Season Opener next week Eleven of last year’s class winners have returned, all trying for repeat at 31st SCORE San Felipe 250

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, dominiccnv@aol.com
 
March 23, 2017
 
Season Opener next week
Eleven of last year’s class winners have returned,
all trying for repeat at 31st SCORE San Felipe 250
 
Pre-running underway; first-ever San Felipe qualifying March 30 for SCORE Trophy Truck, Class 1,
Trophy Truck Spec in Baja California to open four race 2017 SCORE World Desert Championship
 
ENSENADA, Mexico – As the number of entries continue to escalate reflecting the lasting popularity of the event, 11 defending class winners will be looking to repeat in next week’s season-opening 31st annual SCORE San Felipe 250 desert race in Baja California, Mexico.
     Entries to date from 25 U.S. States, host Mexico, Australia, Austria, Canada, Egypt, Germany and Guatemala are preparing for the popular season-opener of the four-race internationally-televised 2017 SCORE World Desert Championship. The event will be held next Wednesday to Sunday in San Felipe, the quaint fishing village on the Sea of Cortez, 125 miles south of the U.S. Border at Calexico, Calif.
Classes are offered in Pro and Sportsman divisions for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads.
SEASON CHAMPS
Leading the group of returning SCORE San Felipe 250 class winners are three racers who used their San Felipe wins to launch seasons that ended in recording 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship season class point championships.
Chad Broughton, Scotts Valley, Calif., won Trophy Truck Spec last year in San Felipe and went on to win the season point championship in his class as well as being voted 2016 SCORE Rookie of the Year. Mark Winkelman, Cedar Hill, Texas, won Pro Moto 50 (riders over 50 years old) in San Felipe last year enroute to leading teams that won double season point championships (Pro Moto 50 and Pro Moto Limited). Winkelman and his team of riders in Pro Moto 50 were undefeated with four race wins in 2016.
Mark Samuels, Yucca Valley, Calif., was co-rider for the now-injured Colton Udall who went undefeated in 2016 in Pro Moto Unlimited.
RACE REGISTRATION
While online racer registration continues until Sunday through the SCORE website, pre-running opened last Saturday on the magnificent 271.9-mile race course. Late, on-site registration will be held next Wednesday through Friday in San Felipe.
GOLDEN SCORE 2017
The 2017 season also marks the golden 50th anniversary celebration of the legendary season-ending SCORE Baja 1000, the iconic Granddaddy of all Desert Races to be held in mid-November. The SCORE Baja 1000 is the oldest and longest continuously held desert race in the world.
30-PLUS YEARS
Celebrating the 31st anniversary of the youngest of the three legendary SCORE Baja races, sometimes referred to as the SCORE ‘baby Baja’, entries continue to be accepted on the SCORE website (www.SCOREInternational.com) for Pro and Sportsman entries for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads.
Pre-race festivities for this popular ‘Spring Break’ race will be held in San Felipe next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with race day next Saturday concluding with the post-race awards fiesta next Sunday morning on the Malecon.
     The Monster Energy SCORE Kickoff Welcome Party will be held from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. PDT next Thursday (March 30) at the Hotel El Cortez.
THE DEFENDERS
Besides Broughton, Winkelman and Samuels, other 2016 San Felipe class wins who have entered to date along with the class they won last year in this race are Billy Wilson, Corpus Christi, Texas (SCORE Trophy Truck), Ronny Wilson, Long Beach, Calif. (Class 1), Jorge Sampietro, Ensenada, Mexico (Class 1/2-1600), Pete Sohren, Glendale, Ariz. (Class 7), Todd Winslow, Clovis, Calif. (Class 10), Marc Burnett, Lakeside, Calif. (Pro UTV FI), Garret Poucher, Valencia, Calif. (Pro Moto Limited) and Tony Gera, Santa Cruz, Calif. (Pro Moto Ironman).
QUALIFYING FIRST
For the first time in the history of this race, SCORE will hold a qualifying session on Thursday, March 30 to determine the starting positions within each class for the SCORE Trophy Truck, Class 1 and Trophy Truck Spec classes.
Qualifying first in the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division for high-tech, 850-horsepower, unlimited production trucks will be veteran racer/chassis builder Damen Jefferies, Yucca Valley, Calif.
Drawing the first qualifying position in the unlimited Class 1 was veteran SCORE female champion racer Shelby Reid, Apple Valley, Calif., whose son Cody Reid is a champion racer in Class 10.
First to make a qualifying run in Trophy Truck Spec will be Las Vegas’ Bill McBeath, a prominent casino executive and former SCORE Trophy Truck racer.
While qualifying is optional, 44 of the 58 total entries in the three classes, including 24 of 26 in SCORE Trophy Truck, have committed to qualify for their starting positions. The non-qualifiers in each class will start after all the qualifiers in their respective classes in the order they were drawn in the start drawn held on March 16 for all of the remaining classes.
ENTRY LEADERS
To date, the featured SCORE Trophy Truck division has the most entries with 26 followed by Trophy Truck Spec with 18 entries, Class 10 with 15 entries, unlimited Class 1 and Pro UTV FI with 14 each and SCORE Lites with 13.
Leading the motorcycle entries so far is Pro Moto Unlimited with seven entries.
TROPHY TRUCK LEGEND
SCORE has introduced a new class starting with this race called Trophy Truck Legend. The new class will use the same rules as the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division with the exception that all drivers in each vehicle in Trophy Truck Legend must be at least 50 years old.
SCORE has long had popular age group motorcycle classes for riders over 30, 40, 50 and 60 years old and over but this is the first class it has developed for four-wheel vehicles.
SCORE Trophy Truck is the featured SCORE racing division for high-tech, 850-horsepower unlimited production trucks. There are 26 official entries in SCORE Trophy Truck to date for next week’s SCORE San Felipe 250.
REGISTRATION/MANUFACTURER’S MIDWAY
Racer registration will be held at the Hotel El Cortez from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. (PDT) on Wednesday (March 29), from Noon to 8 p.m. (PDT) on Thursday (March 30) and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (PDT) on Friday (March 31).
Media registration will be held at the Hotel El Cortez from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. (PDT) on Thursday (March 30) and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  (PDT) on Friday (March 31).
The pre-race Manufacturer’s Midway, contingency and tech inspection of the vehicles in the race will be held on Friday (March 31). Contingency will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (PT) and tech/transponder check from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the picturesque Malecon, flanked by the Sea of Cortez on one side and the popular restaurants and night clubs of San Felipe on the other.
A MASTERFUL COURSE
SCORE President Roger Norman and SCORE Race Director Jose A. Grijalva have worked with the government officials and ejidos of the Mexicali and San Felipe areas to develop a memorable SCORE San Felipe 250 race course of 271.9 miles.
This year’s grueling race course will be another beauty to behold but a tough challenge to race on. It runs in a counter clockwise direction running over high-speed dry lake beds, through low-speed winding, rock-strewn, twisting canyons and trails, along quick-paced dirt roads and through three of Baja’s most infamous washes in Chanate, Huatamote and Amarillo.
There will be two full stop checkpoints in addition to the start/finish line which will be located for the first time in the history of this race on the Malecon in the heart of San Felipe. Checkpoint 1 will be located at El Chinero and the second will be at Morelia Junction.
The course will also pass through La Ventana, Saldana and Borrego as well as the Diablo dry lake bed.
There will be two road crossings, both on Highway 3. The first will be going north at km 192 after checkpoint 1 and the second one coming south near Borrego, crossing at km 179 on the highway.
The start line and celebratory finish area will be on the SCORE ramps in front of the Rockodile night club on the Malecon.
SPRING BREAK HAPPENING
For over three decades, the annual motorsports festival that has brought the largest economic impact of any single event held annually in this lightly-populated portion of the ruggedly rough and bountifully beautiful Baja peninsula has been the SCORE San Felipe 250.
SCOREscope
The four-race 2017 SCORE World Desert Championship and for the second time all four are being held in Baja California, Mexico. Here is the 2017 SCORE World Desert Championship schedule:
31st SCORE San Felipe 250, March 29-April 2, San Felipe, Mexico
49th SCORE Baja 500, June 1-4, Ensenada Mexico
Rosarito Beach 21st SCORE Desert Challenge, Sept. 14-17, Rosarito Beach, Mexico
50th SCORE Baja 1000, Nov.14-18, Ensenada, Mexico to La Paz, Mexico
EL REY NETWORK
The four-race 2017 SCORE World Desert Championship in Baja California, Mexico along with the SEMA SCORE Baja 1000 Experience/SCORE Baja 1000 Qualifying in Las Vegas will all air on El Rey Network in the United States. International distribution is by way of syndication.
El Rey Network is a 24-hour, English-language lifestyle network targeting "Strivers," viewers who hold strong core beliefs about the importance of family, independence, hard work, craftsmanship, and legacy.
Founded by maverick filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, and curated by Rodriguez and his artistic collective, the network features action-packed programming, relatable heroes and aspirational stories that embrace today's America. El Rey's slate is anchored by signature series including the original drama "From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series," the one-on-one interview program "El Rey Network Presents: The Director's Chair," and "Lucha Underground," a lucha libre wrestling series produced by Mark Burnett.
El Rey Network's lineup also showcases a wide range of iconic feature films and television series including genre, action, and sci-fi/ horror. El Rey Network LLC is jointly owned by Robert Rodriguez and FactoryMade Ventures, with a minority stake held by Univision Networks & Studios, Inc.
El Rey Network is available in 45 million homes across the country through cable and OTT providers and via satellite on DirecTV Channel 341 and Dish Network Channel 253. For more information on how to watch El Rey visit http://elreynetwork.com.
SCORE SPONSORS…
Official SCORE Sponsors: BFGoodrich Tires-Official Tire, Monster Energy-Official Energy Drink, King Shocks-Official Shock Absorber, Raceline Wheels-Official Wheel, Axial R/C-Official R/C Vehicle, El Rey Network-Official Television Partner, Wide Open Excursions-Official Arrive and Drive Company, Crystal Bay Casino-Official Casino.
SCORE Official Partners: PCI Race Radios, 4 Wheel Parts, Coca Cola, The Satellite Phone Store, Satellite Del Norte, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, CETTO Vineyards.
Additional SCORE Associate Partners: Proturismo Ensenada, Baja California Secretary of Tourism, Baja California Sur State Government, Baja California Sur Secretary of Tourism, Mexicali Ayuntamiento, COTUCO Mexicali/San Felipe, Cruz Roja Mexicana, Corporate Helicopters, McKenzie’s Performance Products, Advanced Color Graphics.
Rosarito Beach SCORE Desert Challenge Special Partners: Ayuntamiento de Playas de Rosarito, Cotuco de Playas de Rosarito, Comite de Mercadatecnia Playas de Rosarito.
For more information regarding SCORE, visit the official website of the SCORE World Desert Championship atwww.SCOREInternational.com.
 
31st SCORE San Felipe 250
March 29-April 2, 2017—271.9 miles
San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico
Schedule of Events (All Times are Pacific Daylight Time)
Wednesday, March 29, 2017 (Times are PDT)
1-8pm             Chassis Insp, Pre-Tech/Stella Bracket Check    Hotel El Cortez
4pm-8pm       Racer Registration                                                  Hotel El Cortez
 
Thursday, March 30, 2017 (Times are PDT)
9am                Qualifying SCORE TT, Class 1, TT Spec            Private location
Noon-8pm     Racer Registration                                                  Hotel El Cortez
1pm-8pm       Chassis Insp, Pre-Tech/Stella Bracket Ck          Hotel El Cortez
1pm-5pm       Media Registration                                                 Hotel El Cortez
6pm-11pm     Monster Energy SCORE Kick-off Party               Hotel El Cortez
 
Friday, March 31, 2017 (Times are PDT)
9am-4pm       Racer Registration                                                  Hotel El Cortez
9am-5pm       Media Registration                                                  Hotel El Cortez
9am-5pm       Volunteer Registration                                            Hacienda Don Jesus
9am-5pm       Contingency Row                                                    Downtown on the Malecon
9am-6pm       Tech Insp/Transponder Ck/Stella3 Install     End of Contingency Row-Malecon
6pm                Mandatory Aircraft Pilot Safety Meeting              Hotel El Cortez
7pm                Mandatory Racer Meeting                                     Hotel El Cortez
 
Saturday, April 1, 2017 (Times are PDT)
5:45am-9pm              SCORE Media Center Open                    SECTURE Office downtown
START/FINISH LINE- Malecon in front of Rockodile night club – 271.9-mile race course
6:20am          RACE START: MOTORCYCLES/QUADS (subject to change)—
Pro Moto Unltd, Pro Moto 30, Pro Moto 40, Pro Moto Ltd, Pro Moto 50, Pro Moto Ironman, Pro Moto 60, Pro Quad, SPT Moto, SPT Quad
(Start Intervals: all Pro M/C, Pro Quad, SPT M/C, SPT Quad classes start one every 30 seconds)
GAP –a minimum of two hour gap between M/C, Quad start and car/truck start
9am approx  RACE STARTCARS/TRUCKS/UTVS (subject to change)—
TT, TTL 1, TT Spec, 2, Hammer Ltd, Hammer Unltd, 10, 8. 1/2-1600, SL, 5, HM, 3000, TL, 7, Pro UTV FI, Pro UTV, Pro UTV Unltd, PT, 5-1600, 3, BC, SF, 7SX, 3700, 1700, SM, 9, 11, PT, SPT Unltd Truck, SPT Buggy, SPT Ltd Truck, SPT UTV
(TT one vehicle every 60 seconds. All other car/truck classes start one every 30 seconds)
TIME LIMIT: All classes have 13.5 hours from time each vehicle starts to complete the course
 
Sunday, April 2, 2017 (PDT)
9am                Posting of official finishers                       SCORE Stage on the Malecon
10am              Awards Celebration                                  SCORE Stage on the Malecon