LOS ANGELES, California — Veteran desert racer Roger Norman has received the first starting position during Saturday’s computerized drawing for November’s 43rd Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race. While the 2008 race winner will pilot his No. 8 Norman Motorsports Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy-Truck, starting first among the motorcycle and ATV classes will be Gabriel Williams, of Provo, Utah, on a Honda CRF450X motorcycle.
A solid total of 207 vehicles officially entered in time for Saturday’s computerized drawing held at SCORE International’s headquarters in Los Angeles. With nearly 300 entries expected before the green flag drops, entries will be accepted up to race morning.
This year’s legendary desert classic, the final event of the five-race 2010 SCORE Desert Series, will be held Nov. 16-20 in Mexico. The final course distance will be more than 1050 miles.
With massive crowds reaching nearly 250,000 anticipated to again be spread out along the rugged course that travels on both sides of the peninsula, the world’s most famous desert race will start in Ensenada, Baja California and finish all the way down the peninsula in La Paz in Baja California Sur.
Norman, who won the 2008 SCORE Baja 1000 overall and in SCORE Trophy-Truck with Larry Roeseler as his second-driver, plans to drive solo in this year’s race down the peninsula. Williams has also confirmed that he will attempt to ride solo in the race on a motorcycle.
This year will be the 36th time in the first 43 years of the storied race that it has started in Ensenada and it will be the 18th time in has finished in La Paz.
It’s the oldest and most well known of all desert races, and it remains as the single most appealing accomplishment to a driver. Since 1967, the mother of all desert races has been run over the mysterious and majestic Baja California peninsula.
With over 300 expected entries for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs competing in 28 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes in the internationally televised race, entries have already come from 13 U.S. states and 14 countries. In addition to the 33 States, racers have entered from Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Africa and the US Territory of Guam.
Drawing the first start among the ATV classes was the Class 25 team led by Felipe Velez, San Felipe, Mexico, who will ride a Honda TRX700X.
The motorcycle and ATV classes will start their journey at 6:30 a.m. (Thursday, Nov. 18) with the car and truck classes starting at approximately 11:45 a.m., or four hours after the last ATV leaves the line. The fastest finishers are expected to complete the course in approximately 19 hours.
The race will start and finish on Boulevard Costero adjacent to the picturesque Bahia de Todos Santos in front of the historical Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in the heart of Ensenada. It will finish on the outskirts of La Paz near the Grand Plaza Hotel, race headquarters for the southern half of the event.
Pre-race festivities on Wednesday, Nov. 17, for the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, including the vastly popular tech and contingency of all vehicles and the SCORE Manufacturer’s Midway will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Boulevard Costero in front of the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center. The pre-race mandatory driver/rider briefing will be held Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. in the Cathedral Room at the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center. Racer registration will be held at the San Nicolas Resort Hotel from Saturday, Nov. 13 through Wednesday, Nov. 17. Media registration will be held at the San Nicolas Resort Hotel from Noon to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 16 and from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 17.
The post-race awards celebration and fiesta will be held on the Malecon in downtown La Paz, starting at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 20. The entire race will be conducted on Pacific Standard Time.
While entries will be accepted up to race morning, late entries will be assigned the next available number and starting position within each class.
Besides Norman, other entries among the stars in the talented 35-truck field in the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck division include, by starting order: Mexico's Gus Vildosola Jr./Gus Vildosola Sr. (No. 21 Ford F-150), B.J. Baldwin, Las Vegas (No. 97Chevy Silverado), Andy McMillin/Scott McMillin, National City, Calif. (No. 31 Ford F-150), Nick Vanderwey, Phoenix/Curt LeDuc, Cherry Valley, Calif. (No. 84 Chevy Silverado), Rick D. Johnson, Barstow, Calif./Bob Shepard, Phoenix (No. 7a Ford F-150), Gary Weyhrich/Mark Weyhrich, Troutdale, Ore. (No. 9 Ford F-150), Mark McMillin, El Cajon, Calif. (No. 23 Ford F-150), Robby Gordon, Charlotte, N.C., (No. 1 Chevy CK1500), Cameron Steele, San Clemente, Calif./Cody Stuart/Justin Smith, Capo Beach, Calif./Pat Dean, Las Vegas (No. 16 GMC Sierra), Mark Post, Laguna Beach, Calif./Ryan Arciero, Foothill Ranch, Calif. (No. 3-Ford F-150), Damen Jefferies, Apple Valley, Calif. (No. 22 Chevy Silverado), Ed Stout, Irvine, Calif. (13-Ford F-150), Josh Hall/Chad Hall/Rod Hall, Reno, Nev. (No. 61 Chevy Silverado), Troy Herbst/Brian Collins, Las Vegas (No. 49 Dodge Ram1500), Jerry Whelchel, Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif./Brian Hess, San Diego (No. 88 Chevy C1500), Tim Herbst/Ed Herbst, Las Vegas/Larry Roeseler, Huntington Beach, Calif. (No. 19 Ford F-150), Jesse James, Austin, Texas (No. 54 Chevy Silverado), Mike Jenkins, Trego, Wisc./Josh Baldwin, Newport Beach, Calif. (No. 86 Ford F-150), Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas/Will Staats, Valencia, Calif. (No. 20, Ford F-150), Jesse Jones, Litchfield Park, Ariz./Larry Ragland, Cave Creek, Ariz., (No. 76 Ford F-150) and Robbie Pierce/Mike Julson, Santee, Calif. (30-Chevy Silverado).
The car and truck classes with the most entries to date are SCORE Trophy-Truck (35), Class 1 (17) and SCORE Lite (10).
Among the motorcycle and ATV classes, Class 22 for open motorcycles has the most entries to date with eight.
Leading the six Sportsman classes in the race is Sportsman Motorcycle over 250cc which had 32 entries in the drawing.
Drawing first start in Class 1 was SCORE Baja 500 class winner Steve Appleton, Boise Idaho, in a Chevy-powered Jimco open-wheel desert race car, while first off in SCORE Lite will be the team of Justin Davis, Chino, Calif./Daniel Folts in a Seagrove-VW.
Allowing a larger window of time than ever before, SCORE, completing its 37th year as the world’s foremost desert racing sanctioning body, started official pre-running of the course last Friday, from San Felipe all the way to La Paz. Practice on the race course from Ojos Negros to La Paz will begin Wednesday, Oct. 27 and pre-running from the start line in Ensenada to Ojos Negros will be allowed only on Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 16 and 17.
The challenging race course for this year is very similar to 2006, the last time the race finished in La Paz, although the terrain has obviously changed significantly because of weather conditions and natural use.
With 10 mandatory checkpoints spread down the peninsula, the course starts on the Pacific Ocean-side of Baja California in Ensenada and heads southeast to San Felipe on the Sea of Cortez before heading south through Coco’s Corner, Bahia de Los Angeles, San Ignacio, back to the Pacific at San Juanico, then back to the Sea of Cortez at Loreto, back to the Pacific at Ciudad Insurgentes heading down along the Pacific through Santa Rita before turning back east and down into La Paz for the finish.
All entries are provided with GPS programs defining the course and all are required to utilize special data recording devices that plot the actual route and speeds each vehicle takes during the mammoth race.
This year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race will be televised on a delayed basis as a one-hour NBC Sports special for the seventh consecutive year, airing on Dec. 19 on the NBC Television Network. It will also air on a delayed basis outside of the U.S. on ESPN International. It is being produced again by Aura360, SCORE’s electronic media partner, in association with SCORE.
As a special incentive to help bolster entries for the relatively new Class 4, Langley Productions owner and SCORE racer John Langley has posted a Special winner-take-all $10,000 SCORE/COPS Racing/BFG Tires bonus for the first-place finisher in the class for unlimited open-wheel, single or two seat desert race cars with a limited 2.2-liter sealed engine. COPS Racing, named for the popular television series produced by Langley Productions, has three vehicles entered in this year’s race in three different classes.
This race also features the prestigious Sal Fish SCORE IronRider awards presented to each motorcycle or ATV rider who completes the course within the time limit while riding solo. As of the drawing, seven individuals have declared that they will be attempting to complete the course riding solo.
In addition to season point class point championships, drivers in the Pro car and truck classes are also racing to earn prestigious SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards given to all car and truck class drivers who complete every required mile of the five-race season. Being presented by Toyota Motorsports for the 25th consecutive year, a total of 17 drivers remain eligible after Round 3 of the 2010 SCORE Desert Series. Racers are also competing for the annual SCORE Off-Roadsman of the Year awards, including the MasterCraft Safety SCORE Rookie of the Year award.
SCORE official annual sponsors are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Volkswagen of America-official vehicle, Sunoco Race Fuels-official fuel supplier, Bilstein-official shock, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance-official Mexican auto insurance, Slime-official tire sealant and Red Bull-official energy drink. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Las Vegas Events, MasterCraft Safety, Blue C Advertising, SignPros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.
Additional sponsors in Baja are the Secretary of Tourism of Baja California and ProTurismo de Ensenada and Secretary of Tourism of Baja California Sur.
For more information regarding the series, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters 818.225.8402 or visit the official website of the 2010 SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com.
43rd Annual TECATE SCORE BAJA 1000
Nov. 16-20, 2010—Final round of five-race 2010 SCORE Desert Series
Ensenada, Baja California, to La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico – 1050+ miles
TOTAL ENTRIES: 207 (33 States, 15 Countries) (as of 10/10/10)
PRO CARS & TRUCKS
SCORE TROPHY-TRUCK (35)
8 Roger Norman
21 Gus Vildosola Jr.
97 B.J. Baldwin
31 Andy McMillin
84 Nick Vanderwey
71 Rick D. Johnson
9 Mark Weyhrich
23 Mark McMillin
59 Craig Potts
1 Robby Gordon
35 Jason Voss
74 Rob Bruce
2 Pete Sohren
47 James Bult
16 Cameron Steele
3 Mark Post
94 Steve Strobel
22 Damen Jefferies
13 Ed Stout
61 Josh Hall
24 Adam Householder
45 Gary Magness
49 Troy Herbst
88 Jerry Whelchel
19 Tim Herbst
54 Jesse James
7 Scott Steinberger
48 Jimmy Nuckles
27 Dave Crinklaw
73 John Harrah
86 Mike Jenkins
20 Rob MacCachren
76 Jesse Jones
30 Robbie Pierce
95 Scott Whipple
CLASS 1 (17)
101 Steve Appleton
102 Kory Halopoff
103 Daniel McMillin
104 Josh Rigsby
105 Cameron Thieriot
106 Dale Lenk
107 Dan Martin
108 Armin Schwarz
109 Eric Chase
110 Juan C. Flores
111 David Greenhill
112 Armin Kremer
113 Rudy Cortez
114 Todd Romano
115 Paul Keller
116 Conan Barker
117 Ikuo Hanawa
CLASS 1-2/1600 (8)
1601 Jay Reichert
1602 Wes McKenzie
1603 Harry Curtin
1604 Arturo Velazco
1600 Hiram Duran
1647 Arnoldo Ramirez
1648 Luke McMillin
1649 Daniel Lopez
CLASS 3 (1)
301 David Moore
CLASS 5 (5)
501 Cody Kellogg
500 Kevin Carr
503 Drew Belk
518 Vince Wavra
519 Tom Bird
CLASS 5/1600 (4)
551 Dennis Webb
552 Trevor Anderson
553 Sergio Moreno
579 Enrique Zazueta Jr.
CLASS 6 (5)
601 JT Taylor
602 Marc Burnett
603 Fernando Manzo
600 Heidi Steele
619 Dave Caspino
CLASS 7 (2)
701 Jackie Husmann
700 Dan Chamlee
CLASS 7SX (1)
741 Norman Turley
CLASS 8 (4)
800 Clyde Stacy
801 Sam Stahl
802 Noah Ostanik
839 Francisco Monroy
CLASS 10 (5)
1001 Peter Hajas
1002 Lars Ferry
1003 Jesus Gonzalez
1004 Sergio Salgado
1005 Jon Walker
SCORE LITE (10)
1201 Justin Davis
1202 Perry McNeil
1203 Zack Langley
1204 Samuel Araiza
1205 Jose Cervantes Jr.
1206 Lee Banning
1207 John Padgett
1208 Dave Wert
1209 James Marquez
1200 Brent Parkhouse
CLASS 11 (2)
1101 Alfonso Lacarra
1100 Eric Solorzano
STOCK FULL (2)
861 Sam Edgar
879 Joe Bacal
STOCK MINI (2)
778 Ivan Stewart
760 Gavin Skilton
PROTRUCK (4)
1360 Nils Castillo
1340 Chelsea Magness
1313 Paul Perrizo
1301 Troy Vest
CLASS 17 (3)
1700 Mike Shaffer
1701 Eric Filar
1702 Perry Coan
BAJA CHALLENGE (7)
BC1 Mike Cassling
BC2 John McInnis III
BC3 Dr. Steven Funk
BC4 Christian Hammarskjold
BC5 Bud Brutsman
BC6 Brian Valentine
BC19 Nick Baldwin
CLASS 2 (2)
201 James Kirby
202 Mark Stevens
CLASS 4 (1)
401 John Langley
CLASS 7-2 (2)
721 Fawn Finchum
722 Reid Rutherford
M-TRUCK (3)
M1 Glenn Harris
M2 Donald Verhoff
M3 James McAvoy
PRO MOTORCYCLES
CLASS 22 (8)
2x Gabriel Williams-S
3x A.J. Stewart
4x Junpei Saito
5x Steve Corrie
1x Kendall Norman
7x David Pearson
8x Colton Udall
9x Francisco Arredondo
CLASS 21 (2)
101x Sol Saltzman
102x Adam Neuwirth
CLASS 20 (1)
151x Jason Trubey
CLASS 30 (6)
301x Javier Henandez
302x Steve Garnett
303x Jonathan Jessy
304x Markus Saarinen
305x Ace Nilson
306x Francisco Septien
CLASS 40 (7)
401x Tom Vogt
402x Lloyd Andrew
403x Boo Custer
404x Louie Franco
405x Mike Prunty
406x Andrew Wilkins
449x Terry Peregoodoff-S
CLASS 50 (2)
501x Jim Dizney
500x Jim O’Neal
CLASS 60 (2)
600x Donald E. Lewis
619x Bill Nichols
PRO ATVS
CLASS 25 (4)
2a Felipe Velez
3a Scott Chandler
1a Wayne Matlock
5a Josh Edwards
CLASS 24 (4)
101a Shawn Robins
102a Brandon Brown
103a Tom Wright
104a Natanael Morron
CLASS 26 (1)
201a Reid Rutherford
SPORTSMAN
SPT CAR (2)
1401 Dan Kolenich
1400 Peter Lang
SPT TRUCK (2)
1501 Randy Swink
1502 Bill Wolford
SPT UTV (3)
1800 Thomas Graves
1801 Kevin Fuller
1802 Chris Koch
SPT M/C 250< (5)
201x Edd Price
202x Michele Bergman
203x Matt Ladendorf
204x Greg Willitts
205x Fred Sobke
SPT M/C 250> (32)
251x Tom Lajoie
252x Don Gentry
253x Mike Frick
254x Mike Mensinger
255x Barry Van Fossan
256x Oscar Fazz
257x Donald Hatton
258x Lance Kane-S
259x Carl Westphal
260x John Legate
261x David Smoljan-S
262x Craig Anstine
263x Yoshiyuki Imai
264x Peter Hardy-S
265x Chuck Shortt
266x Tibi Imbuzan-S
267x Tom Buikema
268x Nobuyuki Oguri
269x Go Onodera
270x Makoto Mitsuki
271x Anthony Nicodemo
272x Paul Lopez
273x Ulises Fierro
274x Salvador Sainz
275x Michael Korenwinder
276x Sanjay Shanbhag
277x James Avery
278x Tomoki Hayashi
279x Timothy Schimke
280x Andrew Tweedle
281x Keith Ciampa
282x Thierry Mas-S
SPT ATV (1)
99a Gustavo Ameca
S-Indicates Solo Rider
