ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico — Following Thursday’s draw for starting positions, SoCal’s Garrett Poucher will be the first motorcycle off the starting line in the upcoming 49th annual SCORE Baja 500 desert race. Entries from around the world continue to arrive for Round 2 of the 2017 SCORE World Desert Championship, to be held May 31-June 4 in Mexico’s Baja California Norte, starting and finishing in Ensenada, the seaside port on the Pacific Ocean, 80 miles south of San Diego.
With classes for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads, there were 191 official entries in the start draw. With as many as 100 late entries still expected to enter the popular race, entries in the draw came from 28 U.S. States and 13 countries for the upcoming internationally-televised 49th annual SCORE Baja 500.
With SCORE Trophy Trucks, the marquee SCORE racing division for high-tech, 850-horsepower unlimited production trucks, the new SCORE TT Legend, unlimited Class 1 open-wheel desert race cars and Trophy Truck Spec qualifying for starting positions on Thursday of race week (June 1), Poucher is certain of the starting position for his multi-rider team on race day.
Most the world’s best desert racers will be in action at this year’s 49th anniversary of the SCORE Baja 500, the original desert race produced by SCORE on July 26, 1974.
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THE FIELD & START
In addition to 28 U.S. States, racers from Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Guatemala, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands and Spain are already part of the field that is expected to grow to nearly 300 vehicles at the start line.
It is an elapsed-time race with staggered starts as the green flag will drop first on Saturday (June 3) for the motorcycles and quads at 5:30 a.m. (PDT) and approximately 10 a.m. (PDT) for the cars, trucks and UTVs. The race has a 20-hour time limit from the time each vehicle starts to become an official finisher.
GOLDEN SCORE 2017
The 2017 season also marks the golden 50th anniversary celebration of the legendary season-ending SCORE Baja 1000, the iconic Granddaddy of all Desert Races to be held November 14-18. The SCORE Baja 1000 is the oldest, longest and most prestigious continuously held desert race in the world.
ONLINE RACER REGISTRATION
Online registration, by class, for Pro and Sportsman cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads, is ongoing through the SCORE website. For more info, visit
http://score-international.com/raceinfo/2017-baja-500/.
Online entries will be accepted until 10 p.m. (PDT) on Thursday, May 25. Late entries after that date and all on-site late entries will be assessed a $100 late fee to enter the race.
PRE-RUNNING
Official practice, or pre-running, on the official 515.77-mile race course for this year’s SCORE Baja 500 will begin on Saturday, May 20. Pre-running will start at race-mile 38 outbound only and will end at rm476.
ENTRY LEADERS
Of the 191 total vehicles that officially entered in Thursday’s start draw for the 49th SCORE Baja 500, 151 in car/truck/utv classes and 40 in motorcycle/quad classes.
While SCORE Trophy Truck with 34 (including four in the new SCORE TT Legend division for drivers over 50 years old) has the most entries of any class in the race, other car/truck/UTV classes with double figure entries so far are Pro UTV FI with 26, Trophy Truck Spec and Class 10 with 16 each, Class 1 with 12 and Pro UTV with 11 entries in the start draw.
Leading the Pro motorcycle classes are the Pro Moto Unlimited, Pro Moto 30 and Pro Moto 50 classes seven entries each in the start drawing. Leading the Sportsman classes is SPT M/C with five entries so far.
For more information, visit www.score-international.com.
49th SCORE Baja 500
Round 2 of four-race 2017 SCORE World Desert Championship
May 31-June 4, 2017—515.77 miles; Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
Total Entries 191 (as of 5/18/17) (Entered in time for start draw):
(from 28 U.S. States, Austria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Germany,
Great Britain, Guatemala, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain)
(starting order—from start draw, by class)
Pro Cars & Trucks
SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (34)
(Qualifying order)
22 Casey Currie
23 Dan McMillin
9 Armin Schwarz
77 Robby Gordon
1 Carlos Lopez
*21L Gustavo Vildosola
85 Mike Lawrence
41 Justin Lofton
31 Andy McMillin
97 B.J. Baldwin
91 Troy Herbst
11 Rob MacCachren
19 Tim Herbst
33 Todd Tuls
30 Robbie Pierce
16 Cameron Steele
*84L Nick Vanderwey
3 Mark Post
53 Todd Romano
58 Tracy Graf
15 Billy Wilson
*96L Larry Roeseler
21 Gustavo Vildosola Jr
94 Steve Strobel
7 Bryce Menzies
50 Zak Langley
10 Aaron Ampudia
*5L Clyde Stacy
76 Jesse Jones
60 Cole Potts
6 Larry Connor
4 Justin Matney
83 Luke McMillin
45 Gary Magness
*SCORE TT LEGEND (4)
CLASS 1 (12)
(Qualifying order)
105 Matt Cullen
104 Rob Archibald
138 Brian Wilson
199 Cody Robinson
150 Morgan Langley
111 Mike Malloy
153 Brad Wilson
188 Sergio Salgado
168 Shelby Reid
187 Ryan Sharman
106 Derek Fletcher-2nd RS
121 Pat Bell-1st RS
TROPHY TRUCK SPEC (16)
(Qualifying order)
255 Lee Banning
299 Charles Dorrance
211 Pat Sims
213 Matthew Lopez
227 Jonathan Brenthel
222 Pete Sohren
274 Elias Hanna
280 Andrew Myers
250 John Langley
229 Brian Goldstein
224 Paul Nauleau
271 Carey Chrisman
232 Chelsea Magness
201 Russell Buehler
220 Craig Christy
251 Joe Lombardo-RS
HAMMER TRUCK UNLTD (1)
4401 Joshua Bertschy
CLASS 10 (16)
1068 Cody Reid
1085 Justin Davis
1096 Steve Baron
1081 Todd Winslow
1048 Kevin Price
1032 Chip Prescott
1092 Reinaldo Varela
1033 Dimas Diaz
1043 Scott Youngren
1002 Clay Lawrence
1060 Armando Boehme
1064 Justin Buckley
1023 Broc Dickerson
1062 J.J. Schnarr
1000 Rafael Navarro IV
1045 Travis Clarke
CLASS 8 (3)
812 Miguel Padilla
844 Noah Ostanik
852 Spencer Morgan
CLASS 1/2-1600 (7)
1611 Elizandro Yee
1625 Eric Pavolka
1623 Mario Estrella
1601 Roberto Romo
1603 Oscar Alvarez
1619 Victor Celis
1662 Rick Boyer-1st RS
SCORE LITES (9)
1215 Juan Gallo C.
1216 Matt Ferrato
1257 Michael Cooper
1208 Rich Roberts
1240 Miguel Bonilla
1247 Wes McKenzie
1222 Rafael Aguirre
1202 Matias Arjona IV
1212 Martin Lizarraga-RS
HEAVY METAL (1)
8066 Don Hatch
CLASS 7 (6)
737 Dallas Luttrell
709 Jeff Proctor
719 Mark Johnson
704 Aaron Celiceo
701 Brandon Walsh
700 Dan Chamlee
Pro UTV FI (26)
2998 Bill Whittington
2913 Branden Sims
2989 Wes Miller
2905 Marc Burnett
2936 Jacob Carver
2971 Wayne Matlock
2944 Shane Redline
2946 Jose Juarez
2990 Steve Smith
2917 Derek Murray
2975 Mike Cafro
2914 Tyler Walker
2977 Justin Elenburg
2918 Justin Lambert
2919 Brandon Schueler
2931 Craig Scanlon
2912 Tony Riggs
2916 Cody Rahders
2948 Matt Burroughs
2968 Christine Giampaoli Zonca
2910 Scott Trafton
2967 Anthony Perez
2904 Cory Sappington
2929 Paul Wadlington
2949 Alonso Lopez
2930 Sean Cook
Pro UTV (11)
1955 Paul Champion
1998 Don Whittington
1962 Dodge Poelman
1985 Adrian Orellana
1907 Daniel Parker
1906 Mark Levrett
1912 Dave Sparks
1954 Kristen Matlock
1950 J.T. Holmes
1922 Aldo Salazar-2nd RS
1925 Matt Scarpuzzi-1st RS
CLASS 5-1600 (3)
557 Mario Ledezma
582 Rodolfo Martinez
577 Luis Herrera
CLASS 3 (1)
349 Ken Leavitt
BAJA CHALLENGE (1)
BC1 Marco Gonzales
STOCK FULL (1)
8125 Cooper Reynolds Gross-RS
CLASS 7SX (1)
741 Gerardo Novelo O.
CLASS 11 (2)
1156 Art Penner
1111 Eric Solorzano-1st RS
Pro Motorcycles
PRO MOTO UNLIMITED (7)
33x Garrett Poucher
3x Ray Dal Soglio
66x Santiago Creel
23x Mark Winkelman
70x Dylan Montanaro
10x Skyler Howes
45x Francisco Arredondo
PRO MOTO 30 (7)
300x Ryan Liebelt
360x Santiago Creel
303x Luis Gomez
328x Glen Scherer
307x Tony Wenck
333x Chad Thornton
311x Rodrigo Alvarez-1st RS
PRO MOTO 40 (2)
400x Jano Montoya
411x Colie Potter
PRO MOTO LIMITED (5)
100x Jim O’Neal
114x Rodolfo Patron
160x Santiago Creel
103x Connor Pankratz
107x Ulises Fierro
PRO MOTO 50 (7)
509x Seiji Kubota
512x Akhiro Saito
5 06x Mark Adams
549x Robert Gates
550x Bill Sekeres
510x Giovanni Spinali
500x Marty Gomez
PRO MOTO IRONMAN (2)
721x Jose Carrasco
724x CA White Jr
PRO MOTO 60 (3)
601x Robert Dunlap
609x Donald Lewis-2nd RS
600x Mark Hawley-1st RS
Pro Quads
Pro Quad (1)
2a Donald Higbee
Sportsman
SPT M/C (5)
237x Bobby Wilbanks
283x Miguel Pena
207x Sidney Marchand
225x Alberto Morales
222x Hideyuko Fukuoaku
SPT QUAD (1)
108a Eduardo Palacios