SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark (702) 735-7123

May 31, 2004

Over 300 entries expected

MacCachren, O’Neal seeking doubles, Vanderwey Bros among group hoping to extend streaks at Saturday’s 36th Tecate SCORE Baja 500

Desert racers from 15 States, Canada, Japan, Mexico and Sweden in Ensenada, Mexico for Round 3 of 2004 SCORE Desert Series.

ENSENADA, Mexico—Desert racers are known to be hardy, durable and adventurous individuals, but Rob MacCachren and Jim O’Neal have taken it over the edge, both entering two classes as over 300 entries are converging on Ensenada, Mexico, for this weekend’s 36th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500. Round 3 of the five-race 2004 SCORE Desert Series, the world’s foremost desert racing series, will be held Saturday and Sunday on the Pacific Ocean side of the majestic Baja peninsula, 65 miles south of San Diego.

If anyone is capable of double class wins in the same race, Las Vegas’ MacCachren, 39, and O’Neal, 57, of Chatsworth, Calif., have proven they can do it. MacCachren won two classes in this year’s season-opening SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge and O’Neal won two classes in the 2002 Tecate SCORE Baja 500.

With entries skyrocketing to the highest level in nearly two decades, racers from 15 U.S. States, Canada, Japan, Mexico and Sweden are prepared to tackle the rugged 428.52-mile course that covers much of the northern part of the foreboding Baja California peninsula.
The green flag will drop at 6 a.m. on Saturday for the seven Pro and three Sportsman motorcycle and ATV classes, followed by the 17 Pro and two Sportsman car and truck classes two hours later at approximately 8:30 a.m.

As MacCachren and O’Neal prepare for their difficult doubles, Arizona brothers Nick and Larry Vanderwey will lead another group of hopefuls who will be attempting to extend their multi-year class winning streaks in the Baja desert. The event will also feature 17 racers who won their respective classes last year, including 14 who will be competing in the same classes and three who will be in different classes.

MacCachren, who has three class wins in this race, will split the driving in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division with team owner and driver of record Gus Vildosola, 50, of Mexicali, Mexico in the No. 4 Ford F-150. MacCachren is also the driver of record in Class 1-2/1600, where he will split the racing with Las Vegas’ Danny Anderson, a two-time SCORE Class 10 season champion, in the No. 1615 Frayley-VW.

O’Neal, the prominent apparel manufacturer who has won SCORE Class 40 (motorcycle riders over 40 years old) in this race four times, including three straight, will be the rider of record on identical Honda XR650R motorcycles in both Class 30 and Class 40. He will have three other talented riders in each class as he attempts to win for the fourth straight year in Class 40 and for the second time in Class 30.

“I race for a living and when I have the opportunities, I’ll race in as many classes as I can,” said MacCachren, a seven-time SCORE season point champion. “I have had a great opportunity to race in SCORE Trophy-Truck the last two years with Gus Vildosola, and Class 1-2/1600 is where I’ve raced since I started when I was 16. The 1600 car is my program and we’re doing well in the season points and I’d like to win not only my class by my first SCORE Overall point championship as well”

From high school student Andy McMillin in Class 1 to NASCAR team owner Jimmy Smith in NASCAR driver Robby Gordon’s SCORE Trophy-Truck, from 14 years old to 78 years young, weekend warriors from all backgrounds and experience levels are set to try and stop the three-peat attempts of the teams of Troy Herbst/Larry Roeseler (unlimited Class 1, Overall 4-wheel vehicle), Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell (Class 22, Overall motorcycle). They’re coming from as far away as Putney, Vermont, in the Northeast, to Honolulu, Hawaii, in the Pacific in the U.S., Stockholm, Sweden in Europe and Tokyo, Japan in the Far East.

Mark Miller, Carefree, Ariz., who had been planning to attempt a three-peat in featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division with Ryan Arciero (with whom he won both last year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 500 and Tecate SCORE Baja 1000), withdrew last week, citing lack of team sponsorship.

Among the ‘celebrity’ entries are ESPN sportscaster Cameron Steele, San Clemente, Calif., who will start first in Class 1-2/1600, former IndyCar racers Robbie and Mike Groff in Class 1 and Swedish ‘Rally Princess’ Annie Seel, who will be a co-rider for Rob Barnum in motorcycle Class 30. Steele and the Groff brothers are SCORE regulars and Seel finished eighth in the 2002 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000.

In the car and truck classes, the oldest driver of record is Bruce Meyers, 78, Valley Center, Calif., who won the first Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 in 1967. He will race in the Sportsman Legend class in an updated version of his original Meyers Manxter-VW.

In the motorcycle and ATV classes, Lou Peralta, 62, Woodland Hills, Calif., is the oldest rider and he will co-ride in Class 30 with his newphew Todd Starks. Peralta was the 1982 SCORE Class 38 motorcycle season point champion.

The team of Nick Vanderwey, 37, Phoenix/Larry Vanderwey, 35, Litchfield Park, Ariz./Curt LeDuc, 49, Cherry Valley, Calif., have won three straight years in Class 8 in the got milk? GMC Sierra, while American Honda factory rider Steve Hengeveld, 28, Oak Hills, Calif., will be racing for his fifth consecutive motorcycle overall and Class 22 win in addition to his third straight with Johnny Campbell, 33, San Clemente, Calif.

In Class 50 for motorcycle riders over 50 years old, Richard Jackson, 58, of Acton, Calif., is aiming for a fifth consecutive class win while John Griffin, 47, of Mission Viejo, Calif., will be driving for his third straight win in Stock Full in an AM General Hummer.

In Class 25 for open Pro ATVs, the 15 entries to date include the winners of the last five Tecate SCORE Baja 500 races. Leading the group is the team of John Gregory, 31, Spring Valley, Calif./Doug Eichner, 39, El Cajon, the reigning SCORE Class 25 season point champs and 2001 winner in this race. They race on a Honda TRX450R. Their top challengers are last year’s race winners Ruben Martin, 36/Gilberto Santana, 33, both of Tijuana, Mexico, who ride a Bombardier Baja X.

Pre-race festivities for the 36th Tecate SCORE Baja 500 will center around the Riviera del Pacifico convention center in downtown Ensenada on Friday. Traditionally drawing thousands of spectators, the pre-race Manufacturer’s Midway and display of all the race vehicles will be held adjacent to the San Nicolas Hotel, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday. The post-race awards celebration will be held poolside at the San Nicolas Hotel on Sunday at 10 a.m.

The starting line area will once again be adjacent to the Riviera del Pacifico Convention Center in downtown Ensenada. The finish line for the first time will be inside the Deportivo Antonio Palacios baseball stadium at 9th Street and Guadalupe Avenue in Ensenada. It is located approximately 1.5 miles east of the start line area. The admission will be free to this special SCORE finish line celebration. Vehicles will start in 30-second intervals in the elapsed-time race and have 17 hours to complete the rugged 428.52-mile course.

For the first time in several years, the vehicles will travel in a counter-clockwise direction after the first 51.6 miles from the start to Tres Hermanos, which will be used both directions. The race route also includes a beautiful 90-mile sprint along the Pacific Ocean before winding up through the mountains near Mike’s Sky Rancho, down to Valle de Trinidad and back to Tres Hermanos.

Leading the group of former Overall 4-wheel champions is Larry Roeseler, 47, Hesperia, Calif., who is tied with Ivan Stewart for the most overall wins in this race with 11. Roeseler has nine overall wins on a motorcycle and the last two overall 4-wheel crowns with Las Vegas’ Troy Herbst in the unlimited Class 1. Roeseler’s 13 total class wins in this race are second only two Stewart’s 17.

As the entries continue to climb for this Mexican summer classic, a race-record total of 21 marquee SCORE Trophy-Trucks are entered, but the largest entry fields so far are Class 1-2/1600 (40), the unlimited Class 1 (23), SCORE Lite and Class 5/1600 (20 each) and Class 10 (18).

Entries, taking the next available starting position within each class, will be accepted up until race morning.

Veteran Larry Ragland, in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division, and newcomer Marc Francke, in Class 22 for open motorcycles, have drawn the first starting positions (by computer) for this race.

Driving the No. 12 Chevy of Las Vegas-based Collins Motorsports, Ragland, 61, of Cave Creek, Ariz., will lead the car and truck classes while Francke, 29, of Marina del Rey, Calif., will race on the No. 2x Honda XR650R to lead the motorcycle and ATV field into Mexico.

SCORE official sponsors for 2004 are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Southern California Ford Dealers-official vehicle and CL Bryant-official fuel supplier. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, Bilstein, Signpros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie’s, and Advanced Color Graphics. Associate sponsors for the 36th Tecate SCORE Baja 500 are the Fideicomiso Publico para la Promocion Turistica de Ensenada and Cotuco.

For more information, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters 818.225.8402 or visit the official website of the 2004 SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com.

36th Annual TECATE SCORE BAJA 500
June 4-6, 2004 Ensenada, Mexico
Defending Consecutive Class Winners

Pro Cars & Trucks
CLASS 1 (Unlimited single or two-seaters)--
2002—Troy Herbst/Larry Roeseler
2003—Troy Herbst/Larry Roeseler
CLASS 8 (Full-sized two-wheel drive trucks)--
2001—Nick Vanderwey
2002—Nick Vanderwey
2003—Nick Vanderwey
STOCK FULL (Stock, Full-sized trucks)—
2002—John Griffin
2003—John Griffin
Pro Motorcycles
CLASS 22 (250cc or more)—
2000—Jonah Street/Steve Hengeveld
2001—Steve Hengeveld/Jonah Street
2002—Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell
2003—Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell
CLASS 40 (Riders over 40 years old)—
2001—Jim O’Neal
2002—Jim O’Neal
2003—Jim O’Neal
CLASS 50 (Riders over 50 years old)—
2000—Richard Jackson
2001—Richard Jackson
2002—Richard Jackson
2003—Richard Jackson

2003 Tecate SCORE Baja 500
Total Starters: 260 Total Finishers: 147
17 Returning Class Winners for 2004

CLASS 1--Troy Herbst/Larry Roeseler
*PROTRUCK--Alan Pflueger
CLASS 5--Joe Heger
CLASS 5/1600--Marcos Nunez
CLASS 7--Hector Salazar
CLASS 8--Nick Vanderwey
CLASS 9--Eric Fisher
CLASS 10--Kory Halopff
STOCK FULL--John Griffin
CLASS 17--Barrie Thompson
CLASS 22--Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell
CLASS 21--Joe Desrosiers
*CLASS 30--Ricardo Malo
CLASS 40--Jim O’Neal
CLASS 50--Richard Jackson
CLASS 25--Gilberto Santana
*CLASS 24--Earl Thigpen

*Returning in different class

For information contact:
SCORE International at its Los Angeles headquarters
(818) 225-8402 or visit
the official Optima SCORE Desert Series website at:
www.score-international.com