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This weekend in Ensenada, Mexico
31 Silver State racers, including Herbsts, MacCachren, Collins,
B.J. Baldwin in Race-record field for 38th Tecate SCORE Baja 500
NASCAR’s R. Gordon one of nine racers who have combined for 22 4-Wheel
Overall wins, five others have 21 combined M/C Overalls
On-site internet coverage: DesertRacing.com.
ENSENADA, Mexico--Led by brothers Ed, Tim and Troy Herbst along with Rob
MacCachren, Brian Collins and B.J. Baldwin, Nevada has 31 entries in this year’
s record-setting 38th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500 desert race.
Not only is the entry list of nearly 440 vehicles the largest in the
long and storied three-decade-plus history of the race, it is also filled with
the most former class winners ever in a SCORE race with 88 competitors who have
combined for 227 class wins.
Round 3 of the six-race 2006 SCORE Desert Series, the World’s Foremost
Desert Racing Series, featuring a race-record lineup of over 440 entries
competing in 25 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs,
will be held this weekend in Ensenada, Mexico. The race will be filmed for
television by Aura360, SCORE’S TV production partner, to air in December as a
one-hour special on NBC in the U.S. and ESPN International worldwide.
Ed and Tim Herbst along with Rob MacCachren, Brian Collins and B.J.
Baldwin will all be racing in the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck division while Troy
Herbst is among the favorites in the unlimited Class 1 division.
Starting and finishing in Ensenada on the majestic Baja California
peninsula, this year’s tight and technical 424.29-mile course will run in a
clockwise direction, running East into the middle of the peninsula, then South,
followed by a West travel section, turning north, then East, North and back West to
the finish in Ensenada.  The green flag will drop for the race at 6 a.m. on Saturday 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. Vehicles will start in
30-second intervals in the elapsed-time race, and while the fastest vehicles are
expected to finish in approximately nine hours, all will have an 18-hour time
limit to become official finishers in the summer classic.
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, the 1996 SCORE Trophy-Truck season point champion with five
career race wins in the marquee SCORE racing division for high-tech,
800-horsepower unlimited production trucks, has announced his plans for his triple-duty
week of NASCAR and SCORE racing. Gordon will be commuting this week to and from
Dover, Dela., where he will be competing in this week’s NASCAR Nextel Cup race.
Gordon, who has four class wins and three overall titles in the Tecate
SCORE Baja 500, has finalized his plans for the two SCORE Trophy-Trucks he has
entered. Third generation SCORE desert racer Andy McMillin, Poway, Calif., is
driver of record this season in the No. 83 Team Gordon Chevy CK1500 that
Gordon drove solo in last year to victory in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 and Gordon
himself is driver of record in the No. 89 Team Gordon Hummer H3. Gordon
announced plans last week to drive the No. 83 SCORE Trophy-Truck for the first half
of the race before turning the vehicle over to McMillin, who will ride shotgun
during the first half. Robby Gordon’s dad Bob Gordon, Orange, Calif., who
himself has three class wins and two overalls in this race, will drive the first
half, before turning the wheel over to his son to drive the second half. The
No. 83 SCORE Trophy-Truck will be the eighth vehicle to leave the line while the
No. 89 will start in the 28th slot, 10 minutes later.
 The venerable Rod Hall, 67, of Reno, who earned his first Tecate SCORE
Baja 500 class win in 1970 and his most recent in 1994, returns after a 12-year
absence as a favorite in the Stock Mini class in his Hummer H3. Hall is the
only person who has raced in all 38 previous Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 races,
where he has the most class wins of anyone with 18.
Larry Roeseler, 49, Canyon Lake, Calif., has 11 overall wins in this
race including nine on a motorcycle, earning his frist class win 1972 and his
most recent in 2004. This year Roeseler will again be the co-driver for Troy
Herbst, Las Vegas, in the unlimited Class 1 in a Smithbuilt-Ford open wheel
desert race car. Together Herbst and Roeseler earned three straight Class 1 wins
in 2002, 2003 and 2004.
Entries have come from every state in the Western U.S., Hawaii, and
Texas, from across the Midwest including South Dakota, Illinois, Minnesota,
Kansas, Missouri, Indiana and Wisconsin, as well as New York, Ohio and Massachusetts
in the East and Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Mississippi, Florida
and Alabama in the South.
 Late registration will be accepted up until race morning, and the
current total of 437 entries guarantees a final starting grid of over 400 for this
first time in the 38-year history of the race. The current record for number of
starters is 384, set in 1976 and tied in 1977. The current record for number
of finishers is 202, set in 1988 (332 starters), when the race started in
Ensenada and finished in Santo Tomas. Both marks are expected to be eclipsed by
this year’s totals.
Amazingly, there is actually one 1976 class winner entered this year and
two class winners from 1977. Larry Roeseler won Class 21 in 1976 and Class 22
in 1977 while Rod Hall won Class 4 in 1977.
To date, entries have been received from 28 U.S. States, Mexico, Canada,
Colombia, France, Japan and New Zealand. The Pro classes with the most
entries are: Class 1 (42), SCORE Trophy-Truck, with a class-record 41, SCORE Lite,
with a class-record 33, Class 1-2/1600 (30) and Class 22 and Class 30 (each
with 17). Leading the Sportsman classes is SPT Motorcycles over 250cc with a
class-record 51 for the relatively new class and SPT ATV with a class-record 28
all-terrain vehicles entered.
Following this weekend’s event, the SCORE Desert Series visits Las Vegas
for the SCORE Las Vegas Terrible’s Cup II on July 27-29. The popular new
event will be held on the Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
38th Tecate SCORE BAJA 500
Round 3 of six-race 2006 SCORE Desert Series
June 2-4 -- Ensenada, Mexico
437 OFFICIAL ENTRIES
(From 28 U.S. States, Mexico, Canada, Columbia, France, Japan, New Zealand)
(By Class Starting Order)
TOTAL NEVADA ENTRIES--31
Pro Cars & Trucks
SCORE TROPHY-TRUCK (Unlimited Production Trucks)--
41 Roger Norman, Reno, Nev./Jerry Whelchel, Las Flores, Calif., Ford F-150
97 B.J. Baldwin, Las Vegas, Chevy Silverado
4 Gus Vildosola, Mexicali, Mexico/Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas, Ford F-150
12 Brian Collins, Las Vegas/Larry Ragland, Cave Creek, Ariz., Chevy Silverado
96 Bobby Baldwin, Las Vegas, Chevy Silverado
51 Kory Scheeler/Larry Job, Las Vegas, Chevy Silverado
19 Ed Herbst/Tim Herbst, Las Vegas, Ford F-150
CLASS 1 (Unlimited single or two-seaters)--
107 Pat Dean, Las Vegas, Bunderson-Chevy
109 Danny Anderson, Las Vegas, Jimco-Chevy
112 Troy Herbst, Las Vegas/Larry Roeseler, Canyon Country, Calif.,
Smithbuilt-Ford
130 B.J. Richardson/John Gaughan, Las Vegas, Bunderson-Chevy
139 John Harrah/Lynn Oddo, Reno, Nev., Jimco-Chevy
CLASS 1-2/1600 (VW-powered, single or two-seaters to 1600cc)--
1605 Sammy Ehrenberg, Las Vegas/L.J. Kennedy, Orange, Calif., Jimco
CLASS 3 (Short Wheelbase 4X4)--
302 Ken Leavitt, Jerome, Idaho/Bill Whealan, Las Vegas, Ford Bronco
CLASS 9 (VW-powered, Short wheelbase, single or two-seaters)--
901 David Boss, Costa Mesa, Calif./Tim Gardner, Las Vegas
CLASS 10 (Single or two-seaters to 1650cc)--
1003 Mark Hutchins/C.J. Hutchins, Henderson, Nev., Kreger-Honda
1006 Carlos Cortez, Las Vegas/Rudy Cortez, Henderson, Nev., Kreger-Porsche
1009 Trevor Scherrer/Rob McBeath, Las Vegas, Jimco-Honda
1012 Andy Grider, Los Olivos, Calif./Kevin Curtis, Las Vegas, Tatum-Honda
1014 Rick Ellison, Selma, Calif./Bill Witt, Henderson, Nev., Jimco-Honda
SCORE LITE (VW-powered, Limited single-1776cc-or two-seaters-1835cc)--
1225 Matt Cullen, Long Beach, Calif./Jeff Rucker, Las Vegas
1227 Cameron Steele, San Clemente, Calif./Aaron Hawley, Las Vegas, Desert
Assassin
CLASS 11 (Stock VW Sedans)--
1148 Shelby Stahler, Carson City, Nev./Stee Spellerberg, San Diego
STOCK FULL (Stock, Full-sized trucks)--
861 Josh Hall/Sam Cothrun, Reno, Nev., Hummer H2
STOCK MINI (Stock, mini trucks)--
779 Rod Hall, Reno, Nev./Larry Webster, Hummer H3
PROTRUCK (Limited Production Trucks)--
204 Gus Vildosola Jr, Mexicali, Mexico/Bryan Freeman, Henderson, Nev., Toyota
Tundra
PRO MOTORCYCLES
CLASS 22 (250cc or more)--
5x Rick Williams/Ron Ayers/Rueben Silva, Las Vegas, Honda XR650R
CLASS 30 (Riders over 30 years old)--
307x Matt Engstler, Phoenix/Bob Carlin, Henderson, Nev., Honda XR650R
CLASS 40 (Riders over 40 years old)--
400x Jim O’Neal, Chatsworth, Calif./Tim Withers, Pepeekeo, Hawaii/Randy
Morales, Prescott, Ariz./Tom Willis, Las Vegas, Honda XR650R
PRO ATVs
CLASS 25 (over 251cc)--
1a Josh Frederick, Moapa, Nev./Anthony Baker, El Cajon, Calif., Bombardier
Outlander
SPORTSMAN
SPT ATV--
57a John Nores, San Martin, Calif./Jeffrey Moore, Felton, Calif./Pat Moore,
Springcreek, Nev.
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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