Start draw, qualifying order set for SCORE Baja 400

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, Dominic@SCORE-International.com

3rd SCORE Baja 400, Presented by VP Racing Fuels

Starting Draw results, qualifying order all confirmed;

Pre-running busy for next week’s 3rd SCORE Baja 400

for Rd 3 of 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship

 

Late, on-site racer registration Sept. 13-16 at Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center;

Pre-running continues on rugged 393.82-mile course around Northern Baja California;

SCORE Live, vehicle tracking at www.score-international.com, Rat Sult host;

Airing on ESPN2 World of X Games-Cameron Steele intro announcer; #SCOREBaja400

 

NOTE: Current name/number entry list—qualifying or start order, by class, at bottom of text

     ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico—Everything has gotten a whole lot busier in preparation for next week’s 3rd SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing Fuels. SoCal’s Drew Watson, has drawn the first start among the motorcycles and quads, the qualifying order (for four qualifying classes) has been announced and pre-running opened this past Saturday on the 393.82-mile race course for Round 3 of the four-race 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship.

     With 181 pre-registered entries, the first session of late registration is being held until this Thursday, Sept. 8 in person at the SCORE Ensenada office. Late, on-site registration will be held next Tuesday through Friday (Sept. 13-16) in Ensenada.

    Racing in the Pro Moto Unlimited class, Watson, 29, of San Diego, is the rider or record and will have four additional riders on his No. 19x Yamaha WR450F motorcycle for this race. His co-riders are Nick Lanning, Albuquerque, N.M., Garrett Kenny, San Diego, Don Grigg, San Diego and Peter Eiland. This is the first time that Watson has drawn the first start in a SCORE race.

FAST FACTS

     Round 3 of the four-race 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship will be held Sept. 13-18 in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, the race will start/finish and colorful pre-race activities are returning for the first time in three years to the heart of Ensenada at the iconic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center and the adjacent fantastically fan-friendly Boulevard Costero.

     Ensenada, ‘The Off-Road Capital of the World’, is located 80 miles South of the U.S. Border near San Diego.

     With over 200 entries expected, 45 competition classes are offered for Pro and Sportsman cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads. To date, there are 182 total entries from 22 U.S. States, U.S. Territory of Puerto Rico and 14 countries. Joining the USA in the field so far are racers from host country Mexico, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, England, France, New Zealand, Peru and Venezuela. So far there are 140 cars, trucks and UTVs entered and 42 motorcycles and quads.

     Most the world’s best desert racers will be in action at this year’s celebration of one of the newest top motorsports events in the entire world. The race will be televised on a delayed basis as a one-hour special on the ESPN2 World of X Games programming. It is scheduled to first air at 9 p.m. PT on Sunday, Nov. 6.

     The race show on ESPN2 is co-produced by SCORE International and the award-winning BCII TV of Los Angeles. Bud Brutsman is the Executive Producer. Intro announcer for the race show will be Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame Inductee and SCORE champion desert racer Cameron Steele who will again pull double duty racing in the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck class as well in his No. 16 Desert Assassins Monster Energy Ford Raptor.

     All four 2022 SCORE races are being held on Mexico’s magnificent Baja California peninsula for the seventh consecutive year.

     SCORE, the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization, is celebrating its 49th season in 2022.

DOUBLE DIGITS

     Leading the list of entries with double-digit lineups so far are SCORE Trophy Truck with 35 entries (including seven in SCORE TT Legend for drivers over 50 years old), Trophy Truck Spec with 28 entries, Pro UTV FI (Forced Induction) with 21 entries and Class 10 with 16 entries to date.

PRE-RUNNING

     Official practice, or pre-running, on the official 393.82-mile race course for this year’s 3rd SCORE Baja 400 is underway and starts at race mile 33.08 and finish at race mile 360.82. The first 33.08 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.

     The Racer’s Brief, Penalty Bulletin, Course Notes and GPS files are available on the SCORE website under Race Info.

QUICK HISTORY

     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). Both are entered again this year.

MORE FIRST STARTS

     Among the other first starts in their respective classes are Bruce Yee, Chula Vista, Calif. (Class 10, No. 1014), Mike Pratt, Draper, Utah (Pro UTV Open, No. 1867) Austin Jones, Litchfield Park, Ariz. (Pro UTV FI, No. 2985), Joe Bolton, Corona, Calif. (Pro UTV NA, No. 1957), Douglas Cornwell, Haslet, Texas (Pro UTV Stock, No. 3930), Jack Grabowski, Upland, Calif. (Class 5, No. 527) and Eric Solorzano, Tijuana, Mexico (Class 11, No. 1111).

     Besides Watson in Pro Moto Unlimited, among the other motorcycle first starts in their respective classes are Greg Bardonnex, Visalia, Calif. (Pro Moto 30, No. 300x), Scott Borden, Steamboat Springs, Colo. (Pro Moto Limited, No. 100x), Ryan Liebelt, Reedley, Calif. (Pro Moto 40, No. 400x), Vance Kennedy, Peoria, Ariz. (Pro Moto 50, No. 522x) and Juan Pablo Valenzuela, Ensenada, Mexico (Pro Moto Ironman, No. 704x).

QUALIFYING

     Qualifying for starting positions within their respective classes will be held on Wednesday (Sept. 14), starting at 7 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.

FIRST FIVE

     Set by the order that they entered the race, the first five to run their qualifying lap for starting positions out of 36 entries in SCORE Trophy Truck will be No. 34 Broc Dickerson, Brawley, Calif., No. 19 Tim Herbst, Las Vegas, No. 69 Andrew Myers, San Marcos, Calif., No. 6 Dan Myers, Newport Beach, Calif. and No. 46 Paul Weel, Queensland, Australia.

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 370 miles. While the fastest vehicles will finish in a little less than eight hours, all classes will have a time limit of 19 hours from the time each vehicle starters to become an official finisher in the race.

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.

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.

BAJA RUTA MUY ESPECIAL!

    The race features another colorful, challenging course, designed, plotted and marked 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 runs in a clockwise direction from Ensenada and back with two physical, full-stop checkpoints and 170 total virtual checkpoints. The two physical checkpoints will be: Checkpoint 1 at Ejido Jaramillo at race mile 223.64 and Checkpoint 2 will be at Santo Tomas at rm312.63. There are also a total of 15 speed zones for a total of 70.15 miles of the 393.82-mile race course.

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.

     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.

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: 181 (as of 9/05/22)

(from 22 U.S. States, U.S. Territory Puerto Rico, host Mexico, Argentina, Australia,

Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, England, France, New Zealand, Peru, Venezuela)

 (Start order, by class)

Pro Cars/Trucks/UTVs

SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (35*)

Qualifying Order

34 Broc Dickerson

19 Tim Herbst

69 Andrew Myers

6 Dan Myers

46 Paul Weel

7 Bryce Menzies

90 Raul Gomez

18 JP Gomez

85 Mikey Lawrence

26 Dave Taylor

70 Kevin Thompson

58 Tracy Graf

89 Mike Walser

31 Andy McMillin

21 Gustavo Tavo Vildosola

10 Alan Ampudia

43 Larry Roeseler

83 Luke McMillin

23 Dan McMillin

16 Cameron Steele

1 Rob MacCachren

14 Bobby Pecoy

98 Jose Mendez

82 Sam Baldi

92 Paul Nauleau

41 Justin Lofton

27 Jonathan Brenthel

*85L Clay Lawrence

*21L Gustavo Vildosola Sr

*37L Rolf Helland

*53L Wade Porter

*61L David Payne

*57L Greg Sullivan

*20L Bobby Patton, NQ

63 Ruben Torres, 1st-RS

*SCORE TT LEGEND

CLASS 1 (6)

Qualifying Order

168 Cody Reid

162 Brendan Gaughan

121 Damen Jefferies, NQ

138 Kyle Quinn, NQ

153 Brad Wilson, NQ

100 Brian Parkhouse, NQ

TROPHY TRUCK SPEC (28)

Qualifying Order

228 Ryan Hancock

264 Pierce Herbst

263 EJ Herbst

299 Charles Dorrance

207 Mason Cullen

225 John McNeil

236 Michael Marsal

294 Vincent Munoz

219 Cayden MacCachren (DOR-Christian Sourapas)

233 Justin Davis

289 Tanner Rust

240 Chris Miller

238 Elijah Kiger

213 Karl Ebdrup

200 Jason McNeil

229 Danny Lopez

272 Dustin Grabowski

297 Jorge Sampietro

203 Ken Stanick

204 Christopher Polvoorde

237 Kossnar Guenther

254 Mike Perez

273 Jordan Brenthel

2XX Mason Cullen

266 David Ziegler

261 Dan Fresh

269 Guillermo Zamacona

278 Carlos Ibarra

CLASS 10 (16)

1014 Bruce Yee

1064 Justin Buckley

1023 Britney Myers

1000 Ben Hagle

1011 Cesar Cuevas

1006 Stan Potter

1087 Ivan Tagle

1079 Manlio F. Diaz

1062 Roberto Romo

1019 Alberto Mendez

1050 Martin Christensen

1016 Hiram Duran

1002 Matias Arjona IV

1028 Armando Avila Jr

1010 Moises Cuevas

1009 J. David Ruvalcaba-1st RS

CLASS 7 (2)

700 Daniel Chamlee

716 Gaspar Espindola

PRO UTV OPEN (5)

1867 Mike Pratt

1876 Mike Cafro

1854 Kristen Matlock

1871 Wayne Matlock

1831 Craig Scanlon

PRO UTV FI (21)

2985 Austin Jones

2905 Marc Burnett

2901 Leobardo Gomez

2928 Carlos Quezeda

2989 Wes Miller

2923 Charles Manchester

2974 Jorge Cano

2906 Bernard Gomez

2976 Jesus Mendez Jr

2948 Matt Burroughs

2918 Justin Lambert

2987 Edgar Garcia Leon

2944 Phil Blurton

2942 Mark Shell

2954 Austin Weiland

2919 Brandon Schueler

2966 Santiago Creel

2943 Steve Allen

2991 Rodrigo Arriagada

2946 Jose Juarez

2910 Rodrigo Ampudia-1st RS

SCORE LITES (4)

1205 Miguel Cortez

1274 Mike Aguilar

1211 Oscar R. Alvarez

1277 Javy Buelna Jr

PRO UTV NA (2)

1957 Joe Bolton

1995 Kaden Wells

CLASS 1/2-1600 (3)

1651 Marco Conejo-3rd RS

1606 Matt Willert-2nd RS

1616 Eli Yee-1st RS

PRO UTV STOCK (5)

3930 Douglas Cornwell

3943 Dennis Romero

3933 Randy Emberton

3951 Omar Saucedo

3919 Anibal Lopez

CLASS 5 (3)

527 Jack Grabowski

525 Martin Anguiano

507 Ramon Fernandez-1st RS

 

BAJA CHALLENGE (1)

BC4 Edward Muncey

CLASS 7F (3)

714F Justin Park

702F Gerardo Novelo

701F Brandon Walsh

CLASS 2 (1)

2085 Jeremy Davis

CLASS 11 (4)

1111 Eric Solorzano

1100 Alex Gonzales

1145 Hector Sarabia

1156 Arthur Penner

Pro Motorcycles

PRO MOTO UNLIMITED (6)

19x Drew Watson

32x Ignacio Laviosa

38x Ivan Delgadillo

3x Forrest Minchinton

10x Juan Carlos Salvatierra

4x Jason Alosi

PRO MOTO 30 (3)

300x Greg Bardonnex

325x Jano Montoya

302x Ignacio Laviosa

PRO MOTO LIMITED (6)

102x Scott Borden

103x Giovanni Aviles

180x Fernando Beltran

111x Carlos Castillo

177x Hosea Struiksmea

148x Guillermo Hale Bolio

PRO MOTO 50 (3)

522x Vance Kennedy

568x Toby Burchfield

500x Giovanni Spinali

PRO MOTO 40 (3)

400x Ryan Liebelt

479x Luis Esquivel

441x Alirio Amado

PRO MOTO IRONMAN (6)

704x Juan Pablo Valenzuela

733x Paul Hart

785x Fabricio Fuentes

712x Eddie Meek

750x Brandon Wright

730x Francisco Septien

Pro Quads

Pro Quad (5)

27a Carlos Napoles

7a Luis Ernesto Villafana

1a Ricardo Villafana

5a Steven Lopez

31a Hector Chavez

Pro Quad Ironman (1)

83a Faelly Lopez

 

Sportsman

SPT M/C (6)

225x Jason Lopez

217x Dustin Davis

214x David Navarro

257x Luis Rivera

233x Eluminio Barrelleza

246x Alejandro Gill (ROR-Shael Pavel Urcadiz)

SPT QUAD (3)

138a Gabriel Vazquez

133a Julian Zepeda

111a Fidel Gonzalez