BAJA 500 Qualifying: Gordon Wins The Pole for 47th Bud Light SCORE BAJA 500

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_images_carousel images="7215,7218,7219,7220,7221,7222,7223,7224,7225" onclick="link_image" custom_links_target="_self" mode="horizontal" speed="5000" slides_per_view="1" autoplay="yes" hide_pagination_control="" hide_prev_next_buttons="" partial_view="" wrap="yes" title="Gordon Qualifies First" img_size="large"][vc_column_text]SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, dominiccnv@aol.com

June 4, 2015
Race to air on CBS Sports Network
Huerta Jr, R. Wilson, S. Reid top three qualifiers in unlimited Class 1
Round 3 of five-race 2015 SCORE World Desert Championship being held in Ensenada, Mexico
Entries from 26 U.S. states, 10 countries celebrating SCORE’s 42nd anniversary;
Tecnovision producing LIVE streaming & vehicle tracking at www.score-international.com
ENSENADA, Mexico—Former NASCAR team owner Robby Gordon, Charlotte, N.C., returned to his desert-racing roots posting the fastest qualifying time Thursday to earn the first starting position in Saturday’s internationally-televised 47th annual Bud Light SCORE Baja 500. Entries from around the world are officially entered in Round 3 of the 2015 SCORE World Desert Championship, being held this week in Mexico’s Baja California Norte, starting and finishing in Ensenada, the seaside port on the Pacific Ocean, 85 miles south of San Diego.
Driving his durable and dependable No. 77 Speed Energy Chevy Silverado, Gordon, who will race in the XGames in Austin, Texas on Sunday in his Stadium Super Truck series, covered the 4.1-mile desert test course near Uruapan, 25 miles south of Ensenada, in five minutes, 23.22 seconds, averaging 45.67 miles per hour. Gordon has now qualified fastest qualifier in last year’s race as well.
SCORE is celebrating its 42nd year as the world’s foremost desert racing organization in 2015 and this is an elapsed-time race with staggered starts as the green flag on Saturday as the green flag on Saturday drops first for the motorcycles and quads at 5:30 a.m. and approximately 10 a.m. for the cars, trucks and UTVs. While the fastest vehicles are expected to complete the brutally rugged 510.58-mile course in over 10 hours, all vehicles will have a 22-hour time limit to become an official finisher in the grueling race.
With late entries accepted on-site until the close of registration on Friday, over 225 entries are expected at the start line with entries from 26 U.S. States and 10 countries already in the field. Besides the USA and host country Mexico, other countries represented on the starting grid so far are Austria, Canada, Ecuador, France, Germany, Great Britain, Guatemala and Japan.
Among the entries are 72 races who have combined for 196 class wins in this historic race.
SCORE BAJA FIESTA
This year is the 47th anniversary of the Bud Light SCORE Baja 500, the original desert race produced by SCORE on July 26, 1974.
Colorful race week festivities started with qualifying for SCORE Trophy Truck and Class 1 followed by the Monster Energy SCORE Kick Off Party on Thursday from 7 p.m. until Midnight at the start/finish line area in the heart of Ensenada. With donations for La Cruz Roja Mexicana (Mexico’s Red Cross), the event will be include a racer’s autograph party and vehicle display.
Friday will see the day-long, pre-race Manufacturer’s Midway and contingency festival in the start finish line area in Ensenada.
On Friday evening, the Monster Energy Papas Y Beer SCORE Street Party will be held from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Avenida Ruiz in downtown Ensenada.
During the race on Saturday the Monster Energy SCORE VIP hospitality area, will be part of the start/finish line compound. The area will also include the massive Tecnovision LED screens broadcasting race festivities and start and finish line interviews.
All of the week’s festivities will be aired both live and same-day including the race, airing via the internet on the SCORE website.
QUALIFYING REPORT
With qualifying for the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division for high-tech, 850-horsepower unlimited production trucks and the unlimited Class 1 for open-wheel desert race cars, 27 of 31 entries in SCORE Trophy Truck and eight of 20 entries in Class 1 ran in the qualifying session. The vehicles that didn’t qualify will start at the back of their respective classes.
Second-fastest qualifier was Nick Vanderwey, Phoenix, in the No. 84 Ford F-150 in 5:33.00, just under 10 seconds behind leader Gordon. Third was Luke McMillin, El Cajon, Calif., in the No. 83 Ford F-150, while fourth was Jason Voss, Cupertino, Calif., who was second in qualifying the last two years behind Gordon, with a time of 5:35:28 in another Ford F-150 while fifth was Carlos Lopez, Tecate, Mexico in the No. 5 Chevy Rally Truck in 5:40.07.
The top three qualifiers in Class 1 were No. 175 Jaime Huerta Jr, Ensenada, Mexico in 5:45.56 (42.71mph) in a Chevy-powered Racer open-wheel desert race car, No. 138 Randy Wilson, Lakewood, Calif in 5:57.74 in a Jimco-Chevy and No. 168 Shelby Reid, Apple Valley, Calif., 6:04.70.
AT THE RIVIERA
The Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center, in the heart of Ensenada, will again be the site of many of the activities surrounding the Bud Light SCORE Baja 500. Racer registration and Media registration will be held in the Red room at the Riviera on Thursday and Friday and the SCORE Media Center will be in the Red room during the race with internet access and live race updates, vehicle tracking displays including unofficial elapsed times.
In the Cathedral Room at the Riviera will be pre-race media conference as well as the mandatory pre-race racer’s meeting on Friday. The post-race awards celebration will be in the outdoor Riviera amphitheater at noon on Sunday.
The start/finish line for the race will once again be adjacent to the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center on Blvd. Costero.
47th Bud Light SCORE Baja 500
Round 3 of five-race 2015 SCORE World Desert Championship
June 6-7 * Ensenada, Mexico * 510.58 miles
Celebrating 42 years of SCORE International
OFFICIAL ENTRIES – 201 (as of 6/4/15)
(from 26 U.S. States, Austria, Canada, Ecuador, France, Germany, Great Britain, Guatemala, Japan and Mexico)
Thursday’s Qualifying Results
(Qualifying determined class starting order)
Position, Vehicle Number, Driver of Record, Hometown, Vehicle, time, average speed for one lap of special 4.1-mile course
SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (Unlimited Production Trucks)--
TOP QUALIFIER: 77 Robby Gordon, Charlotte, N.C., Chevy Silverado, 5 minutes, 23.22 seconds (45.67 miles per hour)
2. 84 Nick Vanderwey, Phoenix/Kyle LeDuc, Beaumont, Calif./Curt LeDuc, Cherry Valley, Calif., Chevy Silverado, 5:33.00 (44.32mph)
3. 83 Luke McMillin, El Cajon, Calif., Ford F-150, 5:34.38 (44.14mph)
4. 35 Jason Voss, Cupertino, Calif./Rich Voss, Cupertino, Ford F-150, 5:35.28 (44.02mph)
5. 5 Carlos Lopez, Tecate, Mexico/Clyde Stacy, Bristol, Va./Juan C. Lopez, Tecate, Mexico, Chevy Rally Truck, 5:40.07 (43.40mph)
6. 70 Bryce Menzies, Las Vegas, Ford F-150, 5:40.18 (43.29mph)
7. 44 Kyle Jergensen, Oak Hills, Calif., Chevy Silverado, 5:41.59 (43.21mph)
8. 21 Gus Vildosola Jr, Mexicali, Mexico/Gus Vildosola Sr, Mexicali, Ford Raptor, 5:42.44 (43.10mph)
9. 97 B.J. Baldwin, Las Vegas, Chevy Silverado, 5:43.18 (43.01mph)
10. 2 Jason McNeil, El Cajon, Calif./Kevin Butts, El Cajon, Chevy Silverado, 5:49.20 (42.27mph)
11. 11 Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas, Ford F-150, 5:49.41 (42.24mph)
12. 1 Steven Eugenio, Carlsbad, Calif./Armin Schwarz, Austria (Germany), Chevy C1500, 5:50.32 (42.13mph)
13. 19 Tim Herbst, Las Vegas/Larry Roeseler, Boulevard, Calif., Ford F-150, 5:51.11 (42.04mph)
14. 38 Eric Hustead, St. George, Utah/T.J. Flores, Las Vegas/Todd Romano, Park City, Utah, Ford F-150, 5:52.92 (41.82mph)
15. 17 Eduardo Laguna, Mexicali, Mexico, Chevy Silverado, 5:54.42 (41.65mph)
16. 72 Robert Acer, Wilmington, Dela./Andrew Becerra, W. Covina, Calif., 5:55.02 (41.58mph)
17. 76 Jesse Jones, Phoenix, Ford F-150, 5:56.38 (41.42mph)
18. 23 Dan McMillin, La Mesa, Calif./Chuck Hovey, Escondido, Calif., Ford F-150, 5:58.00 (41.23mph)
19. 85 Justin Davis, Chino Hills, Calif., Chevy Silverado, 6:00.69 (40.92mph)
20. 22 Casey Currie, Norco, Calif./John Currie, Norco, Jeep-Custom, 6:05.46 (40.39mph)
21. 9 Mark Weyhrich, Troutdale, Ore., Ford F-150, 6:08.38 (40.07mph)
22. 50 Zak Langley, Santa Monica, Calif./Rick D. Johnson, Barstow, Calif., Ford F-150, 6:23.52 (38.49mph)
23. 58 Tracy Graf, Canada/Justin Smith, Las Vegas, Ford F-150, 6:27.49 (38.29mph)
24. 36 Glen Greer/, Green Valley, Ariz./Chad Hancock, Green Valley/Thom Greer, Tucson, Ariz., Dodge Ram1500, 6:44.84 (36.46mph)
25. 40 Chris Miller, Santee, Calif., Ford F-150, 7:07.88 (34.50mph)
26. 88 Sergio Salgado, Mexicali, Mexico/Joel Serna/Mexicali, Chevy Silverado, 7:19.08 (33.62mph)
27. 91 Troy Herbst, Las Vegas/Ryan Arciero, Foothill Ranch, Calif., Ford F-150, Did Not Finish
(Remaining start order for non-qualifiers)
28. 45 Gary Magness, Desert Hot Springs, Calif./Devin Housh, Desert Hot Springs, Ford F-150
29. 47 James Bult, Monee, Illinois/Jacob Bult, Sandpoint, Idaho, Ford F-150
30. 75 Mike Cook, Orem, Utah/Todd Pedersen, Orem, Chevy Silverado
31. 99 Lyle Bask, Canada/Ken Evans, Canada, Ford F-150
CLASS 1 (Unlimited single or two-seaters)--
1. 175 Jaime Huerta Jr, Ensenada, Mexico/Jesus Saldana, Ensenada, Racer-Chevy, 5:45.56 (42.71mph)
2. 138 Randy Wilson, Lakewood, Calif./Brian Wilson, Long Beach, Calif./John Herder, Tucson, Ariz., Jimco-Chevy, 5:57.74 (41.26mph)
3. 168 Shelby Reid, Apple Valley, Calif./Darren Ebberts, Corona, Calif., Custom-Chevy, 6:04.70 (40.47mph)
4. 195 Don Chase, La Crescenta, Calif./Travis Chase, La Crescenta, ESM-Ford, 6:21.83 (38.66mph)
5. 100 Cody Parkhouse, Long Beach, Calif./Brian Parkhouse, Long Beach, Jimco-Chevy, 6:23.02 (38.54mph)
6. 104 Rob Archibald, Lakeside, Calif., Jimco-Chevy, 6:30.33 (37.82mph)
7. 125 Scott Rueschenberg, Mesa, Ariz., Tatum-Chevy, 7:02.20 (34.95mph)
8. 109 Tony Murray, Long Beach, Calif./Kyle Murray, Long Beach, Penhall-Chevy, 7:03.44 (34.86mph)
(Remaining start order for non-qualifiers)
9. 114 Lee Mundt, Canada/Mike Ferguson, Canada, ESM-Ford
10. 123 Monica Greenhill/David Greenhill/Mike Greenhill, Burleson, Texas, Jimco-Chevy
11. 128 Brent Parkhouse, Long Beach, Calif./Chuck Sacks, Canyon Country, Calif./Matt Cullen, Long Beach, Calif., Jimco-Chevy
12. 131 George Peters, Newbury Park, Calif./Luke Babb, Encinitas, Calif., Racer-Chevy
13. 145 Mike Boone, Garden Grove, Calif./Mark Workentine, Fresno, Calif., WickedCreations-Chevy
14. 147 Pat McCarthy, Hermosa Beach, Calif./Nick De Avilla, Hermosa Beach/Robert Morgan, Torrance, Calif., Jimco-Chevy
15. 156 Thomas Kirkmeyer, Apple Valley, Calif./Richard Boyle, Ridgecrest, Calif., Custom-Chevy
16. 160 Victor Barreda, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico/Juan Cota, Cabo San Lucas, Jimco-Chevy
17. 166 Brady Turner, Imperial, Calif./Mark Cowan, Imperial, Jimco-Chevy
18. 169 Andrew Myers, San Marcos, Calif./Dan Myers, Costa Mesa, Calif., Jimco-Chevy
19. 177 Martin Hoffman, Capistrano Beach, Calif./Brian Coats, Huntington Beach, Calif., Custom-Chevy
20. 187 Ryan Sharman, Phoenix/Paul Sharman, Phoenix, Tatum-Chevy[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]