Andy McMillin to start first at 51st SCORE Baja 500

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, dominiccnv@aol.com

May 25, 2019

Airing on ABC World of X Games

San Diego’s A. McMillin to start first in SCORE Trophy Truck,
Morgan first M/C start for next week’s 51st SCORE Baja 500

 

ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico – What was a forgone conclusion based on his winning the season opener in April, San Diego’s Andy McMillin will drive the first SCORE Trophy Truck to start the 4-wheel portion and Justin Morgan, El Cajon, Calif., will ride the first motorcycle to start the first portion of next week’s 51st Anniversary of the iconic SCORE Baja 500.
Pre-running on the rugged 487.11-mile course continues through next Friday (May 31).
Round 2 of the four-race 2019 SCORE World Desert Championship will be held May 29-June 2. The celebratory internationally-televised race will start and finish at the Lucas Oil Off-Road Stadium at the Estero Beach Resort in Ensenada, the seaside port on the Pacific Ocean, 80 miles south of San Diego.
Ensenada is a coastal city on the Bahia de Todos Santos area of the Pacific Ocean, 80 miles south of the U.S. border at San Diego.
THE SCOOP
Most the world’s best desert racers will be in action at this year’s celebration of one of the top 10 motorsports events in the entire world. The race will be televised on a delayed basis as a one-hour special on the ABC Network World of X Games programming. Los Angeles’ award-winning BCII TV will provide the production work of the telecast.
Like all SCORE races, it is an elapsed-time race with staggered starts as the green flag next Saturday (June 1) will drop first for the motorcycles and quads at 4 a.m. (PDT) and approximately 8 a.m. (PDT) for the cars, trucks and UTVs. The start/finish line area will be at the Lucas Oil Off-Road Stadium in Ensenada.
Over 250 vehicles are expected at the start line with racers from nearly 30 States and as many as 15 countries anticipated. Long-time SCORE sponsor BFGoodrich Tires has also posted a US$25,000 contingency bonus for the overall 4-wheel winner to help commemorate this year’s race.
START DRAW
SCORE announced prior to the start of the 2019 season that the finishing order from April’s 32nd SCORE San Felipe 250 would determine the start order for this race for those that raced in San Felipe and entered this race in time. Separate drawings were held for entries that did not finish in San Felipe and another start draw for all entries that didn’t race in San Felipe.
After winning the season-opener for his 10th career SCORE Trophy Truck win, Andy McMillin, 32, will start first in his No. 31 McMillin Racing Chevy Silverado (builder Mason).  Based on the finishing order in San Felipe, following Andy McMillin into the Baja desert will be Ryan Arciero, 45, Foothill Ranch, Calif., second in San Felipe in the No. 32 Ford F-150 (Herbst-Smith) and after that two other third-generation members of San Diego’s McMillin ‘Dynasty in the Desert’ family will start third and fifth.
Third off the line will be Dan McMillin, 31, of San Diego in the No. 23 Ford F-150 (Racer) and fifth will be Luke McMillin, 26, of San Diego, in the No. 83 Ford-150 (Racer).
Starting fourth will be Zak Langley, 44, Manhattan Beach, Calif., in the No. 50 COPS Racing Ford F-150 (ESM). And sixth will be TV Action Sports announcer and Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame racer Cameron Steele, 51, San Clemente, Calif., in the No. 16 Monster Energy Desert Assassins Ford Raptor.
For the motorcycles, Morgan and co-riders Mark Samuels, Yucca Valley, Calif. and Justin Jones, Murrieta, Calif., will be the first vehicle off the line in their No. 1x Monster Energy Honda CRF450X.
PRE-RUNNING
Official practice, or pre-running, on the official 487.11-mile course for this year’s continues through Friday May 31. Pre-running starts at race mile 30.41 near Uruapan and finish at the same location at race mile 456.76.
The section from the start to race mile 30.41 may only be run outbound and only on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of race-week. GPS files, course notes and preliminary Racer’s Briefing are available on the race page on the SCORE website under race info.
THE COUNT
The total of 228 entries to date have come from 25 U.S. States and 12 total countries--host country Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Peru, Spain and Venezuela.
States among the field range so far from California, Washington and Oregon in the Pacific West, Nevada, Idaho, Arizona, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico in the Mountain West, New York and Connecticut in the Northeast, Illinois, Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin in the Midwest and Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia in the South.
Leading the entries so far is the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division for high-tech, 950-horsepower, unlimited custom trucks with 38 official entries as of today.
SCORE Trophy Truck, in its 26th year as the featured racing division in the sport, have been the overall winners of the SCORE Baja 500 for the last nine consecutive years and 14 of the last 15.
Other classes with double-figure entries so far besides SCORE Trophy Truck with 38 are Trophy Truck Spec with 27 entries, Pro UTV FI (Forced Induction) with 24, Class 10 with 16, the unlimited Class 1 with 13 and SCORE Lites with 11 and SPT Quad with 10.
Leading the motorcycle classes so far with eight entries each are Pro Moto Limited and SPT Moto.
CHALLENGING COURSE
The 51st anniversary SCORE Baja 500 race course, designed and finalized by SCORE President/Race Director Jose A. Grijalva is a rugged, challenging 487.11 miles. The course will run in a clockwise direction starting and finishing for approximately one mile in each direction on the off-road track at the Lucas Oil Off-Road Stadium. The first and last 30.41 miles up to Uruapan and back will be shared course outbound and inbound.
The historic race course is another memorable example of all that Mexico’s Baja California has to offer, including high-speed dirt trails, sandy, rocky and silty natural terrain, majestic Baja washes and canyons, stretches along the Pacific Ocean seashore with elevations from sea level to over 3,000 feet. The course will be another jewel reflecting the mesmerizing, stark beauty of Baja California.
This year’s 51st anniversary course will have four physical checkpoints, 146 virtual checkpoints and 11 speed zones (total of 41.72 race miles).
The four checkpoints will be located as follows: Checkpoint No. 1-Nuevo Junction (Race Mile 144.50), Checkpoint No. 2-San Matias (RM 256.32), Checkpoint No. 3-Vicente Guerrero (RM 343.47) and Checkpoint No. 4-Santo Tomas (RM 446.08).
Reflecting on the course, Grijalva commented, “This is going to be the one of the roughest and toughest as well as one of the most spectacular SCORE Baja 500 race course. There are numerous areas of the course that SCORE has never used before in its long and storied history in Baja.”
Among the other towns, areas and landmarks the course goes through or near are San Carlos wash, Uruapan, Santa Catarina, the Summit, Borrego, Mike’s Sky Rancho, Rancho El Coyote, San Telmo, Rancho Montes, Santo Domingo wash, Camalu, Colonet, San Vicente  and the wash at Erendira.
ESTERO BEACH S/F
Start/finish line area for this year’s SCORE Baja 500 will be the Lucas Oil Off-Road Stadium on the grounds of the Estero Beach Hotel & Resort, 12.2 miles south of downtown Ensenada. This will mark the first time the race has started at the popular luxury resort.
SCORE has also announced that there will be no admission charge for spectators to view the start and finish of the race from several thousand grandstand seats at the Lucas Oil Off-Road Stadium at Estero Beach. The course will run on nearly one mile of the Lucas Oil track outbound and inbound.
A HAPPENING…
Colorful race week festivities will be expanded to help celebrate another big anniversary of SCORE’s first Baja race.
Chassis inspections will be held on Thursday (May 30) as well as pre-tech/Stella bracket check and installation on Avenida Lopez Mateos in Ensenada.
On Friday evening will be the Monster Energy Papas Y Beer Street Party on Avenida Ruiz from 6 p.m. to 12 midnight.
On-site Racer Registration and Media Registration will be held on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (May 29-31) at the Mayapan Conference Center at the Estero Beach Resort.
Racer registration will be held on Wednesday (May 29) from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. PDT, on Thursday (May 30) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday (May 31) with no new entries accepted after 3 p.m. PDT on that day.
Media registration will be held in the Mayapan Conference Center from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. PDT on Wednesday (May 29) and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT on both Thursday and Friday (May 30-31).
Friday (May 31) will see the day-long, pre-race Manufacturer’s Midway and contingency festival at the Lucas Oil Off-Road Stadium at Estero Beach. Starting at 8 a.m. contingency row will be held all classes. Tech inspection on that day will also start at 8 a.m. at the end of the manufacturer’s row.
During the race on Saturday, June 1 until the course closes on Sunday morning, June 2, the start/finish line compound at the Lucas Oil Off-Road Stadium at Estero Beach will include the massive double-sided SCOREvision LED screen broadcasting race festivities and start and finish line interviews. Popular Rat Sult will again serve as primary host of the SCORE live streaming.
All of the week’s festivities will be aired both live and same-day including the race, airing via the internet on the SCORE website.
COURSE MAP
The official 487.11-mile course map is available on the SCORE website at the following link… http://score-international.com/raceinfo/course-map-2019-baja-500/.
GRAN HISTORIA
Following last year’s epic celebration of the 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 500, this year’s SCORE World Desert Championship includes another special tribute to the iconic SCORE Baja 500 when it is held this year in Ensenada.
The SCORE Baja 500 is one of the top motorsports events in the world. It was started originally in 1969 by the NORRA organization. Mickey Thompson and his SCORE International organization were invited by the Mexican government to take over the event starting in 1974. Sal Fish ran and later owned and produced the SCORE Baja 500 for 39 years until he sold SCORE in December of 2012.
The first Baja 500 organized and produced by SCORE was held on July 26, 1974 as the first of over 150 SCORE Baja races.
Ensenada is the heart and soul of the SCORE Baja 500 as the popular summertime race will start for the 46th time there and finish for the 42nd time there.
In the history of the race, the start and finish line areas have been located in several areas of Ensenada and this year will be the first time the race has either started or finished at Estero Beach.
SCOREscope
2019 SCHEDULE
Here is the four-race 2019 SCORE World Desert Championship and for the fourth consecutive year all races are being held in Baja California, Mexico:

• 33rd SCORE San Felipe 250, April 3-7, San Felipe, Mexico
• 51st SCORE Baja 500, May 29-June 2, Ensenada, Mexico
• Inaugural Lucerna SCORE Baja 400, Sept. 19-23, Ensenada, Mexico
• 52nd SCORE Baja 1000, Nov.19-24, Ensenada, Mexico

ABC TV IN 2019
The 2019 SCORE World Desert Championship will be televised on the ABC TV family of networks, marking the first time back on the ABC network since the 1967 and 1968 coverage of the Baja 1000 on ABC’s old Wide World of Sports show.
The one-hour shows on the 33rd SCORE San Felipe 250, 51st SCORE Baja 500 and the 52nd SCORE Baja 1000 will be televised as part of ABC’s World of X Games year-long programming. Presented by SCORE sponsors Monster Energy and BFGoodrich Tires, the ABC World of X Games series profiles iconic action sports figures and also highlights athletes, artists, event previews and recaps.
The show for the SCORE San Felipe 250 is scheduled to air on ABC on Saturday, June 1 at 2:30 p.m. ET and 1:30 p.m. PT. Check local listings for time in each are of the country.
The inaugural Lucerna SCORE Baja 400 next September will air as a one-hour special on ESPN TV.
All of the SCORE race coverage shows will continue to air internationally in nearly 25 countries in Europe, Asia, Latin America and South America via syndication and ESPN International.
SCORE SPONSORS…
Official SCORE Sponsors: BFGoodrich Tires-Official Tire, Monster Energy-Official Energy Drink, King Shocks-Official Shock Absorber, Polaris RZR-Official UTV, RACELINE Wheels-Official Wheel, VP Racing Fuels-Official Fuel, Lucerna Hotels & Resorts-Official Hotel and official race title sponsor, Wide Open Excursions-Official Arrive and Drive Company, Crystal Bay Casino-Official Casino.
SCORE Official Partners: PCI Race Radios, The Satellite Phone Store.
Additional SCORE Associate Partners: Proturismo Ensenada, Baja California Secretary of Tourism, Mexicali Ayuntamiento, COTUCO Mexicali/San Felipe, Cruz Roja Mexicana, Corporate Helicopters.
For more information regarding SCORE, visit the official website of the SCORE World Desert Championship at www.SCOREInternational.com.

SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (38)
31 Andy McMillin
32 Ryan Arciero
23 Dan McMillin
50 Zak Langley
83 Luke McMillin
16 Cameron Steele
14 Bobby Pecoy
41 Justin Lofton
40 Chris Miller
77 Robby Gordon
7 Bryce Menzies
19 Tim Herbst
97 Robert ‘BJ’ Baldwin
*1L Scott Bailey
10 Alan Ampudia
*37L Rolf Helland
85 Mike Lawrence
*72L Rob Reinertson
15 Billy Wilson
11 Rob MacCachren
26 Dave Taylor
*79L Russell Buehler
45 Gary Magness
2 Tony Smiley
*5L Clyde Stacy
4 Justin Matney
*55L Jose de Jesus Flores
33 Todd Tuls
99 Dale Dondel
27 Jonathan Brenthel
28 Corey Keysar
3 Mark Post
21 Gustavo ‘Tavo’ Vildosola
54 Troy Herbst
9 Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez
*25L Mark Winkelman
70 Kevin Thompson
57 Mike Palmer
*SCORE TT LEGEND
CLASS 1 (13)
100 Brad Wilson
168 Shelby Reid
185 Justin Davis
105 Mason Cullen
162 Brendan Gaughan
129 Brandon Bailey
106 Derek Fletcher
150 Morgan Langley
138 Brian Wilson
127 Cody Parkhouse
166 Brady Turner
167 Rhys Millen
113 Damen Jefferies-RS
TROPHY TRUCK SPEC (27)
279 Austin ‘A.J.’ Jones
204 Sara Price
299 Charles Dorrance
232 Chelsea Magness
209 Rafael Navarro IV
274 Elias Hanna
246 James Scully
250 John Langley
294 Vincent Munoz
295 William Hedrick Jr
260 Luis Pelayo
253 Mike Perez
211 Pat Sims
218 Chad Dohrman
266 Scott Biernot
270 Kelly McArthur
240 Bobby Patton
205 Joe Delucie
234 Jason McNeil
208 Andrew Entwistle
297 Bill McBeath
238 Scott Kiger
275 Jaun Sanchotena
290 T.J. Tuls
254 Joe Brain
257 Shane Redline
220 Craig Christy-RS
CLASS 2 (1)
2022 Hammond Meredith
HAMMER TRUCK UNLTD (1)
4421 Mike Hales-RS
CLASS 10 (16)
1011 Cesar Cuevas
1008 Chase Warren
1022 Rafael Aguirre
1068 Cody Reid
1016 Hiram Duran
1002 Clay Lawrence
1058 Jeremy Davis
1048 Kevin Price
1062 J.J. Schnarr
1026 Hugo Becerra
1099 Rick Little
1069 Dan Berg
1060 Pedro Perez
1063 Ruben Torres
1087 Ivan Tagle
1078 Augie Cortez
CLASS 7 (2)
700 Daniel Chamlee
709 Jeff Proctor
CLASS 5 (2)
527 Dustin Grabowski
510 Gerardo Ibarra-1st RS
PRO UTV FI (24)
2975 Mike Cafro
2905 Marc Burnett
2919 Brandon Schueler
2987 Edgar Garcia
2977 Justin Elenberg
2930 Sean Cook
2926 Christine Giampaoli Zonca
2912 Tony Riggs
2946 Jose Juarez
2904 Cory Sappington
2910 Scott Trafton
2918 Justin Lambert
2936 Jacob Carver
2968 Paul Kraus
2911 Michael Mamelli Jr
2948 Matthew Burroughs
2978 Jose Juarez
2927 Justin Smith
2931 Craig Scanlon
2903 Juan Martinez
2917 Jason Murray
2942 Casey Currie
2964 Derek McGaughy 3rd-RS
2995 Daniel Parker 2nd-RS
2971 Wayne Matlock 1st-RS
SCORE LITES (11)
1206 Freddie Willert
1202 Matias Arjona IV
1212 Martin Lizarraga
1224 Javier Rochin
1297 Gerardo Sadney
1247 Wes McKenzie
1208 Rich Roberts
1255 Darren Walsh
1229 Douglas Satterfield 3rd-RS
1257 Michael Cooper 2nd-RS
1203 Oliver Flemate 1st-RS
PRO UTV NA (6)
1995 Kaden Wells
1912 Rickey Arslanian
1906 Mark Levrett
1985 Adrian Arellana
1958 George Felix
1954 Kristen Matlock 1st-RS
CLASS 1/2-1600 (6)
1614 Bruce Yee
1600 Oscar Alvarez
1616 Angel Barajas
1650 Adolfo Arambula 3rd-RS
1683 Juan Peralta 2nd-RS
1609 J. David Ruvalcaba 1st-RS
PRO UTV UNLIMITED (3)
1877 Josh Herzing
1850 Jesus Mendez Jr
1851 Herman Johnson
PRO UTV STOCK (1)
3937 Brad Lovell
CLASS 8 (1)
852 Spencer Morgan
BAJA CHALLENGE (1)
BC4 Edward Muncey
CLASS 5-1600 (5)
550 Luis Herrera
575 Edgar Torres
571 David Heredia
599 Hector Hurtado 2nd-RS
582 Rodolfo Martinez 1st-RS
CLASS 7F (4)
700F Brandon Walsh
725F Kelly McNeil
704F Aaron Celiceo
714F Justin Park
CLASS 7SX (2)
751 Mike Lesle
740 Gerardo Novelo 1st-RS
CLASS 3700 (1)
3791 Brett Maister
CLASS 11 (6)
1111 Eric Solorzano
1152 Elmer Cayetano
1113 Kent Thygerson
1106 Mauro Diaz
1164 John Marshall
1153 Ruben Osuna 1st-RS

SPT UNLTD TRUCK (1)
2044 Russ Hopkins
SPT OPEN-WHEEL (1)
1577 Diane Gianelli

PRO MOTO UNLIMITED (8)
1x Justin Morgan
4x Ray Dal Soglio
66x Santiago Creel
12x Webster Whinery Jr
69x Ben Hagle
18x Araben Agundez
50x Alirio Amado
52x Alirio Amado
PRO MOTO LIMITED (6)
120x Marco Pena
100x Santiago Creel
116x Eric Kirby
180x Fernando Beltran
129x Fernando Tavares
110x Carlos Miranda
PRO MOTO 40 (3)
444x Jason Trubey
420x Paul Thomas
436x Bobby Wilbanks
PRO MOTO 30 (7)
308x Ryan Liebelt
360x Santiago Creel
325x Jano Montoya
304x Chris Racan
365x Nick Lanning
300x Luis M. Gomez
370x Francisco Septien
PRO MOTO IRONMAN (6)
729x Michael Skurkis
775x Tanner Janesky
737x Joseph Amirault
708x Joe Janas
714x Lawrence Janesky
750x Julian Guerra
PRO MOTO 50 (3)
500x Giovanni Spinali
506x Mark Adams
508x Eizaburo Karasawa

Pro Quad (3)
1a Said Sanchez
2a Don Higbee
3a Oskar Espinoza

SPT QUAD (10)
100a Danny Magdalena
123a Ismael Hernandez
115a Norberto Arce
145a Carlos Napoles
170a Carlos Napoles
124a Ruben Ramos
127a Marco Sanchez
130a Nakol Hernandez
148a Alejandro Amador
135a Jesus Valezuela
SPT M/C (8)
284x Shane Schorno
228x Scott McIntosh
223x Mike Mettler
234x Clay Adams
253x Seiji Kubota
257x Steven Miller
266x Roy Buelna
237x Rachel Van Diepen