
TV
The race will air domestically on a delayed basis as a one-hour special on the World of X Games program on ESPN2 and will be syndicated internationally to nearly 25 countries in Europe, Latin America, South America and Asia. Co-producing the shows with SCORE is the award-winning BCII TV of Los Angeles led by executive producer Bud Brutsman.
START GRID-SCORE BAJA 1000
The results of the SCORE Baja 400 also will determine the start order within each class for November’s iconic season-ending BFGoodrich Tires 55th SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts.
DRAW DEADLINE
The starting order within each class for this race (except for the classes that are qualifying), will be determined by a random drawing for those entries received online and paid in full by 5 p.m. (PDT) on Wednesday, August 31.
No additional online entries will be accepted after 5 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, August 31.
Late, on-site racer registration will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (Sept. 13-16).
In person registration is also being held in the SCORE Ensenada office until 5 p.m. PDT on Thursday, Sept. 8.
PRE-RUNNING
Official practice, or pre-running, on the official 393.82-mile race course for this year’s 3rd SCORE Baja 400 will open at 8 a.m. PDT on Saturday, Sept. 3. Pre-running will start at race mile 33.14. The first 33.14 miles, which will be used in both directions during the race, will be available for pre-running only on Thursday (Sept. 15) and Friday (Sept. 16) and only in the outbound direction.
QUALIFYING
     Qualifying for starting positions within their respective classes will be held on Wednesday (Sept. 14), starting at 8 a.m. PDT. Classes that will be qualifying for the 3rd SCORE Baja 400 are SCORE Trophy Truck, SCORE TT Legend, the unlimited Class 1 and the Trophy Truck Spec class.
MAIN COURSE
The race will feature a course, designed and plotted by SCORE President/Race Director Jose A. Grijalva, of 393.82 miles of rugged Baja California terrain (370 for motorcycles and quads).
The challenging race course will be another memorable example of all that Mexico’s Baja California has to offer, including high-speed dirt trails, sandy, rocky and silty natural terrain, majestic Baja washes and canyons, stretches along the seashore with elevations from sea level to 4,972 feet. The course will be another jewel reflecting the stark beauty of Baja California.
It will run in a clockwise direction from Ensenada and back with two physical, full-stop checkpoints and 170 virtual checkpoints. The two physical checkpoints will be: Checkpoint 1 at Ejido Jaramillo at race mile 233.64 and Checpoint 2 will be at Santo Tomas at rm312.63.
A HAPPENING…
Colorful race week festivities will start on Tuesday, Sept. 13 to help celebrate this youngest SCORE Baja race. They will be held in or adjacent to the landmark Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in the heart of Ensenada.
Chassis inspections and pre-tech/Stella devise check and installation will be held on Wednesday (Sept. 14) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT by appointment and on Thursday (Sept. 15) chassis inspection/pre-tech/Stella bracket check and installation will be held at a location to be determined.
Friday (Sept. 16) will see the colorful day-long, pre-race Manufacturer’s Midway and contingency festival in the start finish line area in Ensenada. From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT contingency row will be held for all classes. Tech inspection/Transponder checks/Stella/SPICA device pickup will be from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. PDT on Friday as well at the end of the manufacturer’s row.
During the race on Saturday, Sept. 17 until the course closes on Sunday morning, Sept. 18, the start/finish line compound will include the massive double-sided SCOREvision LED screen broadcasting race festivities, the start, live race action from around the course and finish line interviews.
Popular Rat Sult will once again serve as host of the SCORE Live streaming. Assisting Sult will be veteran voice Dave Arnold.
Contingency and the race itself will be streamed live, airing via the internet on the SCORE website. Included in the exclusive race coverage, along with vehicle tracking, will be live drone and in-car camera footage from various locations around the race course.
AT THE RIVIERA…
The historic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center, in the heart of Ensenada, will again be the site of many of the activities surrounding the 3rd SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing Fuels. Racer registration and media registration will both be held in Salon Rojo on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (Sept. 13-16).
On Tuesday (Sept. 13 for qualifying teams only) racer registration will be held from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. PDT. On Wednesday (Sept. 14) it will run from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. PDT, Thursday (Sept. 15) it will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT and on Friday (Sept. 16) from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, no new entries will be accepted after 7 p.m. PDT, on Thursday after 4 p.m. PDT and on Friday, no new entries will be accepted after 3 p.m. PDT.
SCORE Media Registration will be held in Salon Rojo at the Riviera on Tuesday and Wednesday (Sept. 13-14) from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. PDT and on Thursday and Friday (Sept. 15-16) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT.
The start/finish line for the race will once again be adjacent to the iconic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center on Blvd. Costero.
SCOREscope
2022 SCHEDULE
Here are the remaining two dates in the four-race 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship which is being held exclusively in Baja California, Mexico for the seventh consecutive year:
3rd SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing Fuels—
September 13-18, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
BFGoodrich Tires 55th SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts—
November 15-20, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
ESPN TV NETWORKS AGAIN IN 2022
For the fourth straight year, the 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship races are airing on the ESPN family of networks. The four-races are airing as specials on the World of X Games program 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 journalists Sam Posey and Jack Arute.
All of the SCORE race coverage shows also continue to air internationally in nearly 25 countries in Euro/pe, 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. Bud Brutsman is the Executive Producer. Intro announcer for the SCORE race shows is SCORE Trophy Truck champion racer and Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee Cameron Steele.
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 and Race Title Sponsor, Polaris RZR-Official UTV, RACELINE Wheels-Official Wheel, VP Racing Fuels-Official Fuel and race presenting sponsor, Optima Batteries-Official Batteries, Wide Open Excursions-Official Arrive and Drive Company, Crystal Bay Casino-Official Casino and PCI Race Radios.
SCORE Official Partners: The Satellite Phone Store, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, Lucerna Hotel.
Additional SCORE Associate Partners: Baja California Secretary of Tourism, MEXICO Secretary of Tourism, San Felipe Foundational Municipal Council, Ensenada Municipal Government, San Felipe Marketing Tourism Committee, Ensenada Marketing Tourism Committee, Ensenada Hotel and Motel Association, Proturismo Ensenada and Cruz Roja Mexicana.
For more information regarding SCORE, visit the official website of the SCORE World Desert Championship at www.SCORE-International.com.
3rd SCORE Baja 400,
presented by VP Racing Fuels
Round 3 of four-race 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship
Sept. 13-18 – 393.82 miles – Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
Total Entries: 89 (as of 8/12/22)
(from 17 U.S. States, host Mexico, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Peru)
 (Numerical order, by class)
Pro Cars/Trucks/UTVs
SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (31*)
1 Rob MacCachren
4 Justin Matney
*5L Clyde Stacy
6 Dan Myers
7 Bryce Menzies
10 Alan Ampudia
14 Bobby Pecoy
16 Cameron Steele
18 JP Gomez
19 Tim Herbst
*20L Bobby Patton
21 Gustavo Tavo Vildosola
*21L Gustavo Vildosola Sr
23 Dan McMillin
26 Dave Taylor
31 Andy McMillin
34 Broc Dickerson
*37L Rolf Helland
43 Larry Roeseler
46 Paul Weel
*57L Greg Sullivan
58 Tracy Graf
69 Andrew Myers
70 Kevin Thompson
82 Sam Baldi
83 Luke McMillin
85 Mikey Lawrence
*85L Clay Lawrence
89 Mike Walser
90 Raul Gomez
98 Jose Mendez
*SCORE TT LEGEND
 
CLASS 1 (3)
100 Brian Parkhouse
162 Brendan Gaughan
168 Cody Reid
 
TROPHY TRUCK SPEC (17)
200 Jason McNeil
207 Mason Cullen
213 Karl Ebdrup
219 Cayden MacCachren (DOR-Christian Sourapas)
225 John McNeil
228 Ryan Hancock
229 Danny Lopez
233 Justin Davis
236 Michael Marsal
238 Elijah Kiger
240 Chris Miller
249 Dustin Swanson
263 EJ Herbst
264 Pierce Herbst
294 Vincent Munoz
289 Tanner Rust
299 Charles Dorrance
 
CLASS 10 (4)
1023 Britney Myers
1062 Roberto Romo
1079 Manlio F. Diaz
1087 Ivan Tagle
 
CLASS 7 (1)
700 Daniel Chamlee
 
PRO UTV OPEN (1)
1831 Craig Scanlon
 
PRO UTV FI (1)
2942 Mark Shell
 
SCORE LITES (1)
1211 Oscar R. Alvarez
 
PRO UTV NA (1)
1957 Joe Bolton-1st RS
 
CLASS 1/2-1600 (1)
1616 Eli Yee
 
PRO UTV STOCK (4)
3919 Anibal Lopez
3930 Douglas Cornwell
3933 Randy Emberton
3943 Dennis Romero
 
CLASS 8 (1)
818 Jessalyn Sells
HEAVY METAL (0)
8044 Brett Maister
CLASS 5 (0)
CLASS 3 (0)
CLASS 5-1600 (0)
BAJA CHALLENGE (1)
BC4 Edward Muncey
 
CLASS 7F (2)
702F Gerardo Novelo
714F Justin Park
CLASS 7SX (0)
STOCK FULL (0)
CLASS 3000/TROPHY LITE (1)
3049 Chase Swanson
 
CLASS 2 (1)
2085 Jeremy Davis
 
CLASS 11 (3)
1111 Eric Solorzano
1145 Hector Sarabia
1156 Arthur Penner
Sportsman
SPT UNLTD TRUCK (0)
SPT UNLTD BUGGY (0)
SPT UTV OPEN (0)
SPT UTV STOCK (0)
Pro Motorcycles
PRO MOTO UNLIMITED (3)
3x Forrest Minchinton
10x Juan Carlos Salvatierra
19x Drew Watson
 
PRO MOTO 30 (1)
325x Jano Montoya
 
PRO MOTO LIMITED (2)
102x Scott Borden
103x Giovanni Aviles
 
PRO MOTO 50 (2)
500x Giovanni Spinali
568x Toby Burchfield
 
PRO MOTO 40 (2)
400x Ryan Liebelt
479x Luis Esquivel
 
PRO MOTO IRONMAN (1)
704x Juan Pablo Valenzuela
PRO MOTO 60 (0)
Pro Quads
Pro Quad (3)
1a Ricardo Villafana
7a Luis Ernesto Villafana
27a Carlos Napoles
Pro Quad Ironman (0)
Sportsman
SPT M/C (1)
217x Dustin Davis
SPT QUAD (0)