Pre-running opens Saturday for 33rd SCORE San Felipe 250

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

March 20, 2019

Race Dates April 3-7

 Pre-running opens this Saturday on rugged, race-record

long 349.91-mile course for 33rd SCORE San Felipe 250

 

Season opener of four-race 2019 SCORE World Desert Championship;

Start Draw deadline--Tuesday, March 26; airing on ABC World of X Games

    ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico – Launching its 46th season as the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization, pre-running opens Saturday on the rugged, race-record long 349.91-mile course for next month’s 33rd annual SCORE San Felipe 250 in Baja California, Mexico.

     The season-opening event of the four-race internationally-televised 2019 SCORE World Desert Championship will be held April 3-7 in San Felipe, the picturesque, peaceful fishing village on the Sea of Cortez, 125 miles south of the U.S. Border at Calexico, Calif.

     All four 2019 SCORE races will be held on Mexico’s magnificent Baja California peninsula for the fourth consecutive year.

ENTRIES

     Many of the sport’s top stars are among the 183 official entries as of today from 28 U.S. States, host country Mexico along with the additional countries of Australia, Canada, Finland, Italy and New Zealand. Featuring Pro and Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads, the race will air domestically on the ABC Network’s World of X Games show.

MEMORABLE COURSE

     SCORE President/Race Director Jose A. Grijalva has worked diligently with the government officials and ejidos of the Mexicali and San Felipe areas to develop a memorable SCORE San Felipe 250 race course of 349.91 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 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 three of Baja’s most infamous washes in Azufre, Matomi, and Coabuso.

     There will be three full stop checkpoints in addition to the start/finish line which will be located for the just the third time in the history of this race on the Malecon along the Sea of Cortez in the heart of San Felipe. There will also be 96 virtual checkpoints and four speed zones (for approximately 35 miles total).

     Checkpoint 1 will be located at El Morelia Junction (race mile 107.80), the second at Nuevo Junction (rm 185.5) and the third will be at the El Chinero at the Chinero highway crossing (rm 308.73).

     Leaving the Malecon, the course heads South on old Puerecitos Road to Azufre Wash. At approximately rm45, the course goes West, entering Matomi Wash going uphill and at the end of Matomi, the course heads North to Morelia Juncion.

     After Checkpoint 1, the course continues North over Diablo dry lake bed and out to the highway for a long speed zone of over 30 miles all the way to Valley de Trinidad. From there, the course winds up the Goat Trail to Checkpoint 2. After Check 2, the course runs northeast up the Summit and down to Coabuso Junction and through Coabuso Wash. From there it turns East to Saldana then South to El Chinero and Checkpoint 3. From there it goes South for the final 41 miles to the pole line and crosses Zoo Road heading to San Felipe and the finish line.

     The start line and celebratory finish area will be on the SCORE start/finish podium ramp in front of the Rockodile night club on the Malecon.

     The infamous Summit section has been run by SCORE for several years and Matomi especially is always exceptionally challenging, according to Grijalva.

     While the race has an 18 hour time limit this year, the fastest car/truck is expected to finish in about six hours, 30 minutes and the fastest motorcycle is expected to finish in around six hours, 45 minutes.

COURSE MAP/GPS

     The 33rd Annual SCORE San Felipe 250 racer brief, course map and GPS files will be available by 8 p.m. PDT this Thursday (March 21) on the SCORE website on the race page under the Race Info tab.

DRAW DEADLINE

     The deadline to enter online and in time to be in the drawing for starting positions within each class is 8 p.m. PT on Tuesday, March 26.

DOUBLE 3S

     Celebrating the 33rd 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 Race Info atwww.SCOREInternational.com.

SCORE TROPHY TRUCKS

     This year’s SCORE San Felipe 250 includes 40 SCORE Trophy entries to date (including seven in the SCORE TT Legend class for racers over 50 years old.

     Besides SCORE Trophy Truck, the other classes with double figure entries to date and their totals are Trophy Truck Spec (23), Class 1 (17), Pro UTV FI (14) and Class 10 (13).

2018 DEFENDING RACE WINNERS

     A total of 15 class winners from last year’s SCORE San Felipe 250 have already entered this year.

     Leading the way is last year’s overall race winner Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas (SCORE Trophy Truck, No. 11 Ford F-150). Other car/truck/utv class winners from last year entered so far are Russell Buehler, Liberty, Mo. (SCORE TT Legend, No. 79L Ford Raptor), Justin Davis, Chino Hills, Calif. (Class 1, No. 185 Jimco-Chevy), William Hedrick Jr, Vicente Guerrero, Mexico (Trophy Truck Spec, No. 295 ID-Chevy), Chase Warren, Phoenix (Class 10, No. 1008 Alumi Craft-Chevy), Vincent Munoz, Yucaipa, Calif. (Class 8, No. 894 Ford Ranger), Mike Coleman, La Jolla, Calif. (Class 7, No. 721 Ford Raptor), Wayne Matlock, Alpine, Calif. (Pro UTV FI, No. 2971 Polaris RZR XP4 Turbo), Kristen Matlock, Alpine, Calif. (Pro UTV NA, No. 1954 Polaris RZR XP4 1000) and Art Penner, Lynden, Wash. (Canada) (Class 11, No. 1156 VW Sedan).

     The motorcycle/quad class winners entered this year to date are Santiago Creel, Mexico City, Mexico (Pro Moto Limited, No. 100x KTM 350EXCF), Santiago Creel, Mexico City, Mexico (Pro Moto 30, No. 360x KTM 500EXCF), Giovanni Spinali, El Cajon, Calif. (Pro Moto 50, No. 500x Honda CRF450X), Francisco Septien, Ensenada, Mexico (Pro Moto Ironman, No. 730x KTM 450EXCF) and Danny Magdalena, Acton, Calif. (SPT Quad, No. 110a Honda TRX450R).

     For this year’s race, Munoz has moved Trophy Truck Spec (No. 294) and Septien will be racing in Pro Moto 30 (No. 370x).

     An international motorcycle rally racer, Creel is entered in four classes-- Pro Moto Unlimited (4x), Pro Moto Limited (100x), Pro Moto 30 (360x) and second driver in Trophy Truck Spec (No. 260x)

THE SKED

     Pre-race festivities will be held in San Felipe on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday April 3, 4 and 5 with race days on April 6-7 concluding with the post-race awards fiesta at Noon PT on Sunday, April 7.

     The colorful pre-race contingency and Manufacturer’s Midway, the starting line and the finish line will be on the Malecon in the heart of San Felipe for the third straight year. Contingency will be held on two days for the first time in the history of this race with classes split with some going through the line on Wednesday (April 4) and the balance, including the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division, going through  on Thursday (April 5). The post-race awards celebration will be held on the start/finish line ramp on the Malecon.

MAC ATTACK

    While three racers have three overall victories in the SCORE San Felipe 250, Las Vegas’ Hall of Fame racer Rob MacCachren might have set a standard that will last for awhile, unless he breaks his own record of six overall wins, all in SCORE Trophy Truck.

     MacCachren, who won the overall in San Felipe last year to give him 10 class wins in this race, earned his first SCORE Trophy Truck overall in this race in 2003 when he split the driving with Mexico’s Gustavo Vildosola Sr and his second in 2007 when he split the driving with Mark Post.

     MacCachren earned back-to-back wins in 2011 and 2012 driving solo and again back-to-back winning his fifth in 2017 and his sixth last year driving solo again in his No. 11 MacCachren Motorsports Rockstar Ford F-150.

MUY GRANDE IMPACTO

     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.

SCORE RULE BOOK UPDATE

     Under the supervision and direction of SCORE Race Director Jose A. Grijalva and SCORE Tech Director Dan Cornwell with editing and updating by SCORE Ops personnel Lawton Shank and Christine Wait, the 2019 SCORE Rule Book is currently in final review along with the 2019 Rule Book Addendum. All relevant items will be available in the near future on the SCORE website and updated as needed during the year under the race info page.

BFGOODRICH TIRES UNMATCHED

      BFGoodrich Tires is celebrating over four decades as a major player in SCORE Baja racing. In addition to being the official tire of SCORE International for over four decades, BFGoodrich Tires has now produced the tire of choice for 30 of the overall 4-wheel vehicle winners in the SCORE Baja 1000, including 30 of the last 33 years along with a record-run of 20 straight from 1986 through 2005. In total, BFGoodrich Tires has now be the tire of choice for the overall 4-wheel vehicle winner in 91 SCORE Baja races including 32 in the SCORE Baja 500.

     BFGoodrich Tires also provides unmatched pit support for racers using their tires with multiple full service pit areas and more than 100 support crew personnel spread along the race course and complete radio relay the entire race course.

     BFGoodrich Tires will also award $10,000 contingency bonus money to the overall winner of this year’s SCORE San Felipe 250 who runs exclusively on BFGoodrich Tires.

SCOREscope

2019 SCHEDULE

     Here is the four-race 2019 SCORE World Desert Championship and for the fourth consecutive year all races are being held in Baja California, Mexico:

• 33rd SCORE San Felipe 250, April 3-7, San Felipe, Mexico
• 51st SCORE Baja 500, May 29-June 2, Ensenada, Mexico
• Inaugural Lucerna SCORE Baja 400, Sept. 19-23, Ensenada, Mexico
• 52nd SCORE Baja 1000, Nov.19-24, Ensenada, Mexico

ABC TV IN 2019

     SCORE has confirmed that the 2019 SCORE World Desert Championship will be televised on the ABC TV family of networks, marking the first time back on the ABC network since the 1967 and 1968 coverage of the Baja 1000 on ABC’s old Wide World of Sports show.

     The one-hour shows on the 33rd SCORE San Felipe 250, 51st SCORE Baja 500 and the 52nd SCORE Baja 1000 will be televised as part of ABC’s World of X Games year-long programming. Presented by SCORE sponsors Monster Energy and BFGoodrich Tires, the ABC World of X Games series profiles iconic action sports figures and also highlights athletes, artists, event previews and recaps.

     SCORE also announced that the inaugural Lucerna SCORE Baja 400 next September will air as a one-hour special on ESPN TV.

     Hall of Fame racer Cameron Steele’s popular ‘Trail of Missions’ show has been shown as part of ABC’s World of X Games series for the past several years.

     All of the SCORE race coverage shows will continue to air internationally in over 20 countries in Europe, Asia and South America via syndication and ESPN International.

SCORE SPONSORS…

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

     Additional SCORE Associate Partners: Proturismo Ensenada, Baja California Secretary of Tourism, Mexicali Ayuntamiento, COTUCO Mexicali/San Felipe, Cruz Roja Mexicana, Corporate Helicopters, McKenzie’s Performance Products, Advanced Color Graphics.

     For more information regarding SCORE, visit the official website of the SCORE World Desert Championship atwww.SCOREInternational.com.

 33rd SCORE San Felipe 250

April 3-7, 2019—349.91 miles –San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico Total Entries: 183 (as of 3/20/19) (from 28 U.S. States, host Mexico, Australia, Canada, Italy, Finland, New Zealand)  

(numerical order, by class, before start draw)

Pro Cars/Trucks/UTVs

SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (40)

*1L Scott Bailey

2 Cameron Steele

2T Tony Smiley

3 Mark Post

4 Justin Matney

*5L Clyde Stacy

6 Ricky Johnson

7 Bryce Menzies

9 Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez

10 Alan Ampudia

11 Rob MacCachren

19 Tim Herbst

21 Gustavo ‘Tavo’ Vildsola

23 Dan McMillin

24 Adam Householder

*25L Mark Winkelman

26 Dave Taylor

27 Jonathan Brenthel

28 Corey Keysar

30 Robbie Pierce

32 Ryan Arciero

31 Andy McMillin

33 Todd Tuls

*37L Rolf Helland

40 Chris Miller

41 Justin Lofton

45 Gary Magness

46 Luke Johnson

50 Zak Langley

51 Steve Olliges

54 Troy Herbst

*55L Jose de Jesus Flores

67 Jose L. Leon

*72L Rob Reinertson

77 Robby Gordon

*79L Russell Buehler

83 Luke McMillin

85 Mike Lawrence

95 Victor Gruber

97 Robert ‘BJ’ Baldwin

*SCORE TT LEGEND

CLASS 1 (17)

100 Brad Wilson

105 Mason Cullen

106 Derek Fletcher

110 Josh Rigsby

111 Eli Yee

113 Damen Jefferies

116 Chris Paxson

120 Kelly Ross

127 Brian Parkhouse

129 Brandon Bailey

138 Ronny Wilson (DOR-Brian Wilson)

150 Morgan Langley

155 Brad Vicic

162 Brendan Gaughan

167 Rhys Millen

168 Shelby Reid

185 Justin Davis

TROPHY TRUCK SPEC (23)

204 Sara Price

207 Steve Kovach

208 Andrew Entwistle

209 Rafael Navarro IV

211 Pat Sims

218 Chad Dohrman

232 Chelsea Magness

234 Jason McNeil

240 Bobby Patton

244 Brad Lovell

246 James Scully

250 John Langley

251 Joe Lombardo

260 Luis Javier Pelayo

266 Scott Biernot

270 Kelly McArthur

274 Elias Hanna

279 Austin ‘A.J.’ Jones

294 Vincent Munoz

295 William Hedrick Jr

296 Alex Gonzales

297 Bill McBeath

299 Charles Dorrance

CLASS 2 (1)

2022 Hammond Meredith

HAMMER TRUCK UNLTD (1)

4421 Mike Hales

CLASS 10 (13)

1002 Clay Lawrence

1007 Cody Robinson

1008 Chase Warren

1011 Cesar Cuevas

1013 Esau Rodroguez

1020 Carlos Albanez

1022 Rafael Aguirre

1030 James Anderson

1045 Matt Rusich

1048 Kevin Price

1062 J.J. Schnarr

1068 Cody Reid

1078 Augie Cortez

CLASS 7 (4)

700 Dan Chamlee

703 Scott Brady

721 Michael Coleman

722 Austin Stobaugh

HEAVY METAL (1)

8001 Richard Garcia

CLASS 5 (2)

509 Jose Luis Lopez

510 Gerardo Ibarra

Pro UTV FI (14)

2904 Jason Flanders (DOR-Cory Sappington)

2905 Marc Burnett

2910 Scott Trafton

2912 Tony Riggs

2919 Patrick Stone (DOR-Brandon Schueler)

2930 Sean Cook

2938 Ian Black

2940 Erick Kozin

2971 Wayne Matlock

2977 Justin Elenberg

2983 Nicholas Gurries

2987 Edgar Garcia

2989 Wes Miller

2995 Daniel Parker

SCORE LITES (8)

1202 Matias Arjona IV

1203 Oliver Flemate

1206 Freddie Willert

1224 Javier Rochin

1237 Jesus de la Torre

1238 Robert Illian

1247 Wes McKenzie

1258 Jeremy Davis

Pro UTV NA (5)

1907 Zach Van Matre

1912 Rickey Arslanian

1954 Kristen Matlock

1978 T. Bradley Millner

1995 Travis Wells (DOR-Kaden Wells)

CLASS 1/2-1600 (4)

1600 Oscar Alvarez

1609 J. David Ruvalcaba

1625 Eric Pavolka

1633 Avery Stewart

Pro UTV UNL (0)

PROTRUCK (0)

CLASS 8 (0)

BAJA CHALLENGE (0)

STOCK FULL (1)

8161 Len Wansbrough

CLASS 5-1600 (1)

550 Luis Herrera

CLASS 7F (4)

701F Brandon Walsh

704F Aaron Celiceo

714F Justin Park

724F David Cole

CLASS 7SX (0)

CLASS 4700 (1)

4747 Billy Bunch

CLASS 11 (5)

1111 Eric Solorzano

1113 Kent Thygerson

1150 Adrian Esparza

1152 Elmer Cayetano

1156 Art Penner

Sportsman

SPT UNLTD TRUCK (2)

1414 Jessalyn Sells

1474 William Wolfard

SPT STOCK UTV (0)

SPT LTD TRUCK (0)

SPT BUGGY (1)

1515 Chris Parks

Pro Motorcycles

PRO MOTO UNLIMITED (7)

4x Ray Dal Saglio

9x Oscar Garcia

13x Derek Ausserbauer

14x Ian Luenberger

15x Lawrence Janesky

20x Miguel Pena

66x Santiago Creel

PRO MOTO LIMITED (3)

100x Santiago Creel

116x Eric Kirby

180x Fernando Beltran

PRO MOTO 40 (2)

410x Mike Kay

444x Jason Trubey

PRO MOTO 30 (6)

300x Luis M. Gomez

304x Chris Racan

308x Ryan Liebelt

360x Santiago Creel

365x Nick Lanning

370x Francisco Septien

PRO MOTO IRONMAN (1)

704x Robert Rael

PRO MOTO 50 (1)

500x Giovanni Spinali

PRO MOTO 60 (0)

Pro Quads

Pro Quad (3)

1a Said Sanchez

2a Don Higbee

11a Ricardo Gonzalez

Sportsman

SPT QUAD (5)

100a Danny Magdalena

101a Ery Sandoval

123a Ismael Hernandez

170a Carlos Naples

180a Cesar Valdez

SPT M/C (7)

201x Scott Borden

212x Carlos Silva

223x Mike Mettler

228x Mike McIntosh

262x Joel Magallenes

272x John Fails

284x Schane Schorno