Cameron Steele draws first SCORE Trophy Truck start position for next week’s 32nd SCORE San Felipe 250

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

March 29, 2018

Santiago Creel draws first M/C Start

Cameron Steele draws first SCORE Trophy Truck start

position for next week’s 32nd SCORE San Felipe 250

 

239 total entries to date from 25 States, nine countries for season opener

of four-race 2018 SCORE World Desert Championship; start/finish on Malecon

in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico; race to be televised internationally

    ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico – SoCal’s champion desert racer and TV action sports commentator Cameron Steele has drawn the first starting position for the car/truck/UTV classes and Mexico’s international rally racer Santiago Creel has drawn the first start for the motorcycle/quad classes for next week’s 32nd annual SCORE San Felipe 250.

     The season-opener of the four-race 2018 SCORE World Desert Championship will be held next Wednesday through Sunday (April 4-8) in San Felipe, the peaceful fishing village on the Sea of Cortez in Baja California, Mexico, 125 miles south of the U.S. Border at Calexico, Calif.

     Featuring the longest course in race history at 319 miles, the race will start and finish for the second straight year and just the second time in race history on the Malecon beach walk along the edge of the water in the heart of town.

     Over 250 entries in Pro and Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads are expected in the race. Many of the sport’s top stars are among the 239 official entries received in time for this week’s start draw from 25 U.S. States along with the additional countries of host Mexico, Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and Peru.

     Online racer registration continues through Sunday on the SCORE website and late, on-site racer registration will be held next Thursday and Friday in San Felipe.

     Helping mark the launch of 25th year of the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division, a race-record total of 42 of these ‘Monsters of the Desert’ are officially entered to date in next week’s SCORE San Felipe 250.

FAB 50

     The year of 2018 also marks the 50th anniversary celebration of the legendary BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 500 to be held the end of May and beginning of June.

CAM THE MAN

     Steele, 50 of San Clemente, Calif., is a veteran of nearly 30 years of SCORE desert racing and is coming off of his second-place finish in last year’s iconic season-ending 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 that ran from Ensenada to La Paz. He has drawn the first start in the large field in his No. 16 Monster Energy Chevy Silverado.

FOUR IS MORE

     Creel, 31 of Mexico City, has only been racing with SCORE four a couple of years and last year’s Pro Moto Limited class point champion has entered four KTM motorcycles in three classes with a host of seasoned rally racers as teammates.  Having drawn the first start in Pro Moto Limited (No. 100x) as well, Creel will be riding the No. 66 KTM 350EXCF first off the line next Saturday morning in San Felipe.

     Creel also has a second entry in the Pro Moto Unlimited class (No. 4x) and the fourth KTM bike in Pro Moto 30 (No. 360x) for riders over 30 years old.
MORE FIRST STARTS

     Among the classes with double-figure entries, starting on the pole in their respective four-wheel vehicle classes will be Javier Robles Jr (Class 1), Pat Sims (Trophy Truck Spec), Todd Winslow (Class 10) and Aldo Salazar (Pro UTV FI).

     Besides Creel, also drawing first starts in motorcycle classes were Chris Kassity (Pro Moto 30), Jano Montoya (Pro Moto 40) and SCORE rookie Liz Karcz in Pro Moto Ironman for solo riders.

ENTRY LEADERS

     In the start drawing, the featured SCORE Trophy Truck division had the most entries in the drawing with 42 (including seven SCORE TT Legend trucks for drivers 50 years and older) followed by Pro UTV FI with 23, Trophy Truck Spec with 17 entries, Class 10 with 17 entries and the unlimited Class 1 with 15 entries.

     Leading the motorcycle entries in the drawing was Pro Moto Ironman (solo riders) with 11 entries. The Pro Moto Unlimited has nine entries.

     With the most Sportsman class entries is the SPT Motorcycle class with 19 entries so far.

SCORE TROPHY TRUCKS & SCORE TT LEGENDS

     SCORE Trophy Truck, the featured SCORE racing division for high-tech, 900-horsepower, unlimited production trucks, continues to lead the growing entry list for the race with 42 trucks (including seven SCORE TT Legend entries-drivers over 50 years old) in the lineup so far for next week’s SCORE San Felipe 250.

     While picking the winner is tougher than completing an accurate bracket for the NCAA Basketball Champion, there are some serious racers of pedigree in SCORE Trophy Truck entered in this year’s SCORE San Felipe 250.

     Leading the way is Las Vegas’ Rob MacCachren, last year’s overall and SCORE Trophy Truck winner in San Felipe in the No. 11 MacCachren Motorsports Rockstar Ford F-150 who has a race-high five overall and SCORE Trophy Truck wins, including last year, and nine total class wins in San Felipe.

     The ‘Mac Attack’, who won SCORE Trophy Truck season point titles in the inaugural year of 1994 and 2007 (with Mark Post), tops the all-time race victory list in the legendary class with 15 career race wins in his illustrious career.

     In addition to MacCachren, the other seven racers who have won SCORE Trophy Truck season point championships who are racing in San Felipe next week are Robby Gordon, Charlotte, N.C., Tim Herbst, Las Vegas, Ed Herbst, Las Vegas, B.J. Baldwin, Las Vegas, Mark Post, Las Vegas, Bryce Menzies, Las Vegas and Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez, Tecate, Mexico.

     Menzies was injured this week during a commercial video shoot in Glamis, Calif. and Justin Bean Smith will be his designated substitute driver for this race so he will still receive the points per SCORE rules regarding one substitute driver during the year.

19 SEASON CHAMPS ENTERED

     A total of 19 the 2017 SCORE World Desert Championship season class point champions are entered so far in this year’s SCORE San Felipe 250.  Leading the car, truck and UTV champs already among the field is ‘Apdaly’ Lopez, Tecate, Mexico, who has earned three consecutive SCORE Trophy Truck season crowns.

     Also entered already are SCORE TT Legend season champ Clyde Stacy, Bristol, Va., Class 1 champion Brian Wilson, Lakewood, Calif., Elias Hanna, Ensenada, Mexico (Trophy Truck Spec), Broc Dickerson, Brawley, Calif. (Class 10), Roberto Romo, Mexicali, Mexico (Class 1/2-1600), Dan Chamlee, Santa Barbara, Calif. (Class 7), Rafael Aguirre, Monterrey, Mexico (SCOE Lites), Luis Lopez, Mexicali, Mexico (Class 5), Marc Burnett, Lakeside, Calif/Tim Orchard-Sub Driver. (Pro UTV FI), Don Whittington, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Pro UTV), Gerardo Novelo O., Ensenada, Mexico (Class 7SX) and Dennis Hollenbeck, Ensenada, Mexico (Class 11).

     Among the motorcycle and quad classes, reigning season point champions already entered are Shane Esposito, Murrieta, Calif. (Pro Moto Unlimited), Santiago Creel, Mexico City (Pro Moto Limited), Ryan  Liebelt, Reedley, Calif. (Pro Moto 30), Jano Montoya, Winter Garden, Fla. (Peru) (Pro Moto 40), Jose Carrasco, Rosarito Beach, Mexico (Pro Moto Ironman) and Said Sanchez, Tijuana, Mexico (Pro Quad).

THREE-PLUS DECADES

     Celebrating the 32nd anniversary of the youngest of the three legendary SCORE Baja races, sometimes referred to as the SCORE ‘baby Baja’, entries are being accepted on the SCORE website under SCORE San Felipe 250 Race Info at www.SCOREInternational.com.

SAN FELIPE SKED

     Pre-race festivities will be held in San Felipe on April 4, 5 and 6 with race days on Saturday, April 7-8 concluding with the post-race awards fiesta at 10 a.m. PDT on Sunday, April 8.

     Racer registration and media registration will both be held on Thursday and Friday (April 5-6) at the Hotel Costa Azul. Racer registration will be held on Thursday from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Media registration will be open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday.

     The colorful pre-race contingency and vehicle tech inspection will be held on Friday, April 6 starting at 9 a.m., the starting line and the finish line will be on the Malecon in the heart of San Felipe for the second straight year.

     The RACELINE Wheels SCORE Kick-Off Beach Party will be held on the Malecon on Friday, April 6 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. PDT

     Motorcycles and quads will leave the start line first in the elapsed-time race, starting at 6:20 a.m. PDT on Saturday. The car, truck and UTV classes will begin their journey at approximately 9:30 a.m. PDT with a minimum two and one-half hour gap between the last SPT quad and first SCORE Trophy Truck.

     While the fastest vehicles are expected to complete the course in just over five hours, all vehicles will have 16 hours from the time each starts to become an official finisher.

RECORD-LONG 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 319 miles, the longest in the history of this popular desert race.

     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 four of Baja’s most infamous washes in Las Cuevitas, Matomi, Huatamote and Amarillo.

     There will be three full stop checkpoints in addition to the start/finish line which will be located for the just the second time in the history of this race on the Malecon in the heart of San Felipe. Checkpoint 1 will be located at El Chinero (race mile 74.2), the second at La Providencia (rm 185.5) and the third will be at Old Puertecitos Road (rm 270.33).

COURSE MAP/GPS

     The 32nd Annual SCORE San Felipe 250 racer brief, course map and GPS files are available on the SCORE website on the race page under the Race Info tab.

BIG DEAL

     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 rugged, rough and bountifully beautiful Baja peninsula has been the SCORE San Felipe 250.

ANOTHER GOLDEN YEAR

     Following last year’s epic celebration of the 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000, this year’s SCORE World Desert Championship includes the special tribute to the 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 500 when it is held this year in Ensenada on May 30-June 3. Like all SCORE races, there will be classes for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads.

     The SCORE Baja 500 is one of the top motorsports events in the world. It was started originally in 1969 by the NORRA organization. Mickey Thompson and his SCORE International organization were invited by the Mexican government to take over the event in 1974. Sal Fish ran and later owned and produced the SCORE Baja 500 for 39 years until he sold SCORE to Roger and Elise Norman in December of 2012.

     The first Baja 500 organized and produced by SCORE was held on July 26, 1974 as the first of over 150 SCORE Baja races that have been held to date.

     Ensenada is the heart and soul of the SCORE Baja 500 as the popular summertime race. It will start in Ensenada for the 45th time and finish in Ensenada for the 41st time.

     BFGoodrich Tires, the SCORE official tire for over 40 years, has posted a $25,000 contingency bonus for the overall winner of the golden anniversary race.

     The SCORE Baja 500 is considered one of the top 10 motorsports events held annually in the world.

SCOREscope

     Below is the four-race 2018 SCORE World Desert Championship schedule. For the third consecutive year all four races are being held in Baja California, Mexico. Here is the complete 2018 SCORE World Desert Championship schedule:

32nd SCORE San Felipe 250, April 4-April 8, San Felipe, Mexico
50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 500, May 30-June 3, Ensenada Mexico
Tijuana 22nd SCORE Desert Challenge, Sept. 19-23, Tijuana, Mexico
51st SCORE Baja 1000, Nov.14-18, Ensenada, Mexico

SCORE SPONSORS…

     Official SCORE Sponsors: BFGoodrich Tires-Official Tire and official race title sponsor, Monster Energy-Official Energy Drink, King Shocks-Official Shock Absorber, Polaris RZR-Official UTV, RACELINE Wheels-Official Wheel, VP Racing Fuels-Official Fuel, 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, 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 State 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.

32nd SCORE San Felipe 250

April 4-8, 2018—319 miles –San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico

Total Entries: 239 (as of 3/28/18)

(from 25 U.S. States, Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru)

 (start order, by class)

Pro Cars & Trucks

SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (42)

16 Cameron Steele

7 Justin Bean Smith (DOR-Bryce Menzies)

24 Adam Householder

85 Mike Lawrence

32 Ryan Arciero

11 Rob MacCachren

79L Russell Buehler

13 Damen Jefferies

10 Alan Ampudia

6 Ricky Johnson (DOR-Larry Connor)

31 Andy McMillin

39 Chas Dana (DOR-Ron Whitton)

14 Cameron Steele

77 Robby Gordon

23 Dan McMillin

61 Richard Armstrong

45 Chelsea Magness (DOR-Gary Magness)

40 Chris Miller

97 B.J. Baldwin

96 Larry Roeseler

19 Tim Herbst

3 Mark Post

51 Steve Olliges

53 Todd Romano

18 Juan C. Lopez

*12L Gustavo Vildosola Sr

15 Billy Wilson

1 Carlos Lopez

83 Luke McMillin

4 Justin Matney

50 Zak Langley

60 Cole Potts

38 Eric Hustead

*90L Sandy Hall

11L Rob MacCachren

*5L Clyde Stacy

30 Robbie Pierce

26 Dave Taylor

27 Jonathan Brenthel

91 Ed Herbst (DOR-Troy Herbst)

25L Mark Winkelman-RS

*72L Rob Reinertson-RS

*SCORE TT LEGEND

CLASS 1 (15)

143 Javier Robles Jr

153 Brad Wilson

150 Morgan Langley

129 Brandon Bailey

114 Al Torres

155 Brad Vicic

112 Lyle Bask

106 Derek Fletcher

145 Mark Workentine

168 Shelby Reid

100 Brian Wilson

118 Ricardo Malo

188 Sergio Salgado-3rd RS

138 Ronny Wilson-2nd RS

185 Justin Davis-1st RS

TROPHY TRUCK SPEC (17)

211 Pat Sims

266 Scott Biernot

297 Bill McBeath

222 Pete Sohren

220 Craig Christy

273 Jordan Brenthel

252 Gonzalo Pirron

200 Elias Hanna

276 Gerardo Iribe

225 Brian Trotter

250 John Langley

204 Sara Price

295 William Hedrick Jr

258 Chasen Gaunt

242 Bryce Swaim

234 Jason McNeil

235 Derek Hunter

CLASS 10 (17)

1081 Todd Winslow

1018 Miguel Tornel Z-A

1008 Chase Warren

1000 Broc Dickerson

1049 Ty Godde

1016 Hiram Duran

1062 J.J. Schnarr

1022 Rafael Aguirre

1068 Cody Reid

1002 Clay Lawrence

1048 Kevin Price

1019 Luis Ritchie

1011 Cesar Cuevas

1066 Dave Mason Jr

1063 Ruben Torres

1036 Corey Goin

1044 Miguel Bonilla Valenzuela

CLASS 8 (4)

869 Juan Carlos Calderon

894 Vincent Munoz

818 Jose Leon

814 Kelly Ross

CLASS 1/2-1600 (8)

1644 Cesar Fiscal

1625 Eric Pavolka

1603 Oscar Alvarez

1623 Mario Estrella

1614 Bruce Yee

1613 Dana Jussila

1604 Rob Archibald-2nd RS

1609 J. David Ruvalcaba-1st RS

SCORE LITES (6)

1210 Luis Barragan

1255 Darren Walsh

1240 Miguel Bonilla

1212 Martin Lazarraga

1258 Jeremy Davis

1206 Freddie Willert

CLASS 7 (6)

717 Mike Perez

711 Carlos Diaz

700 Dan Chamlee

715 Daniel Reyes Jr-3rd RS

721 Michael Coleman-2nd RS

702 Juan Qiroz-1st RS

CLASS 7F (1)

701F Brandon Walsh

CLASS 5 (4)

501 Mark McNeil

524 Ben Swift

500 Jose Luis Lopez

510 Gerardo Molles-1st RS

Pro UTV FI (23)

2922 Aldo Salazar

2919 Patrick Stone (DOR-Brandon Schueler)

2989 Wes Miller

2960 Ryan Laidlaw

2978 Luis Fortanel

2966 Rhys Millen

2946 Jose Juarez

2910 Scott Trafton

2937 Alex Nicholas

2950 Rodrigo Elorduy

2930 Sean Cook

2904 Scott Sappington (DOR-Cory Sappington)

2900 Tim Orchard (DOR-Marc Burnett)

2949 Alonso Lopez

2995 Daniel Parker

2916 Cody Rahders

2987 Edgar Garcia

2977 Justin Elenberg

2975 Mike Cafro

2940 Erick Kozin

2983 Nicholas Gurries-3rd RS

2971 Wayne Matlock-2nd RS

2903 Juan Martinez-1st RS

Pro UTV (8)

1925 Matt Scarpuzzi

1910 Jose Angulo

1955 Paul Champion

1998 Don Whittington

1915 Thomas Graves

1954 Kristen Matlock-3rd RS

1995 Travis Wellis (DOR-Kaden Wells-2nd RS

1917 Rickey Arslanian-1st RS

Pro UTV UNL (2)

1892 Hammond Meredith

1898 Johnny Estes-1st RS

CLASS 5-1600 (6)

552 Jason Ledezma

577 Luis Herrera

558 Danny Ledezma

557 Mario Ledezma

554 Hector Delgado-2nd RS

599 Hector Hurtado-1st RS

CLASS 3000 (0)

BAJA CHALLENGE (3)

BC 2 Barry Thompson

BC 3 James Freethy

BC 1 David Payne

STOCK FULL (1)

8125 Marc Stein-1st RS

CLASS 7SX (1)

740 Gerardo Novelo-1st RS

CLASS 11 (5)

1156 Art Penner

1111 Eric Solorzano

1100 Dennis Hollenbeck

1149 Victor Esparza

1117 Hector Maymes-1st RS

Sportsman

SPT BUGGY (1)

1577 Diane Gianelli

SPT LTD TRUCK (1)

v800 Mario Alesi-1st RS

SPT UNL UTV (1)

1818 Jessalyn Farrington

SPT STOCK UTV NA (1)

3975 Torrey Rush

Pro Motorcycles

PRO MOTO UNLIMITED (9)

66x Santiago Creel

1x Shane Esposito

4x Santiago Creel

7x Justin Morgan

30x Nic Garvin

33x Garrett Poucher

22x Hector Cardenas

11x Travis Gardner

55x Steve Hatch

PRO MOTO 40 (3)

400x Jano Montoya

405x Jack McCormick

427x Salvador Sainz

PRO MOTO 30 (7)

301x Chris Kassity

303x Luis M. Gomez

360x Santiago Creel

365x Nick Lanning

333x Chad Thornton

304x Chris Racan

300x Ryan Liebelt

PRO MOTO 50 (2)

537x Gustavo Levy

510x Giovanni Spinali

PRO MOTO LIMITED (4)

100x Santiago Creel

151x Juan Lopez

114x Rodolfo Patron

125x Fernando Beltran

PRO MOTO IRONMAN (11)

722x Liz Karcz

725x Kenny Wilson

752x Hector Gutierrez

721x Jose Carrasco

731x Franklin Padilla

760x Edwin Pena

714x Lawrence Janesky

739x Aaron Richardson

706x Kevin Daniels

730x Francisco Septien-2nd RS

741x Carlos Gracida-1st RS

PRO MOTO 60 (2)

649x Guy Laycraft

602x Oscar Ochoa

Pro Quads

Pro Quad (2)

1a Said Sanchez

5a Jose Enriquez

Sportsman

SPT M/C (19)

278x Aki Polvikoski

213x Bradley Loveday

256x Derek Miller

223x Mike Mettler

212x Carlos Silva

261x Mark Minney

293x Gabriel Barrios

206x Craig Orr

200x Miguel Pena

201x R. Hank Salyer

205x Nick Jimenez

204x Daniel Rhamy

215x Michael Rodriguez

238x Rolando Cabrera

275x Eric Saltzer

216x Luke Berlet

255x Alvaro Bello-3rd RS

284x Shane Schorno-2nd RS

247x Michael Boge-1st RS

SPT QUAD (7)

110a Danny Magdalena

112a Juan Sanchez

104a Jose Contreras

118a Juan Flores

132a Jorge Ramirez

122a Sergio Gutierrez

129a Israel Jimenez-1st RS