World?s top desert racers among over 375 entries expected in 37th Tecate SCORE Baja 500
http://www.whowon.com/sResults.asp?SanctionID=377&StoryI...
by Dominic Clark
June 1, 2005
ENSENADA, Mexico -- With the largest starting grid expected since 1977, desert racers from across the globe have converged on Baja California for this
weekend?s 37th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500 desert race. One of the most popular events on the SCORE schedule, over 150,000 spectators are expected to
cheer the world?s best desert racers in action this weekend in Ensenada, Mexico, during round 3 of the six-race 2005 SCORE Desert Series, the World?s
Foremost Desert Racing Series.
With over 375 entries expected from 20 U.S. States, Mexico, Canada and Japan, the green flag will drop 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 8:45 a.m. Vehicles will start in 30-second
intervals in the elapsed-time race.
Looking much like an inverted deflating balloon on a string, the 419-mile race course starts in downtown Ensenada adjacent to the Riviera del Pacifico
Cultural Center and finishes at Deportivo Antonio Palacios baseball stadium, 9th and Guadalupe Ave., in the heart of Ensenada. The stadium is located
approximately 1.5 miles east of the start line area. The admission will be free to this special SCORE finish line celebration.
The world?s foremost desert racing series will showcase 24 Pro and 5 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs in Ensenada, which is
located 65 miles south of the U.S. border at San Diego on the Pacific Ocean side of the majestic Baja peninsula. With class titles in all 29 divisions
to be decided, of key interest will also be the race for the overall champions in the car/truck, motorcycle and ATV categories.
Friday?s pre-race festivities for the 37th Tecate SCORE Baja 500 will center around the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in downtown Ensenada.
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 5 p.m. The post-race awards celebration will be held at the San Nicolas Hotel in Ensenada on Sunday at 10 a.m.
A total of 19 class winners from last year are entered, led by overall winners Alan Pflueger, Honolulu (4-wheel vehicles, SCORE Trophy-Truck), Steve
Hengeveld, Oak Hills, Calif./Johnny Campbell, San Clemente, Caif. (Motorcycles, Class 22) and Troy Herbst, Las Vegas/Larry Roeseler, Hesperia, Calif.
(unlimited Class 1). Pflueger picked up his second class win in the race last year and his first in SCORE Trophy-Truck in his No. 28 Pflueger Racing
Chevy Silverado. Hengeveld has five consecutive Class 22 and overall motorcycle wins in this race, including the last three with Campbell, who has
five career overall wins as well on the No. 1x American Honda XR650R.
Herbst and Roeseler have won Class 1 the last three years together, including the overall win in 2002 and 2003. In their careers, Herbst has six class
wins in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 with two overalls and Roeseler has 15 class wins, including 11 overalls (nine on a motorcycle). They drive the No.
110 Terrible Herbst Motorsports Smithbuilt-Ford.
?Defending your title in any sport is difficult, but it is even tougher in SCORE desert racing when you include all the added competition and a course
that is as rough and tough as it gets,? said Pflueger, a Honolulu businessman and former motorcycle racer. ?This year?s SCORE Baja 500 is destined to
be one for the ages.?
New to their respective classes as driver/rider of record, Chad McNeil, Lee Patten and Steve Thompson received the pole positions in the top three
divisions at the ?live? drawing for starting positions held on April 30.
McNeil, El Cajon, Calif., a second-generation desert racer, will lead the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division in his new McNeil Off-Road Chevy SCORE
Trophy-Truck while Patten, Bellflower, Calif., drew the first start in the unlimited Class 1 in a Penhall-Chevy and Thompson, Long Beach, Calif., will
be at the front of Class 22 and all the motorcycle classes in a Honda XR650R.
Nick Vanderwey, Buckeye, Ariz. (Class 8, GMC Sierra) and Jim O?Neal, Chatsworth, Calif. (Class 40, Honda XR650R) have won their respective classes
four straight years in this summer classic and Donald Moss, Sacramento, Calif. (Class 3, Ford Bronco) has earned three consecutive class wins.
The featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division has a race-record 29 of the 800 horsepower, high-tech unlimited production trucks entered while there are 35
vehicles in Class 1, the division for unlimited open-wheel desert race cars. And the lineup in both classes is filled with former class and overall
winners. Among the entire field are 12 drivers who have combined for 24 of the overall 4-wheel vehicle victories, including each of the last five
years.
Fierce competition is once again expected in both of the top classes, and the entire race for that matter as an event-record 71 racers who have
combined to earn 183 class wins, are in the starting grid.
Since its debut in 1994, SCORE Trophy-Trucks captured seven straight overall wins before Mark McMillin, El Cajon, Calif., broke the string by winning
in Class 1 in 2001. Class 1 kept it going in 2002 and 2003 thanks to the team of Troy Herbst, Las Vegas and Larry Roeseler, Hesperia, Calif., before
Honolulu?s Alan Pflueger brought SCORE Trophy-Truck back to the very top of the podium last year. Herbst has been nothing short of phenomenal in his
Smithbuilt-Ford, having won Class 1 in six of the last nine years in this grueling race.
Besides the three McMillins (Corky, Mark and Scott), Herbst, Roeseler and Pflueger, the other former 4-wheel overall champs entered this year are Bud
Feldkamp, Redlands, Calif. (1978, 1979, 1985), Malcolm Smith, Riverside, Calif. (1978, 1979, 1981), Larry Ragland, Cave Creek, Ariz. (1982, 1984,
2000), Robby Gordon, Mooresville, N.C. (1989, 1990), Curt LeDuc, Cherry Valley, Calif. (1995), and Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas (1996).
Although they haven?t won this race in SCORE Trophy-Truck, among the other favorites in this year?s race is the team of Tim and Ed Herbst in their No.
19 Terrible Herbst Motorsports Ford F-150. The two oldest Herbst brothers of Las Vegas, who have one Class 2 win in this race, are the winningest
drivers in SCORE Trophy-Truck history with 11 race wins and four season point championships in the 11-plus year history of the elite SCORE racing
division.
The current top two SCORE Trophy-Truck point leaders, Jason Baldwin and his younger brother Josh Baldwin are also both expected to be strong
contenders in the race. The reigning SCORE Trophy-Truck season point champion, Jason Baldwin won his first race in this class in February at the
Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 in his No. 1 Baldwin Racing Ford F-150 and will start this race one spot in front of his brother?s No. 86 Baldwin Racing
Ford F-150.
Another of the race-record SCORE Trophy-Truck entries is NASCAR Nextel Cup owner/driver Robby Gordon, who will return to his racing roots for the
first time this season. Gordon, a three-time SCORE class point champion, will once again attempt to pull double-duty, racing this weekend in the
NASCAR race in Dover, Delaware. Gordon, has three class wins in this race, including winning the two back-to-back overalls. He will drive solo in his
No. 83 Red Bull Chevy CK1500 before flying back to Dover late Saturday for Sunday?s NASCAR race.
All of the Class 1 winners except one from the last 11 years in this race (the same time SCORE Trophy-Trucks have been a class), are entered this
year. Troy Herbst has won six times in this period (1996, 1998-with his brother Tim, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004?the last three with Larry Roeseler), Mark
McMillin has three wins (1994-with his father Corky, 1997 and 2001) and the team of Mike Julson and Bob Lofton won in 1995 in their Jimco-Chevy.
To date, the classes with the most entries are: Class 1-2/1600 (38), Class 1 (35), SCORE Trophy-Truck (29), Class 5/1600 (25), SCORE Lite (23) and
Class 10 (20).
Leading the SCORE overall and Class 1-2/1600 point standings, Las Vegas? Rob MacCachren has put himself at the top of the list in the chase for the
$50,000 Kartek Off-Road bonus purse. The top three overall point leaders in the 2005 SCORE Desert Series will receive bonus money of $25,000, $15,000
and $10,000 from the Southern California aftermarket company. MacCachren, who also races in the SCORE Trophy-Truck division with Gus Vildosola in the
No. 4 Vildosola Racing Ford F-150, runs a Fraley-VW with Las Vegas? Bryan Freeman in Class 1-2/1600.
The race also features the hunt for the 2005 SCORE Toyota Awards--the Toyota Milestone Awards and the $12,000 Toyota True Grit bonus purse. Milestone
awards are presented to every racer who completes every required race mile for the season and the bonus purse will be split among the point champions
in four non-factory backed classes (1-2/1600, 5, Class 10 and SCORE Lite). A total of 45 of SCORE?S toughest desert racers are still in the hunt for
Milestone Awards.
For the first time in several years, the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 will be televised nationally on a delayed basis. With multiple showings, The Outdoor
Life Network (OLN) will air the race as a one-hour primetime special. Aura 360, the Maine production and marketing company that has this year?s SCORE
television rights, will produce the show.
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