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Series Baja 1000 draw results 2010-10-10

Over 300 entries expected Norman draws first SCORE Trophy-Truck start, Williams in M/C for November's 43rd Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race Racers from 33 States, 15 countries entered internationally-televised Granddaddy of all desert races; 35 ...

Over 300 entries expected
Norman draws first SCORE Trophy-Truck start, Williams in M/C for November's 43rd Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race

Racers from 33 States, 15 countries entered internationally-televised Granddaddy of all desert races; 35 SCORE Trophy-Trucks entered for race down Mexico's Baja California peninsula, Nov. 16-20

LOS ANGELES--Veteran desert racer Roger Norman has received the first starting position during Saturday's computerized drawing for November's 43rd Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race. While the 2008 race winner will pilot his No. 8 Norman Motorsports Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy-Truck, starting first among the motorcycle and ATV classes will be Gabriel Williams, of Provo, Utah, on a Honda CRF450X motorcycle.

A solid total of 207 vehicles officially entered in time for Saturday's computerized drawing held at SCORE International's headquarters in Los Angeles. With nearly 300 entries expected before the green flag drops, entries will be accepted up to race morning.

This year's legendary desert classic, the final event of the five-race 2010 SCORE Desert Series, will be held Nov. 16-20 in Mexico. The final course distance will be more than 1050 miles.

With massive crowds reaching nearly 250,000 anticipated to again be spread out along the rugged course that travels on both sides of the peninsula, the world's most famous desert race will start in Ensenada, Baja California and finish all the way down the peninsula in La Paz in Baja California Sur.

Norman, who won the 2008 SCORE Baja 1000 overall and in SCORE Trophy-Truck with Larry Roeseler as his second-driver, plans to drive solo in this year's race down the peninsula. Williams has also confirmed that he will attempt to ride solo in the race on a motorcycle.

This year will be the 36th time in the first 43 years of the storied race that it has started in Ensenada and it will be the 18th time in has finished in La Paz.

It's the oldest and most well known of all desert races, and it remains as the single most appealing accomplishment to a driver. Since 1967, the mother of all desert races has been run over the mysterious and majestic Baja California peninsula.

With over 300 expected entries for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs competing in 28 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes in the internationally televised race, entries have already come from 13 U.S. states and 14 countries. In addition to the 33 States, racers have entered from Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Africa and the US Territory of Guam.

Drawing the first start among the ATV classes was the Class 25 team led by Felipe Velez, San Felipe, Mexico, who will ride a Honda TRX700X.

The motorcycle and ATV classes will start their journey at 6:30 a.m. (Thursday, Nov. 18) with the car and truck classes starting at approximately 11:45 a.m., or four hours after the last ATV leaves the line. The fastest finishers are expected to complete the course in approximately 19 hours.

The race will start and finish on Boulevard Costero adjacent to the picturesque Bahia de Todos Santos in front of the historical Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in the heart of Ensenada. It will finish on the outskirts of La Paz near the Grand Plaza Hotel, race headquarters for the southern half of the event.

Pre-race festivities on Wednesday, Nov. 17, for the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, including the vastly popular tech and contingency of all vehicles and the SCORE Manufacturer's Midway will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Boulevard Costero in front of the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center. The pre-race mandatory driver/rider briefing will be held Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. in the Cathedral Room at the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center. Racer registration will be held at the San Nicolas Resort Hotel from Saturday, Nov. 13 through Wednesday, Nov. 17. Media registration will be held at the San Nicolas Resort Hotel from Noon to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 16 and from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 17.

The post-race awards celebration and fiesta will be held on the Malecon in downtown La Paz, starting at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 20. The entire race will be conducted on Pacific Standard Time.

While entries will be accepted up to race morning, late entries will be assigned the next available number and starting position within each class.

Besides Norman, other entries among the stars in the talented 35-truck field in the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck division include, by starting order: Mexico's Gus Vildosola Jr./Gus Vildosola Sr. (No. 21 Ford F-150), B.J. Baldwin, Las Vegas (No. 97Chevy Silverado), Andy McMillin/Scott McMillin, National City, Calif. (No. 31 Ford F-150), Nick Vanderwey, Phoenix/Curt LeDuc, Cherry Valley, Calif. (No. 84 Chevy Silverado), Rick D. Johnson, Barstow, Calif./Bob Shepard, Phoenix (No. 7a Ford F-150), Gary Weyhrich/Mark Weyhrich, Troutdale, Ore. (No. 9 Ford F-150), Mark McMillin, El Cajon, Calif. (No. 23 Ford F-150), Robby Gordon, Charlotte, N.C., (No. 1 Chevy CK1500), Cameron Steele, San Clemente, Calif./Cody Stuart/Justin Smith, Capo Beach, Calif./Pat Dean, Las Vegas (No. 16 GMC Sierra), Mark Post, Laguna Beach, Calif./Ryan Arciero, Foothill Ranch, Calif. (No. 3-Ford F-150), Damen Jefferies, Apple Valley, Calif. (No. 22 Chevy Silverado), Ed Stout, Irvine, Calif. (13-Ford F-150), Josh Hall/Chad Hall/Rod Hall, Reno, Nev. (No. 61 Chevy Silverado), Troy Herbst/Brian Collins, Las Vegas (No. 49 Dodge Ram1500), Jerry Whelchel, Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif./Brian Hess, San Diego (No. 88 Chevy C1500), Tim Herbst/Ed Herbst, Las Vegas/Larry Roeseler, Huntington Beach, Calif. (No. 19 Ford F-150), Jesse James, Austin, Texas (No. 54 Chevy Silverado), Mike Jenkins, Trego, Wisc./Josh Baldwin, Newport Beach, Calif. (No. 86 Ford F-150), Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas/Will Staats, Valencia, Calif. (No. 20, Ford F-150), Jesse Jones, Litchfield Park, Ariz./Larry Ragland, Cave Creek, Ariz., (No. 76 Ford F-150) and Robbie Pierce/Mike Julson, Santee, Calif. (30-Chevy Silverado).

The car and truck classes with the most entries to date are SCORE Trophy-Truck (35), Class 1 (17) and SCORE Lite (10).

Among the motorcycle and ATV classes, Class 22 for open motorcycles has the most entries to date with eight.

Leading the six Sportsman classes in the race is Sportsman Motorcycle over 250cc which had 32 entries in the drawing.

Drawing first start in Class 1 was SCORE Baja 500 class winner Steve Appleton, Boise Idaho, in a Chevy-powered Jimco open-wheel desert race car, while first off in SCORE Lite will be the team of Justin Davis, Chino, Calif./Daniel Folts in a Seagrove-VW.

Allowing a larger window of time than ever before, SCORE, completing its 37th year as the world's foremost desert racing sanctioning body, started official pre-running of the course last Friday, from San Felipe all the way to La Paz. Practice on the race course from Ojos Negros to La Paz will begin Wednesday, Oct. 27 and pre-running from the start line in Ensenada to Ojos Negros will be allowed only on Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 16 and 17.

The challenging race course for this year is very similar to 2006, the last time the race finished in La Paz, although the terrain has obviously changed significantly because of weather conditions and natural use.

With 10 mandatory checkpoints spread down the peninsula, the course starts on the Pacific Ocean-side of Baja California in Ensenada and heads southeast to San Felipe on the Sea of Cortez before heading south through Coco's Corner, Bahia de Los Angeles, San Ignacio, back to the Pacific at San Juanico, then back to the Sea of Cortez at Loreto, back to the Pacific at Ciudad Insurgentes heading down along the Pacific through Santa Rita before turning back east and down into La Paz for the finish.

All entries are provided with GPS programs defining the course and all are required to utilize special data recording devices that plot the actual route and speeds each vehicle takes during the mammoth race.

This year's Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race will be televised on a delayed basis as a one-hour NBC Sports special for the seventh consecutive year, airing on Dec. 19 on the NBC Television Network. It will also air on a delayed basis outside of the U.S. on ESPN International. It is being produced again by Aura360, SCORE's electronic media partner, in association with SCORE.

As a special incentive to help bolster entries for the relatively new Class 4, Langley Productions owner and SCORE racer John Langley has posted a Special winner-take-all $10,000 SCORE/COPS Racing/BFG Tires bonus for the first-place finisher in the class for unlimited open-wheel, single or two seat desert race cars with a limited 2.2-liter sealed engine. COPS Racing, named for the popular television series produced by Langley Productions, has three vehicles entered in this year's race in three different classes.

This race also features the prestigious Sal Fish SCORE IronRider awards presented to each motorcycle or ATV rider who completes the course within the time limit while riding solo. As of the drawing, seven individuals have declared that they will be attempting to complete the course riding solo.

In addition to season point class point championships, drivers in the Pro car and truck classes are also racing to earn prestigious SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards given to all car and truck class drivers who complete every required mile of the five-race season. Being presented by Toyota Motorsports for the 25th consecutive year, a total of 17 drivers remain eligible after Round 3 of the 2010 SCORE Desert Series. Racers are also competing for the annual SCORE Off-Roadsman of the Year awards, including the MasterCraft Safety SCORE Rookie of the Year award.

SCORE official annual sponsors are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Volkswagen of America-official vehicle, Sunoco Race Fuels-official fuel supplier, Bilstein-official shock, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance-official Mexican auto insurance, Slime-official tire sealant and Red Bull-official energy drink. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Las Vegas Events, MasterCraft Safety, Blue C Advertising, SignPros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie's Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.

Additional sponsors in Baja are the Secretary of Tourism of Baja California and ProTurismo de Ensenada and Secretary of Tourism of Baja California Sur.

-source: score

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