LOS ANGELES—Reality TV star Jesse James has received the first starting position during Saturday’s drawing for November’s 44th running of the legendary Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race. While James, who lives in Austin, Texas, will pilot his No. 54 Chevy Silverado SCORE Trophy Truck, starting first among the motorcycle and ATV classes will be Craig Bowman on a Honda CRF450X.

This year’s internationally televised granddaddy of all desert races, the mammoth finale of the five-race 2011 SCORE Desert Series will be a loop race starting and finishing in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, with race week festivities scheduled for Nov. 17-20.

A solid total of 202 vehicles officially entered in time for Saturday’s drawing held at SCORE International’s headquarters in Los Angeles.

The race itself starts on Friday, Nov. 18 and official entry forms are available online along with all pertinent race information and prerunning rules on the SCORE website at www.score-international.com.
With late entries accepted up until race morning, nearly 300 entries from over 30 US States and 15 countries are expected to take the green flag in the 692.82-mile course, competing in 35 Pro and seven Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs.

In addition to the 31 States represented on the entry list to date, racers have already officially entered from Australia, Canada, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Guatemala, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, the Netherlands and the US Territory of Guam.

It’s the oldest and most well known of all desert races, and it remains as the single most appealing accomplishment to a racer. Since 1967, the race has been run over the mysterious Baja California peninsula every year except 1974 when the international fuel crisis forced a cancellation.

This year’s race will start for the 37th time and finish for the 21st time in Ensenada. Completing its 38th year as the world’s foremost desert racing sanctioning body, the event is the finale of the five-race 2011 SCORE Desert Series. The race will start and finish on Boulevard Costero adjacent to the picturesque Bahia de Todos Santos in front of the iconic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in the heart of Ensenada.

Prerunning on the 692.82-mile loop course will officially begin on Nov. 4.

Drawing the first start among the atv CLASSES, WAS THE Class 25 team led by Richard Stanley.

The motorcycle and ATV classes will start their journey at 6:30 a.m. (Friday, Nov. 18) with the car and truck classes starting at approximately 11:45 a.m., or four hours after the last ATV leaves the line. With the course open for 32 hours in the elapsed-time race, the fastest finishers are expected to complete the course in approximately 14 hours.

Pre-race festivities on Thursday, Nov. 17, including the vastly popular tech and contingency of all vehicles and the SCORE Manufacturer’s Midway will be held from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Boulevard Costero in front of the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center. The pre-race mandatory driver/rider briefing will be held Thursday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. in the Cathedral Room at the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center. Racer and media registration will both be held at the San Nicolas Resort Hotel in Ensenada on Wednesday, Nov. 16 and Thursday, Nov. 17.

The post-race awards celebration will be held poolside at the San Nicolas Resort Hotel at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 20.

The featured SCORE Trophy Truck division for high-tech, 850-horsepower unlimited production trucks had 32 vehicles entered in time for Saturday’s start draw.

Starting second will be Mexico’s son/father team of Gus Vildosola Jr./Gus Vildosola, who teamed last year to become the first Mexican national team to win the overall 4-wheel title of the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. Driving the No. 21 Vildosola Racing Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy Truck, the Vildosola’s, of Mexicali, were also the finished vehicle overall in the race down the Baja California peninsula to La Paz.

Starting second among the motorcycles will be last year’s overall motorcycle winners in this race, Kendall Norman, Santa Barbara, Calif./Quinn Cody, Buellton, Calif. on the No. 1x JCR Honda Racing Honda CRF450X.

While entries will be accepted will be accepted up to race morning, late entries will be assigned the next available number and starting position within each class.

Besides SCORE Trophy Truck with 32, the car and truck classes with the most entries to date are unlimited Class 1 (22) and Class 1/2-1600 (12).

Among the motorcycle and ATV classes, Class 22 for open motorcycles has the most entries so far with 13.

Leading the six Sportsman classes in the race is Sportsman Motorcycle over 250cc which had 17 entries in the drawing.

The 692.82-mile race course this year is a combination of much of the 2008 and the 2009 courses.  The rugged course that travels from Ensenada east through Ojos Negros, down Laguna Salada to San Felipe, down through the three legendary Baja canyon washes of Matomi, Huatomote and Chanate, joining familiar routes to the six-mile turnoff before Mike’s Sky Rancho, heading over to the Pacific Coast crossing Highway 1 near San Vicente and to Erendira, then through Santo Tomas, Uruapan and back to Ojos Negros, covering much of the northern half of the majestic Baja California peninsula to and from Ensenada.

This race also features the prestigious Sal Fish SCORE IronRider awards presented to each motorcycle or ATV rider who completes the entire course within the time limit while riding solo.

In addition to season class point championships, the racers are also competing for part of the nearly $400,000 in cash purse and contingency postings for the race. Drivers in the Pro car and truck classes are also attempting to earn prestigious SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards given to all Pro car and truck class drivers who complete every required mile of the five-race season.  Being presented by Toyota Motorsports for the 26th consecutive year, a total of 27 drivers remain eligible after Round 4 of the 2011 SCORE Desert Series. Racers are also competing for the annual SCORE Off-Roadsman of the Year awards, including the MasterCraft Safety SCORE Rookie of the Year award.

Tecate Beer is the title sponsor of the 44th annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000.

Official Sponsors of the SCORE Desert Series are:
-BFGoodrich Tires, Official Tire
-Volkswagen of America, Official Vehicle
-Sunoco Race Fuels, Official Race Fuel
-Slime, Official Tire Sealant
-Symons Ambulance Company, Official Ambulance
-Bilstein, Official Shock Absorber
-Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, Official Mexican Auto Insurance

Official Sponsors of the SCORE Baja 1000 are:
-Coca-Cola, Official Soft Drink
-Volaris Airlines, Official Airline
-Lightforce Performance Lighting, Official Driving Light

Additional SCORE Sponsors are – Proturismo Ensenada, Baja California Secretary of Tourism, COTUCO Mexicali/San Felipe, Las Vegas Events, Blue C Advertising, SignPros, PCI Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.

For more information, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters 818.225.8402 or visit the official website of the 2011 SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com.

44th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000
Nov. 17-20, 2011—Final round of five-race 2011 SCORE Desert Series
Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico – 692.82 miles
TOTAL ENTRIES: 202 (31 States, 15 Countries) (as of 10/15/11)

PRO CARS & TRUCKS

SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (32)
54 Jesse James
21 Gus Vildosola Jr.
51 Kory Scheeler
70 Bryce Menzies
30 Robbie Pierce
98 Gary Weyhrich
84 Nick Vanderwey
78 Jesse Ashcraft
19 Tim Herbst
20 Rob MacCachren
31 Andy McMillin
71 Rick D. Johnson
45 Gary Magness
96 Bobby Baldwin
59 Craig Potts
2 Pete Sohren
22 Roberto Encinas
49 Troy Herbst
15 Armin Schwarz
77 Robby Gordon
8 Roger Norman
18 Clyde Stacy
36 Glen Greer
16 Cameron Steele
14 Rick Geiser
25 Matt Stevens
61 Chad Hall
23 Mark McMillin
97 B.J. Baldwin
27 Dave Crinklaw
66 Harry Hepler
24 Adam Householder

CLASS 1 (22)
101 Brett Lenk
102 Steven Eugenio
103 Mike Childress
104 Dan Martin
105 Damen Jefferies
106 Steve Appleton
107 Marco Valdez
108 Don Chase
109 Erik Harp
110 Conan Barker
111 Ronny Wilson
112 Jon Walker
100 Kory Halopoff
114 Brian Parkhouse
115 David Greenhill
116 Mark Hutchins
117 Chris Wyborny
118 Max Thieriot
119 Jared Hardin
120 Todd Romano
148 Mark Stevens
149 Justin Davis

CLASS 1/2-1600 (12)
1601 Arturo Velazco
1602 Brad Wilson
1603 J.J. Schnarr
1604 Kevin J. Walsh
1605 Brian Wilson
1606 Jay Reichert
1607 Michael Power
1645 Wes McKenzie
1646 Daniel Lopez
1647 Jim Goff
1600 Luke McMillin
1649 Hiram Duran

CLASS 3 (4)
301 Tim Mason
302 Andy Kouklis
300 Donald Moss
304 David Moore

CLASS 5 (4)
501 Cody Kellogg
500 Kevin Carr
518 Jim Anderson
519 Terry McClintick

CLASS 5-1600 (0)

CLASS 6 (7)
601 Gavin Skilton
602 Arunas Lekavicius
603 Marc Burnett
604 Gregg Hempel
617 Josh Quintero
600 Dave Caspino
619 Heidi Steele

CLASS 8 (2)
801 Kent Kroeker
839 Justin Matney

CLASS 10 (8)
1001 John Martensen
1002 John Langley
1003 Brian Valentine
1004 Matt Cullen
1005 Peter Hajas
1006 Shelby Reid
1000 Sergio Salgado
1008 Christian Hall

SCORE LITES (7)
1201 Steven Lisa
1202 Ryan Plowman
1203 Perry McNeil
1204 Zak Langley
1205 Rafael Navarro IV
1206 Brent Parkhouse
1249 Arnoldo Ramirez

CLASS 11 (3)
1100 Eric Solorzano
1148 Gustavo Garayzar
1149 Justin Matney

STOCK MINI (3)
701 Emily Miller
778 Justin Matney
779 Ted Moncure

PROTRUCK (4)
1334 Rob Reinertson
1331 Jessica McMillin
1350 Chelsea Magness
1360 Nils Castillo

CLASS 17 (2)
1701 Tom Richardson
1739 Clyde Stacy

CLASS 4 (2)
401 Mike Shaffer
439 Clyde Stacy

CLASS 7-2 (2)
721 Bruce Finchum
720 Reid Rutherford
PRO MOTORCYCLES

CLASS 22 (13)
2x Craig Bowman
1x Kendall Norman
14x A.J. Stewart
4x Trent Burgiss
0x Colton Udall
6x Bryce Stavron
7x Steven Moak
8x Rory Sullivan
9x Francisco Arredondo
10x Felipe Prohens
11x Shane Esposito
12x Jack Lundin
13x Thomas Barnabic

CLASS 21 (5)
101x David Gonzalez Jr.
102x Willy Miller
103x Brody Kunz
104x Adam Neuwirth
105x Trevor Insley

CLASS 20 (0)

CLASS 30 (4)
301x Tim Abshire
302x Mike Johnson
303x Rodrigo Basave
304x Ryan Gutile

CLASS 40 (7)
400x Jeff Kaplan
401x Rob Barnum
402x Mike Prunty
403x Graham Cruickshank
404x Lloyd Andrew
405x Oscar Fazz
449x Todd Winslow

CLASS 50 (3)
501x Ben van Zijtveld
502x Jim Dizney
500x Jim O’Neal
CLASS 60 (2)
600x Donald E. Lewis
619x Richard Jackson
PRO ATVS

CLASS 25 (5)
2a Richard Stanley
3a Roberto Ruiz
4a Rafael Torres
1a Wayne Matlock
6a Craig Christy

CLASS 24 (3)
100a Brandon Brown
101a Juan Sanchez
102a Heriberto Marquez

CLASS 26 (3)
201a Carl Vella
218a Joe Rice
200a Rob Ransford
SPORTSMAN

SPT BUGGY (4)
1401 Viry Felix
1402 Guy Ruse
1400 Peter Lang
1449 John Matney
SPT TRUCK (1)
1501 Kasra Ajir

SPT UTV (6)
1801 Bill Morris
1802 Kane Fraser
1803 Chris Koch
1800 Thomas Graves
1805 Nicola Dutta
1806 Kevin Fuller

SPT M/C 250< (10)
201x Christian Espinoza
202x Hideki Sugiyama
203x Paul Piper
204x Carlos Orenday
205x Darin Bullivant
206x Shawn McKenzie
207x Adam Acosta
208x Dennis Garcia
209x Kenneth Slater
210x Philip Kegel

SPT M/C 250> (17)
251x Jeff Palmer
252x Mike Kaplan
253x Steve Malley
254x Mike Mensinger
255x Carlos Valdez
256x Phil Whisenant
257x Mike Frick
258x Chris Parker
259x Cody Larsen
260x Nick Carapella
261x Jeb Boynton
262x Naoki Kusano
263x Ulises Fierro
264x Yoram Lavee
265x Philip Jones
298x Louie Montano
299x Yvan Perroud

SPT ATV (5)
51a John Zelenka
52a Moises Saiza
53a Paul Engen
54a Juan Dominguez
55a Jesus Sanchez