Including NASCAR’s R. Gordon
World’s top desert racers among over 375 entries expected
In Saturday’s 37th Tecate SCORE Baja 500 desert race
Cars, Trucks, Motorcycles, ATVs in Ensenada, Mexico,
Including 71 racers with 183 combined class wins

ENSENADA, Mexico (May 31, 2005) -- 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, CA/Johnny Campbell, San Clemente, CA (Motorcycles, Class 22) and Troy Herbst, Las Vegas/Larry Roeseler, Hesperia, CA (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, CA, 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, CA, drew the first start in the unlimited Class 1 in a Penhall-Chevy and Thompson, Long Beach, CA, 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, CA (Class 40, Honda XR650R) have won their respective classes four straight years in this summer classic and Donald Moss, Sacramento, CA (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, CA, 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, CA, 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, CA (1978, 1979, 1985), Malcolm Smith, Riverside, CA (1978, 1979, 1981), Larry Ragland, Cave Creek, AZ (1982, 1984, 2000), Robby Gordon, Mooresville, N.C. (1989, 1990), Curt LeDuc, Cherry Valley, CA (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.

SCORE official sponsors for 2005 are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, C.L. Bryant-VP Racing Fuels-official fuel supplier. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, Las Vegas Events, Herbst Gaming, Kartek Off-Road, Centrix Financial, Fram, Autolite, Prestone, Bilstein, Signpros, Cotuco, Fideicomiso Publico para la Promocion Turistica de Ensenada, Cotuco, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products, and Advanced Color Graphics.

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

Tecate SCORE Baja 500
A l l - T i m e  O v e r a l l  C h a m p i o n s

Year Cars & Trucks/Motorcycles (second line)
1969 Bud Ekins/Guy Jones
Doug Douglas/Jim McClurg
1970 Parnelli Jones
Bill Silverthorn/Gene Fetty
1971 Bobby Ferro
Malcolm Smith/J.N. Roberts
1972 Bobby Ferro
Gene Fetty/Bill Silverthorn
1973 Parnelli Jones
Howard Utsey/Mickey Quade
1974 Ivan Stewart/Bill Hrynko
Al Baker/Steve Holladay
1975 Ivan Stewart
Larry Roeseler/Bruce Ogilvie
1976 Bobby Ferro/Ivan Stewart
Larry Roeseler/A.C. Bakken
1977 Ivan Stewart
Larry Roeseler/Jack Johnson
1978 Bud Feldkamp/Malcolm Smith
Brent Wallingsford/Scot Harden
1979 Malcolm Smith/Bud Feldkamp
Jack Johnson
1980 Bob Gordon
Bruce Ogilvie/Chuck Miller
1981 Malcolm Smith/Bill Newbury
Larry Roeseler/Bruce Ogilvie
1982 Larry Ragland
Larry Roeseler/Chuck Miller
1983 Corky & Scott McMillin
Dan Ashcraft
1984 Larry Ragland
Dan Smith/Dan Ashcraft
1985 Ron Gardner/Bud Feldkamp
Kurt Pfeiffer/Scot Harden
1986 Corky & Scott McMillin
Garth Sweetland/Scot Harden
1987 Bob Gordon/Tim Crabtree
Larry Roeseler/Ted Hunnicutt Jr.
1988 Mark McMillin
Dan Ashcraft/Kurt Pfeiffer
1989 Robby Gordon
(no motorcycles)
1990 Robby Gordon
Larry Roeseler/Danny LaPorte
1991 Ivan Stewart
Garth Sweetland/Paul Krause
1992 Ivan Stewart
Larry Roeseler/T. Hunnicutt Jr./P. Krause
1993 Ivan Stewart
Danny Hamel/L. Roeseler/T. Hunnicutt Jr.
1994 Ivan Stewart
Paul Krause/Ted Hunnicutt Jr.
1995 Curt LeDuc
Paul Krause/Craig Smith
1996 Rob MacCachren
Paul Krause/Ty Davis
1997 Ivan Stewart
Johnny Campbell/Bruce Ogilvie
1998 Ivan Stewart
Johnny Campbell/Bruce Ogilvie
1999 Ivan Stewart
Jonah Street/Torsten Borstrom
2000 Larry Ragland
Jonah Street/Steve Hengeveld
2001 Mark McMillin
Steve Hengeveld/Jonah Street
2002 Troy Herbst/Larry Roeseler
Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell
2003 Troy Herbst/Larry Roeseler
Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell
2004 Alan Pflueger
Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell

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

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