With the release of the official course map, GPS files and course notes this past weekend, pre-race activity steps up significantly starting Friday when the world’s best desert racers officially begin their pre-running and course logistics activities for next month’s 41st Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500, the second-oldest desert race in the world.
The Motorcycle and ATV classes of the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 will be held June 4-7 in Ensenada, Mexico. Pre-running starts Friday, May 22.
Round 3 of the five-race 2009 SCORE Desert Series, the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Series, will feature over 275 entries, competing in 28 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs, will be held June 4-7 in Ensenada, Mexico. Traditionally one of the most popular events on the SCORE schedule, over 100,000 spectators are expected to enjoy the world’s best desert racers in action at this year’s 41st anniversary of the Tecate SCORE Baja 500.
With late entries accepted up to race morning, over 275 entries are expected for the 432.51-mile race from 25 U.S. States from Hawaii to Vermont along with the additional countries of Mexico, Austria, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan and Portugal.
The green flag will drop for the race at 6 a.m. on Saturday (June 6) for the motorcycle and ATV classes in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500, followed by the car and truck classes three hours after the last ATV at approximately 10 a.m. With vehicles starting one every 30 seconds in the elapsed-time race, it will start and finish in front of the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center on Boulevard Costero in the heart of Ensenada, leaving and returning into the city through the spectator-laden Arroyo Wash.
The talented field of veteran desert racers heading to Baja includes 16 defending class winners out of the 25 Pro classes that had finishers in last year’s race, including the three overall winners—B.J. Baldwin (4-Wheel), Kendall Norman (2-Wheel) and Wayne Matlock (ATVs). Four of last year’s class winners will be racing this year in different classes.
Also entered are the drivers who won the last seven overall 4-Wheel vehicle titles and the riders who have won the last nine overall 2-Wheel vehicle titles.
As SCORE CEO/President Sal Fish announced prior to the start of this season, the rugged course 432.51-mile course is a near-duplicate of last year’s, accept just under 10 miles shorter. To help reduce the costs of pre-running, the course, which runs in a clockwise direction, resembles a deflating balloon, winding east to Ojos Negros, down to near San Felipe, back West to the Pacific Ocean near San Vicente and back north east through Santo Tomas on the way back to Ojos Negros and then Ensenada.
The only pre-running that will be allowed on the first 36.8 miles of the course will be outbound only and only on Thursday and Friday, June 4 and 5. No inbound pre-running on the last 36.8 miles of the course will be allowed. Pre-running of the rest of the course will start and finish in the Ojos Negros area.
The four official race checkpoints, where all vehicles are required to make a quick stop, will be located at race mile 87.32 (Santa Catarina), rm199.17 (Borrego), rm 296.81 (San Vicente) and rm389.76 Rancho San Antonio. All vehicles are also required to run International Rally Consultants tracking devices.
Kendall Norman, Santa Barbara, Calif., returns as the three-time defending overall motorcycle champion, but he will have a new teammate this year on his Johnny Campbell Racing Honda CRF450X. Riding with Norman this year will be Timmy Weigand, Santa Clarita, Calif.
The pair opened this season with an overall motorcycle win in March at the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 while the veteran Campbell, 38, San Clemente, Calif., who has five overall two-wheel wins in this race, is listed as a possible third rider, if needed, on both the Norman entry and his other American Honda-supported JCR team led by Colton Udall, who is also from San Clemente.
Wayne Matlock, El Cajon, Calif., is back as the defending overall ATV champion and will lead a four-rider team on a Honda TRX700XX. Riding with him again this year will be Harold Goodman, Brownstown, Mich., along with new teammates Wes Miller, Fallbrook, Calif. and Josh Caster, El Cajon, Calif. The Matlock/Goodman/Caster trio won this year’s ATV overall title at the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250.
Late entries will be accepted up to race morning. Leading the Pro Motorcycle classes in entries so far are Class 22 (17), Class 30 (12) and Class 21 (11). Class 24 leads the Pro ATV classes with 11 entries to date.
Among the Sportsman classes, SPT Motorcycles over 250cc has 27 entries and SPT Motorcycles under 250cc has 13.
There are also 13 SPT ATVs to date.
This popular SCORE early summer race began in 1969 under the auspices of the old NORRA organization and SCORE began its enduring run with it on July 26, 1974. This year will be the 36th anniversary of the first SCORE race in Baja.
For the second straight year and just the second time in the 41-year history of the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 desert race, the colorful pre-race Manufacturer’s Midway and Contingency, the start and finish line will all be located in the heart of Ensenada, Mexico on Boulevard Costero adjacent to the historic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center. It will be first time in race history that both the pre-race activities and the finish will be held on this historic boulevard.
The SCORE Manufacturer’s Midway will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, June 5 on Blvd Costero. Racer registration will again be held in the Grand Ballroom of the San Nicolas Hotel. Registration hours will be from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 4 and from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday June 5.
The awards celebration will be held poolside at the San Nicolas Hotel on Sunday, June 7 at 10 a.m.
Current 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, Terrible Herbst Inc., Blue C Enthusiast Advertising, American Suzuki, SignPros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.
Additional sponsors for this race are the Baja California Department of Tourism and ProTurismo de Ensenada.
For more information regarding the series, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters 818.225.8402 or visit the official website of the SCORE Desert Series at
www.score-international.com.
41st Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500
June 4-7, 2009--Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
PRO MOTORCYCLES
CLASS 22 (17)
2x Ryan Penhall
3x Chuck Neugebauer
4x Kendall Norman
5x Connor Penhall
6x Steve Hengeveld
7x Terence Montelongo
8x Cameron Corfman
9x Guy Larocque
11x Adam Thissen
12x Adrian Butler
13x Gabriel Williams
14x Tony Navarro
15x Colton Udall
16x Ivan Ramirez
17x Mark Bradford
18x A.J. Stewart
19x Adam Neuwirth
CLASS 21 (11)
101x Baron Pickett
102x Jorge Perez
103x Bill Boyer
104x Dan Troy
105x Elias Hanna
106x Shane Esposito
107x Ronnie Wilson
108x Chad Thornton
109x Jeremy Purvines
110x Evan Heath
111x Carlos Becerril
CLASS 20 (5)
151x Marco Bernaldez
152x Hector Castillo
153x Manuel Reyes
150x Anna Cody
155x Jesus Rios
CLASS 30 (12)
301x Sean Bradley
302x Sol Saltzman
303x Mike Johnson
300x Jim O’Neal
305x Kurt Funk
306x Jean-Paul Cyr
307x Javier Hernandez
308x Miguel Caetano
309x Andy Padulo
310x Marc Haldeman
311x Sergio Villapando
349x Todd Melinn
CLASS 40 (8)
401x Hisahide Ueno
402x Glen McGuire
400x Scott Myers
404x Brian Campbell
405x Mike Prunty
406x Tom Vogt
448x Rodolfo Sanchez
449x Julio Abril
CLASS 50 (3)
501x Charlie Marshall
502x Eizaburo Karasawa
500x Jim O’Neal
CLASS 60 (2)
600x Donald Lewis
609x Richard Jackson
PRO ATVs
CLASS 25 (5)
2a Santos Perez
3a Adolfo Arellano
1a Wayne Matlock
5a Nick Nelson
6a Felipe Velez
CLASS 24 (11)
101a Benjamin Lopez
102a Victor Lopez
100a Craig Christy
104a Abraham Romero
105a Shawn Robins
106a Jose Juarez
107a Brian Harris
108a Roberto Ruiz
109a Luis Berumen
110a Jorge Valenzuela
111a Miguel Arellano
CLASS 26 (2)
201a Reid Rutherford
219a Rob Ransford
SPORTSMAN
SPT UTV (5)
1801 Martin Aguirre
1802 Peter Hajas
1803 Reid Nordin
1804 Thomas Graves
1805 Brian Hewett
SPT M/C< (13)
201x Miguel Montenegro
203x Gregg Betz
204x Matt Ladendorf
205x Francisco Teran
207x Brody Kunz
208x Walter Lemonovich
209x Fred Sobke
210x Ryan Carville
212x Humberto Valle
213x Marco Cornejo
247x Patrick Williams
248x Louie Montano
249x Greg Willitts
SPT M/C> (27)
251x Eric Anderson
252x Peter Penttinen
253x Mike Murray
254x Mark Adams
255x Jeff Leonard
256x Albert Valenzula
257x Don Wadsworth
258x Cliff Morgan
259x Erik Litzenberg
260x Stephen Legate
261x Ron Tolman
262x Dennis Anderson
263x Craig Anstine
264x Thierry Mas
265x Warner Blom
266x Oscar Fazz
267x Vince Leonis
269x Akihiro Saito
270x Kenji Oikawa
271x Carlos Gracida
272x Tibi Imbuzan
273x Cornelio Garcia
274x Odin Moncada
275x Octavio Valle
276x Salvador Sainz
277x Levi Colton
278x Enrique Guerra
SPT ATV (13)
50a Joselito Muro
51a Angel Hoyos
52a Luciano Parada
53a Raul Arciniega
54a Adrian Valdez
55a Javier Guerrero
56a Alberto Maya
57a Juan Gonzalez
58a Ray Arriaga
59a Manuel Jimenez
60a Daniel Montano
61a Fernando Amador
99a Gustavo Ameca
Check out the Results of the
2009 Baja 500 here