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Stacy tops newest entries for K&N SCORE Baja 400
SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, Dominic@SCORE-International.com August 28, 2023 ‘Celebrating 50 Years of SCORE Desert Racing Excellence’ K&N 4th SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing Fuels RPM’s Stacy, 1/2 Amigo, E. Yee, Jeffries/Strobel, Bolton, Brandt, Naran, F. Lopez all new entries Spectacular event is Round 3 of four-race 2023 SCORE World Desert Championship; Sept. 13-17 in Ensenada, Baja California; Evans, M. McMillin co-Grand Marshals more info at…https://score-international.com/raceinfo/2023-baja-400-sept-12-17-2023/ #SCORE Baja 400 NOTE: Current unofficial media number/name entry list located at bottom of text ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico—‘Celebrating 50 Years of SCORE Desert Racing Excellence’ this year, latest early entries for the upcoming K&N 4th SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing Fuels, include Clyde Stacy, Matt Willert, Eli Yee, Damen Jefferies/Steve Strobel, Joe Bolton, Eric Brandt, Ciaran Naran and Faelly Lopez. WHEN The youngest race in the long and storied 50-year history of the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization will be held Sept. 13-17 in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. MORE ENTRIES Among the latest group of entries, part of 173 of the over 225 official entries expected at the start line on Sept. 16 in this newest of the legendary SCORE Baja races, are Clyde Stacy, Bristol, Va./Robby Gordon, Anaheim, Calif./Nick Vanderwey, Litchfield Park, Ariz. (SCORE TT Legend), Matt Willert, El Cajon, Calif. (Class 1/2-1600), Eli Yee, Tijuana, Mexico (Class 5), Damen Jefferies, Apple Valley, Calif. (Poolville, Texas)/Steve Strobel, Clarks, Neb. (Class 1), Joe Bolton, Corona, Calif. (Pro UTV NA), Eric Brandt, Solana Beach, Calif. (Class 11), Ciaran Naran, Huntington Beach, Calif. (Pro Moto Unlimited), and Faelly Lopez, San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico (Pro Quad Ironman). WHAT Online racer registration along with a detailed schedule of events, and the official course map are all available on the SCORE website under Race Info for Round 3 of the four-race 2023 SCORE World Desert Championship. Entries from across the United States and around the world are anticipated for the upcoming desert race in Mexico’s Baja California. Inaugurated in 2019, the SCORE Baja 400 was not held in 2020 because of the international health pandemic, in 2021 started and finished without spectators Northeast of the central city and returned to the heart of the city in 2022. The three defending overall and SCORE Trophy Truck champions in this new race are Ryan Arciero, Foothill Ranch, Calif. (2019) and Las Vegas’ Bryce Menzies (2021 and 2022). 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 Friday, Sept. 1. In person registration will be held in the SCORE Ensenada office until 5 p.m. PDT on Thursday, Sept. 7. For more info, visit https://score-international.com/raceinfo/2023-baja-400-sept-12-17-2023/ 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 Over 225 vehicles are expected at the start line for this third-time SCORE race with racers from as many as 30 U.S. States and 15 countries anticipated. Pro and Sportsman Classes are offered for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads. There are racers so far from 27 U.S. States, host country Mexico, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, France, Israel, New Zealand, and Peru. Leading the list of entries to date are SCORE Trophy Truck with 37 entries (including nine in SCORE TT Legend for drivers over 50 years old), Trophy Truck Spec with 34 entries, and Pro UTV Open with 15 entries and Pro UTV FI with 11. RPM TRIO Long-time powerful SCORE racing team RPM Racing, of Bristol, Tenn., has entered this year’s SCORE Baja 400 with an enviable team in the SCORE, Clyde Stacy, 78, Bistol, Va., is driver of record and his team Nick Vanderwey, 56, Litchfield Park, Ariz. and Robby Gordon, 54, Anaheim, Calif., in the No. 5L Chevy Twin V6 (Geiser-built), in the SCORE TT Legend class for drivers over 50 years old. Driver of record and team co-owner Stacy has an exciting history with 11 SCORE season class point titles, including two each in 2011 and 2013. (2009, 2010, 2011(2), 2012, 2013(2), 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020). Stacy’s class championships have come in six classes (two in SCORE TT Legend), one each in Trophy Truck Spec, Class 4, and Class 8. Stacy has also earned seven SCORE Milestone Awards presented to drivers who finish every required mile each season. Super-vet Vanderwey has been a RPM drivers for many years. He has five season class point titles, and two SCORE Milestone awards (2007) in Class 8, and in SCORE Trophy Truck (2010). The youngest of the RPM trio, Gordon, who has raced successfully in off-road, stadium, IMSA, Trans-AM, IndyCar, NASCAR Cup Series, and the Dakar Rally, has been a popular shining SCORE star since he was a teenager. Gordon, who was inducted into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2019, has seven SCORE season class point titles and three SCORE Milestone Awards. 1/2 AMIGO Matt Willert, 18, El Cajon, Calif., is the ‘½ Amigo’ of the 3 1/2 Amigos, SCORE veteran champions Stan Potter, Freddie Willert, and Dan Worley, who race together in Class 10. Willert, who graduated this year from Steele Canyon HS, made his SCORE racing debut in last year, driving the No. 1606 Bunderson-VW in Class 1/2-1600. After not racing in San Felipe, he finished in third place in the other 2022 SCORE races to put him among the favorites in his class in 2023. This year, Matt Willert had a DNF in San Felipe and finished fourth in his class in the SCORE Baja 500. Additional drivers for the youngest Amigo are second-generation SCORE desert racing brothers Daniel Goodrich, 28, and Michael Goodrich, 31, both of Chula Vista, Calif. ELI YEE Another of the prominent and veteran Mexican racers in the SCORE World Desert Championship, Eli Yee, 49, of Tijuana has won numerous races and the 2020 class point title in Class 1/2-1600. Yee has raced with SCORE for nearly 30 years and among his recent class wins are in the SCORE Baja 500 and the SCORE Baja 1000 in both 2020 and 2021. In 2022, after an unsettling DNF in the San Felipe, Yee marched back with three consecutive class wins at the SCORE Baja 500, the SCORE Baja 400 and the SCORE Baja 1000 in his class to finish second in the Class 1/2-1600 season point standings. Yee has switched classes for this year and is racing in Class 5 in his No. 511 Chevy-powered Jake’s Baja Bug. He won his class in both this year’s SCORE San Felipe 250 and SCORE Baja 500 while driving solo in each race. In the SCORE Baja 400, Yee has one Class 1/2-1600 victories (2022). JEFFERIES/STROBEL Veteran SCORE champion racer Damen Jefferies, 51, Poolville, Texas (Apple Valley, Calif.) is entered in the Unlimited Class 1 in his No. 121 Jefferies-Chevy. His principal additional driver for this race is veteran SCORE racer Steve Strobel, 59, Clarks, Neb. Racing in multiple classes over his lengthy SCORE racing career Jefferies has won three career SCORE season class point championships—1994 in Class 9, 1997 in Class 1/2-1600 and 1998 in Class 10. He has also built several race vehicles including a SCORE Trophy Truck that he raced for a few years. Jefferies finished second in Class 1 season points in 2022 and is currently second in the standings again this year with a fourth-place class finish in San Felipe and a second place in the SCORE Baja 500 in June. In last year’s SCORE Baja 400, Jefferies finished second in Class 1. Strobel’s navigator will be his son Christian Strobel, 18, who is being mentored by his father to become a SCORE racer. BOLTON FATHER/SON Another successful pairing of a father and son team in SCORE racing, former vet motorcycle champion Joe Bolton, 66, Corona, Calif., and his son Austin, 28, Corona, Calif., are leading the SCORE point standings this year in the Pro UTV NA (Naturally Aspirated) class. They started the 2023 season with a San Felipe class win and a third-place podium finish in the SCORE Baja 500. In 2022, the Boltons won the season opener in their class and finished second in both last year’s SCORE Baja 500 and the SCORE Baja 400 to lead his class point standings but slipped a bit to fourth place in the SCORE Baja 1000 and finished second in their class season points. Joe Bolton raced SCORE motorcycles when he was younger and his biggest class win was when he won the Pro Moto Limited class in the 1985 SCORE Baja 1000. The Boltons share the driving in the No. 1957 Polaris RZR XP1000 UTV. BAJA VIDA Baja Vida Snacks is a SCORE official product sponsor and presenting sponsor of the SCORE San Felipe 250, they are also the major sponsor of two entries in SCORE races. Newest Baja Vida entry is in the venerable Class 11 for highly-modified stock VW sedans. The other Baja Vida entry is Larry Roeseler in the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck. Driver in Class 11 for Baja Vida is adventure athlete Eric Brandt, 48, Solana Beach, Calif., who is the driver in the No. 1143 VW Sedan constructed by Sletten Engineering of Palm Springs, Calif. Brandt opened his first full SCORE season with an impressive third-place podium finish in the SCORE San Felipe 250. Unfortunately, Brandt suffered a DNF in the SCORE Baja 400, but the team is still in fourth place in Class 11 the season point standings undefeated Oliver Flemate, Eric Solorzano and Esteban Ruiz, all drivers from Mexico. Helping earn his SCORE desert-racing stripes, Brandt has been the solo navigator numerous times for solo-driving Roeseler, including the 1,226.35-mile SCORE Baja 1000 in 2021. NEW MOTO MAN Ciaran Naran, 23, Huntington Beach, Calif., is new as a rider of record, but he is an experienced SCORE Baja motorcycle co-rider. And his team is leading this year’s Pro Moto Unlimited class point standings after the first two races of 2023. In the season-opening SCORE San Felipe 250, Naran, won the Pro Moto Unlimited class on the No. 3x Husqvarna FE450 with Tucker Hopkins, 28, Venice Beach, Calif. as his second rider. For this year’s SCORE Baja 500, Naran was joined by Forrest Minchinton, 31, Huntington Beach, Calif., Derek Ausserbauer, 28, Venice Beach, Calif., and Nick Lapaglia, 28, Murrieta, Calif., where they finished third in class. For this year’s SCORE Baja 400, Naran has announced the same four-rider team as the recent SCORE Baja 500. Last year, Minchinton was the Rider of Record and the team finished third in the Pro Moto Unlimited season points which included a second-place finish in the 2022 SCORE Baja 500. EL NOVATO NO MAS From San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, strongman Faelly Lopez was voted the 2022 SCORE Rookie of the Year in the 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship where he was competing in just the first full season of the Pro Quad Ironman class for solo riders. Lopez, 40, started 2022 by winning his class in the season-opening SCORE San Felipe 250 on his No. 83a Honda TRX450R. The ‘Puerto Rican Force’ covered the 277.00-mile race course in 9:47:10. After not being able to finish his first SCORE race at the 2021 SCORE Baja 1000 that went down the peninsula from Ensenada to La Paz, Lopez recovered and won SCORE’s newest class in 2022 in the first three 2022 SCORE races and eventually won SCORE Pro Quad Ironman season point championship. Lopez joined previous winners of the SCORE top rookie award like Frank Vessels (1974), Jimmie Johnson (1995), Ricky Johnson (1993), Robby Gordon (1987), Doug Fortin Jr (1988), Bekki Freeman-Wik (1998), Andy McMillin (2004), Brian Wilson (2009), Luke McMillin (2010), Bryce Menzies (2011), Tony Gera (2014), Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez (2015), Chad Broughton (2016), Broc Dickerson (2017), A.J. Jones (2019) and Cayden MacCachren (2021). Lopez started the 2023 season by winning both races in his Pro Quad Ironman class for the second straight year each. GREEN FLAG It is an elapsed-time race with staggered starts with the green flag dropping on Saturday (Sept. 16). Motorcycles and Quads will start at 5:30 a.m. PT, Cars, Trucks, and UTVs will start at 8:15. When finalized, the race course will be 384.66 miles. While the fastest vehicles will finish in about eight hours, the elapsed-time race will have a 16-hour time limit to become an official finisher. 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 56th SCORE Baja 1000. 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 Friday, Sept. 1. No additional online entries will be accepted after 5 p.m. PDT on Friday, Sept. 1. In person registration will be held in the SCORE Ensenada office until 5 p.m. PDT on Thursday, Sept. 7. Late, on-site racer registration will be held on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (Sept. 13-15). PRE-RUNNING Official practice, or pre-running, on the official 384.66-mile race course for this year’s 4th SCORE Baja 400 will open at 8 a.m. PDT on Saturday, Sept. 2. Pre-running will begin at race mile 33.98, ending at race-mile 343.70. The first section to up race mile 33.98, which will be used in both directions during the race, will be available for pre-running only on Friday (Sept. 15) and only in the outbound direction. QUALIFYING Qualifying for starting positions within their respective classes will be held on Thursday (Sept. 14), starting at 7 a.m. PDT. Classes that will be qualifying for the 4th SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing Fuels, are SCORE Trophy Truck, SCORE TT Legend, and the Trophy Truck Spec class. Starting order for qualifying will be determined by the order in which each vehicle enters the race. MAIN COURSE The race will feature a course, when fully marked over the next couple of weeks by SCORE President/Race Director Jose A. Grijalva, SCORE Assistant Race Director Rodolfo Fernandez and their staff, of 384.66 miles of rugged Baja California terrain. The race course runs a clockwise direction in Baja California, staying almost entirely on the West side of Highway 3. The furthest South that it goes is past Mike’s Sky Rancho (rm149.90) and includes the magnificently beautiful stretch of more than 10 miles along the coast of the Pacific Ocean past Erendira. The challenging race course is 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 4,741 feet. The course is another jewel reflecting the stark and eternal beauty of Baja California. The course has one physical checkpoint at race-mile 222.00 at Llano Colorado, 185 total virtual checkpoints and a total of 10 speed zones for a total of 54.47 miles. The highest point on the course is at race mile 152.05 at Cerro Blanco with an altitude of 4,741 feet. A HAPPENING… Colorful race week festivities will start on Wednesday, Sept. 13 to help celebrate this newest 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 device check and installation will be held on Wednesday (Sept. 13) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT by appointment (619.572.8245) and on Thursday (Sept. 14) chassis inspection/pre-tech/Stella bracket check and installation will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT on Blvd. Costero just past the start/finish ramp. Friday (Sept. 15) 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. 16 until the course closes on Sunday morning, Sept. 17, 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. There will also be hosts in the SCORE Studio in El Cajon, Calif., bringing live updates during the race. 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 4th SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing Fuels. Racer registration and media registration will both be held in Salon Rojo on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (Sept. 13-15). On Wednesday (Sept. 13 for qualifying teams only) racer registration will be held from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. PDT. On Thursday (Sept. 14) it will run from 9a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT, and on Friday (Sept. 15) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Wednesday, no new entries will be accepted after 7 p.m. PDT, on Thursday and Friday after 4 p.m. PDT. SCORE Media Registration will be held in Salon Rojo at the Riviera on Wednesday (Sept. 13) from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. PDT and on Thursday and Friday (Sept. 14-15) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT. The SCORE Media Center during the race itself will be in Salon Comedor at the Riviera starting at 5 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 16 through 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 17. The start/finish line for the race will once again be adjacent to the iconic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center on Blvd. Costero. GRAND MARSHALS FOR THE SCORE BAJA 400 Walker Evans and Mark McMillin, two of the biggest names in the history of desert racing, will be the co-Grand Marshals for this year’s K&N SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing Fuels. Both legendary members of the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame, Evans, 84, Riverside, Calif., and McMillin, 67, San Diego, had amazing careers in SCORE desert racing over several decades. Evans is one of the true pioneers of the sports of off-road racing and 21 won season championships in the desert, short-course, stadium, NASCAR Trucks, and rock-crawling. He started in desert racing in 1969 in the original NORRA Mexican 1000. In SCORE racing, Evans has class wins in the SCORE Baja 1000, SCORE Baja 500, SCORE Parker 400, SCORE Fireworks 250 and the original Mint 400. Among his many victories was the 1979 overall victory in the SCORE Baja 1000 that marked the first time that a full-sized pickup won the iconic race. He earned over 150 victories in his career. In his SCORE racing career, Evans had six career season class point championships (1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1983, 1986) Evans was inducted into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2004 and later was recognized by induction into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in the class of 2015. After many years working as an ambassador for the organization, Evans was named a 2022 inductee into the SEMA Hall of Fame. Evans is truly one of the original legends of desert racing. Mark McMillin is one of the pillars of SCORE Baja racing, and a major part of the Big Blue M McMillin Racing machine. Mark McMillin was inducted into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2018 when he joined his late father Corky McMillin (ORMHOF class of 2006) as the first father and son team to earn the prestigious honor. McMillin Racing launched in 1976 and continues today with third-generation McMillin SCORE Trophy Truck racers Andy McMillin, Dan McMillin, and Luke McMillin. In his SCORE racing career, Mark McMillin earned six season class point championships (1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 2005). In the SCORE Baja 1000, Mark McMillin had five overall victories (1981, 1983, 1984, 1986, and 1988, and eight total class victories. In the SCORE Baja 500, he had three overall wins and five total class wins. Mark McMillin has also been the Chairman of the Board of the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame since 2015. GRANDEST MARSHAL FOR GOLDEN YEAR Sal Fish, admired as the iconic ‘godfather’ of SCORE desert racing who is a foundational pillar of the organization, is the Grand Marshal of the Year for the entire four-race 2023 SCORE World Desert Championship. Revered all over Baja California, Fish, who turned 84 in May, 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. Fish has a very special reason that will keep him from being on-site for this race. He and his wife Barbara will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary during race week. He has recorded a very special video tribute that will air during race week in Ensenada. He will be in person for the season-ending SCORE Baja 1000 in November. SCOREscope 2023 GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY SCHEDULE Here are the dates for the remaining two races in the four-race 2023 SCORE World Desert Championship Golden Anniversary season, ‘Celebrating 50 Years of SCORE Desert Racing Excellence’, which are being held totally in Baja California, Mexico for the eighth consecutive year:
- K&N 4th SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing Fuels—
- BFGoodrich Tires 56th SCORE Baja 1000, presented by K&N—