Toyota True Grit & Milestone Award winners announced

20 Finishers Earn The Prestigious Toyota Milestone Award; Three Walk Away With Toyota True Grit Award

TORRANCE, Calif. (Dec.6, 2004) Over a period of four days and 40 prolonged hours, a record-breaking 189 official desert off-road competitors crossed the finish line to complete the 37th annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, Nov.17-20, of which 20 earned the esteemed Toyota Milestone Award. Of the 21 drivers eligible for Toyota Milestone Award prior to the popular and distinguished Baja 1000, only one failed to complete the 1,016.31 mile course along the Baja California peninsula, making him ineligible to receive the acclaimed award. Additionally, three of those racers will split the $12,000 Toyota True Grit Award.

The Toyota Milestone Award is presented to all SCORE off-road competitors in the professional four-wheel classes who complete every required mile in the five-race desert series (2,092.61 miles). The 20 drivers who earned the 2004 Toyota Milestone Award are Jason Baldwin and Gus Vildosola (Trophy-Truck), John Marking (Class 1), Donald Moss (Class 3), Dave Collier (Class 5/1600), Eric Fisher (Class 9), Eric Solorzano (Class 11), Brian Jeffrey, Travis Fletcher, Rick Boyer, Rob MacCachren, Leonardo Navarrete and John Scharf (Class 1-2/1600), Jim Anderson, John Cooley, Mark Hutchins and Steve Myers (Class 10), Tom Watson, Flavio Navarro and Mark Kyle (SCORE Lite).

The class points champion(s) in non-factory-backed classes 1/2-1600, 5, 10 and SCORE Lite who finish every required mile in the five-race series will split the $12,000 Toyota True Grit Award prize fund. Brian Jeffrey (Class 1/2-1600), Steve Myers, (Class 10) and Tom Watson (SCORE Lite) will each earn $4,000. Although eligible, there were no Class 5 competitors who qualified this year.

This year marks the 18th year that Toyota will once again present the prestigious awards to the off-road racers who finished every mile of every race in the 2004 SCORE Desert Racing Series. The Toyota Milestone Award and Toyota True Grit will be presented at the annual year-end banquet, SCORE Awards Night, Saturday, Dec.11, Primm Valley Resort in Primm, Nevada.

The race will be televised as a one-hour NBC Sports special on the NBC Television Network and will air Saturday, Dec.11 from 2:30 3:30 p.m. (EST). Al Trautwig, emmy-award winning sportscaster, will anchor the event. A special pre-run preview segment, including NASCAR's Robby Gordon, will air during the Jeep World of Adventure Sports on Saturday, Dec 4. CNBC's `Bullseye", with host Dylan Ratigan will also produce segments to air Nov.30, Dec.1 and Dec.2.

2004 Winners

SCORE Toyota Milestone Award and Toyota True Grit
(Racers who complete every required mile for the season--*SCORE Toyota True Grit Classes **Winners)

CLASS 1-2/1600*
SCORE TROPHY-TRUCK
Brian Jeffrey**
Jason Baldwin
Travis Fletcher
Gus Vildosola
Rick Boyer
Rob MacCachren

CLASS 1
Leonardo Navarrete
John Marking
John Scharf

CLASS 10*
Donald Moss
Jim Anderson
John Cooley
Mark Hutchins

CLASS 5/1600
Steve Myers**
Dave Collier

SCORE Lite*
CLASS 9
Tom Watson**
Eric Fisher
Flavio Navarro
Mark Kyle

Class 11
Eric Solorzano

-toyota-