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Myers bros top new entries for 55th SCORE Baja 500
SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, Dominic@SCORE-International.com April 24, 2023 ‘Celebrating 50 Years of Desert Racing Excellence’ Race week—May 31-June 4 BFGoodrich Tires 55th SCORE Baja 500, 2 Myers, Parkhouse, Aussies, M/M Matlock, Creel, Solorzano, Olliges father/son, Magness father/daughter all early entries Round 2 of four-race 2023 SCORE World Desert Championship in Off-Road Capital of the World—Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico; Hall of Famer Sal Fish Grand Marshal for the entire 2023 SCORE season, Ivan ‘Ironman’ Stewart, Johnny Campbell SCORE Baja 500 co-Grand Marshals; Racer registration, event info available at www.SCORE-International.com NOTE: Current unofficial number/name entry list at bottom of text ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico – ‘Celebrating 50 Years of Desert Racing Excellence’ this year, among the earliest entries to date are brothers Dan Myers and Andrew Myers in the same class, Paul Weel/Toby Price, Wayne Matlock and his wife Kristen Matlock in the same class, Santiago Creel, Eric Solorzano, father and son Steve Olliges and Jack Olliges in separate classes and father and daughter Gary Magness and Chelsea Magness in separate classes. Round 2 of the four-race 2023 SCORE World Desert Championship will be held May 31-June 4 in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. Ensenada, ‘The Off-Road Capital of the World’, is located 80 miles South of the U.S. Border near San Diego. DETAILS With over 300 entries expected from 30 U.S. States and 20 countries, 45 competition classes are offered for Pro and Sportsman cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads. Most the world’s best desert racers will be in action at this year’s celebration of one of the top 10 motorsports events in the entire world. SCORE Live will be streaming throughout race week on the SCORE website. Colorful Rat Sult is in his eighth season as the host and lead announcer of SCORE Live. Assisting him again at this race will be veteran voice Dave Arnold. All four 2023 SCORE races are being held on Mexico’s magnificent Baja California peninsula for the eighth consecutive year. SCORE, the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization, is celebrating its 50th season in 2023. EARLIEST BIRDS Leading the earliest group of entries to date include SoCal brothers Dan Myers, Newport Beach, Calif. and Andrew Myers, San Marcos, Calif., in separate SCORE Trophy Trucks, son/father Cody Parkhouse/Brian Parkhouse, of Long Beach, Calif., splitting the driving in the unlimited Class 1, Australia’s Paul Weel/Toby Price sharing the wheel in the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division, Alpine, Calif., husband and wife racers Wayne Matlock and Kristen Matlock in separate vehicles in the Pro UTV Open class, Mexico’s Santiago Creel, of Mexico City, in the Trophy Truck Spec class Mexico’s Eric Solorzano, of Tijuana, in the venerable Class 11 for stock VW Sedans, Las Vegas’ Steve Olliges in SCORE Trophy Truck and his son Jack Olliges, also of Las Vegas, in Trophy Truck Spec and Dener racers Gary Magness in SCORE Trophy Truck and his daughter Chelsea Magness, in Trophy Truck Spec. GRANDEST MARSHAL FOR GOLDEN YEAR Sal Fish, admired as the iconic ‘godfather’ of SCORE desert racing, has agreed to be the Grand Marshal of the Year for the entire four-race 2023 SCORE World Desert Championship as SCORE is ‘Celebrating 50 Years of Desert Racing Excellence.’ Revered all over Baja California, Fish, who will turn 84 on May 2, is a former publisher of Hot Rod Magazine and a 2006 inductee into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame. He led SCORE for 38 years, from 1974 until he sold the organization on Dec. 20, 2012. His footprint left an indelible mark on all of desert racing as he was an extraordinary innovator and visionary for SCORE and the entire world of desert racing. He expanded TV coverage of SCORE races and in 1994 created the SCORE Trophy Truck class, the marquee racing division in the sport of desert racing for high-tech, 1000-horsepower, unlimited custom trucks. SCORE BAJA 500 GRAND MARSHALS SCORE has announced that Ivan Stewart, Alpine, Calif., and Johnny Campbell will be the co-Grand Marshals for this year’s BFGoodrich Tires 55th SCORE Baja 500. When it comes to desert racing there is only one ‘Ironman’ standing at the top of the list of solo drivers/riders. San Diego’s iconic Ivan ‘Ironman’ will be celebrating his 78th birthday on June 4, during the conclusion of this year’s SCORE Baja 500. The ‘Ironman’ celebrated his birthday annually over the years with 17 career class wins including a SCORE race-record 10 overall 4-wheel vehicle victories in the SCORE Baja 500. The legendary Stewart has been inducted into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame (2006), the San Diego Hall of Champions Breitbard Hall of Fame (2009) and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (2020). Driving most of his career for Toyota Motorcycles, Stewart continues as a spokesperson for Toyota Racing Development. Campbell, 52, San Clemente, Calif., is a stellar SCORE motorcycle racing champion with six career class wins including five overall victories in the SCORE Baja 500. He also has a race-record 11 overall motorcycle victories in the SCORE Baja 1000 on his resume. Campbell is also an 11-time SCORE season point champion in the Pro Moto Unlimited class on his Honda CRF450X. He also rode in the 2001 Dakar Rally, finishing eighth overall. Campbell has been inducted into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame (2018) and the Trailblazers MC Hall of Fame (2021). Today he continues as the Off-Road Coordinator for American Honda in addition to running his own successful team—Johnny Campbell Racing/Honda (JCR) with several top desert motorcycle racers. MYERS X 2 Another second and third generation SCORE race team, Myers racing returned to SCORE in 2021 after an absence for several years. The famous SoCal racing family is back in a major way with two family members in SCORE Trophy Truck. Both are part of the powerful Toyota Escondido TE Motorsports Team. Dan Myers, 44, Newport Beach, Calif., will be driver of record in SCORE Trophy Truck while his younger brother Andrew Myers, 43 of San Marcos will be in another SCORE Trophy Truck. Dan and Andrew’s older brother Steve Myers, 56 of Newport Beach, is waiting for a third SCORE Trophy Truck to be finished but will be available again as an additional driver for Dan Myers. Dan Myers will be racing in SCORE Trophy Truck in the No. 6 TE Motorsports Toyota Tundra built by SCORE racer Robby Gordon while Andrew Myers will drive in SCORE Trophy Truck in his No. 69 Toyota Tundra built by Herbst-Smith Fab. A second-generation SCORE race team, Dan Myers and Andrew Myers have both had their share of race wins in SCORE racing over the years as they prepare to continue this new Myers family adventure. Dan Myers was sixth in points out of 44 racers in SCORE Trophy Truck last year, finishing all four races with a season-high 10th place finish in the SCORE Baja 1000. Andrew Myers only raced in last year’s SCORE Baja 400 where he was a DNF. The biggest Myers family SCORE class win was in 2000 when Steve Myers was the driver of record and split the driving with his brothers Dan and Andrew to win Class 10 in the epic new millennium race of nearly 1,700 miles that started in Ensenada and finished in Cabo San Lucas. Andrew was away from desert racing for the most part for nearly a decade as he pursued a NASCAR stock car racing career. During his NASCAR years he competed in the Truck Series, the ARCA Series as well as both the NASCAR Pro Series West and the NASCAR Pro Series East. In this year’s season-opening SCORE San Felipe 250, Andrew Myers finished fourth in SCORE Trophy Truck out of 39 starters while Dan Myers suffered a DNF. PARKHOUSE PAIR A two-generation race team, veteran Class 1 racing champions Cody Parkhouse and his father Brian Parkhouse are trying to earn another SCORE Baja 500 class victory. Fresh out of high school at the time, Cody Parkhouse started his official desert racing career in 2006 racing in Class 1/2-1600. Both from Long Beach, Calif., Brian Parkhouse, 63, and his son Cody Parkhouse, 35, teamed up to win both of the 2020 SCORE Baja races and won one race in 2021 in their No. 127 Parkhouse Motorsports Chevy-powered Jimco open-wheel desert race car for their second straight Class 1 season title. With driving help from his father, Cody Parkhouse has won four SCORE unlimited Class 1 season point championships. The duo won the SCORE season crowns in 2012, 2013, 2020 and 2021. In the SCORE Baja 500, the son/father tandem won Class 1 in 2014, 2015 and 2020. Injured seriously in a race accident in the 2016 SCORE Baja 1000, Cody Parkhouse has clearly returned to his championship form and will be one of the racers to beat in Class 1 in Ensenada. The Parkhouse pair opened the 2023 campaign by winning Class 1 at the SCORE San Felipe 250. DOWN UNDER DUO Returning after a stunning fifth-place debut out of 34 starters in SCORE Trophy Truck in last year’s SCORE Baja 400 will be the Australian duo Paul Weel, 43, and multi-time Dakar Rally motorcycle champion Toby Price, 35, in their AWD No. 46 Chevy Silverado-Mason. Price finished second overall and in SCORE Trophy Truck in the 2019 SCORE Baja 1000 as the second driver from Qatar’s Nasser Al-Atiyah. Weel is a veteran Australian off-road racer and former supercar driver. Price is an eight-time KTM factory racer in the Dakar Rally race having won the motorcycle division in both 2016 and 2019 and finishing on the podium in second place this year and in third place in 2015, 2018 and 2020. The Aussie duo raced together in last year’s SCORE Baja 1000 as well, but suffered mechanical issues that put them out of the race. The Down Under duo unfortunately started their 2023 SCORE World Desert Championship season with another DNF in their new AWD Mason SCORE Trophy Truck. MR & MRS MATLOCK After many championship seasons and race wins driving in separate classes, Wayne Matlock and his wife Kristen Matlock, of Alpine, Calif. are entered in the same class for the 2023 SCORE World Desert Championship for the second straight year. Both are racing in the Pro UTV Open class in separate (but equal) new Polaris RZR Pro R UTVs. Each vehicle has a chassis built by TSCO in El Cajon, Calif. Wayne pilots the No. 1871 Polaris RZR Pro R UTV and Kristen is behind the wheel of the No. 1854 Polaris RZR Pro R UTV. Both will be solo drivers in Ensenada. In the SCORE Baja 500, Wayne Matlock, 45, has five career race wins (2008, 2010, 2022, 2015, 2016) including several in quads before moving to UTV classes. Kristen Matlock, 42, who has been racing many far less years than her husband, has earned two UTV class wins in this race (2018, 2020) in the Pro UTV NA (Naturally Aspirated) class. In last year’s SCORE Baja 500 in Pro UTV Open, Kristen Matlock finished fourth and Wayne Matlock was a DNF. In the 2022 Pro UTV Open season points, Kristen Matlock finished on the podium in third place in class while Wayne Matlock finished in fifth. In season-ending SCORE Baja 1000 Wayne Matlock finished third in class while his wife Kristen Matlock was fourth. In this year’s season-opening SCORE San Felipe 250, Wayne Matlock finished second in Pro TV Open while Kristen Matlock suffered a DNF in the same class. SANTIAGO CREEL International Motorcycle Rally Racer and prominent Mexico City entrepreneur Santiago Creel, 36, has entered the 55th SCORE Baja 500 in the Trophy Truck Spec class. Creel, 36, who only started SCORE racing in 2017, has compiled an enviable record of five season class point titles including two class wins in the SCORE Baja 500, 2019 in Pro Moto Limited and 2020 in Trophy Truck Spec as the second driver for Jorge Sampietro. Creel has won an impressive eight Rod Hall SCORE Milestone Awards, presented by Toyota Escondido, including a SCORE-record three in 2019, when he led teams as the Rider of Record in Pro Moto Unlimited, Pro Moto Limited and Pro Moto 30. As DOR in Trophy Truck Spec this year, Creel started his 2023 campaign with a 16th place finish out of a SCORE-record 43 starters in San Felipe. He drives his No. 260 Monkey Business Jimco-Chevy. YO 11-11 Eric Solorzano is a legendary Mexican racer who has risen from humble beginnings as an orphan in Tijuana to becoming the winningest Mexican national in SCORE racing history. Solorzano, 62, was also part of the Class of 2022 to be inducted into the prestigious Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame. He started racing off-road on motorcycles in local races around Tijuana in 1974 and continued until 1988 when he decided to trade two wheels for four after an injury so he could continue racing. He bought his first VW Bug in 1989. His first race was in 1991. He still owns, and races, the same car, more than 30 years later. Solorzano competes in Class 11, the stock VW class. He first competed in the Mexican Record Series and later SCORE. In SCORE racing, Solorzano has won 11 SCORE season point championships in his No. 1111 VW Sedan and still competes to this day. A husband and father of eight, Solorzano also has 11 class wins in the SCORE San Felipe 250, nine in the SCORE Baja 1000 and seven in the SCORE Baja 500. His thousands of fans in Mexico view him as an inspiration for what hard work and preparation can do for a person. He opened the 2023 season with a fifth-place finish in Class 11. OLLIGES X 2 Prominent Las Vegas car dealer Steve Olliges has been waiting for at least six years for this year. Olliges, 60, and his talented 16-year old son Jack Olliges will both be racing in this year’s SCORE Baja 500. While young Jack has been racing in Nevada deserts since he was 10 years old, he is now old enough to race in the big time with SCORE. Steve Olliges, of the prominent Team Ford dealership in Las Vegas, races in SCORE Trophy Truck while budding Jack will be behind the wheel of another Ford truck in the ever-expanding Trophy Truck Spec class in this year’s SCORE Baja 500. While father Steve is a veteran SCORE racing champion, young Jack made his SCORE debut at this year’s SCORE San Felipe 250. In San Felipe, Steve Olliges had a strong sixth-place finish out of 39 starters in SCORE Trophy Truck while Jack Olliges finished a very respectable 26th our a SCORE-record 43 starters in Trophy Truck Spec. Steve Olliges will be the Driver of Record in his No. 51 Olliges Racing Ford Raptor (Geiser) with SCORE champion and former NASCAR divisional racer Justin Lofton, 37, Brawley, Calif., as his second driver. Jack Olliges will be looking to add to his budding SCORE resume as the Driver of Record in the No. 227 Ford Raptor (Geiser). His second driver will be another Las Vegas second-gen desert racing Jordan Dean, 22, son of SCORE racing champion Pat Dean, who splits the driving with Las Vegas’ Tim Herbst in SCORE Trophy Truck. In addition to multiple race wins, Steve Olliges won the SCORE season point championship in the Stock Full class in both 1994 and 1996. MAGNESS X 2 A special father and daughter desert racing reunion, Denver’s Gary Magness and his daughter Chelsea will each be a Driver of Record in separate race trucks in this year’s SCORE Baja 500. Both are fierce competitors in their respective classes, Chelsea has won multiple races in the Protruck class in here SCORE desert racing career. In the SCORE Baja 500, Chelsea won the Protruck class in three consecutive years (2012, 2013, 2014). Each driving for Mango Racing in Herbst/Smith Fab-built race trucks, Gary Magness, 69, a film producer and international businessman, will be behind the wheel of the No. 45 Ford Raptor in SCORE Trophy Truck while Chelsea Magness, 35, will drive the No. 232 Herbst/Smith-Chevy in the Trophy Truck Spec. Gary Magness finished 16th out of 39 starters in this year’s SCORE San Felipe 250 while Chelsea had business commitments that kept her away from the race. In last year’s SCORE Baja 500, Gary Magness finished 13th out of 31 starters in SCORE Trophy Truck while Chelsea Magness finished ninth out of 32 starters in Trophy Truck Spec. ONLINE RACER ENTRY APPLICATIONS Racer entry applications are now available at www.SCORE-International.com under Race Info on the SCORE Baja 500 page. Questions should be directed to SCORE Registration and Membership Director Shannon Lund at 775.852.8907 or registration@SCORE-International.com. Online racer entry applications will be accepted through Friday, May 19. START ORDER/DRAW DEADLINE The starting order within each class for this race is being determined by the individual finishes at this year’s SCORE San Felipe 250, if the individual entry is received and all fees paid in full by 5 p.m. on Friday, May 19. All entries received and paid in full by May 19 who didn’t race in San Felipe, will be part of a drawing to determine the remainder of the start order within each class. The draw results will be posted on the SCORE website at 6 p.m. PT on Friday, May 26. Up until and 5 p.m. PT on May 24, entries will be continue accepted in person only at the SCORE Ensenada. Late, on-site racer registration will be held on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (May 31-June 2). All entries received after 5 p.m. PT on Friday, May 19, including on-site, late entries, will be given the next available starting position within their respective classes. ON-SITE RACER REGISTRATION Being held in the Salon Rojo at the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in Ensenada, regular on-site and late racer registration will be held on Wednesday (May 31) from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. PT, on Thursday (June 1) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT and on Friday (June 2) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. No new entries will be accepted after 7 p.m. on Wednesday (May 31), 4 p.m. PT on Thursday (June 1) and 4 p.m. PT on Friday (June 2). PRE-RUNNING Official practice, or pre-running, on the official 487.52-mile race course for this year’s BFGoodrich Tires 55th SCORE Baja 500, will begin at 8 a.m. PT on Saturday, May 20 starting at race mile 33.78. The section to rm33.38 section will be open only from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. only on Friday (June 2). Outbound pre-running on Friday (June 2) will start at rm4.90 to rm33.38. No inbound pre-running of this section. The official SCORE Racer Brief, Penalty brief, course map and GPS files will be available by 6 p.m. PT on Thursday, May 18 on the SCORE website under race info/SCORE Baja 500. COURSE PREVIEW With pre-running opening on Saturday, May 20 for the BFGoodrich Tires 55th SCORE Baja 500, SCORE President/Race Director Jose A. Grijalva is putting together another memorable race course to challenge the world’s best desert racers. The distance will be 487.52. It will start and finish once again on Blvd. Costero adjacent to the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in the heart of Ensenada. Colorful Contingency and Tech Inspection will also be held on Blvd. Costero on Friday, June 2 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT. GRAN HISTORIA This year’s SCORE World Desert Championship includes another special tribute to the iconic SCORE Baja 500. The SCORE Baja 500 is one of the top motorsports events in the world. It was started originally in 1969 by the NORRA organization. After NORRA was removed from Baja after the 1972 race, the local Baja Sports Committee produced the 1973 event. Mickey Thompson and his SCORE International organization were invited by the Mexican government to take over the event starting in 1974. Sal Fish ran and later owned and produced the SCORE Baja 500 for 39 years until he sold SCORE in December of 2012. The first Baja 500 organized and produced by SCORE was held on July 26, 1974 in Ensenada as the first of nearly 165 SCORE Baja races. This year’s SCORE Baja 500 will start for the 49th time in Ensenada and finish for the 45th time in Ensenada. BFGOODRICH TIRES UNMATCHED BFGoodrich Tires, the official tire of SCORE for 47 years, was honored after the 2022 season as the SCORE Contingency Company of the year for the 32nd time. BFGoodrich Tires has been the choice of 35 of the 54 overall winners of the popular SCORE Baja 500 and 33 of the 55 overall winners of the legendary SCORE Baja 1000. BFGoodrich Tires is also the title sponsor of both iconic races again in 2023. BFGoodrich Tires also has been the choice of 30 of the 36 overall winners of the SCORE San Felipe 250, all three SCORE Desert Challenge races, the lone SCORE Challenge of Champions in San Felipe, the one SCORE Baja Sur 500 and one of the three overall winners in the SCORE Baja 400. This year’s SCORE San Felipe 250 overall victory by San Diego’s Luke McMillin marked the 103rd SCORE Baja overall race win for BFGoodrich Tires. BFGoodrich Tires has posted a contingency bonus for the overall winner of this year’s race of US$10,000. SCOREscope 2023 GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY SCHEDULE Here are the dates for the remaining three races in the four-race 2023 SCORE World Desert Championship Golden Anniversary season, ‘Celebrating 50 Years of Desert Racing Excellence’, which are being held totally in Baja California, Mexico for the eighth consecutive year:
- BFGoodrich Tires 55th SCORE Baja 500—
- 4th SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing Fuels—
- BFGoodrich Tires 56th SCORE Baja 1000—