229 entries to date
Hunnicutt in SCORE Trophy-Truck, Hengeveld in motorcycles
Draw first starting positions for 37th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000
Legendary granddaddy of all desert races set for Baja California
Peninsula run from Ensenada to La Paz, Nov. 16-20

LOS ANGELES (October 11, 2004) -- If Saturday's ‘live’ drawing for starting positions is any indication, next month's 37th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race should be another classic. Ted Hunicutt in SCORE Trophy-Truck and Steve Hengeveld drew have drawn the first starting positions for the legendary granddaddy of all desert races. This year’s 1,016.3-mile epic will be a be a race down Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula from Ensenada to La Paz.

An impressive total of 229 vehicles officially entered in time for Saturday’s live drawing for starting positions, by class, held at the popular Off Road Expo at the Pomona Fairplex in Southern California.

The 37th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 expects nearly 275 vehicles competing in 23 Pro and 5 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs in Mexico. The popular event will feature the $40,000 Terrible’s Bonus purse, which includes a $20,000 bonus to the first overall 4-wheel vehicle, provided by Herbst Gaming of Las Vegas.

The race will also culminate the chase for both the $10,000 Kartek Off-Road bonus and the $12,000 Toyota True-Grit and Toyota Milestone Awards. The Kartek Off-Road bonus goes to the 2004 SCORE Overall point champion.

Hunnicutt, Mission Viejo, Calif., drew the first start for the car and truck classes in the season finale of the five-race 2004 SCORE Desert Series. Hunnicutt, a seven-time class winner in this race including four overalls on a motorcycle (Class 22), is driver of record for the new Synergy Motorsports team, that will debut the team’s No. 45 Toytota Tundra in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division.

A team of proven racers who will each drive a third of the course, Hunnicutt will start, with Jeff Lewis, San Clemente, Calif., a three-time class winner in this race, driving the middle section. Finishing the race will be Cory Susag, also from Mission Viejo, Calif., who has won class win in this event. Hunnicutt will lead a talented field that already has 28 entries, the most in the 11-year history of the class for high-tech, unlimited production trucks.

“We were all at the drawing at the Off Road Expo and even had our new Toyota Tundra on display, and it was an amazing day,” said Hunnicutt, who has four overall motorcycle wins in this race (1989, 1990, 1991 and 1995. “We have been working on this truck for two years and it’s a sight to behold. We haven’t had much testing yet, but even starting first won’t change our plan of not holding anybody up, pacing ourselves and making it to the finish. With Jeff and Cory along with myself, we have one Baja-proven set of drivers.”

Drawing the first starting position for the motorcycle and ATV classes was the legendary American Honda racing team of Hengeveld, Oak Hill, Calif., and Johnny Campbell, San Clemente, Calif. The pair have won nine consecutive SCORE races. Campbell also has seven consecutive overall motorcycle victories in this race, including three with Hengeveld (2000, 2002 and 2003). Sharing seat time on the No. 1x Honda XR650R, Hengeveld also one other motorcycle class win in this race.

NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Robby Gordon, whose roots are in SCORE desert racing, drew the eighth starting position in SCORE Trophy-Truck in the Team Gordon No. 31 Red Bull Chevy CK1500. Gordon, who has raced in two other SCORE races this year, will pull double-duty, driving the first half of the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 before flying to Homestead, Fla., to race in the NASCAR Nextel Cup season finale.

Among the other cross-over racers who are entered so far include Champ Car drivers Jimmy Vasser of Las Vegas and Mexico’s Michel Jordain Jr., former Indy car racing star Danny Sullivan and SCCA sports car legend Elliot Forbes-Robinson.

Pre-race festivities will be held around the Riviera del Pacifico Convention Center in Ensenada and the San Nicolas Hotel, on Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 16-17. The race will start on Thursday, Nov. 18, in front of the Riviera del Pacifico Convention Center with motorcycles and ATVs getting the green flag at approximately 6:30 a.m., followed by the car and truck classes at approximately 10:30 a.m. Vehicles will start one every 30 seconds in the elapsed-time race. The finish line will be on the outskirts of La Paz adjacent to the tourism office.

The post-race SCORE Survivor Award’s Celebration will be held Saturday afternoon in La Paz and is scheduled to be held at the Crowne Plaza Resort, adjacent to the official finish line of the race.

Pre-race festivities on Wednesday, Nov. 17, for the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, including tech and contingency and the SCORE Manufacturer’s Midway will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. across from the San Nicolas Hotel. The pre-race mandatory driver/rider briefing will be held Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. at the Riviera CC. Racer registration will be held at the Riviera CC from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 16 and from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 17.

While entries will be accepted up to race morning (Nov. 18), late entries will be assigned the next available number and starting position within each class. By comparison, the last time this race finished in La Paz (2002), 191 vehicles had entered in time for the drawing and 234 left the start line.

Besides Hunnicutt and Gordon, other entries in the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck division include Las Vegas' Tim and Ed Herbst (1-Ford F-150), Dan Smith/David Ashley, Riverside, Calif. (8-Ford F-150), Mexico's Gus Vildosola/Rob MacCachren of Las Vegas (4-FordF-150), Honolulu’s Alan Pflueger (28-Chevy Silverado), Larry Ragland, Cave Creek, Ariz./Brian Collins, Las Vegas (12-Chevy Silverado), Jason Baldwin, Laguna Beach, Calif. (66-Ford F-150), Mark Post, San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Jerry Whelchel, Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. (3-Ford F-150), Mark Miller, Phoenix/Ryan Arciero, Foothill Ranch, Calif., (81-Chevy Silverado), Chad Ragland, Cave Creek, Ariz. (80-Chevy Silverado), , Scott Steinberger, Cypress, Calif./Jesse Jones, Phoenix (7-Ford F-150), , Japan's Ikuo Hanawa (14-Toyota Tundra), Marty Coyne, El Centro, Calif. (5-Ford F-150), Josh Baldwin, Newport Beach, Calif. (86-Ford F-150), Gary Dircks, Anthem, Ariz./Mark Porter, Cave Creek, Ariz. (23-Chevy Silverado), Cameron Steele, San Clemente, Calif. (16-Ford F-150), B.J. Baldwin/Danny Anderson, Las Vegas (97-Ford F-150) and Darren Skilton, Long Beach, Calif. (9-Kia Sorento).

The classes with the most entries to date are SCORE Trophy-Truck (28), Class 1 (25), Class 1-2/1600 (18), SCORE Lite (15) and Protruck (14).

Drawing first start in Class 1 was Las Vegas’ Bobby Baldwin, President of the Bellagio Resort, in a Ford-powered Porter desert race car, while first off in Class 1-2/1600 will be Brent Parkhouse, Long Beach, Calif., in a VW-powered Mirage.

Among the other early entries is legendary Rod Hall, Reno, Nev., the only two individual who has raced in all 36 previous Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 races in a car or truck class.

Hall is driver of record in an AM General Hummer in the Stock Full class.

Celebrating its 31st anniversary this year as the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Series, the SCORE Desert Series is returning to Mexico for the last of three races held annually in Baja California.

The official course map, along with detailed course notes and descriptions, was released Saturday by SCORE International and official pre-running will open this Saturday.

The race will be televised as a one-hour special in December on the new Jeep World of Adventure Sports show on the NBC Television Network. The show is produced by Aura360.

SCORE official sponsors for 2004 are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Southern California Ford Dealers-official vehicle and C.L. Bryant-VP Racing Fuels-official fuel supplier. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, Herbst Gaming, Kartek Off-Road, Fram, Autolite, Prestone, Bilstein, Signpros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products, and Advanced Color Graphics.

For more information, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters 818.225.8402 or visit the official website of the 2004 SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com.

37th Annual TECATE SCORE BAJA 1000
Nov. 16-20, 2004
Ensenada, Baja California to La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Total Entries: 229
(as of 10/10/04)

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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