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Over 350 total entries expected
28 SCORE Trophy-Trucks, 36 unlimited Class 1 cars hoping
For overall 4-wheel victory at 37th Tecate SCORE Baja 500
330 already entered in June 3-5 race in Ensenada, Mexico--
Round 3 of six-race 2005 SCORE Desert Series
LOS ANGELES,
CA (May 21, 2005) -- As the entry list continues to expand
dramatically,
so
does
the list of talented racers who will compete for  the coveted overall 4-wheel
vehicle victory in next month’s popular Tecate SCORE Baja 500 desert
race. Traditionally one of the most popular events on the SCORE schedule, over
150,000
spectators are expected to cheer the world’s best desert racers in action
at round 3 of the six-race 2005 SCORE Desert Series, to be held June 3-5 in
Ensenada, Mexico.
Since this summer
classic began in 1969, only four classes have ever produced the overall 4-wheel
champion and in eight of the 11 years
it has been in existence,
the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck division has produced the winner while the
unlimited Class 1 has crowned the champ the other three years.
With over 350
entries expected from 20 U.S. States, Mexico, Canada and Japan in the world’s foremost
desert racing series event, the green flag will drop at 6 a.m. on Saturday
(June 4) for the motorcycle and ATV classes in the
Tecate SCORE Baja 500, followed by the car and truck classes two hours later
at 8:30 a.m.
SCORE Trophy-Truck
already has a race-record 28 of the 800 horsepower, high-tech unlimited production
trucks entered while there are 36 vehicles in
Class 1,
the division for unlimited open-wheel desert race cars. And the lineup in
both classes
is filled with former class and overall winners. Among the entire field are
12 drivers who have combined for 24 of the overall 4-wheel vehicle victories,
including
each of the last five years.
While capturing
the class win is priority one, racers in SCORE Trophy-Truck and Class 1 are
often disappointed at the finish
line if they haven’t
also won the overall title.
Fierce competition
is once again expected in both of the top classes, and the entire race for
that matter as a race-record 70
racers who have combined to
earn 181 class wins, will be in the starting grid.
Since its debut
in 1994, SCORE Trophy-Trucks captured seven straight overall wins before
Mark McMillin,
El Cajon, CA, broke the string by winning in  Class
1 in 2001. Class 1 kept it going in 2002 and 2003 thanks to the team of Troy
Herbst, Las Vegas and Larry Roeseler, Hesperia, CA, before Honolulu’s
Alan Pflueger brought SCORE Trophy-Truck back to the very top of the podium
last year. Herbst has been nothing short of phenomenal in his Smithbuilt-Ford,
having
won Class 1 in six of the last nine years in this grueling race.
“The SCORE Baja 1000 has the well-earned legacy as the top desert race
in the world, but the SCORE Baja 500 may be the toughest,” said McMillin,
who has six class victories including two overalls in this race. “The
course is the toughest we see all year with the most diverse terrain, changing
weather
conditions around the track, and with the most entries of the year, the competition
is tougher than the Indy 500. Then mix in over a 150,000 spectators along the
race route, and you clearly have the ingredients for a real pressure-cooker.
It’s one of those things that you can’t really fully comprehend
unless you’ve been there and experienced it first hand. Every racer wants
a class win, but none of us would be in Class 1 or SCORE Trophy-Truck if we
didn’t
want the overall victory even more.”
Mark McMillin,
48, who won his first overall in 1988, only has to go to the dinner table
to see some of his stiffest
challengers. Family patriarch Corky
McMillin,
a very spry 76, is the oldest racer in the event and will lead a group of
three McMillin Racing Class 1 cars around the Baja peninsula. Mark will be
in No.
103, just behind his brother Scott, 44, who will split driving with his son
Andy,
17, a third generation desert racer.
Corky and Scott
McMillin have twice won this race driving together (1983 and 1986) and Scott
and Andy, who live in
Poway, CA, won Class 1 and the overall
at this year’s Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 in February.
Herbst and Roeseler
have won Class 1 the last three years together, including the overall win
in 2002 and 2003. In their careers, Herbst has six class wins
in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 with two overalls and Roeseler has 15 class
wins, including 11 overalls (nine on a motorcycle). They drive the No. 110
Terrible
Herbst Motorsports Smithbuilt-Ford.
Besides the three
McMillins, Herbst, Roeseler and Pflueger, the other former 4-wheel overall
champs entered this year are
Bud Feldkamp, Redlands, CA (1978, 1979, 1985), Malcolm Smith, Riverside,
CA (1978, 1979, 1981), Larry Ragland,
Cave Creek, AZ (1982, 1984, 2000), Robby Gordon, Mooresville, N.C. (1989,
1990), Curt LeDuc, Cherry Valley, CA (1995), and Rob MacCachren, Las
Vegas (1996).
 Feldkamp, who
won with Smith in 1978 and 1979, is racing in Class 1 this year as is Smith
(with Cam Theriot) while Ragland (with Brian Collins),
LeDuc (with
Mark Post) and MacCachren (with Gus Vildosola) are all in SCORE Trophy-Truck.
Gordon captured his two overall victories in a Class 8 truck.
Feldkamp and Smith’s
overall wins were either in Class 1 or the old Class 2, while Ragland won in
Class 1 twice and SCORE Trophy-Truck once, and LeDuc
and MacCachren both won their overalls in SCORE Trophy-Truck. Smith, a legendary
motorcycle racer, also won the 1971 overall in the SCORE Baja 500 on a motorcycle.
Smith and Roeseler are the only two racers in the long history of this storied
race who have won overalls on both a two-wheel and in a 4-wheel vehicle.
Besides
LeDuc, MacCachren, Ragland and Pflueger, the other returning SCORE Trophy-Truck
class winner in this race is Mark Miller, who won in 2002 with
Ragland and 2003
with Ryan Arciero. Miller and Arciero will team up again this year in the
No. 81 Chevy Silverado.
Although they
haven’t won this race in SCORE Trophy-Truck, among the
other favorites in this year’s race will be the team of Tim and Ed
Herbst in their No. 19 Terrible Herbst Motorsports Ford F-150. The two oldest
Herbst
brothers of Las Vegas, who have won Class 2 win in this race, are the winningest
drivers
in SCORE Trophy-Truck history with 11 race wins and four season point championships
in the 11-plus year history of the elite SCORE racing division.
The current
top two SCORE Trophy-Truck point leaders, Jason Baldwin and his
younger brother Josh Baldwin are also both expected to be strong  contenders
in the race.
The reigning SCORE Trophy-Truck season point champion, Jason Baldwin won
his first race in this class in February at the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250
in
his No. 1 Baldwin Racing Ford F-150 and will start this race one spot in
front of
his brother’s No. 86 Baldwin Racing Ford F-150.
Another of the
race-record SCORE Trophy-Truck entries is NASCAR Nextel Cup owner/driver
Robby Gordon,
who will return to his racing roots for the first
time this season.
Gordon, a three-time SCORE class point champion, will once again attempt
to pull double-duty, racing the same weekend in the NASCAR race in Dover,
Delaware.
Gordon,
has three class wins in this race, including winning the two back-to-back
overalls.
All
of the Class 1 winners except one from the last 11 years in this race (the
same time SCORE Trophy-Trucks have been a class), are entered this year.
Troy Herbst has won six times in this period (1996, 1998-with his brother
Tim, 2000,
2002, 2003, 2004-- the last three with Larry Roeseler), Mark McMillin has
three wins (1994-with his father Corky, 1997 and 2001) and the team of Mike
Julson and Bob Lofton won in 1995 in their Jimco-Chevy.
Looking much like
an inverted deflating balloon on a string, the 419-mile race course starts
in
downtown Ensenada adjacent to the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural
Center and finishes at Deportivo Antonio Palacios baseball stadium, 9th and
Guadalupe Ave., in the heart of Ensenada. It is located approximately 1.5
miles east of
the start line area. The admission will be free to this special SCORE finish
line celebration. Vehicles will start in 30-second intervals in the elapsed-time
race.
The world’s foremost desert racing series will showcase 24 Pro and
5 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs in Ensenada, which
is located
65 miles south of the U.S. border at San Diego on the Pacific Ocean side of
the majestic peninsula.
To date, the classes
with the most entries are: Class 1-2/1600 (38), Class 1 (36), SCORE Trophy-Truck
(28), SCORE Lite and Class
5/1600 (21 each) and
Class
10 (19).
For the first
time in several years, the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 will be televised nationally
on a delayed basis. Aura 360, the Maine production
and marketing
company that has this year’s SCORE television rights, will announce within
two weeks which national cable outlet will carry the race.
Pre-race festivities for the 37th Tecate SCORE Baja 500 will center around
the Riviera del Pacifico convention center in downtown Ensenada on Friday
(June 3).
Traditionally drawing thousands of spectators, the pre-race Manufacturer’s
Midway and display off all the race vehicles will be held adjacent to the San
Nicolas Hotel, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday (June 3). The post-race awards
celebration will be held at the San Nicolas Hotel in Ensenada on Sunday (June
5) at 10 a.m.
SCORE
official sponsors for 2005 are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, C.L. Bryant-VP Racing
Fuels-official fuel supplier. Associate sponsors
are: Tecate
Beer, Coca-Cola
of Mexico, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, Las Vegas Events, Herbst Gaming,
Kartek Off-Road, Centrix Financial, Fram, Autolite, Prestone, Bilstein, Signpros,
Cotuco,
Fideicomiso Publico para la Promocion Turistica de Ensenada, Cotuco, P.C.I.
Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products, and Advanced Color Graphics.
For information contact:
SCORE International at its Los Angeles headquarters
(818) 225-8402 or visit
the official 2005 SCORE Desert Series website at:
www.score-international.com
Tecate
SCORE Baja 500
SCORE Trophy-Truck & Class 1
Class Winners since 1994
SCORE Trophy-Truck
(class debuted in 1994)
*1994-- Ivan Stewart
*1995-- Curt LeDuc
*1996-- Rob MacCachren
*1997-- Ivan Stewart
*1998-- Ivan Stewart
*1999-- Ivan Stewart
*2000-- Larry Ragland
2001-- David Ashley/Dan Smith
2002-- Mark Miller/Larry Ragland
2003-- Mark Miller/Ryan Arciero
*2004-- Alan Pflueger
Class 1
1994-- Corky McMillin/Mark McMillin
1995-- Mike Julson/Bob Lofton
1996-- Troy Herbst
1997-- Mark McMillin
1998-- Troy Herbst/Tim Herbst
1999-- Doug Fortin
2000-- Troy Herbst
*2001-- Mark McMilin
*2002-- Troy Herbst/Larry Roeseler
*2003-- Troy Herbst/Larry Roeseler
2004-- Troy Herbst/Larry Roeseler
*Overall 4-Wheel winner
2005 SCORE Desert
Series
SCORE Trophy-Truck & Class 1
Point Leaders
(thru Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250, 2/26/05)
SCORE
TROPHY-TRUCK (24 Total Racers, Wins)
1. Jason Baldwin, Laguna Beach, CA, Ford F-150 (1), 91
2. Josh Baldwin, Newport Beach, CA, Ford F-150, 90
3. Bob Shepard, Phoenix, Chevy Silverado, 85
4. Tim Herbst, Las Vegas, Ford F-150, 76
4. Mark Post, San Juan Capistrano, CA, Ford F-150, 76
6. Marty Coyne, El Centro, CA, Ford F-150, 74
6. Michael Jakobson, Somis, CA, Ford F-150, 74
8. Gary Dircks, Anthem, AZ, Ford F-150, 69
9. Pete Sohren, Glendale, AZ, Ford F-150, 66
10. Bobby Baldwin, Las Vegas, Ford F-150, 64
CLASS
1 (33 Total
Racers, Wins)
1. Andy McMillin, Poway, CA, Jimco-Chevy (1), 113
2. Dale Ebberts, Canyon Lake, CA, Jimco-Toyota (1), 102
3. Gary Weyhrich, Troutdale, Ore., Jimco-Chevy, 97
4. John Marking, El Cajon, CA, Jimco-Chevy, 88
5. Josh Rigsby, Santa Fe, N.M., Penhall-Chevy, 87
6. Mark McMillin, El Cajon, CA, Jimco-Chevy, 84
7. Troy Herbst, Las Vegas, Smithbuilt-Ford, 77
8. Corky McMillin, Bonita, CA, Chenowth-Chevy, 75
9. Kory Scheeler, Las Vegas, Porter-Chevy, 74
10. Damen Jefferies, Oak Hills, CA, Porter-Chevy, 73
For information contact:
SCORE International at its Los Angeles headquarters
(818) 225-8402 or visit
the official 2005 SCORE Desert Series website at:
www.score-international.com
For
Sponsorship Information, contact:
Mark Handley
(760) 750-1905
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