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Over 400 entries expected
Racers from seven countries, 25 States already entered as record
Field continues to grow for 38th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500
365 already entered for June 2-4 race in Ensenada, Mexico;
Round 3 of six-race 2006 SCORE Desert Series
LOS ANGELES—Led by a multitude of grizzled former Overall and class
champions, motorsports adventurers from across the globe are preparing to compete
in what is projected to be a record-setting and extremely memorable 38th Annual
Tecate SCORE Baja 500, the second-oldest desert race in the world.
Round 3 of the six-race 2006 SCORE Desert Series, the World’s Foremost
Desert Racing Series, featuring a race-record of over 400 entries competing in
25 Pro and 5 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs, will be
held June 2-4 in Ensenada, Mexico. Traditionally one of the most popular
events on the SCORE schedule, over 150,000 spectators are expected to enjoy the
world’s best desert racers in action around the picturesque deserts, beaches and
forests of Baja California at this year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 500.
 With late entries accepted up to race morning, over 400 entries are
expected from 25 U.S. States, Mexico, Canada, Colombia, France, Japan and New
Zealand, the green flag will drop for the race at 6 a.m. on Saturday (June 3) for
the motorcycle and ATV classes in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500, followed by the
car and truck classes two hours later at approximately 9 a.m.
Entries have come from every state in the Western U.S., Hawaii, and
Texas, from across the Midwest including South Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas,
Missouri, Indiana and Wisconsin, as well as New York, Ohio and Massachusetts in the
East and Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and Alabama in the
South. A total of 365 official entries have been received to date, an increase of
38 more entries since the April 22 drawing for start positions.
As of today, the Pro classes with the most entries are: Class 1 (42),
SCORE Trophy-Truck, with a class-record 40, SCORE Lite, with a class record 32,
Class 1-2/1600 (27) and Class 30 (16). Leading the Sportsman classes is SPT
Motorcycles over 250cc with a class record 46.
NASCAR team owner/driver Robby Gordon, Charlotte, N.C., will defend his
overall 4-wheel vehicle and SCORE Trophy-Truck crown as will last year’s
overall motorcycle and Class 22 winner Mike Childress, Wrightwood, Calif., who is
racing this year on the American Honda A team with Steve Hengeveld, Oak Hills,
Calif., and Josh Frederick, Moapa, Nev., the defending Overall ATV champion.
Gordon, who will pull double duty by racing in the NASCAR Nextel Cup
race the same weekend in Dover, Del., has entered two trucks in the class.
Gordon, who won the 1996 SCORE Trophy-Truck season point championship, will drive
the No. 31 SCORE Trophy-Truck and Andy McMillin, a third-generation SCORE desert
racer, is running the entire 2006 SCORE Desert Series schedule in the No. 83
Team Gordon Chevy CK1500.
 A total of 15 of the 18 defending Pro class winners (six classes had no
finishers) from last year are entered so far, although four of them have
switched classes. Besides Gordon, Childress and Frederick, other racers who will be
back to defend their class titles are George Seeley, Glendale, Calif. (Class
5, unlimited VW Baja Bug), Danny Ledezma, Chula Vista, Calif. (Class 5/1600,
1600cc VW Baja Bug), Todd Wyllie, New River, Ariz. (Class 8, Chevy C1500), Eric
Fisher, Ensenada, Mexico (Class 9, Garibay-VW) Lobsam Yee, Tijuana, Mexico
(Class 10, Jimco-Honda), Ricardo Malo, Mexicali, Mexico/Arturo Honold, Calexico,
Calif. (SCORE Lite, Curry-VW), Jim O’Neal, Chatsworth, Calif. (Class 40,
Honda XR650R) and Eizaburo Karasawa, Japan (Class 50, Honda XR650R).
The four class winners from last year who have switched classes are:
Andy McMillin, Poway, Calif. (from Class 1 to SCORE Trophy-Truck), Rob
MacCachren/Bryan Freeman (MacCachren from Class 1-2/1600 to SCORE Trophy-Truck and
Freeman to Protruck), John Holmes, Olivenhain, Calif. (from Class 7S to Class 7SX)
and Kirk Schreier, Phoenix (from Class 24 to Class 25).
O’Neal has won Class 40 for motorcycle riders over 40 years old for five
straight years and Fisher has won Class 9 for three straight years in this
summer classic.
Two former IndyCar drivers among the entries so far this year are Danny
Sullivan and Roberto Guerrero. Sullivan, the 1985 Indy 500 champion who
competed in that race 15 times, will co-drive with Las Vegas’ Bobby Baldwin,
President of MGM/Mirage Resorts, in the No. 96 Chevy Silverado SCORE Trophy-Truck.
Guerrero, the 1984 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year who had 15 career Indy 500
starts, will be a co-driver with Chris Lucas and Eric Place in the No. 245 Ford
F-150 in the Protruck class.
Another cross-over driver entered is Jamie Galles, Albuquerque, N.M., in
Class 8. With limited previous SCORE racing experience, Galles, whose family
was a long-time Indy Car team owner, has driven in both the Trans Am and old
Toyota Atlantic racing series. Most recently, Galles was a DNF in March’s
Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250.
Among the other early entries is venerable veteran Rod Hall, Reno, Nev.,
who has entered the Stock Mini class in a Hummer H3. Hall, 67, has 15 class
wins in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 and this will be his first appearance since
he won his class in 1994. Hall’s oldest son Josh, 44, will drive a Hummer H2 in
the Stock Full class.
Veteran desert racers Mike Voyles and Damen Jefferies along with
newcomer Johnny Jensen all drew pole positions in their respective classes during
the live drawing for starting positions on April 22 at the Pechanga Resort &
Casino in Temecula, Calif.
Voyles lined up all the proverbial ‘7s’ as he nervously drew the names
during the special live drawing his race team hosted at the Pechanga Resort
Casino in Temecula, Calif. Ironically, Pechanga is the title sponsor of the No.
62 Mike Voyles Racing Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy-Truck and Voyles lives in
Temecula.
Jefferies, Oak Hills, Calif., was the 1997 SCORE Overall point champion
and will lead the unlimited Class 1
In his Chevy-powered HMS open-wheel desert race car while Jensen, a rookie
SCORE racer from San Diego, will lead the motorcycle classes in his Class 22
four-stroke Honda CRF450X.
The starting line area will once again be adjacent to the Riviera del
Pacifico Convention Center in downtown Ensenada, Mexico. The finish line will
again 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. Vehicles will start in 30-second intervals in the
elapsed-time race.
Pre-race festivities for the 38th Tecate SCORE Baja 500 will be held in
Ensenada on Friday (June 2). Traditionally drawing approximately 50,000
spectators, the pre-race Manufacturer’s Midway and display of every race vehicle
will be held adjacent to the San Nicolas Hotel, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday
(June 2). The post-race awards celebration will be held at the San Nicolas Hotel
on Sunday (June 4) at 10 a.m. Racer and media registration will be held on
Thursday (June 1) from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and on Friday (June 2) from 9 a.m. to 5
p.m. at the San Nicolas Hotel.
 The 2006 SCORE Desert Series includes the 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 includes 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.
Current SCORE official 2006 sponsors are: BFGoodrich Tires-official
tire, Sunoco Race Fuels/C.L. Bryant-official fuel supplier, Bilstein-official
shock, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance-official Mexican auto insurance, 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, Suzuki, SignPros,
Cotuco, Fideicomiso Publico para la Promocion Turistica de Ensenada, P.C.I. Race
Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.
38th Annual TECATE SCORE BAJA 500
June 2-4, 2006
Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
Total Pre Entries: 365
(from 25 States, Canada, Colombia, France, Japan, New Zealand & Mexico)
Entries as of 5/2/06
Pro Cars & Trucks
SCORE TROPHY-TRUCK (40)
62 Mike Voyles
39 Ron Whitton
27 David Scaroni
7 Scott Steinberger
76 Jesse Jones
86 Josh Baldwin
88 Ryan Arciero
83 Andy McMillin
2 Pete Sohren
38 Garron Cadiente
53 Jeff Stowers
3 Mark Post
26 Chris Robinson
17 Carl Renezeder
20 Mike Julson
41 Roger Norman
97 B.J. Baldwin
1 Bob Shepard
32 Juan C. Ibarra
80 Chad Ragland
81 Mark Miller
21 Roger Gray
4 Gus Vildosola
52 John Herder
25 Enrique Legaspy
58 Frank Thing
28 Alan Pflueger
12 Brian Collins
31 Robby Gordon
11 Dale Dondel
16 Cameron Steele
5 Marty Coyne
72 Matt Scaroni
40 Chet Huffman
55 Luis Wallace
96 Bobby Baldwin
51 Kory Scheeler
15 Jim Beaver
19 Ed Herbst
75 Jerry Zaiden
CLASS 1 (42)
101 Damen Jefferies
102 Luis Ramirez Jr.
103 Josh Rigsby
104 Dale Ebberts
105 Jim Birmingham
106 Rick Wilson
107 Pat Dean
108 Richard Boyle
109 Danny Anderson
110 Lee Patten
111 Dan Myers
112 Troy Herbst
100 Mark McMillin
114 Kash Vessels
115 Brian Kirby
116 John Herder
117 Vincent DeJong
118 Eli Yee
119 Buddy Feldkamp
120 Steve Melton
121 Gary Weyhrich
122 Erick Murillo
123 Steve Sullivan
124 Dino Marquez
125 Joe Myers
126 Brian Parkhouse
127 Martin Christensen
128 Steve Sourapas
129 Raymond Potter
130 B.J. Richardson
131 Billy Robertson
132 Harley Letner
133 Cam Thieriot
134 Danny Ebberts
135 Randy Wilson
136 Chuck Hovey
137 Jamie Campbell
138 Rick Thomas
146 Gonzalo Pirron
147 Jarrett Lemley
148 Todd Romano
149 Daniel Moore CLASS 1-2/1600 (27)
1601 Mario Gastelum
1602 Brett Maurer
1603 Brian Burgess
1604 Max Hanberg
1605 Sammy Ehrenberg
1606 Carlos Bernaldez
1607 Adam Pfankuch
1608 Max Thieriot
1609 Craig Forrest
1610 Mike Sandoval
1611 Joe Barboa
1612 Ed Bonanni
1613 John Manring
1614 Rodrigo Ampudia Jr.
1615 Ray Files
1616 Daniel McMillin
1617 Brent Parkhouse
1618 Arturo Velazco
1619 David Caspino
1600 Caleb Gaddis
1621 Art Navarro
1622 Carlos Escobedo
1645 Gerardo Iribe
1646 Edgar Alvarez
1647 Daniel Lopez
1648 Eric Duran
1649 Rick Battey
CLASS 3 (2)
300 Donald Moss
301 Alejandro Cancino
CLASS 5 (5)
501 David Bonner
502 George Seeley
503 Drew Belk
578 Luivan Voelker
579 Kevin Carr
CLASS 5/1600 (13)
551 Chad Mayernick
552 Danny Ledezma
553 James Tedford
554 Brent Shermak
555 Richard Garavito
556 Ruben Garcia
557 Rogelio Valenzuela
558 Gregorio Villarino
559 John Hsu
576 Pedro Athie
577 Ernesto Arambula
550 Marcos Nunez
579 Mark McAnelly
CLASS 7 (5)
701 Dan Chamlee
702 Andy Grider
703 Victor Herrera Jr.
704 Scott Brady
719 Dennis Standrod
CLASS 7S (3)
721 Javier Avila
722 Mike Horner
739 Nick Moncure
CLASS 7SX (7)
741 Dan Street Jr.
742 Heidi Steele
743 Jesse Rodriguez
744 Eduardo Gonzalez
757 John Holmes
758 Noe Sierra
759 Jeff Lloyd
CLASS 8 (6)
801 Nick Vanderwey
802 Glen Greer
803 Dave Raimonde
800 Todd Wyllie
805 Jamie Galles
839 Kurtis Kupiec
CLASS 9 (7)
901 David Boss
902 Sigal Greenberg
945 Tony Modica
946 Joe Castrey
900 Eric Fisher
948 Ramon Castro
949 John Scharf
CLASS 10 (12)
1001 Brian Etter
1002 Mark Weger
1003 Mark Hutchins
1004 Ron Dalke
1005 Todd Elam
1006 Carlos Cortez
1007 Will Higman
1008 Darren Hardesty
1009 Trevor Scherrer
1010 Lobsam Yee
1000 John Cooley
1049 Billy Gasper
SCORE LITE (32)
1201 Jason Batulis
1202 Mike Belk
1203 Matt Drever
1204 Red Burgin
1205 Rich Roberts
1206 Craig Brabant
1207 Vic Bruckmann
1208 David Callaway
1209 Hector Garcia
1210 Ken Stroud
1211 John Kawell
1212 Rick St. John
1213 Mitch Mitchell
1214 Jim Greenway
1215 Greg Gustin
1216 David Willey
1217 Dwayne Reinert
1218 Bob Bingham
1219 Stan Potter
1220 Greg Foster
1221 Chuck Sacks
1222 Richard Cassey
1223 Mike Halliday
1224 Tito Tapia
1225 Matt Cullen
1200 Tim Noe
1227 Cameron Steele
1228 Randy Ross
1229 Ricardo Malo
1247 Ruben Gutierrez
1248 Michael Deardoff
1249 James Marquez
PROTRUCK (14)
245 Chris Lucas
203 James Wasson
222 J.R. Stanley
260 Darren York w/d 4/26
230 Robbie Pierce
234 Rob Reinertson
215 Cody Swanty
235 Jason Voss
226 Al Hogan
240 Rob Kittleson
236 Rick L. Johnson
204 Gus Vildosola Jr.
299 Joe Bednar
229 Tom Koch
250 Gary Magness
CLASS 11 (3)
1100 Eric Solorzano
1148 Shelby Stahler
1149 Jason Gutzmer
STOCK FULL (2)
861 Josh Hall
860 John Griffin
STOCK MINI (2)
778 Gavin Skilton
779 Rod Hall
CLASS 17 (2)
1701 Bob Land
1702 Bill Zolg
PRO MOTORCYCLES
CLASS 22 (11)
2x Johnny Jensen
3x Chris Gunnett
4x Robert Barnum
5x Rick Williams
6x Robby Bell
7x Micer Barrara
8x Gary Cluff
9x Scott Thompson
10x Jesse Sharpe
11x Jon Ortner
1x Steve Hengeveld
CLASS 20 (2)
151x Chad Erl
152x Karen Gagstetter
CLASS 21 (10)
101x Brett Helms
102x Kevin Johnson
103x Octavio Ascolani
104x Marco Bernaldez
105x Chris Parker
106x Shaun Hanson
100x Jason Trubey
108x Ernesto Inowe
109x Ryan Baillargeon
110x Martin Bejarano
CLASS 30 (16)
301x Brian Pinard
302x Robert Barnum
303x Scott Johnson
304x Kevin Smith
305x George Hecker
306x Rick Curtis
307x Matt Engstler
308x Kevin Curtis
309x Dale Mcue
310x Corey Keysar
311x Baron Pickett
312x Robert Gustine
313x Ron Wilson
314x Steve Trinies
315x Darin Hecker
316x Alan Casner
CLASS 40 (10)
401x Jim Buckingham
402x Brian Schmuckle
403x Michael Laenger
404x Larry Gross
405x David Rentfro
406x Gwin Vaughn
407x Kevin Gould
408x David McKay
400x Jim O’Neal
410x Brett Helm
CLASS 50 (4)
501x Doug Smith
500x Jim O’Neal
503x Tim Savin
504x Eizaburo Karasawa
PRO ATVs
CLASS 25 (14)
2a John Padgett
3a Alex Camanini
1a Josh Frederick
5a Wayne Matlock
6a Francisco Ruano
7a Robert Ulloa
8a Dean Sundahl
9a Jeff Hancock
10a Danny Prather
11a Nick Nelson
12a Josh Fink
13a Carlos Juarez
48a Randy Dyer
49a Kyle Needham
SPORTSMAN
SPT CAR (3)
1401 Heather Bonnani
1402 Peter Lang
1403 Rob Caveney
SPT TRUCK (5)
1500 Mark Growe
1501 Ray Schooley
1502 Marshall Madruga
1548 Karl Wong
1549 Matt Torian
SPT M/C< (4)
201x Cody Ard
202x Kurt Steffien
203x Kitahiro Omuro
204x Kenji Oikawa
SPT M/C> (46)
251x Morgan Harris
252x Mike Kunz
253x Mike Crawford
254x Carlos Gonzalez
255x Eugene Lane
256x Ed Bowen
257x Kris McDonald
258x Thomas Cushman
259x Jeff Leonard
260x Scott Mills
261x Tom LaJoie
262x Greg Stevenson
263x Jeffrey Crochiere
264x Adam McCamish
265x Robert Corder
266x Charlie Wilson
267x Kevin Krasner
268x James Kabisch
269x Alastair Hilson
270x Thierry Mas
271x Alan Casner w/d 4/26
272x Robert Gumser
273x Luis Manzano
274x Chris Guzman
275x Lance Kane
276x Yoshiori Sato
277x Michael Mannsberger
278x John Jamison
279x Dan Roush
280x Rey Heredia
281x Dave Donaldson
282x Aaron Dodson
283x Steve Soto
284x Nate Scott
285x Bill Gilbert
286x Todd Winslow
287x Michael Nielsen
288x Colie Potter
289x Nathan Verdugo
292x Marc Ebdrup
293x Simon Edwards
294x Mark Hellwig
295x Glen McGuire
296x Matt Watson
297x Brady Van Matre
298x David Edwards
299x Brian Matthews
SPT ATV (16)
51a Stefano Caputo
52a Stephen Babiarz
53a Jason Stratton
54a Brian Meurs
55a Oswaldo Walle
56a Craig Christy
57a John Nores
58a Jose Escudero
59a Joseph Field
60a Rene de la Rocha
61a David McCarroll
62a Herberto Martinez
95a Miguel Arellano
96a Juan Leyva
97a VACATE
98a Scott Ferguson
99a Jason Wade
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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