Charlotte, NC (June 12, 2009) – We are deeply disappointed with SCORE’s decision and reject their claims in the strongest possible terms. We plan an immediate appeal of this unjust decision. First, SCORE assessed a speeding penalty because i t claimed that the
re was no IRC data between kilometer 77 and kilometer 78. The IRC device on our vehicle worked properly during all other sections of the race course, and Steve Myers from IRC has no explanation why no IRC data exists from that section alone. Our race team has footage of the entire race, and the video below proves that we were not speeding during the section in question.
#77 Robby Gordon issued a press release today stating that his stationary pit near race mile 290 at the recent Baja 500 was in compliance with SCORE rules. SCORE has NOT called into question the legality of the stationary pit. However, the manner in which the race vehicle was actually serviced is clearly illegal.
Highway 1 is the major north/south highway on the BajaPeninsula. The highway is not closed during the race, but remains open to local traffic. SCORE receives permission from the Mexican Federal Highway Police to incorporate transitional highway sections into the race course. This permission is subject to a 60 MPH speed limit, as well as safe and prudent conduct by racers while running on the various highway sections.
June 11, 2009 (Orange, CA) Robby Gordon, who on last Saturday late afternoon unofficially won the 41st edition of the SCORE Tecate Baja 500 was DETHRONED early today as the world’s premier desert racing series, SCORE International, handed out penalties from last weekend’s 432-mile race.
ENSENADA, Mexico, June 12, 2008 - The 41st edition of the SCORE Baja 500 kicked off under beautiful sunny skies along the downtown waterfront of Ensenada, Baja California. Greeting housands of fans was ROCKSTAR Energy Drink athlete, Rob MacCachren, as he stood dressed for battle among the desert warriors.
The sense of the calm before the storm was present as the world’s top off road racers gathered along Mexico’s Pacific Coast for the 2009 SCORE Baja 500, a race that many consider only second in toughness to the legendary SCORE Baja 1000 desert race.
MacCachren and Mark Post arrived to the start line with the #3 ROCKSTAR Energy gloss black trophy truck with one goal in mind…to finish first in a race that has long eluded the two veteran racers. In the 2008 version of this race, the dynamic racing duo combined their driving skills for a near flawless run that saw them fall short of victory by a mere 7 seconds.
Robert Pickering and Mikey Childress conquered the desert Saturday and won Class 6 in the 2009 Tecate Baja 500
ENSENADA, Mexico, June 10, 2009 – Pickering and Childress prevailed under strong competition, chalking up another win in an outstanding season for Team General Tire.
“RFS Motorsports did a stellar job, and we are so excited about their win here,” said Tony Talbert, Light Truck Product Manager, General Tire. “The Baja is always an extremely difficult race, but Pickering and Childress’s outstanding driving skills brought us this important win.”
ENSENADA, Mexico, June 10, 2009 – I am used to sitting behind the wheel. Holding on to it helps your body absorb harsh bumps and it gives you a general sense that you control your fate. This was my third race as navigator in the Torchmate Ranger and up to this race, I have always felt comfortable. The adventure of Baja racing is more extreme though and I once again felt the hair raising thrill that I have spent years attempting to numb.
The race started in a very relaxed manner. As a team we had spent hundreds of hours preparing. The paperwork alone was an inch thick. It was time for the fun to begin and we were all jubilant as we crossed the border. While no one can deny the violence in Mexico, but we felt relaxed as we drove 100 miles down the coast to our hotel in Ensenada. Off-road racing has deep roots in Mexico that were clearly visible as soon as we reached town. Decades of team stickers littered restaurant windows and taco carts. We packed the vehicles into a secure lot and headed inside our hotel for some Tecate.
ENSENADA, Mexico—NASCAR Cup team owner/driver Robby Gordon began his double duty race weekend with a sterling overall victory Saturday over defending race champion B.J. Baldwin in the 41st Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500 desert race in Ensenada, Mexico. Working his way up the field after starting sixth in the elapsed-time race, Gordon covered the rugged 432.51-mile desert course in a time of eight hours, 35 minutes and 49 seconds, averaging 50.31 miles per hour in the No. 77 Team Gordon Chevy CK1500.
Battling closely the entire race with Las Vegas’ Baldwin and several other challengers, Gordon finally pulled away in the closing miles to post a narrow victory margin of four minutes, 45 seconds over Baldwin and his No. 1 Baldwin Motorsports Chevy Silverado. With no time to celebrate his ninth career race win in the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck division for high-tech, 800-horsepower, unlimited production trucks, Gordon immediately flew back to the U.S. for Sunday’s NASCAR race at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond, Pa.
ENSENADA, MEXICO – Robby Gordon, driver of the #77 Monster Energy/Toyo Tires Chevy CK1500 trophy truck, won the 41st running of the legendary Tecate SCORE Baja 500 this weekend while competing on 37X13.50R17 Toyo Open Country M/T®-R tires. Gordon finished this year’s punishing off-road race, which spanned 432.51-miles, in a time of 8:35:49… a 50.309-mph average speed.
With a remarkable first half of this year in off-road competition, Gordon is firmly leading the points in the 2009 SCORE-International desert series championship. He won the season-opener at the Laughlin Desert Challenge and then finished second at the San Felipe 250. In addition, he finished third overall in the 2009 Dakar® rally.
Cancer Survivor Drives Race Distance Solo to Win in First Attempt
ENSENADA, Mexico, June 9, 2009 – In a remarkable first for driver, team, vehicle and manufacturer, Joe Bacal and navigator Paul Williamsen took their freshly-built Cancer Treatment Centers of America JTGrey Racing Lexus LX 570 to a landmark maiden victory in the 41st annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500 early Sunday. Their win in the Stock Full class* marks a world’s first for Lexus and the culmination of a dream for Bacal and his new team.
“This is truly a dream come true,” said Bacal. “The LX 570 was bulletproof and we went the entire distance without a tire change. I was tired at the end but not exhausted, which is something that two years ago was hard to imagine after my cancer ordeal.”
FULLERTON, CA (June 9, 2009) – Coming in second in the legendary SCORE Baja 500 is quite an accomplishment, especially while using only one set of tires along the rough 432.5-mile course. This is exactly what Yokohama Tire Corporation- sponsored Heidi Steele did, starting and finishing the June 5-7 race at Ensenada, Mexico on the same four off-the-shelf Geolandar M/T+® tires.
Steele, who won Baja last year in Class 7SX, moved up in this season and competed in Class 6 with co-driver Ross Savage in a Ford Ranger. The second place finish helped increase Steele’s point lead in the SCORE class standings.
“My 35-inch Yokohama Geolandar Mud Terrain tires performed perfectly in challenging conditions,” said Steele, the overall 2008 champion in Best of the Desert and the SCORE Desert Series, and Dirt Sports magazine’s 2008 Driver of the Year. “Through the 5,000-foot rocky summit, sand washes, silt beds and rock gardens, I was able to tackle 432 miles and complete the race on the same set of tires, which provided us a competitive advantage.”
DIRTnewz LIVE Radio & Video Today at SCORE's Baja 500
CLICK GREEN LISTEN LIVE BUTTON TO LISTEN TO DIRTNEWZ LIVE RADIO
We will be back on the air at approximately 5:45 as the Trophy Trucks near the finish line.
Click Here to Listen via Windows Media Player, iTunes, or your favorite audio player on your computer!!
Click on the play arrow to listen here on DIRTnewz.com
Check out our LIVE video from the streets of Baja as racers take to the start of the SCORE Baja 500
ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico – (June 5, 2009) –DIRTnewz is just back from the SCORE/ BFG media press conference where BFGoodrich Tires' Jeff Cummins and Frank Deangelo announced Larry Roseler as the 2008 BFGoodrich Motorsports Person of the Year. Many other drivers agreed that there isn't anyone else that deserves the award more than Larry Roseler, who has won many championships & victories in SCORE races both on two wheels & four.
We have brought our DIRTnewz LIVE Radio show to an end as the line of racers rolling through contingency thins out. Tune in tomorrow as we will once again broadcast LIVE at the start/finish and throughout the race course beginning at 6AM with the start of the Bikes, and continuing with the start of the 4 Wheel Vehicles at 10AM, race coverage and finishing with the checkered flag. Don't miss our DIRTnewz LIVE radio and Video tomorrow from the 2009 SCORE Baja 500.
If you click on the BFGoodrich "Relay 12" Radio link above you can listen to BFGoodrich "Relay 12" who will begin broadcasting his LIVE radio relay from atop a remote mountain in Northern Baja. Be sure you tune in to LISTEN to BFGoodrich "Relay 12" work his magic and help racers and chase teams relay their race information where there are no communications. Also known in the off road community as Wild Bill, he will be giving updates throughout race day as teams take on the grueling Baja desert.
If you missed our DIRTnewz LIVE Radio broadcast from SCORE's Baja 500 Contingency you can listen to the replay's here:
Baja California, Mexico – (June 4, 2009) – Although many teams have decided to divert their racing to avoid the Baja rumors, hundreds of teams are still planning to take the green flag at this year's Tecate SCORE Baja 500 and made the trek accross the border to prerun for this weekend's upcoming race. The Baja terrain hasn't changed much since the last time SCORE brought racers down here for the 2008 SCORE Baja 1000. Racers are saying that the start of the race is going to be tough due to rain ruts, but other than that it's pretty much the same.
Brian Collins suffered a blown motor early on in the week just outside of El Alamo in his Dodge three seat prerunner and had to find an alternate prerun plan. DIRTnewz staff caught up with Jesse Jones, who will be splitting driving duties with Bobby Baldwin in the #96 Chevy Trophy Truck. Jones will take off 19th off the line followed by KMC's Alan Pflueger. The two teamed up together in Jone's truck to take a look at their section and get used to what the course will throw at them come race day.
Although it has been said that G&R's Garron Cadiente and Ron Whitton will not be racing this year, their red & yellow #38/#39 chase vehicles were spotted throughout the Baja penninsula followed by the dark grey G&R prerunner. Fans will have to wait and see if they were just down here having some fun or if they will indeed make it to the start of this year's SCORE Baja 500.
DIRTnewz staffers were lucky enough to take part in prerunning with team MasterCraft's Robbie Pierce. Pierce, who will take off eighth in the #35 MasterCraft Chevrolet also unfortunately lost a motor during prerunning in his Prophy Truck and had to move over to his 4 seat Alumicraft prerunner. Riviera Racing's Mark Post also succumed to motor issues just outside of Laguna Salada, could it have something to do with the 110 degree weather?
The Desert Assassin's King Pin, Cameron Steele, hosted the fourth annual dress party at "Mike's Guy Ranch" (renamed for the night) last night in hopes to raise money for the local Rancho Santa Marta orfanage. Cameron and his crew, which included 'Pistol Pete' Sohren, Josh Daniel, Justin 'Bean' Smith, 'Fast Eddie', 'Kicker' and many more all manned up and sported their favorite dresses for the occasion. Although they didn't take part in the dress competition BullyDog/ Fantasy Off Road's Mike DeFord, MasterCraft's Robbie Pierce and Yokohama/Trackside's Vik all took part in the fun and helped raise over $1,000 for the local orphanage. Rancho Santa Marta, headed up by retired 1/2-1600 driver Bill Lawrence, were ecstatic to receive the donation and lit up at the sight of Cameron and Pete arriving in their Trophy Truck prerunners.
If you missed our LIVE broadcast from last nights radio show at Mike's Sky Ranch be sure you tune in starting at 10AM as we bring you our LIVE radio show and LIVE video feed from SCORE's Baja 500 contingency on the streets of Ensenada. SCORE will close down the local streets and gather the teams up for tech/contingency as fans get an up close and personal view of the teams and their race vehicles.
FORT MILL, SC – (May 31, 2009) – For the first time ever, off-road racing fans will be able to track the progress of their favorite Team General Tire drivers 140 characters at a time via Twitter, the hottest new social media communications application.
Beginning with the start of the race on Saturday, June 6, race fans or followers can log onto www.twitter.com/teamgt for up-to-the-minute progress reports for all of the Team GT drivers. Also, go to www.generaltire.com and check out the live tracking link provided by IRC www.racetheworld.net.
“We’ve been incorporating a wide range of the new social mediums into our overall communications plans, including Twitter and Facebook,” said Dana Zamalloa, manager of PR and communications, General Tire. “Twitter is the ultimate application for conveying real-time results to our fans. It’s a great way for fans to get up to the minute updates on Team GT’s progress during the race.”
June 4-7 event in Ensenada has entries from 25 States, 12 countries;
Course map, gps files available at www.score-international.com
LOS ANGELES—Southern California’s Larry Roeseler, the all-time winningest active racer in all of desert racing, enters next week’s 41st Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500 with 16 class wins, including 11 overall victories in this race. Roeseler will lead nearly 275 vehicles expected to enter, including 68 racers who have already entered and who have combined for 183 class wins in this popular summer classic.
Round 3 of the five-race 2009 SCORE Desert Series, the second-oldest desert race in the world and part of 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. It 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.
Roeseler, 52, who has returned to Boulevard, Calif., in his native San Diego area after living several years in Hesperia and Huntington Beach, is the second driver this year for Roger Norman, Reno, Nev., in the No. 8 Norman Motorsports Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy-Truck. The duo won the last two races of the 2008 season and are currently in 10th place in the 2009 point standings in SCORE Trophy-Truck, the marquee SCORE racing division for high-tech, 800-horsepower, unlimited production trucks.
LOS ANGELES—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.
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.
We are back to the Desert the first week of June for the Tecate Score Baja 500. I am excited to be back in the Class 1 car. We have made many changes to the chassis with the help of Gear One, Fox Racing, UPR and Greg Foutz since Primm last month, and not even the Swine Flu will stop us from getting this car to the checkers first.
We are also back with Team Green Kawasaki this year and have Reid Nordin and Hans Waage sharing the driving our Factory Backed Teryx. The success this car is having in both short course and Desert Racing make this 90 MPH Teryx quite the Monster in Baja
We added a Trophy Truck to the mix and brought Pistol Pete Sohren in to make it an all out assault on the 2009 Tecate Score Baja 500.
"I am excited to be part of team DragonFire Racing for one of the best races of the year. Team DragonFire plans to launch a three prong attack on the Baja 500 we are gunning for the Podium." Stated Pistol Pete Sohren.
Baja has and always will be the epic adventure, we are fortunate enough to be part of this series every year, and wish all our friends, drivers and competitors a safe and fast race. To stay updated on our status during the race visit:
ENSENADA, Mexico, June 12, 2008 - The 41st edition of the SCORE Baja 500 kicked off under beautiful sunny skies along the downtown waterfront of Ensenada, Baja California. Greeting housands of fans was ROCKSTAR Energy Drink athlete, Rob MacCachren, as he stood dressed for battle among the desert warriors.
ENSENADA, Mexico, June 10, 2009 – I am used to sitting behind the wheel. Holding on to it helps your body absorb harsh bumps and it gives you a general sense that you control your fate. This was my third race as navigator in the Torchmate Ranger and up to this race, I have always felt comfortable. The adventure of Baja racing is more extreme though and I once again felt the hair raising thrill that I have spent years attempting to numb. 
