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Salvatierra tops latest entries for 3rd SCORE Baja 400
SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, Dominic@SCORE-International.com August 8, 2022 Airing on ESPN2 World of X Games 3rd SCORE Baja 400, Presented by VP Racing Fuels Bolivia’s Salvatierra, RPM’s Stacy, Gaughan, Spinali, Liebelt, Helland, Novelo, all additional early entries Spectacular event is Round 3 of four-race 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship, Sept. 13-18 in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico; Grand Marshal-Hall of Famer LeDuc; more info at… https://score-international.com/raceinfo/2022-baja-400-sept-13-18-2022/ NOTE: Current unofficial entry list, in numerical order, by class, at bottom of text ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico—With entries and anticipation continuing to build for the youngest SCORE Baja race, the newest entries for September’s 3rd SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing Fuels, include Bolivia’s superstar athlete Juan Carlos Salvatierra, RPM Racing’s Clyde Stacy, former NASCAR star Brendan Gaughan, age group motorcycle champions Giovanni Spinali and Ryan Liebelt, vet truck champ Rolf Helland, and Mexico’s racing statesman Gerardo Novelo. WHEN The youngest race in the long and storied nearly 50-year history of the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization will be held Sept. 13-18 in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. EARLY BIRDS Among the latest of the 76 of over 225 official entries expected in this newest of the legendary SCORE Baja races are Bolivia’s major personality Juan Carlos Salvatierra in Pro Motor Unlimited, RPM Racing’s Clyde Stacy, Bristol, Va., in SCORE TT Legend (Trophy Truck drivers over 50 years old), Las Vegas’ retired NASCAR star who has returned to his racing roots Brendan Gaughan to drive in the unlimited Class 1, moto class champs Giovanni Spinali, El Cajon, Calif. (Pro Moto 50) and Ryan Liebelt, Reedly, Calif. (Pro Moto 40), veteran truck champion racer Rolf Helland, Morris, Illinois, in SCORE TT Legend and Mexico’s senior statesman and SCORE champ Gerardo Novelo in Class 7F. WHAT Online racer registration along with a detailed schedule of events both are available on the SCORE website for Round 3 of the four-race 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship. Entries from all across the United States and around the world are anticipated for the upcoming internationally-televised desert race in Mexico’s Baja California. Inaugurated in 2019, the SCORE Baja 400 was not held in 2020 because of the international pandemic and in 2021 started and finished without spectators Northeast of the central city. The two defending overall and SCORE Trophy Truck champions in this new race are Ryan Arciero, Foothill Ranch, Calif. (2019) and Las Vegas’ Bryce Menzies (2021). ONLINE RACER REGISTRATION Online registration, by class, for Pro and Sportsman cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads, is ongoing through the SCORE website. Information on all SCORE races can be found on the home page under the Race Info tab. Online racer registration will close at 5 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, Aug. 31. In person registration will be held in the SCORE Ensenada office until 5 p.m. PDT on Thursday, Sept. 8. For more info, visit https://score-international.com/raceinfo/2022-baja-400-sept-13-18-2022/ WHERE The race and pre-race festivities will be in the heart of Ensenada, the seaside port on the Pacific Ocean, 80 miles south of San Diego. All race festivities including racer registration, media registration pre-race contingency and the start/finish line compound will all be held in or adjacent to the iconic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center. Contingency and the start/finish line area will once again be the fantastic, fan-friendly Boulevard Costero. THE FIELD Nearly 225 vehicles are expected at the start line for this third-time SCORE race with racers from as many as 20 U.S. States and 10 countries anticipated. Pro and Sportsman Classes are offered for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads. In just one week since online registration opened, there are racers from 16 U.S. States, host country Mexico, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Costa Rica, New Zealand and Peru. DOUBLE DIGITS Leading the list of entries with double-digit lineups so far are SCORE Trophy Truck with 30 entries (including four in SCORE TT Legend for drivers over 50 years old) and Trophy Truck Spec with 15 entries. LeDUC, GRAND MARSHAL Adding to the glamour of the SCORE Baja 400, Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame Class of 2015 inductee Curt LeDuc, and SCORE champion truck racer has been named as the Grand Marshal for this year’s race. Passionate to a flair with racing champion sons Todd LeDuc and Kyle LeDuc, Curt LeDuc, 67, of Cherry Valley, Calif., has been a winner in desert racing, short course racing, the Dakar Rally, the Pike’s Peak Hill Climb and elder LeDuc is like the energizer bunny…he’s still going, going and going. Building most of the vehicles he raced in, many would call LeDuc an engineer, but he prefers to be referenced as an ‘imagineer’ for his mechanical accomplishments. “SCORE is always honored to remember heroes of the past and we welcome them back like Hall of Famer Curt (LeDuc) as Grand Marshal for a SCORE Baja race,” commented Jim Ryan, SCORE Vice-President of Marketing and Sales. “Curt is a legend in Baja and we know he will be shaking lots of hands and signing loads of autographs as he helps to mentor the next generation of SCORE racing stars.” LeDuc has had a strong career in SCORE and has four career SCORE Trophy Truck race wins and he won the 1997 SCORE Trophy Truck season point championship driving a factory-sponsored Jeep Cherokee in the marquee racing division for high-tech, 1,000-horsepower, unlimited custom trucks. His racing career also includes five Class 8 season point titles in a domestic racing series in the U.S. He is a blue-collar racer who earned a reputation for fixing anything with almost nothing. BOLIVIAN AMBASSADOR Switching from the unique Pro Moto Ironman class for solo riders after winning two straight season class point championships, Bolivia's legendary athlete and Dakar Rally veteran Juan Carlos Salvatierra, 40, has won the Overall Motorcycle and Pro Moto Unlimited Class for both 2022 races to lead his new class and the Overall Motorcycle points in the current season standings. Uniquely, Salvatierra won the SCORE Baja 500 with a four-rider team from four countries—USA, Argentina, Bolivia and Mexico. Salvatierra’s team from San Felipe and the SCORE Baja 500 was Mexico’s Arturo Salas, of Tecate, and USA’s Shane Logan, of Lake Havasu City, Ariz. Joining them for the SCORE Baja 500 was an additional rider on the four-nation team was Argentina’s Diego Llanos. Together the Salvatierra team completed the SCORE Baja 500 race course on their No. 10x KTM 450SX-F in a time of 10:32:33 with an average speed of 43.99mph. Salvatierra is expected to have his entire four-person team racing in the SCORE Baja 400. RPM RACING-STACY Joining his RPM Racing co-owner Justin Matney in the field, Clyde Stacy, Bristol, Va., has entered the SCORE TT Legend class for drivers over 50 years old. Matney, 36, Bristol, Tenn., has already entered in the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck class. The dedicated and passionate Stacy, 77, who didn’t begin his SCORE racing career until he was 64 years old, has won three SCORE TT Legend season point championships (2017, 2019, 2020) in his No. 5L RPM Racing Chevy V16. His principal additional driver is Nick Vanderwey, 55, Phoenix, a multi-time SCORE class champion himself. Overall in his SCORE racing career, Stacy has earned 11 SCORE class season point titles. CITY LIGHT SHINE Prominent Las Vegas businessman, former NASCAR star and second-generation desert racer Brendan Gaughan is back in his desert racing roots again as he has entered the unlimited Class 1 for this year’s SCORE Baja 400. The gregarious and very personable Gaughan, 47, is a veteran of 23 years of driving in NASCAR’s three elite division including the top tier Cup Series along with the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Truck Series. Driving South Point Casino (Las Vegas) vehicles, Gaughan had 67 starts over nine seasons in the Cup series, 219 starts over 10 seasons in the Xfinity series and 217 in the Truck series over 14 seasons. He retired from NASCAR racing officially after the 2020 season. In 2019 Gaughan returned to his roots for an emotional Class 1 victory in the 2019 SCORE Baja 1000. Also driving that race with Gaughan were R.J. Anderson, Buddy Feldkamp and Billy Gereghty. Gaughan, who also is a part of numerous national radio programs, is the son of legendary Las Vegas hotel/casino magnate and former SCORE champion racer Michael Gaughan. Owner of City Light Shine (17A distillery) in Las Vegas, Gaughan will be the driver of record in the No. 162 South Point Hotel HMS-Chevy. Gaughan is also an administrative executive at the South Point Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. CLS (produced by 17A Stillery) is the first and only legal distillery in the history of Las Vegas. Splitting the time with Gaughan in this race will be third-gen SCORE racer Jordan Dean, 26, Henderson, Nev., whose father Pat Dean will be racing with Las Vegas’ Tim Herbst in SCORE Trophy Truck. Jordan’s grandfather and Pat’s father, Butch Dean, is part of the Class of 22 to be inducted into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame in late October in Las Vegas. Gaughan has been plagued with issues this year of various kinds and has two DNFs so far. SPINALI TEAM His name sounds like he should be from Italy, but Giovanni Spinali, 55, is from El Cajon, Calif. and is back with another championship team in the Pro Moto 50 (riders over 50 years old). Co-riders for Spinali in this year’s SCORE Baja 400 are Troy Pearce, 55, Ramona, Calif., and John Griffin, 55, Lake Forrest, Calif. and Bill Sauro, 52, Murrieta, Calif. In San Felipe to open the 2022 season, Spinali and Co. finished second and followed that by winning his class in the SCORE Baja 500 in Pro Moto 50. Spinali is currently tied with Vance Kennedy in the Pro Moto class point standings. Spinali and his team were undefeated during their championship season last year in Pro Moto 50 which earned him his fourth SCORE season class point championship (2014, 2018, 2019, 2021). He has won both of the SCORE Baja 400 races in his class and will be riding his No. 500x Yamaha YZ450FX motorcycle this year. HELLAND Leading one of the top teams in the SCORE TT Legend class is Rolf Helland, 62, a prominent businessman in the trucking industry from Morris, Illinois. Somewhat of a late bloomer in starting to compete in SCORE Baja racing the last several years, Helland and his driving teammate veteran champion SCORE racer Rick D. Johnson, 56, Barstow, Calif., are the reigning SCORE TT Legend class point champions after a brilliant undefeated four-race season in the 2021 SCORE World Desert Championship. This season, Helland is second in the current SCORE TT Legend class points after finishes of second and fourth in the first two races on the 2022 calendar. Helland and Johnson, who has one career SCORE Trophy Truck class win (2009 SCORE Baja 500), split the driving in Helland’s No. 37L Norseman Racing Ford Raptor built by Mason Motorsports. In the SCORE Baja 400, Helland finished second in 2019 and he won his class in this race on the way to his undefeated season in 2021. LIEBELT Among the newer SCORE motorcycle racers, Ryan Liebelt, 42, of Reedley, Calif., oversees has age group teams and was undefeated as Rider of Record in Pro Moto 40 in 2021 and was also first in Pro Moto 30 as a co-rider for Greg Bardonnex, 46, of Visalia, Calif. This season, Liebelt has won both Pro Moto 40 races while also helping Bardonnex finish second in both races in Pro Moto 30. Listed as co-riders for Liebelt on his No. 400x Yamaha WR450F for the SCORE Baja 400 are James Justin Schultz, 40, Lake Forrest, Calif., Steve Tichenor, 44, Reno, Nev., Jason Trubey, 44, Henderson, Nev. and Bardonnex. In the 2019 SCORE Baja 400, Liebelt finished third in Pro Moto 30 and last year he won Pro Moto 40 as the ROR and was on Bardonnex’s winning team in Pro Moto 30 as a co-rider. SENIOR STATESMAN Born in Ensenada, Mexico, prominent businessman and long-time government official, Gerardo Novelo, 56, returns again for this year’s SCORE Baja 400. Long a champion of SCORE Baja racing, Novelo was one of the key individuals that helped establish the SCORE strategic tourism alliance with the Mexican government in 2019. Novelo and his team will drive the No. 702F Nissan Hardbody King Cab in San Felipe in Class 7F. Team manager James Murphy, 61, of Lomita, Calif., will share driving duties with Novelo. Novelo is a two-time SCORE season Class point champion, having won titles in back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018. Part of the family that owns the luxurious Estero Beach Resort south of Ensenada, Gerardo Novelo was selected as the 2019 SCORE Person of the Year for his continuing contributions to the welfare of SCORE International in Mexico. In both of this year’s races, Novelo and his team have had rare did not finishes. GREEN FLAG It is an elapsed-time race with staggered starts with the green flag dropping on Saturday (Sept. 18). Ceremonial start in front of the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center will be 5:30 a.m. PT for Motorcycles and Quads and 9:15 a.m. PT for the Cars, Trucks and UTVs. here will be a minimum of three and one-half hours between the last SPT Quad and the first SCORE Trophy Truck. Car, Truck and UTV classes will have a course of approximately 394 miles while motorcycle and quad classes will have a race course of approximately 370 miles. All classes will have a time limit of 19 hours from the time each vehicle starters to become an official finisher in the race. TV The race will air domestically on a delayed basis as a one-hour special on the World of X Games program on ESPN2 and will be syndicated internationally to nearly 25 countries in Europe, Latin America, South America and Asia. Co-producing the shows with SCORE is the award-winning BCII TV of Los Angeles led by executive producer Bud Brutsman. START GRID-SCORE BAJA 1000 The results of the SCORE Baja 400 also will determine the start order within each class for November’s iconic season-ending BFGoodrich Tires 55th SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts. DRAW DEADLINE The starting order within each class for this race (except for the classes that are qualifying), will be determined by a random drawing for those entries received online and paid in full by 5 p.m. (PDT) on Wednesday, August 31. No additional online entries will be accepted after 5 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, August 31. Late, on-site racer registration will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (Sept. 13-16). In person registration is also being held in the SCORE Ensenada office until 5 p.m. PDT on Thursday, Sept. 8. PRE-RUNNING Official practice, or pre-running, on the official 394-mile race course for this year’s 3rd SCORE Baja 400 will open at 8 a.m. PDT on Saturday, Sept. 3. Pre-running will start at race mile 33.14. The first 33.14 miles, which will be used in both directions during the race, will be available for pre-running only on Thursday (Sept. 15) and Friday (Sept. 16) and only in the outbound direction. QUALIFYING Qualifying for starting positions within their respective classes will be held on Wednesday (Sept. 14), starting at 8 a.m. PDT. Classes that will be qualifying for the 3rd SCORE Baja 400 are SCORE Trophy Truck, SCORE TT Legend, the unlimited Class 1 and the Trophy Truck Spec class. MAIN COURSE The race will feature a course, when fully plotted and then marked over the next several weeks by SCORE President/Race Director Jose A. Grijalva, of 394 miles of rugged Baja California terrain (370 for motorcycles and quads). The challenging race course will be another memorable example of all that Mexico’s Baja California has to offer, including high-speed dirt trails, sandy, rocky and silty natural terrain, majestic Baja washes and canyons, stretches along the seashore with elevations from sea level to over 3,000 feet. The course will be another jewel reflecting the stark beauty of Baja California. A HAPPENING… Colorful race week festivities will start on Tuesday, Sept. 13 to help celebrate this youngest SCORE Baja race. They will be held in or adjacent to the landmark Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in the heart of Ensenada. Chassis inspections and pre-tech/Stella devise check and installation will be held on Wednesday (Sept. 14) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT by appointment and on Thursday (Sept. 15) chassis inspection/pre-tech/Stella bracket check and installation will be held at a location to be determined. Friday (Sept. 16) will see the colorful day-long, pre-race Manufacturer’s Midway and contingency festival in the start finish line area in Ensenada. From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT contingency row will be held for all classes. Tech inspection/Transponder checks/Stella/SPICA device pickup will be from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. PDT on Friday as well at the end of the manufacturer’s row. During the race on Saturday, Sept. 17 until the course closes on Sunday morning, Sept. 18, the start/finish line compound will include the massive double-sided SCOREvision LED screen broadcasting race festivities, the start, live race action from around the course and finish line interviews. Popular Rat Sult will once again serve as host of the SCORE Live streaming. Assisting Sult will be veteran voice Dave Arnold. Contingency and the race itself will be streamed live, airing via the internet on the SCORE website. Included in the exclusive race coverage, along with vehicle tracking, will be live drone and in-car camera footage from various locations around the race course. AT THE RIVIERA… The historic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center, in the heart of Ensenada, will again be the site of many of the activities surrounding the 3rd SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing Fuels. Racer registration and media registration will both be held in Salon Rojo on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (Sept. 13-16). On Tuesday (Sept. 13 for qualifying teams only) racer registration will be held from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. PDT. On Wednesday (Sept. 14) it will run from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. PDT, Thursday (Sept. 15) it will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT and on Friday (Sept. 16) from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Tuesday and Wednesday, no new entries will be accepted after 7 p.m. PDT, on Thursday after 4 p.m. PDT and on Friday, no new entries will be accepted after 3 p.m. PDT. SCORE Media Registration will be held in Salon Rojo at the Riviera on Tuesday and Wednesday (Sept. 13-14) from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. PDT and on Thursday and Friday (Sept. 15-16) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT. The start/finish line for the race will once again be adjacent to the iconic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center on Blvd. Costero. SCOREscope 2022 SCHEDULE Here are the remaining two dates in the four-race 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship which is being held exclusively in Baja California, Mexico for the seventh consecutive year:
- 3rd SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing Fuels—
- BFGoodrich Tires 55th SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts—