Pre-running begins Saturday
Two-time defending Overall champions Herbst/Roeseler and
Hengeveld/Campbell preparing for 36th Tecate SCORE Baja 500
Over 280 entries expected June 4-6 in Ensenada, Mexico,
For Round 3 of five-race 2004 SCORE Desert Series

LOS ANGELES (May 10, 2004) -- Official pre-running begins Saturday for the upcoming 36th Tecate SCORE Baja 500 desert race, and the two-time defending overall champion teams are anxious to begin practicing on the challenging course to be used on June 5.

Teammates Troy Herbst and Larry Roeseler will lead the car and truck classes and Steve Hengeveld and Johnny Campbell will be at the front of the motorcycles and ATVs as 280-plus anticipated entries begin the tedious three-week process of practice and preparing race and pit support plans for the 428.52-mile race route.

Round 3 of the five-race 2004 SCORE Desert Series, the world’s foremost desert racing series, will be held June 4-6, in Ensenada, 65 miles south of San Diego, on the Pacific Ocean side of the majestic peninsula.

Would-be champions and hopeful finishers will watch with equal earnest the path cut over the rugged, ragged and rocky Baja peninsula as the two-time defending winners look to add to their legends and contenders prepare to build their own. Desert racing in Baja California is filled with mysterious tales of pre-running past as adventurers from around the world continue to challenge the limits of not only their own strength and endurance but also that of their exotic race vehicles.

Herbst, 37, of Las Vegas, who has won his class five times in this race, teamed the last two years with Baja legend Roeseler, 47, of Hesperia, CA, who has 13 class and 11 overall wins in this popular summer classic. They will again split driving time in the No. 118 Terrible Herbst Motorsports Ford-Smitbuilt open-wheel desert race car in the unlimited Class 1.

Riding on the 1x Honda XR650R for American Honda factory racing in Class 22 for open motorcycles, Hengeveld, 28 of Oak Hills, CA, has five motorcycle class wins in this event, including four straight overall wins, and the last two years were his first with Campbell. The veteran Campbell, 33, of San Clemente, CA, has four wins in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500, all overall victories for the motorcycle classes. Together, the Hengeveld/Campbell team has earned eight straight SCORE Class 22 and SCORE overall motorcycle wins dating back to 2002.

Roeseler, with nine overall wins on a motorcycle to go with his recent two in a four-wheel vehicle, says it best, “Pre-running is what these races in Mexico are all about. The beauty and the success of racing in Baja is all about practice, practice, practice. The Herbst family has given me a wonderful opportunity to continue desert racing at the highest level and by pre-running extensively we will memorize much of the course and put ourselves in a position to be out front again. This course is very technical and one mistake can put you on the sidelines.”

As he has the last two years, Roeseler will start the race, handing the wheel over to Troy Herbst somewhere around the halfway point in the race.

With over 280 entries expected from 15 U.S. States, Mexico, Canada and Japan, the green flag will drop at 6 am. on Saturday (June 5) for the motorcycle and ATV classes, followed by the car and truck classes two hours later at approximately 8:30 am.

The starting line area will once again be adjacent to the Riviera del Pacifico Convention Center in downtown Ensenada. The finish line 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. For the first time in several years, the course will travel in a counter-clockwise direction after the first 51.6 miles to Tres Hermanos, which will be used both directions. It 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.

As the entries continue to climb, a total of 21 high-tech, 750-horsepower marquee SCORE Trophy-Trucks are entered, but the largest entry fields so far are Class 1-2/1600 (33), the unlimited Class 1 (28), SCORE Lite (17), Class 5/1600 (16) and Class 10 (15).

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

Scheduled to also split the driving time with Troy Herbst in November’s 37th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 peninsula run from Ensenada to La Paz, Roeseler will have his left hip replaced in late June after the Tecate SCORE Baja 500. Wear and tear from nearly 35 years of motorcycle racing has taken its toll on the popular Roeseler, who is often referred to as Mr. Baja because of his numerous racing accomplishments in Mexico. In Europe’s ISDE six-day motorcycle enduro, Roeseler earned 10 golds, 2 silvers and one bronze in 13 years.

While he hasn’t raced on a motorcycle in a SCORE race since moving to SCORE truck classes after winning the 1994 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 on a Kawasaki, Roeseler continued to race some in smaller races in lower motorcycle classes until ending his open pro motorcycle career in January by completing the Dakar Rally as part of a KTM factory team.

The versatile racer has 10 career SCORE season point championships, six in motorcycle classes and four in truck classes. After leaving the factory motorcycle classes, Roeseler drove two SCORE Trophy-Truck races in 1995 for Walker Evans’ Dodge team before joining Team MacPherson from 1996 to 1999. In 2000, he spent the season with Team Toyota, driving with Ivan Stewart and began his partial schedule with Terrible Herbst Motorsports in 2001. The first two years with Troy Herbst, he drove some in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 and the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 before driving all five SCORE races last year. This year, Roeseler is scheduled to split the driving in both the SCORE Baja 500 and SCORE Baja 1000 and possibly September’s SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300.

Troy Herbst, the youngest of the three racing Herbst brothers is a six-time SCORE Class 1 point champion, including the SCORE overall point titles in 1998, 2000 and 2002. Since 1997, Troy Herbst has impressively won Class 1 in 14 of 28 SCORE races.

After starting this season with the Class 1 win at the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge driving solo, Troy Herbst had a rare did-not-finish in February’s Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250. After electric problems started effecting his Ford V8 Shaver Specialties racing engine midway through the race, the motor finally failed all together just 20 miles from the finish line after he had climbed back into fourth place.

Troy Herbst has won Class 1 in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 five of the last eight years, driving solo in 1996 and 2000 and teaming with his older brother Tim Herbst in 1998 before the last two years of champion runs with Roeseler.

Also among the favorites in Class 1 and in the hunt for the overall will be San Diego’s Mark McMillin, who has six class wins in this race, including most recently in 1997 and 2001. McMillin, part of the legendary three-generation McMillin Racing team, will drive his new Jimco-Chevy which he debuted with a Class 1 win in February’s Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250.

There are several other returning class winners who have won their respective classes two or more consecutive years in this race.

Leading the way is Mark Miller, the returning two-time defending SCORE Trophy-Truck winner. Miller, Carefree, AZ, won with Larry Ragland in 2002 and with Ryan Arciero, Foothill Ranch, CA, last year in the No. 81 Miller Racing Chevy Silverado. Miller will race again this year with Arciero, who he teamed with to also win last year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 1000.

Other defending multiple class winners entered include Richard Jackson, Acton, CA, who has 11 class wins including four straight in Class 50 for motorcycle riders over 50 years old. Also on the current list are Mexico’s Marcos Nunez (six class wins including three of the last four in Class 5/1600), apparel manufacturer Jim O’Neal, Chatsworth, Calif. (four class wins, including three straight in Class 40 for motorcycle riders over 40), Nick Vanderwey, Buckeye, AZ (three straight wins in Class 8) and John Griffin, Mission Viejo, CA (two in Stock Full).

Pre-race festivities for the 36th Tecate SCORE Baja 500 will center around the Riviera del Pacifico convention center in downtown Ensenada on Friday (June 4). Traditionally drawing thousands of spectators, the pre-race Manufacturer’s Midway and display off all the race vehicles will be held adjacent to the San Nicolas Hotel, from 10 am. to 6 pm. Friday (June 4). The post-race awards celebration will be held at the Riviera del Pacifico on Sunday (June 6) at 10 am.

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, Fram, Autolite, Prestone, 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 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

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

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