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SCORE crown jewel since 1967
It’s More Than a Race, It’s an Adventure...
The Legendary Tecate SCORE Baja 1000
Live draw Oct. 15 at Lake Elsinore Casino for 300 expected race entries
LOS ANGELES, CA (October 6, 2005) -- As
the World Series is to baseball and the Super Bowl to football, the legendary
Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 stands as tall at the pinnacle of the motorsports
world today as it did when it began 37 years ago.
This year’s race will
be held Nov. 17-20 and will start and finish in Ensenada, Baja California,
Mexico. It will be the 38th anniversary of the race
shrouded
in mystery that continues to lure adventurers from across the globe who share
the dream to conquer the Baja.
 Nearly 300 entries, competing in 27 Pro and 5
Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs will be part of this
year’s odyssey. Entries are
expected from over 30 U.S. States and 10 countries.
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
every year except 1974 when the international fuel crisis forced a cancellation.
The
Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 has captured the imagination of the entire world as
entries have come not only from every state in the United States, but also
has
attracted racers from Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Brazil, Belgium, Canada,
England, Finland, France, Germany, Guam, Guatemala, Holland, Israel, Italy,
Japan, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain,
Sweden,
Switzerland, Uruguay, Yugoslavia as well as the host country of Mexico.
The
first known record run occurred in 1962. Dave Ekins and Bill Robertson Jr.
timed their trip from Tijuana to La Paz on a pair of Honda 250 motorcycles.
Ekins
made it in 39 hours, 54 minutes, Robertson in less than an hour slower. There
were no official timers, of course, and to establish that they had made the
trip, the two motorcycle racers time-stamped a sheet of paper in the Tijuana
telegraph
office and time-stamped it again at the telegraph office when they arrived
in La Paz.
Capitalizing on the pioneer effort of Ekins and Robertson, Chevrolet
commissioned car builder Bill Stroppe to prepare a small fleet of trucks for
the run to
La Paz. Late that year they left Long Beach, Calif., and all of them reached
La
Paz. Advertising and publicity campaigns heralded the feat as “the roughest
run under the sun.”
“Without the SCORE Baja 1000, there just wouldn’t be any desert racing,” said
Sal Fish, SCORE International’s President and CEO, which has sanctioned
and produced the event since 1975 and is based in Los Angeles. “The SCORE
Baja 1000 continues to draw interest from all over the world and we now find
second and even third generation racers appearing at the starting line with
their family patriarchs cheering for their off-spring. This event continues
to be the
focal point of the SCORE Desert Series each year and to celebrate our 38th
anniversary will surely add another colorful chapter to the legacy of the SCORE
Baja 1000.”
Enthusiast Ed Pearlman founded the National Off Road Racing
Association (NORRA) and established the Mexican 1000. It started officially
in Tijuana on October
31, 1967 with 68 entries. They actually motored at leisure speeds to Ensenada
and restarted the next day.
NORRA continued to organize the Mexican 1000, which
came to be known as the Baja 1000. In 1968, Pearlman moved the start of the
race to Ensenada, where
it stayed
with one exception until 1993. In 1972 NORRA started at Mexicali and ran
the first half of the race down the east coast of the peninsula through the
treacherous
Three Sisters section. Pre-running for this race, Parnelli Jones and Walker
Evans were among a group of competitors who nearly got swept out to sea during
a tropical
storm.
NORRA’s last race, from Ensenada to La Paz, was in 1973. At that
point, Mexican officials revoked NORRA’s permits to stage races in Baja.
After the fuel crisis of 1974 forced local officials to cancel the event, SCORE
International, founded by the late Mickey Thompson headed soon after by Sal
Fish, was invited by the northern state of Baja California to hold the race
in 1975.
The Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 became a loop event starting and ending in Ensenada.
In
1979, the government of Baja California Sur granted permission to resume
the Ensenada-to-La Paz format and SCORE has used this route intermittently
ever since.
The 1979 race was notable for Walker Evans’ overall win in
a Dodge truck, the first truck to win the overall title of the race.
In its first 37 years,
the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 has started 30 times in Ensenada, three times
in Mexicali (1972, 1993, 1994), twice in Tijuana (1967, 1995) once
in Santo Tomas (1998) and once in Ojos Negros (1999). The legendary race
has finished in Ensenada 17 times, in La Paz 16 times, in Mexicali two times
(1993,
1994), once in Ojos Negros (1999) and once in Cabo San Lucas (2000). The
last time the race finished in Ensenada was 2003.
The famous and not-so-famous have
tried their hand at conquering the Baja and they have come from all walks of
life. Mark Thatcher, son of Great Britian’s
then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher, raced in the 1982 SCORE Baja 1000. Celebrities
James Garner, Ted Nugent and the late Steve McQueen all battled the Baja in
the early 1970s and many racers from other forms of motorsports crossed over
to try
their skills.
Among the drivers from other arenas who have tested the Baja
are Indy Car racers Rick and Roger Mears, Parnelli Jones, Danny Ongias, Danny
Sullivan,
Jimmy Vasser,
Roberto Guerrero, Michel Jourdain Jr., Johnny Unser and Mike and Robbie Groff,
NASCAR’s Robby Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Brendan Gaughan, SCCA legend
Elliot Forbes-Robinson, world motorcycle champions Malcolm Smith and Larry
Roeseler, Motocross legends Ricky Johnson and Jimmie Johnson (now a NASCAR
champion), drag
racers Don Prudhomme and Larry Minor and legendary SCORE founder and motorsports
innovator Mickey Thompson. Academy Award winning actor, racer and race team
owner Paul Newman raced in the 2004 event at 80, the oldest competitor in the
history
of the event.
This year’s race will commemorate the achievements of legendary
desert racers like Rod Hall, Ron Bishop, Johnny Johnson, and Larry Roeseler.
Hall,
with a record 17 class wins (including one overall win in 1972), and Bishop
are the
only two racers who have competed in every SCORE Baja 1000. Hall will be a
favorite in the Stock Full class this year while Bishop, who will race in Class
50 for
riders over 50 years old, has raced every year on a Motorcycle. Johnson, now
retired, had 15 class wins, amazingly in eight different classes. Roeseler,
48, has won 13 times in this race, including 10 overall wins on a motorcycle.
Roeseler will share driving duties again this year with six-time
SCORE Class 1 season point champion Troy Herbst. Roeseler and Herbst are the
defending
Overall champions in this race.
Lured by the same siren that enraptured the
Ekins brothers in the 1950s, the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 remains as the No.
1 target of adventurers the world
over, not to mention the cadre of pro and semi-pro desert racers who consider
it the
fitting climax to their racing season each year.
SCORE official sponsors for
2005 are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, C.L. Bryant-VP Racing Fuels-official
fuel supplier, Bilstein-official shock. Associate
sponsors
are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, Las Vegas
Events, Terrible Herbst Inc., Kartek Off-Road, Centrix Financial, Fram, Autolite,
Prestone, Suzuki, SignPros, Cotuco, Fideicomiso Publico para la Promocion Turistica
de Ensenada, McGraw Insurance Services, Lucas Oil Products, P.C.I. Race Radios,
McKenzie’s Performance Products, and Advanced Color Graphics.
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 2005
SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com
Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 Celebrity Watch
Famous Personalities who have raced in the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 include:
FRANK ARCIERO JR.--off-road racer, developer, Winery owner, CART team owner
JACK ARUTE--Sports TV personality
HUBERT AURIOL--multiple winner of the Grenada-to-Dakar Rally
BOBBY BALDWIN--President/ of the Mirage Resorts, former World Series of
Poker Champion
RON BISHOP--raced in every Baja 1000 on a motorcycle (1 of 2 racers in every
race)
SEBASTIAN BOURDAIS--2004 Champ Car season champ from France
JEAN CALVIN--former world class professional figure skater
ERIK CARLSSON--world champion rallye driver
PAT MOSS CARLSSON--Erik’s wife/co-driver, sister of race driver Stirling
Moss
GARY GABELICH--Land Speed Record holder
JAMES GARNER--movie/TV star
JOSELE GARZA--Mexico’s only Indianapolis 500 “rookie of the year”
JOHN CLARK GABLE--movie actor and son of famed actor Clark Gable
BRENDAN GAUGHAN--NASCAR Nextel Cup driver, former desert racer
ROBBY GORDON--former CART and current NASCAR Nextel driver
MIKE GROFF--former IRL driver
ROBBIE GROFF--former IRL driver
ROBERTO GUERRERO--former Indy Car and Formula 1 veteran
ROD HALL--17 class victories (one overall)--one of only two persons who has
raced in EVERY SCORE Baja 1000
PETE HALSMER--former Indianapolis 500 driver, IMSA GT and Super Vee champion
VIC HICKEY--land speed racing and off-road racing pioneer
JESSE JAMES--star of TV’s Monster Garage
RICKY JOHNSON--second all-time winningest Supercross motorcycle racer
JIMMIE JOHNSON--former motocross star, NASCAR Nextel Cup driver
JOHNNY JOHNSON--15 class victories in eight different classes
STEFAN JOHANSSON--Indy car racer and team owner
PARNELLI JONES--1963 Indianapolis 500 winner
BERNARDO JOURDAIN--Mexican Indy car driver
MICHEL JOURDAIN Jr.--Mexican Indy car and NASCAR driver
HERSHEL McGRIFF--first Carrera Panamericana winner and stock car champion
CHAD McQUEEN--actor and son of Steve McQueen
STEVE McQUEEN--movie and TV star
CASEY MEARS--NASCAR Nextel Cup racer, former desert racer, son of off-road
star Roger Mears
CORKY McMILLIN--Founder-Corky McMillin Cos, patriarch of first SCORE 3-generation
team, multiple Baja wins
MARK McMILLIN--San Diego developer; 8 class wins, including 5 overall in SCORE
Baja 1000
RICK MEARS--4-time Indy 500 winner; younger brother of former off-road star
Roger Mears
ROGER MEARS--1991 AARWBA All-America racer, desert racing legend, Indy Car
Racer
SHEKHAR MEHTA--4-time winner of East African Safari
BRUCE MEYERS--originator of the Meyers Manx, world’s first desert race
car (dune buggy)
AK MILLER--American hot rodding and off-road racing patriarch
ROD MILLEN--Pikes Peak Hill Climb Record Holder, rally racer, Stadium racing
champion
LARRY MINOR--drag racer and team owner
PAULA MURPHY--one-time ‘world’s fastest woman’ racer
MICHAEL NESMITH--TV actor/musician “Monkees”; pioneer producer
of CD music
PAUL NEWMAN--Actor, race car driver, philanthropist
GUNNAR NILSSON--Formula 1 driver
SERGIO NOLASCO--owner of Mexico’s finest Formula 3 road racing team
AARON NORRIS--motion picture and TV producer; brother of actor Chuck Norris
TED NUGENT--rock ‘n’ roll singing star
DANNY ONGAIS--motorcycle, drag racing, road racing and Indy 500 racer
PAUL PAGE--Motorsports TV commentator
SAM POSEY--international race driver and motorsports TV commentator
TED PAPPAS--Indy 500 racer
DON PRUDHOMME--legendary drag racer
GASTON RAHIER--former Paris-to-Dakar rally champion
DYLAN RATIGAN--host of CNB’s ‘Bullseye’ show
ELLIOTT FORBES-ROBINSON--legendary SCCA sports car racer
LARRY ROESELER--legendary motorcycle rider with an amazing 10 overall wins
in SCORE Baja 1000
ORIOL SERVIA--Champ Car racer from Spain
BON SINCLAIR--president of Volvo Automobile of America
MALCOLM SMITH--off-road motorcycle champion and star of movie, “On Any
Sunday”
CAMERON STEELE--Motorsports TV commentator
DANNY SULLIVAN--1987 Indianapolis 500 champion
ROBERT SUTTON--President/CEO of Centrix Financial
MARK THATCHER--son of England’s former prime minister Margaret Thatcher
MICKEY THOMPSON--hot rodding and off-road racing pioneer, SCORE founder
ROLF TIBBLIN--world’s only motocross champion in three classes--500,
250 and 125cc
JUGATSU TOI--Japanese novelist
JOHNNY UNSER--Indy car racer, first from his racing family to drive in the
race
JIMMY VASSER--CART champion driver
CAL WELLS III--NASCAR team owner who has also owned off-road and Indy Car teams
LARRY WILCOX--TV actor
BEKKI FREEMAN-WIK--Top female racer in SCORE History, 3-time SCORE Baja
1000 champ
JOHN ZINK--creator of Indy’s famed ‘laydown cars’
For information contact:
SCORE International at its Los Angeles headquarters
(818) 225-8402 or visit
the official 2005 SCORE Desert Series website at:
www.score-international.com
For information contact:
SCORE International at its Los Angeles headquarters
(818) 225-8402 or visit
the official 2005 SCORE Desert Series website at:
www.score-international.com
For
Sponsorship Information, contact:
Mark Handley
(760) 750-1905
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