El Rey Network to air 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000-- Qualifying Jan. 1—one-hour show, Race Jan. 14—two-hour special

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, dominiccnv@aol.com

December 7, 2017

Race in Baja California, Mexico

El Rey Network to air 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000--

Qualifying Jan. 1—one-hour show, Race Jan. 14—two-hour special

Iconic race was season finale of four-race 2017 SCORE World Desert Championship;  

legendary 1,134.40-mile race included cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles & quads

    ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico—El Rey Network has announced the broadcast dates and times for the final two shows of the four-race 2017 SCORE World Desert Championship. An one-hour special, the SEMA SCORE Baja 1000 Experience from Las Vegas and SCORE BFGoodrich Tires Baja 1000 Qualifying from Las Vegas Motor Speedway will air at 2 p.m. PT on Monday, January 1, 2018. The two-hour special covering the 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 race will be broadcast at 2 p.m. PT on Sunday, January 14, 2018.

     Host of the ERN show from the SEMA SCORE Baja 1000 Experience/BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 Qualifying in Las Vegas is professional BMX rider Mike Escamilla.

     Hosts of the ERN two-hour special race coverage show from the 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 is Mexico’s SCORE racer Rodrigo Ampudia Jr along with Escamilla and car artist Cherry Martini.

     The world’s most iconic, oldest, prestigious and longest continuously held desert race, this year’s 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 was held over a 1,134.40-mile rugged race course down Mexico’s majestic Baja California peninsula, starting in Ensenada, Baja California Norte and finishing in La Paz, Baja California Sur. It started in Ensenada for the 43rd time and finished in La Paz for the 21st time.

     The shows will also feature commentary by American actor Sung Kang (Fast and the Furious franchise) who is the executive producer.

     Working with ERN to produce these shows for SCORE has award-winning BCII TV of Los Angeles.

QUALIFYING REWIND

     Former NASCAR Cup team owner/driver and SCORE Baja racing legend Robby Gordon earned the first starting position in the featured SCORE Trophy Truck division in Las Vegas on Oct. 31.

     The special BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 Qualifying, presented by BFGoodrich Tires, was held under the lights at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Off-Road Track. The qualifying event was held in conjunction with the SEMA SCORE Baja 1000 Experience being held through Friday (Nov. 3) at the SEMA Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

     The qualifying course was three laps over the .6 mile LVMS Off-Road Track for 1.8 total miles. Gordon was quickest among the 29 trucks out of the 41 entered in the race that elected to participate in the optional qualifying event to earn the Ultimate Dana Top Qualifier Award.

     Gordon finished just .47 hundredth of a second faster than the runner-up qualifier as 12 of the SCORE Trophy Truck qualifiers finished the course in less than three minutes.

     Gordon, originally from Orange, Calif. but who resides in Mooresville, N.C. won the top qualifying spot for the second time in the four years this specially qualifying event has been held in Las Vegas.

Second was Las Vegas’ Rob MacCachren in the No. 11 Rockstar MacCachren Motorsports Ford F-150.

     MacCachren, the off-road Hall of Famer who has five overall victories in the SCORE Baja 1000 has won the last three consecutive SCORE Baja 1000 races.

     Completing the podium as third quickest was SCORE rookie Brandon Arthur, of San Diego, who subbed for driver of record Andy McMillin, National City, Calif., in the No. 31 TSCO Racing Ford F-150.

Rounding out the top five SCORE Trophy Truck qualifiers were Ricky Johnson, Trabuco Canyon, Calif. (DOR—Larry Connor, Miamisburg, Ohio), who was fourth in the No. 6 Team C Racing Chevy Silverado and fifth was Las Vegas’ Bryce Menzies in the No. 7 Menzies Motorsports Red Bull Ford Raptor.

RACE REWIND

     Mexico’s youthful superstar Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez teamed with his veteran father Juan C. Lopez to etch their name indelibly as the overall and SCORE Trophy Truck winners at the 50th annual BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 on Mexico’s magnificent Baja California peninsula.

     The Lopez tandem became the second Mexican Nationals’ son/father team to win this legendary race overall. They join Gustavo ‘Tavo’ Vildosola Jr and his father Gustavo Vildosola who were the first to accomplish this feat when they won the point-to-point Ensenada to La Paz race in 2008.

     As Baja itself claimed many of the frontrunners, turning great races into survival-mode finishes with several did not finishes, Apdaly, 22 and his father Juan C., 43 of Tecate, blasted through the terrain and the competition to earn a hard-fought struggle to capture the Golden checkered flag.

     After two years of finishing second in this race behind Rob MacCachren, the third time was the charm as the Lopez team finished the unforgiving 1,134.40-mile race course in 19 hours, 53 minutes, 36 seconds with a very impressive speed average of 57.02 miles per hour in the No. 1 RPM Racing Chevy Rally Truck.

     It also marked the 29th overall 4-wheel victory in the last 32 years for long-time SCORE sponsor BFGoodrich Tires who added a special Golden statue to their dynamic resume.  BFGoodrich Tires also presented Lopez with a special record-contingency bonus of US$50,000 to honor his golden anniversary race victory driving on BFGoodrich Tires, a desert-racing staple for over 40 years.

TOP FIVE OVERALL 4-WHEEL

     SCORE Trophy Truck recorded the top five overall placements among 4-wheel vehicle classes, when the dust settled officially finishing second to Lopez was Cameron Steele, San Clemente, Calif., in the No. 16 Desert Assassins Chevy Silverado in a time of 20:52:45 (54.33mph) and completing the podium in third place overall and in SCORE Trophy Truck was Dan McMillin, La Mesa, Calif., with a time of 21:13:10 (53.47mph), in the No. 23 Mark Racing Ford F-150

     Fourth finisher overall was Billy Wilson, Corpus Christi, Texas, with a time of 21:22:41 (53.06mph) in the No. 15 Bevly/Wilson Racing Ford Raptor and fifth overall finisher and in SCORE Trophy Truck was Chris Miller, La Jolla, Calif., with a time of 22:20:09 (50.80mph) in the No. 40 Toyota Tundra.

ARREDONDO MOTORCYCLE MAGIC

      In another memorable motorcycle battle, the motorcycles left the Ensenada starting line 10 hours before the four-wheel vehicles left on Nov. 16 and Guatemala’s Francisco Arrendondo paced a five-rider team in the No. 45x BREMEN-Arredondo-Haines Racing Honda CRF450X raced hard and long, leading much of the race before being passed on the tedious trek by the team led by Mark Samuels of Yucca Valley, Calif., on the No. 1x Ox Motorsports Honda CRF450X.

    Arredondo and his talented team claimed their third straight victory of the 2017 season when apparent winner Samuels was penalized after the race by SCORE race officials for a reckless incident at the finish line ramp. Ian Young was the rider for the last 200 miles of the race for the No. 1x.

    Arredondo, 40, a veteran international rally racer, shading riding responsibilities for this race with Shane Esposito, 43, Temecula, Calif./Justin Morgan, 27, El Cajon, Calif./Max Eddy Jr, 33, Barstow, Calif./Ty Davis, Oak Hills, Calif. The Arredondo team finished the gritty challenge in 21:07:17 while averaging 54.157 mph. Starting the race from the first position, they crossed the line at approximately 9:17 p.m. PT Nov. 16.

     It was the fifth overall motorcycle win in the SCORE Baja 1000 for Davis, second for Eddy Jr and first for Arredondo, Esposito, and Morgan.

     For Samuels’ Ox Motorsports, SCORE Race officials assessed a 30-minute penalty which moved the No. 1x to second place with an adjusted total time 21:26:47.

     Rounding out the motorcycle overall podium was the team led by Ray Dal Soglio, Scottsdale, Ariz., with a time of 23:02:09 on the No. 3x Ox Motorsports Honda CRF450X.

OVERALL UTV

     Leading a group of 43 starters in three Pro UTV class, the overall and Pro UTV FI class winner was the team led by Brandon Schueler, Phoenix with a time of 27:43:44 in the No. 2919 Polaris RZR XP4 Turbo. His teammates in golden victory were Miles Martin, Peoria, Ariz./Pat Stone, Payson, Ariz./Mitch Guthrie, Glendora, Ariz./Matt Park, Newport Beach, Calif./Jason Spiess, Peoria, Ariz.

SCOREscope

     The four-race 2017 SCORE World Desert Championship and for just the second time all four were 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
Tijuana 21st SCORE Desert Challenge, Sept. 20-24, Tijuana, 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 is airing on the El Rey Network in the United States. International distribution is by way of syndication. The season-ending 50th SCORE Baja 1000 will have a two-hour show produced while the other race shows will each be one-hour telecasts.

     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 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.

     Tijuana SCORE Desert Challenge Special Partners: XXII Ayuntamiento de Tijuana, Baja California Secretary of Tourism, Comite de Turismo and Convenciones, Comite de Marcadotecnia Turistica, Asociacion de Hoteles del Noroeste.

     For more information regarding SCORE, visit the official website of the SCORE World Desert Championship at www.SCOREInternational.com.