Herbst/Roeseler win Class 1
Pflueger in 4-wheel; Honda's Hengeveld/Campbell in motorcycles
Capture Overall victories at 36th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500
300 Desert racers from 16 States, Canada, Japan, Mexico and Sweden
And over 100,000 spectators enjoy Mexico race

ENSENADA, Mexico (June 6, 2004) -- Honolulu's Alan Pflueger, a relative newcomer to desert racing, overcame a bevy of veteran challengers late Saturday to become the overall four-wheel vehicle champion and Southern California's Steve Hengeveld and Johnny Campbell earned an equally hard-fought overall motorcycle title at the 36th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500.

Racing for just the fourth time in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division, Pflueger, 37, who won last year's SCORE Protruck season point championship in just his second season of SCORE racing, drove solo in his No. 28 Pflueger Racing Chevy Silverado to a time of 9 hours, 4 minutes, 5 seconds, averaging 47.25 miles per hour over the grueling 428.52-mile course in the rugged terrain of the northern part of Mexico's Baja California peninsula.

Troy Herbst and Larry Roeseler won the unlimited Class 1 title in the Smithbuilt-Ford open-wheel desert race car for the third straight year, finishing second overall but missed capturing a third consecutive overall 4-wheel race title, finishing just five minutes, 31 seconds behind Pflueger. For Pflueger, not only did he win his first career first SCORE Overall crown, but also his first career SCORE Trophy-Truck race.

Living up to pre-race hype, the celebratory atmosphere honoring the 31st anniversary of SCORE's first race in Mexico saw the most starters in 16 years in the desert classic with 300 racers competing in 25 Pro and 5 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs in front of extremely enthusiastic throngs of spectators estimated at over 100,000 by Mexico tourism officials.

Round 3 of the five-race SCORE Desert Series, the World's Foremost Desert Racing Series, featured racers from 16 States, Canada, Japan, Mexico and Sweden, including Mexico's overall ATV champions Ruben Martin/ Gilberto Santana/Arturo Salas and Arnoldo Ramirez.

In winning Class 22 for open motorcycles in their American Honda XR650R, Hengeveld/Campbell raced in conditions that ranged from misty and foggy and 50-degree temperatures on the Baja coast to scorching sun and heat near the century mark inland. Winning their ninth consecutive SCORE race, the talented pair covered the course in 8:23:36, averaging 51.05mph. Testament to the ruggedness of the course, both the overall four-wheel and motorcycle tandems normally average over 60mph.

In the ATV race, Tijuana's Martin, Santana and Salas, teamed with Ensenada's Ramirez to complete the race in 10:01:17, averaging 42.76mph on a Bombardier X for the second straight SCORE win of 2004.

Battling 21 SCORE Trophy-Trucks, including three-time overall champion Larry Ragland, and 21 Class 1 cars, including the Herbst/Roeseler team, the humble Pflueger praised the work of his team, the fact that his powerful Kroyer Racing engine never missed a beat and his durable BFGoodrich Tires perfectly withstood the tire-crunching Baja terrain.

"This is an absolutely surreal experience for me, and words can't express everything I'm feeling," said the soft-spoken Pflueger from atop his race truck during his post-race victory circle celebration in front of thousands of appreciate fans in Ensenada's Deportivo Antonio Palacios baseball stadum. "We weren't that fast today, rather conservative. It was just a thinking race and we ran smart. Early in the race, we went back and forth with Ragland. I owe a lot to Larry for my experience in Baja. Ragland set a great pace. Winning this race is humbling. It was very challenging, but it happened to be my day today."

In winning Class 1 while finishing second overall, it was a dominating sixth class win in this race for Herbst, of Las Vegas, and 14th for Roeseler, 47, of Hesperia, Calif. Roeseler, whose 14 class wins is second only to the 17 of Ivan Stewart in this race, started the race while Herbst finished. Herbst then began a celebration of not only his 37th birthday (Sunday, June 6), but his sixth SCORE Baja 500 Class 1 win in the last nine years and his 15th Class 1 win since 1997. Their time was 9:09:36, with an average speed of 46.78mph.

In the motorcycle competition, Campbell, 33, earned his fifth overall crown and Hengeveld, 28, is the first rider to capture five consecutive overall motorcycle championships in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500.

Notching his sixth career class win, Hengeveld, previously won the overall in this race in 1999 and 2000 with Jonah Street before winning the last three years with Campbell.

"I went as fast as I could go and hung it out there a little bit, but that's what you have to do sometimes when you're behind," said Hengeveld, who at one time was 51 seconds behind after building a nearly 14-minute lead. "It got really close, but here we are in the winner's circle again. Our American Honda team is awesome, especially at the SCORE races in Baja."

In the 4-wheel classes, third overall and second in SCORE Trophy-Truck, was the No. 3 Ford F-150 of Mark Post, San Juan Capistrano, CA/Jerry Whelchel, Rancho Santa Maragarita, CA, who finished in 9:16:03, 11 minutes, 58 seconds behind Pflueger.

Southern California brothers Jason and Josh Baldwin finished fourth and fifth overall and third and fourth in SCORE Trophy-Truck. Jason Baldwin, 34, of Laguna Hills, CA, finished in 9:18:49 in the No. 66 Baldwin Racing Ford F-150 while his younger brother Josh Baldwin, 27, finished four minutes 44 seconds further behind in the No. 86 Baldwin Racing Ford F-150.

San Diego's McMillin Racing put in a pair of top 10 finishes as well. Finishing second in Class 1 for the second straight race and sixth overall was high school student Andy McMillin and his father Scott of Poway with a time of 9:39:26 in a Jimco-Chevy, trailing Herbst/Roeseler by 29 minutes, 50 seconds. Scott's older brother Mark McMillin, El Cajon, split driving time with long-time team member Brian Ewalt to finish 10th overall and fourth in Class 1 in 9:55:56 in another Jimco-Chevy.

Las Vegas' B.J. Baldwin, in his first full season in SCORE Trophy-Truck, finished an impressive seventh overall and fifth in class with a time of 9:39:55 in the No. 97 Baldwin Racing Ford F-150, while eighth overall and sixth in SCORE Trophy-Truck was the veteran Riverside, CA, team of Dan Smith/David Ashely, who finished in 9:46:05 in the No. 8 Enduro Racing Ford F-150.

With a SCORE career best third-place finish in Class 1, ninth overall was Dan Myers, Newport Beach, CA, at 9:46:19 in another Jimco-Chevy.

Finishing a stunning 14th overall, Rob MacCachren teamed with fellow Las Vegas racer Danny Anderson, driving a Frayley-VW to defeat a race-high field of 39 starters in Class 1-2/1600. MacCachren/Anderson had a winning margin in their class of 31 minutes, 3 seconds. MacCachren also drove part of the race for Mexico's Gus Vildosola, where this pair finished ninth in SCORE Trophy-Truck in the No. 4 Vildosola Racing Ford F-150. In Class 8 for full-sized two-wheel drive trucks, Arizona brothers Nick and Larry Vanderwey teamed with Curt LeDuc, Cherry Valley CA, to their Class for the fourth consecutive year in a GMC Sierra.

Also extending a class winning streak in this race was Richard Jackson, 58, Acton, CA, who split riding time on a Honda XR650 with Bob Wadlow, 52, Arcadia, CA, capturing Class 50 for motorcycle riders over 50 for the fifth consecutive year. It was Jackson's 12th career class win in the race, all on motorcycles. Winning Class 40 for motorcycles riders over 40 for the fourth straight year on a Honda XR650 was Jim O'Neal, Chatsworth, CA, and his talented co-riders Tim Withers, Jeff Kaplan, Jim Holly and Lou Franco. O'Neal also was rider of record for a Class 30 team that finished fourth in the class for riders over 30 on another Honda XR650. O'Neal only rode briefly in both classes because of recent injuries.

The two 4-wheel vehicle racers to remain undefeated after three races in the 2004 SCORE Desert Series were Rich Severson, Mesa, AZ, who won Class 7SX in a Ford Ranger and Donald Moss, Sacramento, CA, in a Ford Bronco.

The father/son team of Mark Hutchins, 49/C.J. Hutchins, 19, of Henderson, Nev., won Class 10 in a Jimco-Honda.

Other class winners included Craig Turner, Yorba Linda, Calif. (Class 7, Ford Ranger), Marcos Nunez, Ensenada, Mexico (Class 5/1600, VW Baja Bug), Mark Handley, San Marcos, Calif. (Stock Full, Ford F-150), Rick D. Johnson, Barstow, Calif. (Protruck), Gerardo Rojas, Vincente Guerrero, Mexico/Sergio Vegas, Ensenada, Mexico (Class 30, Honda XR650) and Eric Fisher, Ensenada (Class 9, Garibay-VW).

Behind Hengeveld/Campbell, in the motorcycle portion of the race, second overall and in Class 22, was the team of Chris Blais, Stanton, CA/Quin Cody, Los Olivos, CA, on a Honda XR650.

The second overall ATV finisher, also second in Class 25, was the team of John Gregory, Spring Valley, CA/Doug Eichner, El Cajon, CA, on a Honda TRX450R.

A total of 182 survivors out of 300 starters made it to finish line within the 17-hour time limit in the elapsed-time race.

In addition to nearly $400,000 in purse and contingency postings, the race was also part of the annual Toyota Milestone Awards and $12,000 Toyota True Grit programs. The prestigious Toyota Milestone Awards are presented to every racer who completes every required mile of every race in the 2004 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 four non-factory-backed classes. This is the 19th consecutive year that Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. has teamed with SCORE to present these prestigious awards.

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, Bilstein, Signpros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie's, and Advanced Color Graphics. Associate sponsors for the 36th Tecate SCORE Baja 500 were the Fideicomiso Publico para la Promocion Turistica de Ensenada and Cotuco.

The 2004 SCORE Desert Series returns to the U.S. for Round 4 of its five-race season--the 9th Annual SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300, Sept. 10-11 in Primm, Nev.

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

Home : News : Team : Photos : Schedule : Points : Sponsors
Archives : Links : Contact

Nikal Motorsports
E-mail: Todd@NikalMotorsports.com