Author: Dominic Clark - SCORE
Another radically rugged race route of approximately 1,200 miles for November’s BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 was unveiled Saturday at the SCORE Baja 1000 exhibit area in Building 5 at the Lucas Oil Off-Road Expo at the Fairplex in Pomona, Calif. The popular consumer show will conclude Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (PT).
THE RACE
Over 350 entries, from 40 U.S. States and 30 countries are expected to compete in this year’s 50th anniversary celebration of the BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000.
The world’s most iconic, oldest, prestigious and longest continuously held desert race, this year’s BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 will be held as a race down Mexico’s majestic Baja California peninsula, starting in Ensenada, Baja California Norte and finishing in La Paz, Baja California Sur. Dates for the race and race week festivities are Nov. 12 through Nov. 18. The race is annually the finale of the four-race SCORE World Desert Championship, held exclusively for the past two years in Baja California.
With a total time limit of 48 hours in the elapsed-time race, the motorcycle and quad classes will start at 12 midnight (PT) on Wednesday, Nov. 15and the car, truck and UTV classes will follow with start on Thursday (Nov. 16) at 10 a.m (PT). This year’s course map is available on the SCORE website at www.SCORE-International.com.
THE EXPO
The colorful and extensive 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 exhibit area in Building 5 is again offering desert-racing and off-road performance fans the opportunity to interact with many of the top desert racers in the world and legends of the sport while enjoying viewing the most radical motorsports vehicles ever developed from the past and the present.
SCORE BAJA 1000 QUALIFYING
SCORE Trophy Truck, the marquee SCORE racing division for high-tech, 900-horsepower, unlimited production trucks class will have a special qualifying session for start positions on Tuesday, Oct. 31 on the Off-Road Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The marquee SCORE racing division will be showcased that week (Oct. 30-Nov. 3) at the massive SEMA SCORE Baja 1000 Experience at the SEMA Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Both events are presented by BFGoodrich Tires.
OFF-ROAD EXPO MEET & GREETS
Crowd favorite autograph session will take place from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday with many of the stars of the sport, both past and present who have built their legacy in the SCORE Baja 1000. Additional highlight of the SCORE Baja 1000 exhibit will be the SCORE Monster Energy Cinema, featuring SCOREvision, massive LED screen showing race telecasts that have aired on the CBS Sports Network as well as historical race videos that are part of the legendary legacy of SCORE Baja racing.
Among the legends, past and present, scheduled to appear at the BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 autograph sessions are SCORE owner Roger Norman, legendary former SCORE owner Sal Fish, Larry Roeseler, Rob MacCachren, Mark Stahl, Billy Wilson, Broc Dickerson, Jeff Proctor, Dennis Hollenbeck, Grabowski brothers Parker and Dustin,. SCORE expects some other ‘surprise’ SCORE Baja racing legends as well for the two autograph sessions.
TROPHY CASE
The SCORE Baja 1000 Exhibit at the Off-Road Expo includes multiple vehicle displays as well. Among the vehicles on display are the Roger Norman’s SCORE Trophy Truck, Terrible Herbst Motorsports No. 19 Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy Truck driven by Tim Herbst, Dennis Hollenbeck’s Class 11 VW Sedan, Murray brothers’ Can-Am Maverick X3 UTV, Grabowski Brothers Subaru-powered Class 5 sedan, Mark Stahl’s vintage Class 8 Ford Truck, Jamie Galles’ Class 1 unlimited race car and a vintage Chenowth Class 1 race car driven by Tommy Croft.
OH, WHAT A COURSE!
As it has for over four decades, SCORE has put together another memorable race course for the 50th anniversary, this one a point-to-point race, with all of the foreboding, unforgiving terrain that both the northern state and southern state of the majestic Baja California peninsula has to offer. SCORE CEO/president Roger Norman and SCORE Race Director Jose A. Grijalva have designed and finalized this year’s race course of 1,134.40 miles. Current plans call for the course to have five checkpoints along the way to the finish.
Starting in the heart of Ensenada in front of the historic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center, the course travels east to Ojos Negros before launching its weaving route south to the finish line in La Paz. It starts with the approximate 20 mile stretch to Ojos Negros, the course heads south from Ojos down the ‘Goat Trail’ to Valley de Trinidad and around Kiliwas on a new trail that will drop into Kiliwas Wash before going back to Highway 1 on Mike’s Road.
From San Matias to San Felipe and the Sea of Cortez over a new trail that will start at Morellia Junction all the way to Zoo Road, skipping the infamous bad whoops. South of San Felipe the course winds to Coco’s Corner running a new trail before Checkpoint 1 at Coco’s. The course then goes to Bahia de Los Angeles and south to Mujica where Checkpoint 2 is located before crossing Highway 1 again to go to the Pacific side of the course.
Past San Ignacio the course goes on another new trail to El Datil which skips the silt and highway on the way to Scropion Bay, La Purisma and San Isidro. Before Loreto will be Checkpoint 3 and then a run up to San Javier Mission before heading to Checkpoint 4 at the highway crossing to Lopez Mateos. The course will go behind Ciudad Constitution to Santa Rita where another new trail goes to Loma Amarilla where the final Checkpoint (No. 5) will be located. Getting closer to La Paz, the course will go through the ‘silty’ Santa Fe area and on to Punta Conejo.
The last stretch of the race course travels down by the ‘Waterfall’ before La Paz and at El Centenario and the final pavement section to the finish line adjacent to the Grand Plaza Hotel, the SCORE race headquarters on the outskirts of La Paz. The five checkpoints will be located at Coco’s Corner, Mujica Baja Sur, near Loreto, road crossing at the Lopez Mateos Highway and at Loma Amarilla before the last sprint to the finish line in La Paz.
PRE-RUNNING
Teams will be allowed to begin pre-running or practicing on the race course starting at 8 a.m. (PT) on Friday, Oct. 20 starting from Ojos Negros as the section from the start to Ojos Negros will be restricted.
BEFORE BAJA…VIVA LAS VEGAS!
Jumpstarting the festivities for the 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 for the fourth straight year will be the massive SEMA SCORE Baja 1000 Experience at the Las Vegas Convention Center (Oct. 30-Nov. 3) and the special SCORE Baja 1000 qualifying for the first 40 SCORE Trophy Trucks that enter the anniversary event. With both events presented by BFGoodrich Tires, qualifying will be held at the Off-Road Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (7 p.m. PT, Tuesday, Oct. 31).
START DRAW
For all the classes except SCORE Trophy Truck, the drawing for starting positions within each class will be held at 7 p.m. (PT) on Wednesday, Nov. 1. Entries must be received by 11 p.m. (PT) on Friday Oct. 27 to be included in the start draw. Late entries received after the drawing will be placed by class in the next available starting position following those that entered in time for the random draw.
BEGINNING TO END
This year’s race will start for the 43rd time in Ensenada, Baja California and finish for the 21st time in La Paz, Baja California Sur. The start line will once again be adjacent to the iconic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in the heart of Ensenada with the first several spectator-friendly miles running up the Ensenada Arroyo. The course will finish just off of Highway 1 in the outskirts of La Paz, adjacent to the Grand Plaza Hotel, official race headquarters in La Paz.
SPLIT-START
Commemorating the first race, motorcycle and quad classes will start at midnight (PT) on Wednesday, Nov. 15 and the car, truck and UTV classes will begin their journey in the elapsed-time race 10 hours later at 10 a.m. (PT) on Thursday, Nov. 16. While the fastest vehicles are expected to complete the course in approximately 20 hours, all vehicles will have 48 hours from the time each starts to complete the course and become an official finisher of the 50th anniversary race.
PRE-GREEN
The BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 race week festivities will cover Nov. 12-18.
Pre-race festivities include Tuesday (Nov. 14). For the first time, the vastly popular tech and contingency of all vehicles and the SCORE Manufacturer’s Midway will be held over two days on Boulevard Costero in front of the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center. Contingency will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and pre-race tech will be held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. for motorcycles and quads on Tuesday and for cars, trucks UTVs on Wednesday
The pre-race mandatory driver/rider briefing will be held on Tuesday (Nov. 14) at 7 p.m. PT in the Cathedral Room at the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center motorcycles and quads and on Wednesday (Nov. 15) for the car, truck and UTV classes. Racer registration will be held in the Red Room at the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in Ensenada. Racer registration will be held from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. (PT) on Monday (Nov. 13), from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (PT) on Tuesday (Nov. 14) and Wednesday (Nov. 15).
Media registration will be held as well in the Red Room at the Riviera from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. (PT) on Monday (Nov. 13), 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (PT) on Tuesday (Nov. 14) and Wednesday (Nov. 15) and the BFGoodrich Tires/Baja California Secretary of Tourism SCORE Media Center will be open on Wednesday (Nov. 15) from 11 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. (PT) and on Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. (PT).
SCORE sponsor Monster Energy will host the Monster Energy Papas y Beer SCORE Street Party on Avenida Ruiz in downtown Ensenada from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m. (PT) on Tuesday, Nov. 14.
POST GREEN
As the celebration continues Thursday (Nov. 15) night to all day and evening on Friday and on the morning of Saturday (Nov. 18) in La Paz while official finishers cross the line and tales and epic accomplishments are added to the legacy of the event, the post-race awards fiesta will be held in La Paz starting at 7 p.m. (PT) on Saturday (Nov. 18).
GRANDEST OF GRAND MARSHALS
Sal Fish, 78, the iconic desert racing promoter who owned SCORE International for 38 years, will be the Grand Marshal for November’s 50th SCORE Baja 1000.
Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Famer Fish, who lives in Malibu, Calif., has earned more awards in his life than most racers have won races and was the face of SCORE from 1974 until he sold the company to Roger and Elise Norman on Dec. 20, 2012. A graduate from the University of San Francisco, Fish had risen to the top as the Publisher of Hot Rod Magazine when Mickey Thompson, who founded SCORE in 1973, recruited Fish to be the President of SCORE.
MORE EXPO INFO
The 2017 Lucas Oil Off-Road Expo will once again be the largest and greatest collection of off-road companies, parts, equipment, gear, and experts assembled in America. From off-road racing to rock crawling, trail riding to sand sports, motorcycles to quads and camping to adventure travel, the event provides the unique opportunity to meet and talk with the most knowledgeable people in the off-road industry. With a full weekend of excitement, other event features include over 350 industry-specific vendors, the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Demo at the MAV TV Proving Grounds, Rubicon Trail – Off Road Vehicle Ride Along, O’Reilly Auto Parts Show-N-Shine, the Miss Off-Road Expo Contest and live music all weekend at the Bud Light Entertainment Stage.
DUST 2 GLORY
From award-winning documentary filmmaker Brown, Dust 2 Glory, scheduled to premiere nationwide in December, chronicled each of the four races in the 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship. Brown’s original Dusty to Glory, released in 2005, became an iconic classic showcasing the legendary SCORE Baja 1000. D2G, which began shooting at the 2015 SCORE Baja 1000, continued up close and personal coverage capturing the robust racers in their amazing adventures in Mexico’s majestic Baja California peninsula through all four spectacular 2016 races. Executive Producer is BCII’s Bud Brutsman.
For more information regarding SCORE, visit the official website of the SCORE World Desert Championship at www.SCOREInternational.com.
Author: Dominic Clark - SCORE
