BAJA 500 2010 June 4-6 Animal House LIVE ! WEBCAST
BAJA 500 UPDATES DAILY!
"ANIMAL HOUSE"
Baja Racing News.com
SPEED MEX PITS BAJA 500:
Racer Reports In:
Rob Mac was testing in Plaster City this past week, in his #20 Trophy Truck with Mastercraft Safety.
At the testing area in the desert, east of San Diego, Rob commented, "We are ready for Baja".
Rob Mac did well the weekend before testing doing some track racing in Vegas. No biggie, just roundy-roundy-round.
Robby Gordon does have commitments for the Baja 500.
During the race at Pocono in June the sam eweekend as the Baja 500, Gordon will miss track activity Friday and Saturday so he can run the Baja racing event.
Michael Waltrip will practice and qualify the car for him, Gordon has confirmed. Maybe Robby thinks Michael can drive, now.
Roger Norman Prepares for the Baja 500 Teamed with Eleven Time Baja 500 Overall Winner Larry Roeseler
Roger Norman and the Crystal Bay Casino team of Larry Roeseler and Eric Branstrom are focused on the win of the Baja 500 on June 5, 2010. “This is a very important race for us as a team,” states Norman, “Larry has won the Baja 500 eleven times overall and it is important that we work together to add another win to that list.”
Starting 37th out of the 42 trophy trucks entered, this team will have to have their passing game in check to work their way to the front. Recently they spent the weekend in Baja pre-running to begin making notes on the course and the passing areas. “The pre-run went excellent,” said Norman who spent his birthday on the trails of Baja. “I got to run my section three times, the first time taking over 17 hours to complete while making meticulous notes.
Come race day we anticipate this section (240 miles) will take around 4 hours to complete and the overall race will take about 8 to 9 hours.” This years race will be more extreme than in recent years because of heavy rains on the coast and in the mountains.Eric Branstrom, the co-driver for both Norman and Roeseler, has 12 years experience in the off road fab and mechanical side bringing the technical aspect to the driving team. “I know that Larry and I are going to have to work at picking off one driver at a time, and hopefully by Borego when Roger gets in we will be right in the thick of things,” comments Branstrom. “We have a lot of dust challenges so pre-running to develop quality notes will be key to our success. With the nature of racing, some will hand us the position and others we will have to fight for it.”
Norman Motorsports continues to look for winning solutions, and Norman has found an interest in learning from Rally Racing. Joining the team for the pre-run last weekend was Jen Horsey who is a rally co-driver and an in car announcer for the X-Games. “I haven’t been exposed to this sport before, so it was fun for both of us to learn a little from each other,” comments Horsey.
Larry Roeseler has eleven Baja 500 overall wins, nine on a motorcycle and two on 4 wheels, and countless more class wins which brings the team the experience that will be needed to push through the pack early in the race. “I have always been successful at this race, it’s not too long and it’s not too short, but it is always really exciting,” said Roeseler. His first official race was the Baja 500 in 1972 on a 125cc motorcycle taking the class win.
The #8 Crystal Bay Casino Norman Motorsports team will be taking on the Baja 500 June 5th with a 60 plus person team including four chase trucks, one communication bus, a video group including a helicopter and the Baja Fools will man two pits with 28 volunteers"".
PRERUN REPORT IN FROM Norman Motorsports:
Roger Norman is prerunning down there and his pack roll into some small town along the course.
They exit the trucks to buy some drinks and take a little break and are immediately surrounded by little kids yelling "STEEKERS! STEEKERS!" as they are passing out stickers they notice one kid with a shirt that was recently signed by BJ. it said on it in marker "BJ is gonna SMOKE Roger Norman"
Well of course this had to be investigated and after securing a fluent translator it was discovered that BJ had recently passed thru and when he asked the kids who was gonna win the 500 they all said "Roger Norman"! They went on to say that BJ turned white when he heard this and wrote the message on the shirt in hopes Roger would see it.
Because he is someone who appreciates his fans, Roger took a sharpie and made the necessary corrections to the shirt and said that the whole town is now completely decked out in Norman Motorsports gear....
I guess in Baja, a sharpie and a t-shirt are the same thing as facebook."" By: Baja Racing News.com Reporter 'Dan the Man'.
INSIDER SOURCE:
What's all the static about the BJ Baldwin vs.
Roger Norman
Baja racing rumors.
Making the teams racing performances personal to BJ Baldwin.
Then, during last years Baja 1000, BJ took Norman Motorsports out of the competition by hitting Larry (at the wheel at the time) and the Norman Motorsports Trophy Truck, with a heavy hit from behind, knocking the two trucks into the weeds and disabling, for a time, both trucks.
The time out of the race, killed both teams chances for the win.
Robby Gordon, who had teamed with BJ for the last DAKAR event, is suspected for scheming with BJ in the intentional hit on Norman Motorsports truck. Gordon was in line to win the series championship at the time and wanted the Baja 1000 win, to top off the year. Taking out Roger Norman at that time, eliminated one of only two real threats to Robby Gordon.
The other being Andy McMillin of McMillin Racing, who won the race. Gordon placed second, enough for the points and the series championship.
MORE MOTO NEWS BREAKING:
After weeks of rumors that KAWISAKI got cold feet again in Baja, it may be confirmed now (May 27) that Ryan Penhall has announced he will not be racing either bike in the upcoming Baja 500. Details are still sketchy.
Meanwhile at camp KTM, David Pearson knows its "go for broke vs JCR HONDA" so his logical choice is Childress. Its go for broke and they have to pull rabbits out of hats if they want the vicory.
The latest info. is that David Pearson will take a shot at the 2010 Baja 500 with minimal support from Factory KTM, looking foward to 2011 to race the full SCORE season with FULL FACTORY KTM.
He said, "Hope I win, because then I can have full support for the Baja 1000 but it's not going to be easy against Bell/Ramirez/Hengeveld and Norman/Udall."
Baja Racing News.com talked to David this morning:
""David Pearson gave me the scoop on his Baja 500 plans. He will be racing with Mikey Childress and Robert Underwood on a KTM 450xcf (all of the KTM factory 450’s are 09 xcf’s in 2010 sxf frames).
David will be riding the Summit then Calentura road over to the coast, about two hundred miles total. He was headed to California yesterday and then to Ensenada Tuesday to start pre running. This is pretty much a private effort. KTM is supplying the prepped bike and spares. They are using Baja Pits for support.
Along with the regular KTM team sponsors of FMF and GPR, Dave’s team is getting major help from Paul Alamo, owner of Alamo truck stops and THR, Team Hoser Racing. He chose the Hare & Hound spec 450xcf over his Best in The Desert 530 due to the lighter weight and quicker acceleration. He thinks it will be an easier bike to ride for the terrain of Baja.
I may catch up with the team later this week in Ensenada and have a status report. KTM has had a difficult time trying to tame Baja the last few years. It will be tough to challenge the dominate Honda team, but this is a fast and experienced trio of riders, so anything is possible.""
Brother team the C&J Equipment KTM 530 on 8x.
Team Alamo is actually 'Alamo Alarm'
2x - Kyle 'catch me if you can' Abney, Bryce 'will make you pay the price' Olsen, Mike'back in' Blackman, Adam 'we pulled 2x again' Thissen - 450x
6x - Jamie 'we'll do it again' Aguilar, Darren 'little-big' Johnson, 2 - TBA young guns (secret #1) - 450x
10x - David 'who is Abney' Pearson, Robert 'Im gonna go' Underwood, Mikey 'spinning back-fist' Childress - KTM 450 - (although I liked my 690 story better - or is that secret #2?)
...and the brother team the C&J Equipment - Multi-time BITD Open Ex Champs - The '301' Red Plate Specials
8x - Chad 'want my autograph' Thornton, Mike 'Casper' Whitman, Tony 'Scabbed Rat'Zastrow, Kyle 'Scab-ney' Abney - KTM 530.
Pre-Running Reports in...
Monster Mike Reports from Baja Mexico onBAJA 500 Pre-Run-"Minor changes are expected due to details for the washouts. Download next week after marking notes are digested.
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The sanctioning body did a good job marking most of the washouts and plotting them on the gps track. most washouts have been worked on by the Govt workers. I hope you all have a gps for the prerun.- bikes included.
5/15, 16.Using my stretched Bronco with Chris as the helper
We did the summit to Mikes turnoff on Sat & Sunday. RM 95-222. Very long days. Found a washout at about RM96 thru the meadow. Washout is 4-5' deep & 10' wide. The washout is not passable so we changed the course to the RIGHT. No change in miles and just as fast a last year. Both traditional routes thru the meadow have wrongways and the new route is marked. Follow the marking signs and don't look back.
Up the summit is good to go, but slow. Not much different than last year. Yup, big rocks from the earthquake that we drove around. Govt workers filled the biggest hole that is marked on the GPS track.
At the S end of L Salida and N of the wells the track was reclaimed by mother nature. We loaded up the 09 track and marked a combo of the 09 & 10 track. No issue there following any route. That area is tall bushes and any route you take is acceptable per SCORE. By now there should be tracks to follow. Be sure to exit the wash per the GPS track.
Check 2 is at the highway Marked on the S side. Nothing remarkable up the route to Mikes turnoff.
5/18 Three vehicles. Todd & Brian in Todd's the Bronco with 37" Projects. My Bronco with 35" Bajas with Cordell as my helper. Steve & Mike in the 2wd Blazer with his usual trick 35" Tire muds..
RM 65-285 BIG Issues. Near Rm 255? washout marked with a go around to the right thru the willows. Easy since the area is flat. After that found an up hill in bad shape with deep holes and loose rocks. The Blazer fell in the hole and needed suspension repair and a strap to proceed - 1.5 hour issue. We had plenty of time to stack rocks so now the area is just a drive up with all the holes filled. See the pic For the life of me I cannot remember the race mile.
Aside: we found out about the bad decision to use a 2wd for prerunning. What happens is to avoid an uphill washout the rear wheels start to slip and then one wheel falls into the trench. Strap required to proceed. Steve uses experimental sticky BFGs and he is an expert driver and used low pressure. It did not help. Bottom line prerunners need 4wd or a leading Bronco with a strap to get up the steeps when the washouts are present.
The gps track shows the location of the missing road in several places and the go arounds present no problem if done slowly. Believe the down arrows - please. If you do not slow down enough you will be upside down in the bottom the creek bed.
We went over the mountain toward MX1 in the dark. The road has washouts ever few feet cutting into the road several feet. Keep right. A major land slide required slow double S turn to pass.. Doable if done slowly. Do not forget about the drop off on the left.
Another very long day.
5/19 RM 285-~334
Erindria. The main road was destroyed and is now being rebuilt. To get from the South hillside to the Tecate sign, cross the wash which has running water. Solid track no issues.
Big issue going up the hill from the new road. 2wd didn't even try. I drove up the 60 deg incline and went left of the track thru the cactus. The gps track is uphill trenchs that are 30-36" deep & 1-2 feet wide. Discussed the problem with SCORE and the Govt will take a front end loader up and fill the trenches with soft dirt. So the deal is after several high power rigs go up the trenches will come back as before due to roost. I recommend just driving up thru the cactus left of the old road and plan on flats or as a minimum slow leaks. 2WD will have issues making the trip up. Don't slow down and never back up on that steep of a hill. Its a one shot deal. go up all the way or find a Bronco with a long strap. Did I say Never back down with 2wd.
Anyway, we walked down the hill and marked it with signs and ribbons. We marked the road gps track - not the cactus route per SCORE instructions.
Horrible gnats ate us up and I still have many welts that still itch.
Easy access to the top of the hill at the microwave tower:
Go to town turn RT and pass along the plowed field. The intersection is at the taco shop on the left. Go N several streets. Pick a street an turn right. The best way which works for pit trailer is around the hill to the north. and it will lead you to mile marker 325 and the VCP 15. The other road up is also ok for a pit trailer and goes just south of the tower. Its a little rough compared to the North road. Great detail on Google Earth to find your way
After that the big hill the route follows last years route and we found another up hill bending left with the deep washout trenches. The Blazer needed a strap and a redo of the tie rod again. Same issue, as he went up the rears started to slip due to steep road and the left rear fell into the trench and he was high centered again..
5/20 RM ~334 to 362.5
Nothing much to report . Same as last year. Graded road. Do not use the right option before RM 340 because it leads to a new lake and under construction spillway. Wrongway is in place.
5/21 RM 362.5-401 No report. Read the course notes and follow the markings.
Marked by Paul Fish. He deals with the ranchers along the way and we do not participate in marking.
Bottom line Steve has been racing or marking for 15+ years and has never see a harder race course. Bring your straps and your extra spare tires and find a Bronco buddy to lead the way if you have a prerun 2wd."
Truck is a steel cab V8 built by Chris Allen of Anonymous Dirt Works now doing time with the Dress A**Wipes. Affliction/General Tire/OC Motorsports sponsored, and you know what that means, confirmed BS Team.
Baja 500 Preview
With the release of the official course map, GPS files and course notes this week, pre-race activity increases significantly starting Friday when the world's best desert racers officially begin their pre-running and course logistics activities for next month's 42nd Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500, the second-oldest desert race in the world.
Round 3 of the five-race 2010 SCORE Desert Series, the World's Foremost Desert Racing Series, will feature nearly 300 entries, competing in 28 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks,motorcycles and ATVs, will be held June 3-6 in Ensenada, Mexico.
Traditionally one of the most popular events on the SCORE schedule, over 100,000 spectators are expected to enjoy the world's best desert racers in action at this year's 42nd anniversary of the Tecate SCORE Baja 500, the original desert race produced by SCORE on July 26, 1974.
With late entries accepted up to race morning, entries are expected from 26 U.S. States from Hawaii to Connecticut, and along with the additional countries of Mexico, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Japan.
The green flag will drop for the race at 6 a.m. on Saturday (June 5) for the motorcycle and ATV classes in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500, followed by the car and truck classes three hours after the last ATV at approximately 10 a.m.
The elapsed-time race will start and finish in front of the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center on Boulevard Costero in the heart of Ensenada, leaving and returning into the city through the spectator-laden Arroyo Wash.
The talented field of veteran desert racers heading to Baja includes 15 defending class winners out of the 25 Pro classes that had finishers in last year's race, including last year's overall 4-wheel vehicle winners Kory Halopoff/Harley Letner of Orange, Calif. (unlimited Class 1) and SCORE Trophy-Truck champion Rick D. Johnson/Brian Sallee, of Barstow, Calif.
The rugged course 438.81-mile course is a very similar to the last two years, although it is about eight miles longer and the terrain has changed significantly due to torrential rains that impacted both sides of the race course on the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez and in the middle in the summit section.
The course, which runs in a clockwise direction, resembles a deflating balloon, winding east to Ojos Negros, down to near San Felipe, back West to the Pacific Ocean below San Vicente and back north east through Santo Tomas on the way back to Ojos Negros and then Ensenada.
"Without all of the immense and considerable help we have received from Ensenada Mayor Pablo Lopez in terms of rapid support, personnel and heavy equipment to repair significant rain damage on much of the course, we would be significantly challenged to finalize a course for this year's race," said Sal Fish, SCORE CEO/President since soon after it was founded in 1974. "We just can't thank Mayor Lopez and all of his people enough for all they have done to support SCORE and our SCORE Baja races."
The only pre-running that will be allowed on the first 35.18 miles of the course will be outbound only and only on Thursday and Friday, June 3 and 4. No inbound pre-running on the last 35.18 miles of the course will be allowed. Pre-running of the rest of the course will start and finish in the Ojos Negros area.
The four official race checkpoints, where all vehicles are required to make a quick stop, will be located at race mile 84.03 (Santa Catarina), rm196.17 (Borrego), rm 307.30 (Pacific Ocean) and rm397.53 (Rancho San Antonio).
The course will also have a number of virtual checkpoints. All vehicles are also required to run International Rally Consultants tracking devices and live vehicle tracking will be available during the race at Baja Racing News.com
###
May 22 Report:
Official Pre-running Starts Today!
They are having the same issues down by Colonet right now. The main road in off the highway has a farmer that just planted some beans right next to the course......... He says the dust will kill his crop and will not let the race pass through his property......... Drama........
Also, the climb up from the river bed in Erendira is a no go at the moment. Paul Fish (SCORE) is sending a tractor down to regrade it. Chris Wilson's dad took 2 tries to get up it yesterday in a very capable Bronco.
The vineyard road has some serious washouts!!!!!! Be very careful pre-running if you don't have SPEED Mex GPS notes. The race-download for marking the course had none of this info on it. Made for some interesting stops. Not all of these are marked........
The course marking crew were the first vehicles through the cross over road from VT to the meadow. The hill climb @RM256 took about an hour to pull a 2WD blazer out of the 3' ditch. Found a Snap-On 4wd axle nut socket as we were filling in the washout with rocks if anyone is missing one. It's a little rusty now..........
Mother nature has done a number on some of the roads down there so be careful pre-running people!
###
Official Pre-Running starts this Saturday, many teams were down south this past weekend running the new sections. By raceday, they'll be shit conditions, ruts, rocks and broken down pre-runner trucks.
SCORE just started marking the course at race mile (RM) 95 on Saturday, May 15.
###
Get those race fuel orders in. Call Cristy Chavez or Bryan Clowdus at (562) 432-3946 to place your F&L or VP race fuel orders for the 500. Let them know if you are going to be using SPEED Mex Pits to arrange delivery.
Make sure that you pre-arrange your payment options when you place your orders,
reorder Deadline - May 26th.
CASH ONLY in Mexico, credit cards and checks will not be accepted. Fuel Trucks will be open June 3rd & 4th from 8am-5pm and Jet A fuel for Helicopters needs to be ordered NOW!
BAJA 500 SMACK TALK CONTINUES...
Our Baja Racing News.com Reporters Dig Up More SMACK!
Both Andy McMillin and BJ Baldwin, among others... have announced on their Facebook pages...yea, I know, hehehe, that each are going to win the BAJA 500 in June. It is 2010 and the young people of desert off-road racing put more time into their facebook, twitter and other eShit wastes of time, than their off-road programs.
Cameron Steele of the "Dress Assassins", has been planning his dress wearing for months. He does this every year. He's in every one of the dress-fest pictiures that show up on the internet and his sponsors support the craze. Baja Racing News.com has learned this years dress of Cameron, has his sponsor logos, KMC, Lucas Oil and others are emblazened all over the feminine decorations. His purse choice of the year was selected by Fox Shocks.
Many in this generation hardly know what the capital of Baja California is.
If you ask many, they'll say its Paris, or Iguanas or even Lord Blacks! To the uninitiated, thats a list of Baja strip clubs the racers frequent when they should be getting some shut-eye during race season!
As these guys mouth off, we'll report the indiscretions here at Baja Racing News.com, because its some of the most entertaining Baja racer material of the entire year. Summer is nearly here and the Baja racing community is feeling its oats, even though only forty Trophy Trucks are racing and many teams are hobbled by the lack of any racing economy, few sponsors.
And the ones that do have sponsors are some of the worst ambassadors to the sport we have. Proof? In just a couple of weeks, many of these ego maniacs will be drunk, with dresses on, (we'll show you the pics from last year and this years "cross-dress-fest" at Mike's Sky Rancho) in a historic getaway spot in the wilds of Baja.
Pistol Pete Sohren has said he leaves his dress at Mike's after the party, "for good reason". Pete knows, 'drunk, DNF'd and sticky is no way to go through life'. The only event Sohren actually finishes each racing year is the picture taking midway through the night, of all the racers, drunk and in dresses. They're all so hammered, they forget the pics always end up online.
And we'll give-up the sponsors that give them the money to cross dress and puke.
And Baja Racing News.com will give you the pics...EXCLUSIVELY...Stay Tuned!
Gary from Ensenada
BAJA 500 2010 "The Animal House" Racers Set for June 5
Baja Racing News.com Odds On Favorites
SCORE TROPHY TRUCK CLASS:
13 Ed Stout Bottleneck 9 to 1
20 Rob MacCachren Patience pays 2 to 1
30 Robbie Pierce Under pressure 4 to 1
74 Rob Bruce Jesse's new arch nemesis 9 to 1
76 Jesse Jones Should prerun Erindera 3 to 1
40 Chet Huffman TOP TIP 4 to 1
1 Robby Gordon OA 2 to 1
31 Andy McMillin Not if he can help it 2 to 1
42 Will Staats Will try too hard 5 to 1
97 B.J. Baldwin Needs to regroup 2 to 1
24 Adam Householder Ditch digger 6 to 1
22 Damen Jefferies Recall "1" days? 10 to 1
25 Al Hogan No reservations 9 to 1
19 Tim Herbst Glory days possibly gone 6 to 1
23 Mark McMillin Has not shown anything 5 to1
7 Scott Steinberger Might be psyched up 6 to 1
78 Jesse Ashcraft Detail-plagued 8 to 1
50 Jason McNeil Break 9 to 1
35 Jason Voss "Hot" 3 to 1
59 Craig Potts Will lose a corner early 9 to 1
10 Greg Nunley Not 9 to 1
95 Scott Whipple Not supercharged 9 to 1
47 James Bult Trying to save 0.1% weight 9 to 1
21 Gustavo Vildosola, Jr. Overamped? 4 to 1
70 Bryce Menzies Vehicle can win 5 to 1
49 Troy Herbst Long time at the back 5 to 1
94 Steve Strobel DARK HORSE 6 to 1
39 Ron Whitton Long night 9 to 1
16 Cameron Steele In the groove 4 to 1
51 Kory Scheeler Banking on Stouts dust 5 to 1
53 Rick Thomas Needs neck support 9 to 1
96 Bobby Baldwin BJ's second ride? 7 to 1
2 Pete Sohren It's ALWAYS something 9 to 1
84 Nick Vanderwey "Escuela de Pato" works 3 to 1
9 Gary Weyhrich Off-form 5 to 1
71 Rick D. Johnson Hampered by draw 5 to 1
8 Roger Norman Might blitz field 4 to 1
48 Jimmy Nuckles Big Leagues too big 9 to 1
67 Ruben Ledezma Not "Leadezma" 9 to 1
46 John Koltura Needs Billy G. 9 to 1
CLASS 1 UNLIMITED CLASS:
101 Daniel McMillin Must make haste on T-Ts 3 to 1
102 Eric Chase Must avoid lawn furniture, rocks, and cliffs 3 to 1
103 Armin Schwarz Plays the steady game 2 to 1
104 Paul Keller DARK HORSE 5 to 1
105 Dan Martin Cops a plea 3 to 1
106 Conan Barker No barbarian 9 to 1
107 Cody Parkhouse Needs fine tuning 7 to 1
108 Kory Halopoff The Team To Beat 2 to 1
100 Randy Wilson In a rough crowd 3 to 1
110 Mark Weyhrich Takes care thru pits 5 to 1
111 Sean Mecham NFW 9 to 1
112 Ryan Sharman No happy ending 9 to 1
113 Dennis Boyle only 180 6 to 1
114 William Eriksen Delusions of grandure 9 to 1
115 Josh Rigsby Oft troubled 10 to 1
116 Richard Boyle Expect more 4 to 1
117 Ronny Wilson TOP TIP 3 to 1
118 Chris Kemp Unkempt 9 to 1
119 Steve Garcia Lucky to finish 9 to 1
120 Steve Appleton Apple never falls far from the starting line 9 to 1
121 Rudy Cortez Better in "10" 5 to 1
122 Brett Lenk Chain is as strong as its weakest Lenk 5 to 1
123 Armin Kremer Too aggressive 4 to 1
149 Adam Ashcraft - 1st RS Scat a good combo 5 to 1
May 19, 2010
Pre-running begins Saturday in Mexico on rugged 438.81-mile
Race course for 42nd Tecate SCORE Baja 500 desert race
June 3-6 event in Ensenada has entries from 26 States, 9 countries; course map available at www.bajaracingnews.com
LOS ANGELES—With the release of the official course map, GPS files and course notes this week, pre-race activity increases significantly starting Friday when the world’s best desert racers officially begin their pre-running and course logistics activities for next month’s 42nd Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500, the second-oldest desert race in the world.
Round 3 of the five-race 2010 SCORE Desert Series, the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Series, will feature nearly 300 entries, competing in 28 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs, will be held June 3-6 in Ensenada, Mexico. Traditionally one of the most popular events on the SCORE schedule, over 100,000 spectators are expected to enjoy the world’s best desert racers in action at this year’s 42nd anniversary of the Tecate SCORE Baja 500, the original desert race produced by SCORE on July 26, 1974.
With late entries accepted up to race morning, entries are expected from 26 U.S. States from Hawaii to Connecticut, and along with the additional countries of Mexico, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Japan. The green flag will drop for the race at 6 a.m. on Saturday (June 5) for the motorcycle and ATV classes in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500, followed by the car and truck classes three hours after the last ATV at approximately 10 a.m. The elapsed-time race will start and finish in front of the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center on Boulevard Costero in the heart of Ensenada, leaving and returning into the city through the spectator-laden Arroyo Wash.
The talented field of veteran desert racers heading to Baja includes 15 defending class winners out of the 25 Pro classes that had finishers in last year’s race, including last year’s overall 4-wheel vehicle winners Kory Halopoff/Harley Letner of Orange, Calif. (unlimited Class 1) and SCORE Trophy-Truck champion Rick D. Johnson/Brian Sallee, of Barstow, Calif.
The rugged course 438.81-mile course is a very similar to the last two years, although it is about eight miles longer and the terrain has changed significantly due to torrential rains that impacted both sides of the race course on the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez and in the middle in the summit section. The course, which runs in a clockwise direction, resembles a deflating balloon, winding east to Ojos Negros, down to near San Felipe, back West to the Pacific Ocean below San Vicente and back north east through Santo Tomas on the way back to Ojos Negros and then Ensenada.
“Without all of the immense and considerable help we have received from Ensenada Mayor Pablo Lopez in terms of rapid support, personnel and heavy equipment to repair significant rain damage on much of the course, we would be significantly challenged to finalize a course for this year’s race,” said Sal Fish, SCORE CEO/President since soon after it was founded in 1974. “We just can’t thank Mayor Lopez and all of his people enough for all they have done to support SCORE and our SCORE Baja races.”
The only pre-running that will be allowed on the first 35.18 miles of the course will be outbound only and only on Thursday and Friday, June 3 and 4. No inbound pre-running on the last 35.18 miles of the course will be allowed. Pre-running of the rest of the course will start and finish in the Ojos Negros area.
The four official race checkpoints, where all vehicles are required to make a quick stop, will be located at race mile 84.03 (Santa Catarina), rm196.17 (Borrego), rm 307.30 (Pacific Ocean) and rm397.53 (Rancho San Antonio). The course will also have a number of virtual checkpoints. All vehicles are also required to run International Rally Consultants tracking devices and live vehicle tracking will be available during the race at www.bajaracingnews.com.
The featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division for high-tech, 800-horsepower, unlimited production trucks has a SCORE-record 42 entries in this year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 500.
Prominent Southern California industrialist and desert racer Ed Stout, who finished third in season points last year in his marquee class and earned a SCORE Toyota Milestone Award, received the first starting positions for 4-wheel vehicles in his No. 31 Stout Industries Chevy Silverado.
While late entries will be accepted up to race morning, as of today, the Pro 4-Wheel vehicles classes with the most entries are: SCORE Trophy-Truck (42), Class 1 (23). Class 1-2/1600 (13) and SCORE Lite (11).
Leading the Pro Motorcycle classes in entries so far are Class 22 (13) and Class 30 (10). Class 24 leads the Pro ATV classes with 15 entries to date.
Among the Sportsman classes, SPT Motorcycles over 250cc has 24 entries and there are also 10 SPT ATVs to date.
Besides the Halopoff/Letner and Johnson/Sallee teams, other defending Pro class champions in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 entered this year to date are: Kevin Carr, San Diego (Class 5, VW Baja Bug); Dan Chamlee, Carpenteria, Calif. (Class 7, Ford Ranger); Mike Lawrence, Sunset Beach, Calif. (Class 10, Lothringer-VW); Brent Parkhouse, Long Beach, Calif./Brian Burgess, Riverside, Calif. (SCORE Lite, Moulton-VW); Eric Solorzano, Tijuana, Mexico (Class 11, VW Sedan), Joe Bacal, Anthem, Ariz., (Stock Full, Lexus LX570); Mike Johnson, El Paso, Texas/Rex Cameron, Albuquerque, N.M. (Class 30, Honda CRF450X); Eizaburo Karasawa, Japan (Class 50, Honda CRF450X); Nick Nelson, Tehachapi, Calif./Brandon Brown, Eumantilla, Ore. (Class 25, Suzuki LTR450); Craig Christy, Burbank, Calif. (Class 24, Honda TRX450R) and Reid Rutherford, Montrose, Colo. (Class 26, Arctic Cat).
This popular SCORE early summer race began in 1969 under the auspices of the old NORRA organization and SCORE began its enduring run with it on July 26, 1974. This year will be the 37th anniversary of the first SCORE race in Baja.
For the third straight year and just the third time in the 42-year history of the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 desert race, the colorful pre-race Manufacturer’s Midway and Contingency, the start and finish line will all be located in the heart of Ensenada, Mexico on Boulevard Costero adjacent to the historic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center. It will be the second time in race history that both the pre-race activities and the finish will be held on this historic boulevard.
The SCORE Manufacturer’s Midway will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, June 4 on Blvd Costero. Racer registration will again be held in the Grand Ballroom of the San Nicolas Hotel. Registration hours will be from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 3 and from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday June 4.
The awards celebration will be held poolside at the San Nicolas Hotel on Sunday, June 6 at 11 a.m.
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 25thconsecutive year, a total of 25 drivers remain eligible after Round 1 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.
Included in the nearly $30,000 in contingency posting and cash purse for the race is the special $10,000 MasterCraft Safety cash contingency bonus for qualified racers in the car and truck classes.
42nd Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500
June 3-6, 2010—Entries, Baja California, Mexico Total Entries: 256 (as of 5/19/10)
Pro Cars & Trucks
SCORE TROPHY-TRUCK (42)
13 Ed Stout
20 Rob MacCachren
30 Robbie Pierce
74 Rob Bruce
76 Jesse Jones
40 Chet Huffman
1 Robby Gordon
31 Andy McMillin
42 Will Staats
97 B.J. Baldwin
24 Adam Householder
22 Damen Jefferies
25 Al Hogan
19 Tim Herbst
23 Mark McMillin
7 Scott Steinberger
78 Jesse Ashcraft
50 Jason McNeil
35 Jason Voss
59 Craig Potts
10 Greg Nunley
95 Scott Whipple
47 James Bult
21 Gus Vildosola Jr.
70 Bryce Menzies
49 Troy Herbst
94 Steve Strobel
39 Ron Whitton
16 Cameron Steele
51 Kory Scheeler
53 Rick Thomas
96 Bobby Baldwin
2 Pete Sohren
84 Nick Vanderwey
9 Gary Weyhrich
71 Rick D. Johnson
8 Roger Norman
48 Jimmy Nuckles
67 Ruben Ledezma
46 John Koltura
88 Brian Hess
41 Dan Fresh
CLASS 1 (23)
101 Daniel McMillin
102 Eric Chase
103 Armin Schwarz
104 Paul Keller
105 Dan Martin
106 Conan Barker
107 Cody Parkhouse
108 Kory Halopoff
100 Randy Wilson
111 Sean Mecham
112 Ryan Sharman
113 Dennis Boyle
114 William Eriksen
115 Josh Rigsby
116 Richard Boyle
117 Ronny Wilson
118 Chris Kemp
119 Steve Garcia
120 Steve Appleton
121 Rudy Cortez
122 Brett Lenk
123 Armin Kremer
149 Adam Ashcraft
CLASS 1-2/1600 (13)
1601 Arturo Velazco
1602 Brad Wilson
1603 Luke McMillin
1604 Eliseo Garcia
1605 Cody Robinson
1606 Brian Wilson
1607 Kyle Conlon
1608 Wes McKenzie
1645 Francisco Mejorado
1646 Arnoldo Gutierrez
1600 Hiram Duran
1648 Carlo Montalvan
1649 Arnoldo Ramirez
CLASS 3 (0)
CLASS 5 (2)
500 Kevin Carr
501 Cody Kellogg
CLASS 5/1600 (5)
551 Trevor Anderson
552 Victor Celis
576 Armando Garcia
577 Mike Boone
579 Marcos Nunez
CLASS 6 (4)
601 Marc Burnett
602 Steve Kovach
618 Gregg Hempel
600 Heidi Steele
CLASS 7 (4)
700 Dan Chamlee
701 Greg Jones
702 Aaron Celiceo
703 Brandon Walsh
CLASS 7SX (3)
741 Elias Hanna
758 Eduardo Gonzalez
759 Norman Turley
CLASS 8 (6)
801 Dave Crinklaw
802 Kent Kroeker
803 Noah Ostanik
804 Juan C. Lopez
805 Rick Sanchez
800 Clyde Stacy
CLASS 9 (0)
CLASS 10 (6)
1001 Jesus Gonzalez
1002 Alejandro Navarette
1003 Sergio Salgado
1000 Mike Lawrence
1005 Alex Crosthwaite
1006 Jon Walker
SCORE LITE (11)
1201 Justin Davis
1202 Zak Langley
1203 Steve Eugenio
1204 Dave Calloway
1205 Cody Freeman
1206 Matt Kupiec
1207 Greg Gustin
1208 Perry McNeil
1209 Lee Banning
1200 Brent Parkhouse
1211 Samuel Araiza
CLASS 11 (4)
1101 Ernesto Martinez
1147 Alejandro Rivas
1148 Gustavo Garayzar
1100 Eric Solorzano
STOCK FULL (2)
861 Tim Casey
879 Joe Bacal
STOCK MINI (0)
PROTRUCK (2)
1350 Gary Magness
1340 Chelsea Magness
CLASS 7-2 (1)
721 Reid Rutherford
CLASS 4 (2)
401 Eddie Zimmerman
402 John Langley
CLASS 2 (1)
201 Mark Stevens
PRO MOTORCYCLES
CLASS 22 (13)
2x Kyle Abney
3x Ryan Penhall
4x Keith Webster
1x Kendall Norman
6x Jamie Aguilar
7x Robbie Bell
8x Chad Thornton
9x A.J. Stewart
10x Robert Underwood
11x Cory Evenson
12x Colton Udall
13x Chuck Neugebauer
14x Mark Bradford
CLASS 21 (9)
101x Sol Saltzman
102x Jesus Gonzalez M.
103x Steven Achey
104x Ruben Dabdoub
105x David Gonzalez Jr.
106x Adam Neuwirth
107x Gerardo Huerta
108x Francisco Aldrete
109x Mark Fillebrown
CLASS 20 (4)
151x Jason Trubey
152x Anna Cody
153x Olivia Rich
150x Jesus Rios
CLASS 30 (10)
301x Bill Eddings
303x Javier Hernandez
304x Tim Abshire
305x Francisco Septien
306x Mark Levrett
307x Jim O’Neal
308x Jon Jessy
300x Mike Johnson
310x Dan Troy
311x Talya Dodson
CLASS 40 (8)
401x Mark Fishburn
400x Brian Campbell
403x Duane Dickinson
404x Henrik Andersen
405x Mike Prunty
406x Tom Vogt
407x Louie Franco
449x Terry Peregoodoff
CLASS 50 (5)
501x David Rutherford
500x Jim O’Neal
503x Ryan Armitage
504x Eizaburo Karasawa
505x Koichi Takei
CLASS 60 (2)
601x Susumi Ishii
609x Donald Lewis
PRO ATVs
CLASS 25 (6)
2a Craig Christy
1a Wayne Matlock
4a Miguel Olivas
5a Javier Robles
6a Josh Edwards
7a Roberto Villalobos
CLASS 24 (15)
101a Daniel Montano
102a Heribert Marquez
103a Brandon Brown
104a Adrian Valdez
105a Christian Vargas
106a Shane Strunk
107a Luis Berumen
100a Craig Christy
109a Alonzo Ruiz
110a Juan Sanchez
111a Marco Marrujo
112a Oscar Arce
113a Joselito Muro
114a Manuel Jimenez
115a Efren Carrasco
CLASS 26 (3)
200a Reid Rutherford
202a Chuck Neugebauer
219a Rob Ransford
SPORTSMAN
SPT CAR (2)
1400 Peter Lang
1449 Viry Felix
SPT TRUCK (3)
1501 Ken Fraizer
1502 Randy Swink
1549 Nick Tonelli
SPT UTV (4)
1801 Sergio Castillo
1800 Thomas Graves
1803 Peter Hajas
1819 John Crowley