Race-record 400 entries expected

Racers from 32 States, 10 countries entered to date in nationally-televised 39th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 Peninsula run Nov. 15-18 in Mexico from Ensenada, Baja California to La Paz, Baja California Sur

October 1, 2006 - LOS ANGELES—If Saturday's ‘live’ drawing for starting positions is any indication, November's 39th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race should be one for the ages. B.J. Baldwin in SCORE Trophy-Truck and Damon Cardone in Class 22 for open motorcycles drew the pole positions for the legendary granddaddy of all desert races. This year’s odyssey of over 1,000 miles will be a grueling adventure down Mexico’s mysterious Baja California peninsula starting in Ensenada, Baja California and finishing in La Paz, Baja California, Sur. It will be held Nov. 15-18.

An amazing race-record total of 343 vehicles officially entered in time for Saturday’s live drawing for starting positions, by class, held during the RACEfest at the Lake Elsinore (Calif.) Hotel/Casino and presented by the Desert Assassins race team.
This year’s memorable adventure will cover approximately 1,052 miles of the rugged and tortuous Baja California peninsula, starting on the Pacific Ocean side and stretching across and down the majestic peninsula to the Sea of Cortez side, back to the Pacific before winding back again to the Sea of Cortez and the finish line.
Nearly 400 entries from nearly 35 U.S. States and 10 countries, competing in 28 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs will be part of this year’s tribute to the sport of desert racing. The granddaddy of all desert races is the season-finale of the six-race 2006 SCORE Desert Series, the world’s foremost desert racing series.

“The Lake Elsinore Hotel/Casino and the Desert Assassins race team hosted a great event to honor our drawing for the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000,” said Sal Fish, SCORE CEO and President. “The place was packed and there was still plenty of food and refreshments to go around. It was a tremendous start for what promises to be another memorable chapter in the history of the world’s greatest desert race.”
With massive crowds reaching over 300,000 anticipated to again be spread out along the point-to-point race course, the race will start for the 32nd time in Ensenada and will finish for the 17th time in La Paz.

The motorcycle and ATV classes will start their journey at 6:30 a.m. (Thursday, Nov. 16) with the car and truck classes starting at approximately 10:30 a.m., or three hours after the last ATV leaves the line. Vehicles will leave in 30-second intervals in the elapsed-time race and while the fastest finishers are expected to complete the course in approximately 16 hours.

B.J. Baldwin, 27, of Las Vegas, is the current SCORE Trophy-Truck point leader and won this year’s season-opening SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge in January in his No. 97 Chevy Silverado. The drawing featured a race-record 36 entries in the SCORE Trophy-Truck, the marquee SCORE racing division for high-tech, 800-horsepower, unlimited production trucks.

Damon Cardone, 40, Castaic, Calif., and his team, will lead a race-record 23 entries to date in Class 22 for open motorcycles on a Honda XR650R.

Drawing the first start in the ATV classes was the championship team led by Josh Frederick, 28, of Moapa, Nev., who will ride a Bombardier Outlander 800 in Class 25.
NASCAR Nextel Cup team owner/driver Robby Gordon, Charlotte, N.C., whose roots are in SCORE desert racing, drew the 31st starting position in SCORE Trophy-Truck in the Team Gordon No. 83 Red Bull Chevy CK1500. Gordon, , will again pull double-duty, driving the the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 before flying to Homestead, Fla., to race in the NASCAR Nextel Cup season finale. Driver of record for the team this season is Andy McMillin, Poway, Calif.

Among the other cross-over racers who are entered so far include NASCAR’s Boris Said and World Rally champion Armin Schwarz, Indy Racing League star Buddy Rice and actor/racer Patrick Dempsey, star of the ABC TV hit show ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’
Pre-race festivities on Wednesday, Nov. 15, for the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, including tech and contingency and the SCORE Manufacturer’s Midway will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. across from the San Nicolas Hotel. The pre-race mandatory driver/rider briefing will be held Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Riviera del

Pacifico Cultural Center. Racer registration will be held at the San Nicolas from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 14 and from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 15.

While entries will be accepted up to race morning (Nov. 16), late entries will be assigned the next available number and starting position within each class.
The post-race Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 Survivor’s Celebration will be held during the SCORE Fiesta on the Malecon beachwalk in La Paz, which starts at noon on Saturday, Nov. 18.

Besides the B.J. Baldwin and Gordon, other entries in the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck division include Las Vegas’ Ed and Tim Herbst (No. 19-Ford F-150), Mexico's Gus Vildosola/Rob MacCachren of Las Vegas (4-Ford F-150), Honolulu’s Alan Pflueger (28-Chevy Silverado), Brian Collins, Las Vegas/Larry Ragland, Cave Creek, Ariz. (12-Chevy Silverado), Josh Baldwin, Newport Beach, Calif. (86-Ford F-150), Mark Post, San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Curt LeDuc, Cherry Valley, Calif. (3-Ford F-150), Ryan Arciero, Foothill Ranch, Calif./ Mark Miller, Phoenix, (81-Chevy Silverado), Pete Sohren, Glendale, Ariz. (2-Ford F-150), Chad Ragland, Cave Creek, Ariz. (80-Chevy Silverado), Bob Shepard, Phoenix (1-Chevy CK1500), Garron Cadiente, Phoenix (38-Ford F-150), Scott Steinberger, Cypress, Calif., Jesse Jones, Phoenix (76-Ford F-150), Japan's Ikuo Hanawa (14-Toyota Tundra), Marty Coyne, El Centro, Calif. (5-Ford F-150), Cameron Steele, San Clemente, Calif./EdStout, Irvine, Calif. (16-Ford F-150), Bobby Baldwin, Las Vegas (96-Chevy Silverado), Mike Julson, Descanso, Calif. (20-Chevy Silverdo) and brothers David and Matt Scaroni, Heber, Calif. (27-Ford F-150).

In just his fourth SCORE race, TV personality Jesse James, of Monster Garage fame, will debut his new No. 54 Chevy Silverado SCORE Trophy-Truck.
The classes with the most entries to date are SCORE Trophy-Truck (36), Class 1 (25), Class 1-2/1600 (22), Protruck (18), SCORE Lite (16), Class 5/1600 (14) and Class 10 (11).

Leading the six Sportsman classes in the race is Sportsman Motorcycle over 250cc which had a race-record 34 entries in the drawing.

Drawing first start in Class 1 was Germany’s Armin Schwarz, who lives in Austria, in a Jimco-Chevy, while first off in Class 1-2/1600 will be Trevor Streetch, San Clemente, Calif., in a Prime-VW, while first start in Protruck went to brothers Eric and Jared Hardin, Anaheim, Calif., in a GMC Sierra.

Also among the Class 1 entries is the team of Troy Herbst, Las Vegas/Larry Roeseler, Hesperia, Calif., who will be going for a record third consecutive Overall victory in the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 in a Smithbuilt-Ford. They drew the 21st starting position in their class.

Among the other early entries are Rod Hall, Reno, Nev., and Ron Bishop, Escondido, the only two individuals who have raced in all 38 previous Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 races.

The legendary Hall, 67, of Reno, Nev., has a race-record 18 career class wins in this race and is the only driver to have competed every year in a car or truck class. Hall returns this year as the defending class champion in a Hummer H3 in the Stock Mini class.

Bishop, 63, who will be a co-rider this year in Class 22, is the only racer who has competed every year on a motorcycle. He will be racing on a BMW HP2 motorcycle on the team led by rider of record Beau Hayden.

Among the cross-over entries is X-Games Freestyle legend Travis Pastrana, who won three gold Medals at this year’s X-Games, who will be racing in Class 1 with SCORE veteran Damen Jefferies, Oak Hills, Calif., in a HMS-Chevy.

The Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 race course from Ojos Negros to San Ignacio will be marked and open for pre-running on Saturday, October 14th. From San Ignacio to La Paz, SCORE is diligently working with the government of Baja California Sur to repair sections of the course damaged by Hurricane John. SCORE is making every effort to have the lower half marked and ready for pre-running on October 14th, but as of today only the top half of the course is scheduled to be open for sure.

It’s the oldest and most well known of all desert races, and it remains as the single most appealing accomplishment to a driver. Since 1967, the mother of all desert races has been run over the mysterious Baja California peninsula.

This year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race will be televised on a delayed basis as a one-hour NBC Sports special for the third consecutive year, airing at 2:30 p.m. (EST) on Sunday, Dec. 10 on the NBC Television Network. It will also air on a delayed basis outside of the U.S. on ESPN International.

In addition to the ‘live’ SCORE race drawing, other activities in the two-day RACEfest included a Freestyle Motocross Demonstration, a SCORE Pit Crew Challenge, a Texas Hold ‘em Poker Tournament, Pool Party, the SCORE Lite Challenge, a Silent Auction and live music. Proceeds from the two-day RACEfest are going to the Chris Ackerman Foundation.

In addition to appearances by several of SCORE’s top drivers and riders and their incredible desert-racing machines, the festivities started on Friday night with the No Fear energy drink Freestyle MX show, silent auction, and live music by the 80’s cover band ‘Flock of 80’s. Appearing at the Freestyle show were X Games stars Nate Adams and Brian Deegan along with Deegan’s entire Metal Mulisha team.
Saturday’s activities started with Kettle One Bloody Mary Mixer and Lake Elsinore Casino sponsored brunch and continue with the Blue C Communications/Desert Assassins SCORE Lite Challenge where more than a dozen top SCORE desert racers raced individually, one lap, for times.

During the day-long festivities on Saturday there was an afternoon SCORE Pool Party featuring Ketel One Martini and Red Bull Ice Bar and a Margaritaville Tequila station and during the drawing there was a luncheon for racers and their families catered by Wahoo’s Fish Tacos.

The top driver in the Poker Tournament was Mark Landersman while winning the SCORE Lite Challenge was Adam Pfankuch (22.74 seconds) with Dale Ebberts second (22.84) and Matt Scaroni third (23.51). On the podium in the $5,000 Yokohama SCORE Pit Crew Challenge were the teams led by the winning Jason Batilus (39.92 seconds), runner-up Adam Pfankuch (43.28) and third place Joey Westhoff (43.78).

Many of the activities of the RACEfest were webcast live at www.digital1unlimited.tv.
The event was also covered extensively with same day coverage by off-road.com and dirtnewz.com.

The 2006 SCORE Desert Series includes chase for the $50,000 Kartek Off-Road contingency bonus to be awarded to several qualified 2006 SCORE Class point champions.

The 2006 SCORE Desert Series also involves the hunt for the annual Toyota Milestone and $12,000 Toyota True Grit Awards. The prestigious Toyota Milestone Awards are presented to every racer who completes every required mile of every race in the 2006 SCORE Desert Series. The $12,000 Toyota True Grit purse is split among the SCORE season point champions who are also Toyota Milestone award winners in several non-factory-backed classes.

SCORE official 2006 sponsors are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Sunoco Race Fuels/Bryant Petroleum-official fuel supplier, Bilstein-official shock, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance-official Mexican auto insurance, American Racing-official wheel, Airstar America-official space lighting provider. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Las Vegas Events, Terrible Herbst Inc., Kartek Off-Road, Centrix Financial, NAPA Chassis, Fram, Autolite, Prestone, Bendix, American Suzuki, SignPros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.

Additional associate sponsors, for the 2006 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 are Micron Technology, Red Bull-North America, Cotuco de Ensenada, Fideicomiso Publio para la Promocion Turistica de Ensenada, the government of Baja California Sur, the State Tourism Department of Baja California Sur and the city tourism fund of Loreto.
For more information on the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters 818.225.8402 or visit the official website of the 2006 SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com.

39th Annual TECATE SCORE BAJA 1000
Nov. 15-18, 2006—Ensenada, Baja California, to La Paz, BC Sur, Mexico
Final round of six-race 2006 SCORE Desert Series

Total Entries: 343
(as of 9/30/06)

PRO CARS & TRUCKS

SCORE TROPHY-TRUCK (36)
97 B.J. Baldwin
62 Mike Voyles
27 David Scaroni
12 Brian Collins
3 Mark Post
49 Valerio Gonzalez
2 Pete Sohren
54 Jesse James
76 Jesse Jones
96 Bobby Baldwin
16 Cameron Steele
32 Juan Carlos Ibarra
38 Garron Cadiente
86 Josh Baldwin
30 Todd Clement
53 Jeff Stowers
69 Francisco Cervantes
99 Nick Baldwin
1 Bob Shepard
20 Mike Julson
17 Carl Renezeder
14 Ikuo Hanawa
81 Ryan Arciero
5 Marty Coyne
4 Gus Vildosola
7 Scott Steinberger
73 Jose Flores
80 Chad Ragland
28 Alan Pflueger
39 Ron Whitton
83 Andy McMillin
85 Todd Wyllie
50 Jerry Larimore
51 Kory Scheeler
35 Robbie Pierce
19 Ed Herbst

CLASS 1 (25)
101 Armin Schwarz
102 Dale Ebberts
103 Luis Ramirez Jr.
104 Josh Rigsby
105 Jim Mihal
106 Raymond Potter
107 Tim Rockenbach
108 Martin Christensen
109 Steve Sourapas
110 Dan Moore
111 Cam Thieriot
112 Gary Weyhrich
113 Rick Wilcoxson
114 Brian Kirby
115 Kash Vessels
116 Travis Pastrana
117 Brian Parkhouse
118 Chuck Hovey
119 Dan Myers
120 Eric Chase
121 Troy Herbst
100 Mark McMillin
123 Buddy Feldkamp
124 Timothy Sims
125 Richard Boyle

CLASS 1-2/1600 (22)
1601 Trevor Streech
1602 Alexander Smith
1600 Caleb Gaddis
1604 Brian Burgess
1605 Isaac Chapluk
1606 Max Thieriot
1607 Don Wall
1608 Daniel McMillin
1609 Ray Files
1610 Francisco Villagomez
1611 Grant Fluegge
1612 Pancho Bio
1613 Scott Boyd
1614 Ruben Rodriguez
1615 Victor Lugo
1616 Arturo Velazco
1617 David Caspino
1645 Eric Duran
1646 Rick Battey
1647 Gerardo Iribe
1648 Tony Modica
1649 Sammy Ehrenberg

CLASS 3 (4)
301 Ed Griffin
302 Scott Barnes
300 Donald Moss
349 Chuck Atkinson

CLASS 5 (9)
500 Chris Bowman
502 David Bonner
503 Michael Grabowski
504 George Seeley
515 Vince Wavra
516 Russ Parker
517 Kevin Carr
518 David Andrade
519 Luvian Voelker

CLASS 5/1600 (14)
551 Chad Mayernick
552 Brent Shermak
553 Brittany Sanchez
554 Richard Garavito
555 Danny Ledezma
571 Ernesto Arambula
572 Hector Sarabia
573 Art Savedra
574 Alonso Angulo
575 Fernando Montijo
576 Joel Burden
550 Marcos Nunez
578 Enrique Zazueta Jr.
579 James Tedford

CLASS 7 (4)
701 Shannon Dierkop
702 Oscar Salazar
703 Dan Chamlee
704 Scott Brady

Class 7S (3)
721 Jason Hutter
738 Nick Moncure
739 Aaron Dodson

CLASS 7SX (4)
741 Heidi Steele
740 Rich Severson
758 John Holmes
759 Noe Sierra

CLASS 8 (8)
801 Nick Vanderwey
802 Stanley Burns
803 Tom Bradley
804 Sam Stahl
805 Rodimiro Amaya Sr.
806 Francisco Monroy
807 Kurtis Kupiec
808 Dave Sykes

CLASS 9 (2)
901 Sigal Greenberg
902 Joe Castrey

CLASS 10 (12)
1001 Mark Hutchins
1002 Kevin Curtis
1003 Alex Crosthwaite
1004 Will Higman
1005 1000 John Cooley
1006 Jay Manning
1007 Steve Barry
1008 Lobsam Yee
1009 Jay Culbertson
1010 Carlos Cortez
1048 Billy Gasper
1049 Darren Hardesty

SCORE LITE (16)
1201 Morley Williams
1202 Matt Cullen
1203 Matt Drever
1204 Stan Potter
1205 Bill Hernquist
1206 Kevin Derby
1207 Rob Martensen
1208 Evie Baldwin
1209 Jason Batilus
1210 Mike Belk
1211 Dan Martin
1212 David Callaway
1213 Ricardo Malo
1200 Tim Noe
1248 Hector Garcia
1249 Mike Halliday

CLASS 11 (7)
1101 Robert C. Johnson
1102 Mike Urbano
1103 Brian Calliari
1146 Gary Helming
1147 Chris Corbett
1148 Eric Palacios
1100 Eric Solorzano

STOCK FULL (5)
861 Josh Hall
860 John Griffin
863 Terry Henn
864 Chad Hall
865 Clyde Stacy

STOCK MINI (4)
761 Rod Millen
762 Rod Hall
763 Steve Kovach IV
779 Gavin Skilton

PROTRUCK (18)
225 Eric Hardin
280 Kathy Jarvis
299 Joe Bednar
250 Gary Magness
215 Cody Swanty
203 Dave Creagan
226 Al Hogan
240 Rob Kittleson
202 Wade Kelson
235 Jason Voss
245 Chris Lucas
260 Kevin McGillivray
213 Dave Westhem
234 Rob Rienertson
252 Mouse McCoy
266 Chris Miller
236 Rick L. Johnson
204 Gus Vildosola Jr.

BAJA CHALLENGE (19)
BC 1 Amber Cordoza
BC 2 Patrick Dempsey
BC 3 Bud Brutsman
BC 4 David Stone
BC 5 Jeff Smith
BC 6 Mark Goggin
BC 7 Mike Wright
BC 8 Brian Street
BC 9 Bill Stever
BC 10 Michael Plank
BC 11 Kevin Fitzgerald
BC 12 Chris Berty
BC 13 David Sutton
BC 14 Eustaquio Escandon Sr.
BC 15 Dan Friedkin
BC 16 Steve Appleton
BC 17 Robyn Gordon
BC 18 Mike Sadler
BC 19 Mark Durcan

PRO MOTORCYCLES

CLASS 22 (23)
2x Damon Cardone
3x Gary Cluff
4x Scott Higgins
5x Robert Laughlin
6x Robby Bell
7x Chris Eberz
8x Todd Romano
9x Dan Walsh
10x James Sones
11x John Carmina
12x Jesse Sharpe
1x Steve Hengeveld
14x Bob Mugan
15x Matthew Lyman
16x Kris Papworth
17x Robert Barnum
18x Anna Cody
19x Cameron Steele
20x George Villanyi
21x Kyle Abney
22x Beau Hayden
23x Rick Williams
49x Gary Medlin

CLASS 21 (8)
101x Shaun Hanson
102x Brett Helms
103x Stephen Stenberg
104x Chris Parker
105x Michael Whitehead
106x David Gonzalez Jr.
107x Tom Grisham
108x Ernesto Inowe

CLASS 20 (2)
151x Charles Schnell
152x Chad Erl

CLASS 30 (15)
301x Brian Pinard
302x Gary Sparks
303x James Filanc
304x Gary Stuck
305x Fred Brown
306x Rex Steerman
307x Ron Wilson
308x Hisahide Ueno
300x Gerardo Rojas
310x Stephen Stenberg
311x Octavio Lopez
312x Jeff Good
313x Kevin Smith
314x Ron Seubert
315x Matt Shook

CLASS 40 (10)
401x Larkin Wright
402x Scott Salisberry
403x Julio Abril
404x Scott Atchison
405x Michael Laenger
400x Jim O'Neal
407x Brett Helm
408x Norm Olley
409x Gary Holmes
449x PG Lundmark

CLASS 50 (7)
501x Alex Melero
502x Neil Manninen
500x Jim O’Neal
504x Fred Brown
505x Doug Smith
548x Vincent D’Ercole
549x Chris Haines

CLASS 60 (1)
601x Donald Lewis

PRO ATVS

CLASS 25 (9)
1a Josh Frederick
2a Josh Fink
3aCarl Penny
4a Jeff Hancock
5a Carmen Cafro
6a James Woodford
7a Danny Prather
8a Robert Ulloa
9a Wayne Matlock

SPORTSMAN

SPT CAR (6)
1401 George Jackson
1402 John Pfeffer
1403 Greg Hukari
1404 Scott Ulrich
1405 Ryan Cosic
1449 Charles Schneider

SPT TRUCK (5)
1500 Mark Growe
1502 Miguel Jimenez
1503 Randy Swink
1548 Tim Burdett
1549 Bob Land

SPT UTV (3)
1801 Brian Wilbur
1802 Terry Marcum
1819 Eric Anderson

SPT M/C 250> (34)
211x Carlos Gonzalez
212x Aaron Osborne
213x Wayne Molloy
214x Jeff Crochiere
215x Charlie Wilson
216x Colby Brinnon
217x T. Morgan Spradling
218x Jeff Leonard
219x Jayson Faulkner
220x Ralph Barrera
221x Patrick Coleman
222x Bruce Galien
223x Jon Johnson
224x Darren Pineau
225x Braxton Southwick
226x Huba Topai
227x Mike Kaplan
228x Rod Thornton
229x Dennis Law
230x Dan Roush
231x Scott Sibbald
232x Mark Brewer
233x Dennis Rogers
234x Eugene Lane
235x Luis Napoles
236x Paul Crandell
237x Brian Thompson
238x Alastair Hilson
239x Anthony Bosworth
240x Jay Sherman
241x Alberto Gonzalez
242x Daniel Law
243x Baron Keffer
299x Jihei Okawara

SPT ATV (8)
51a Jose Escudero
52a David McCarroll
53a David Jaume
54a Craig Christy
55a Shawn Robin
97a Miguel Arellano
98a Jason Wade
99a Joe Rice