Pre-running opens for the BFGoodrich Tires 56th SCORE Baja 500 at 8 a.m. PT Saturday

Rugged 483-mile course full of spectacular Baja magic

Gabriel Garcia, SCORE MEDIA OPERATIONS DIRECTOR: [email protected] AND SCORE HISTORIAN: Dominic Clark, [email protected]

ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico—To talk about the SCORE Baja 500 is to talk about a legendary desert racing event that has attracted hundreds of thousands of adventurers from all over the world, something that will happen again this year.

     The BFGoodrich Tires 56th SCORE Baja 500 in Ensenada is the second date of the 2024 SCORE World Desert Championship, starting and finishing in Ensenada on June 1 and June 2.

     Interest is peaking, especially with pre-running opening on Saturday over the 483.06-mile route that includes such classic areas of the sport as The Summit, Mike's Sky Rancho, Simpson’s Ranch, the Erendira ejido and Ojos Negros.

     A historic competition, which began in 1969 with a route starting and finishing in Ensenada, featured 163 competing teams, of which only 73 saw the checkered flag.

     Over the years, the SCORE Baja 500 has been held in different venues, but it has always been Ensenada that has captured its charm, with 49 starting sites in that city, three in Ojos Negros, 2 in San Felipe, and only 1 in the United States, specifically, in Barstow, Calif.

COURSE PREVIEW

     SCORE President/Race Director Jose A. Grijalva and SCORE Co-Race Director Rodo Fernandez, have put together another memorable race course to challenge the world’s best desert racers. The final distance is 483.06 miles.

     It will be starting and finishing again on fan-friendly Blvd. Costero adjacent to the iconic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in the heart of Ensenada. Pre-race Contingency and Tech Inspection will also be held on Blvd. Costero on Friday, May 31 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT.

     The course runs in a clockwise direction out of and back to the start/finish line compound in Ensenada, traveling through such noted areas as Ojos Negros, Tres Hermanos, El Alamo, Santa Catarina, the Summit, Cohabuzo Junction, Saldana, La Ventana access, El Arrajal wash, San Matias Pass, Mike’s Sky Rancho, Simpson’s Road to Valle de Trinidad, West to Llano Colorado, San Vicente Wash, Erendira, Santo Tomas, Uruapan, Rancho El Mezcal, Ojos Negros, and back to the finish line in Ensenada.

     The course has two complete stop physical checkpoints, 240 total virtual checkpoints and 13 speed zones for a total of 40.78 miles.

     Physical Checkpoint 1 is located at race mile 245.64 (near Eolic Field) and Checkpoint 2 is at rm354.71 (Llano Colorado).

     Among the other infamous Baja washes that the course will go through are: El Mezcal Wash, La Rajadura Wash, El Tule Wash, Alamito Wash (before the Summit), En Medio Wash (between the Summit and Cohabuzo), San Matias Wash, Los Encinos Wash, and El Salado Wash.

     All Sportsman classes, Class 11, 5/1600, Baja Challenge and Class 7SX will run a reduced course of a total of 456.91 miles.

     Pre-running starts at race mile 36.95 and finishes at rm446.11. The section from rm9.30 to rm33.12 may be run outbound only on Friday, May 31.

AN EVENT OF INTERNATIONAL STATURE

     Race festivities in Ensenada will be held May 29 to June 2 for the second round of the 2024 SCORE World Desert Championship.

     With the nearly 260 entries expected at the start line, 194 entries to date, including racers entered to make the trip to Mexican soil from 22 U.S. States, host country Mexico, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, and Peru.

     In the most recent entry list of teams, the figure is 192, highlighting that the class with the most entries is SCORE Trophy Truck with 33, followed by Trophy Truck Spec with 32, Pro UTV Open (15), Pro UTV FI (14), Pro UTV Stock (12), and Class 10 (10). Among the motorcycles, the class with the most participants so far is the Pro Moto Ironman (solo riders) with 11.

MENZIES, THE KING TO BEAT

     Bryce Menzies, 36, of Las Vegas, began his fabulous streak to No. 1 in SCORE Trophy Truck nearly a year ago at the 55th SCORE Baja 500 by winning the overall race in his Ford Raptor, built by Mason Motorsports.

     Menzies will now try to achieve consecutive victories in the SCORE Baja 500 with navigator Oren Anderson, who has been a member of the Menzies Motorsports team for several years, knowing that everyone wants to knock them off the throne of the "Monsters of the Desert".

     After his fourth place in the King Shocks 37th SCORE San Felipe 250 in March, Menzies, with a time of 4 hours, 15 minutes, 32 seconds on the 285.69 miles track, it's time to think about the podium, but also to take the checkered flag as it happened in the SCORE Baja 500 in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2023.

SOLORZANO, LEGEND OF CLASS 11

     Tijuana, Mexico native Eric Solorzano, 64, is a living legend of Off-Road and Class 11, with 7 wins in the history of the SCORE Baja 500 (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009), all as a member of the the special class of stock VW Sedans.

     Solorzano, one of two Mexicans in the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame, along with businessman Nico Saad, owner of the legendary Hotel San Nicolas in Ensenada, remains active and in this SCORE Baja 500 will join forces behind the wheel with Edwin Cherider, Manzano Adame and Leon Michel Burgoin, to try to return to the winner's circle.

EVA IS FULFILLING HER DREAM

     For several years, Eva Malabanan, 16 from El Cajon, Calif., dreamed of someday racing in SCORE, so she was participating in different Off-Road organizations in the United States and Mexico, to make the leap to the "Big Leagues" of this sport.

     Now Eva will be making her debut in a SCORE Baja 500, with the help of her father, Sean Malabanan, to try to bring her Polaris RZR XP1000 to the finish line in first place in the Pro UTV NA class, a mission that does not look easy, but she is ready for the big challenges.

     This past March, Eva Malabanan and Daniel Gutierrez, 58, Chula Vista, Calif., finished second in the King Shocks 37th SCORE San Felipe 250, overcoming their "first test", but now the challenge is twice as extreme for her.

LET'S ALL GO TO THE BLVD. COSTERO

     The colorful contingency row and tech inspection of all the participating vehicles will be held on Friday, May 31 on Ensenada's Boulevard Costero from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT, adjacent to the iconic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center. With the Manufacturer’s Midway and multiple local vendors, the pre-race pageantry draws upwards 50,000 people for the event that is free to the public.

     On Saturday, June 1, the green flag will drop on the Boulevard Costero, with the first motorcycle departing at 2:30 a.m. PT, while the first 4-wheeler will depart at 6:15 a.m. PT, having to overcome a 486-mile race course.  While the fastest vehicles are expected to finish in approximately 10 hours, all vehicles Will have a 20-hour time limit to become official finishers in the elapsed-time race.

     The awards celebration will be held on Sunday, June 2 at the Cathedral Hall of the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center at 12:30 p.m. Qualifying, contingency and the race days will be part of SCORE Live with Rat Sult on SCORE's official YouTube channel and also its official Facebook account. Tracking of the race vehicles will be available during the race through the SCORE website.

METHOD RACE WHEELS QUALIFYING

     SCORE Trophy Trucks, SCORE Trophy Truck, SCORE TT Legend and Trophy Truck Spec classes will hold the Method Race Wheels Qualifying session on Thursday, May 30. Starting with at 7 a.m. PT at a private venue, this event is closed to the public.

     The Method Race Wheels Qualifying will determine the starting order in those three classes for the race, as this is the first time in history that all SCORE four races will hold a qualifying session.

SCORE Live will air the Method Race Wheels Qualifying through the SCORE website.

     Start order for all of the other classes in this race will be determined by a random draw for positions within each class.

LAST DAYS OF ONLINE MEDIA REGISTRATION

     Applications for SCORE press credentials (Regular media, team media and commercial media) for the BFGoodrich Tires 56th SCORE Baja 500 are still open, exclusively online through the following direct link...http://score-international.com/score-media/.

     Once submitted through the SCORE website (deadline for submission is Friday, May 17), credential requests will be reviewed and a response email will be sent by us by Monday, May 20.

THE KING OF BAJA, BFGOODRICH TIRES

     BFGoodrich Tires, the official tire of SCORE for 48 years, was honored after the 2023 season as the SCORE Pit Support Company of the year for the 33rd time.

     BFGoodrich Tires has been the choice of 35 of the 56 overall winners of the popular SCORE Baja 500 and 33 of the 56 overall winners of the legendary SCORE Baja 1000. BFGoodrich Tires is also the title sponsor of both iconic races again in 2024.

     BFGoodrich Tires also has been the choice of 30 of the 37 overall winners of the SCORE San Felipe 250, all three SCORE Desert Challenge races, the lone SCORE Challenge of Champions in San Felipe, the one SCORE Baja Sur 500 and one of the three overall winners in the SCORE Baja 400.

BFGoodrich Tires has posted a contingency bonus for the overall winner of this year’s race of US$10,000.

SCOREscope

2024 SCORE SCHEDULE

Here are the dates for the three remaining 2024 SCORE World Desert Championship which are         being held in Baja California, Mexico for the ninth consecutive year:

BFGoodrich Tires 56th SCORE Baja 500—

May 29-June 2, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico

5th SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing Fuels—

September 11-15, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico

BFGoodrich Tires 57th SCORE Baja 1000—

November 11-17, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico

SCORE SPONSORS…

  Official SCORE Sponsors: BFGoodrich Tires-Official Tire and Race Title Sponsor, Ford-Official Truck and SUV, King Shocks-Official Shock Absorber and Race Title Sponsor, Polaris RZR-Official UTV, VP Racing Fuels-Official Fuel and race presenting sponsor, Optima Batteries-Official Battery, Rugged Radios-Official Radio Communication, Sylvania-Official Light, Method Race Wheels-Official Wheel and Race Qualifying sponsor, Lasernut-Official Custom Metal Fabricator, Wide Open Excursions-Official Arrive and Drive Company, Crystal Bay Casino-Official Casino.

  SCORE Official Partners: The Satellite Phone Store, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance.

Additional SCORE Associate Partners: Baja California Secretary of Tourism, MEXICO Secretary of Tourism, San Felipe Foundational Municipal Council, Ensenada Municipal Government, San Felipe Marketing Tourism Committee, Ensenada Marketing Tourism Committee, Ensenada Hotel and Motel Association, Proturismo Ensenada, and Cruz Roja Mexicana.

     For more information regarding SCORE, visit the official website of the SCORE World Desert Championship at www.SCORE-International.com.