39th Annual Tecate Score Baja 500 Preview
Blais, Apple Valley, Calif., finished third in this
year’s Dakar Rally and will race on the No. 7x
Red Bull/KTM motorcycle with Las Vegas’ David
Pearson. Childress, who won the overall motorcycle crown
in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 in 2005 with Mouse McCoy,
will be the third rider this year on a team led by Marc
Burnett, Chula Vista, Calif. The third team member is
Shawn Highland, Temecula, Calif., a professional Freestyle
rider. Burnett, who won Class 21 in this race in 1996,
and Highland, finished third in Class 22 on the teams
Suzuki RMZ450 in March’s Tecate SCORE Baja 250.
Childress finished second in that race with Andy Grider
as his co-rider.
Two former overall motorcycle winners, Scot Harden
and Kurt Pfeiffer, will race with family efforts this
year. Harden, 50, Menifee, Calif., who has four class
wins including three overalls (1978, 1985, 1986) in
this race, will ride with his son Brent Harden, 23,
Sun City, Calif., Mike Lafferty, 31, Temecula, Calif.
And Jacob Cornett, 23, La Mesa, Calif., on a KTM 450XC
in Class 21. Scot Harden’s overall win in 1985
was with Kurt Pfeiffer.
Lafferty is a 7-time AMA National Enduro champion,
Brent Harden was the 2006 AMA District 37 Enduro Series
champion, and Cornett is a veteran motocross racer.
Kurt Pfeiffer, 43, Riverside, Calif., who has five
class wins including two overalls (1985, 1988) in this
race, will ride with his brothers Kent, 45, and Scott,
50, who both live in Costa Mesa, Calif., and who were
both also successful SCORE racers in the 1980s. Between
them, the Pfeiffer brothers have 14 class wins in the
Tecate SCORE Baja 500 and in 1981 and 1982 the three
brothers won two classes. Kurt won Class 20 each year
with different riders and Kent and Scott rode together
to win Class 21 each of those years. They will be racing
in Class 40 (riders over 40 years old) this year on
a Yamaha YZ450 sponsored by Beach Yamaha, who was their
primary sponsor over 20 years ago.
The race also includes several top motorcycle riders
with several in the age-group classes, including: Jim
O’Neal, Japan’s Eizaburo Karasawa and Mexico’s
Gerardo Rojas and J. David Ruvalcaba.
O’Neal, 60, Chatsworth, Calif., has put together
incredible teams that have eight age group class wins
in six years in this race, including double class wins
in both 2002 and 2006. O’Neal, owner of the noted
apparel company that bears his name, has retired his
Class 40 Honda XR650R that six consecutive SCORE season
point championships from 2001 through 2006. This year,
he has put together talented teams in both Class 30
and Class 50. In this year’s motorcycle season
opener, his teams won Class 30 and finished second in
Class 50.
Karasawa, always a fierce competitor, has three class
wins in this race, two in Class 40 and his most recent
in Class 50 in 2005.
Rojas won two straight in Class 30 in 2004 and 2005
while Ruvalcaba has three class wins in this race, capturing
Class 21 three straight years, from 1999-2001.
All back to attempt to defeat the ATV team led by Danny
Prather and Mike Cafro, the second through fifth place
finishers in last year’s race are: Wayne Matlock,
El Cajon, Calif./Chad Prull, Laveen, Ariz., Francisco
Ruano, Tijuana, Mexico, Jeff Hancock, Salome, Ariz.,
and Josh Frederick, Moapa, Nev.
Led by record-setting Anna Jo Cody, the Tecate SCORE
Baja 500 has also attracted several female racers to
the motorcycle and ATV classes. Cody, 39, of Simi Valley,
Calif., who set a record last November by becoming the
first ever female rider to solo and finish within the
time limit in the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, is entered
in Class 21 this year with a three-rider all-female
team. Besides herself, racing with Cody will be Jennifer
Morton, Escondido, Calif., and Stacy Doerksen, Apple
Valley, Calif.
Riding solo in Class 21 will be San Diego County School
Principal Jessica McCreary, Ramona, Calif. In the Sportsman
Motorcycle Under 250cc class with support from her husband
Tim McCreary, who will stay close by while riding solo
in the Sportsman Motorcycle Over 250cc class.
Among the other female racers entered in a motorcycle
class is Nancy Emde, 51, of Vista, Calif., a regular
on the Baja trails as part of the Trail Boss Tours company.
Emde was the only female rider on a team led by Charles
Snell that won Class 20 in last year’s Tecate
SCORE Baja 1000.
In the Pro ATV Class 24, Brianna Mancillas, 19, Chula
Vista, Calif., is the rider of record with the balance
of the team being all male riders that includes her
father Carlos Mancillas.
To date, the Pro 4-Wheel vehicles classes with the
most entries are: Class 1 (53), SCORE Trophy-Truck (39),
SCORE Lite (26), Class 1-2/1600 (24) and Class 5/1600
(19).
Leading the Motorcycle classes in entries so far are
Class 22 (24), Class 30 and Class 40 (20 each) and Class
21 (19). Class 25 for open ATVs has 15 entries. Among
the Sportsman classes, SPT Motorcycles over 250cc has
53 entries and SPT ATV has 20.
The starting line area will once again be in front
of the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center on Boulevard
Costero in downtown Ensenada, Mexico. The finish line
will be where it was last year--inside the Campo de
Softball Jose Negro Soto stadium at 11th Street (Calle
Once) and Espinoza Avenue in Ensenada. The stadium is
located approximately 1.5 miles east of the start line
area. Vehicles will start in 30-second intervals in
the elapsed-time race.
Pre-race festivities at the 39th Tecate SCORE Baja
500 will include the colorful SCORE Midway and tech
inspection adjacent to the San Nicolas Hotel in Ensenada
from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Friday (June 1). Racer
registration will be held in the Grand Ballroom at the
San Nicolas Hotel from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday
(May 31) and from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday (June
1).
The mandatory racer’s briefing will be held at
7 p.m. on Friday (June 1) in the Cathedral Room at the
Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center. At 11 a.m. on
Sunday (June 3), the awards celebration will be held
poolside at the San Nicolas Hotel.
Starting and finishing in Ensenada on the majestic
Baja California peninsula, this year’s tight and
technical course will run in a clockwise direction,
running East into the middle of the peninsula, then
South, followed by a West travel section, turning north,
then East, North, Northeast and back West for the final
charge back into Ensenada.
The 2007 SCORE Desert Series also includes the chase
for the $75,000 Kartek Off-Road contingency bonus to
be awarded to several 2007 SCORE Class point champions
along with the run for the $12,000 Toyota True Grit
and Toyota Milestone Awards.
Current SCORE official annual sponsors are: BFGoodrich
Tires-official tire, Sunoco Race Fuels/Bryant Petroleum-official
fuel supplier, Bilstein-official shock, Instant Mexico
Auto Insurance-official Mexican auto insurance, American
Racing ATX Series-official wheel, Slime-official tire
sealant, Airstar America-official space lighting provider,
Red Bull--official energy drink and Bosch Power Tools-official
power tool. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola
of Mexico, Las Vegas Events, Terrible Herbst Inc., Blue
C Communications, Kartek Off-Road, Fram, Autolite, Prestone,
Bendix, American Suzuki, NAPA Chassis, SignPros, P.C.I.
Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and
Advanced Color Graphics.
For more information, 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.
www.score-international.com
23961 Craftsman Rd. #A
Calabasas, CA 91302
818-225-8402
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