Samuels draws first M/C start, entries from 18 States, 7 countries in start draw for BFGoodrich Tires 52nd annual SCORE Baja 500

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, dominic@score-international.com September 17, 2020 Presented by 4 Wheel Parts

Samuels draws first M/C start, entries from 18 States, 7 countries in start draw for BFGoodrich Tires 52nd annual SCORE Baja 500

  ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico – While qualifying for starting positions will be held during race week for four of the top 4-wheel vehicle classes, SCORE champion racer Mark Samuels has drawn the first motorcycle starting position this week for next week’s internationally-televised BFGoodrich Tires 52nd SCORE Baja 500, presented by 4 Wheel Parts, in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico. As pre-running on the challenging 493.00-mile course continues through next Friday, online entries from 18 U.S. States, host Mexico, Bolivia, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands and New Zealand are preparing for the legendary opener of the two-race internationally-televised 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship. The event will be held March 29-April 2 in San Felipe, the quaint fishing village on the Sea of Cortez, 125 miles south of the U.S. Border at Calexico, Calif. Qualifying for the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division, SCORE TT Legend (drivers over 50 years old), unlimited Class 1 and Trophy Truck Spec will be held next Wednesday in San Felipe. Samuels, 31, Yucca Valley, Calif., is a veteran champion SCORE racer who will be the rider of record on the No. 1x SLR Honda CRF450X. Samuels teammates and co-riders are Justin Morgan, 30, El Cajon, Calif., and Justin Jones, 29, Murrieta, Calif. Samuels has three overall motorcycle wins in this race, Morgan, who was rider of record the past two years, has four overalls and Jones has two overalls. BACK TO BAJA Prior to late, on-site racer registration next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in San Felipe, 129 official entries have been processed from 18 U.S. States along with host country Mexico, Bolivia, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands and New Zealand. The first of two races on the pandemic-abbreviated 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship schedule will be held Wednesday through Sunday in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico. San Felipe is the peaceful village on the Sea of Cortez, 125 miles south of the U.S. Border at Calexico, Calif. Both 2020 SCORE races will be held on Mexico’s magnificent Baja California peninsula for the fifth consecutive year. THE SCOOP Competition will include classes for cars, trucks UTVs, motorcycles and quads for the internationally-televised BFGoodrich Tires 52nd SCORE Baja 500, presented by 4 Wheel Parts. Many of 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 and syndicated internationally to as many as 25 countries. The shows are produced by SCORE in association with prominent SoCal company BCII TV. Lead announcer for the show will be veteran Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame (ORMHoF) inductee (2018), SCORE Trophy Truck champion racer and action sports TV announcer Cameron Steele. It is an elapsed-time race with staggered starts as the green flag on Saturday (Sept. 26) will drop first for the motorcycles and quads at 3 a.m. PT and approximately 7 a.m. PT for the cars, trucks and UTVs. While 130 entries are entered to date, nearly 150 vehicles are expected at the start line. Long-time SCORE sponsor and race title 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. MORE FIRST STARTS Among the many classes where starting positions were drawn, starting on the pole in their respective classes will be Sean Cook (Pro UTV FI) where there were 17 vehicles in the draw. Also drawing first starts were Harvey Meservey (Class 10, Mario Alcala (SCORE Lite), Travis Wells (Pro UTV NA), Eliott Watson (Pro UTV Unlimited) and Giovanni Spinali (Pro Moto 50). EL DORADO RANCH S/F Following planning with and approval from city and state governments, SCORE International has announced that all the official pre-race activities and the start/finish line compound for this year’s SCORE Baja 500 will be held in a restricted area at the prominent El Dorado Ranch resort with no spectators allowed. Spectators following health and safety protocols will be allowed in the open areas around the 493.00-mile race course. MAIN COURSE The race features a course, as finalized and plotted by SCORE President/Race Director Jose A. Grijalva of 493.00 miles. It runs both North and South of San Felipe in a counterclockwise direction on the East side of the Baja California peninsula. 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, dry lake beds, majestic Baja washes and canyons, stretches along the ocean with elevations from sea level to over 3,000 feet. The course is another jewel reflecting the stark beauty of Baja California. There are three physical full-stop checkpoints and 198 virtual checkpoints. Checkpoint 1 is at race mile 155.63 (Laguna Salada), CP2 is at rm278.11 (Laguna Amarga) and CP3 is at rm459.11 (Camino altura Percebu). There are just six speed zones for a total of only 8.65 miles.      Much of the course runs through Laguna Salada as well as going through parts of four of Baja California’s infamously magnificent washes: Amarillas, Chanate, Huatamote and Azufre. All Sportsman classes along with Pro classes 7SX, 11 and 9 will run an abbreviated course of 433.34 miles. COURSE MAP, ETC. Official practice, or pre-running, on the official 493.00-mile race course for this year’s BFGoodrich Tires 52nd SCORE Baja 500, presented by 4 Wheel Parts continues until Friday starting at race mile 0.11 and finishing at race mile 492.89. The official SCORE Racer Brief, course map and GPS files are available under racer info on the SCORE website. QUALIFYING SCORE will hold a qualifying session for this race starting at 7 a.m. PT on Wednesday (Sept. 23) to determine the starting positions within each class for the SCORE Trophy Truck, SCORE TT Legend, Class 1 and Trophy Truck Spec divisions. Entries in these classes had be completed by last Friday to be eligible to qualifying. Start order for qualifying will be based solely on entry order into race, by class. Qualifying will be held on a 3.47-mile course South of San Felipe near the local airport. HEALTH & SAFETY Because of the significant health and safety Biosecurity protocols developed by SCORE in conjunction with and the approval of state and local health authorities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, all race-week festivities and the start/finish line compound will be restricted access only and closed to the general public. LIVE STREAMING On the two days of contingency Wednesday and Thursday and during the race on Saturday, Sept. 26 until the course closes on Sunday morning, Sept. 27, there will be extensive live streaming from the start/finish line compound broadcasting race activities and start and finish line interviews. Popular Rat Sult will again serve as primary host of the SCORE live streaming. With no spectators allowed in the start/finish line compound, all of the week’s activities will be streamed both live and same-day including the race, airing via the internet on the SCORE website and social media platforms. DETAILS As required by the health and safety Biosecurity protocols required to conduct this race, race week activities will have restricted access at the Eldorado Ranch with no spectators allowed for contingency, tech inspection and the start/finish compound. On-site Racer Registration and Media Registration, again with restricted access, will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (September 22-25) at the Pavilion at El Dorado Ranch. Racer registration will be held for racers who are qualifying from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday (Sept. 22). Racer registration for the balance of the entries will be held on Wednesday (Sept. 23) from Noon to 7 p.m. PDT, on Thursday (Sept. 24) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday (Sept. 25) with no new entries accepted after 3 p.m. PDT on that final day of registration. SCORE Media registration will be held in the Pavilion at El Dorado Ranch from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday (Sept. 22) from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. PDT on Wednesday (Sept. 23) and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT on both Thursday and Friday (Sept. 24-25). GRAN HISTORIA The SCORE Baja 500 is one of the top motorsports events in the world. It was started originally in 1969 by the NORRA organization. With tremendous assistance from Ensenada tourism advocate Nico Saad, Mickey Thompson and his fledgling 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. Prior to this year, only four times has the race not been held in Ensenada at all. Because of continuing friction between the government and land owners, Sal Fish moved the 1984 race to the desert near Barstow, Calif., USA and again in 1989 for the same reason Fish moved the race to San Felipe. With no spectators allowed because of the Biosecurity Protocols, this year’s race will start and finish at the El Dorado Ranch resort in San Felipe. While this will be just the second time for the SCORE Baja 500 to be held in San Felipe, the SCORE San Felipe 250, which was not held in 2020 because of the pandemic, has been held in San Felipe for 32 of its 33-year history. SCOREscope 2020 SCORE SKED

• BFGoodrich Tires 52nd SCORE Baja 500, presented by 4 Wheel Parts—

September 22-27, San Felipe, Mexico

• BFGoodrich Tires 53rd SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts—

November 17-22, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico ABC TV AGAIN IN 2020 For the second straight year, the 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship will air on the ABC family of networks. The two-races will air as specials on ABC TV’s World of X Games program with replays on ESPN2. ABC first covered the 1967 and 1968 Baja 1000 races on the old ABC Wide World of Sports show with Jim McKay and again in the late 1980s with veteran motorsports journalist Sam Posey. All of the SCORE race coverage shows also continue to air internationally in nearly 25 countries in Europe, Asia, Latin America and South America via syndication and ESPN International. The shows are co-produced by SCORE International and SoCal’s award-winning BCII TV. SCORE SPONSORS… Official SCORE Sponsors: BFGoodrich Tires-Official Tire and Race Title Sponsor, Monster Energy-Official Energy Drink, 4 Wheel Parts-Official Off-Road Retailer and Race Presenting Partner, Ford-Official Truck and SUV, King Shocks-Official Shock Absorber, Polaris RZR-Official UTV, RACELINE Wheels-Official Wheel, VP Racing Fuels-Official Fuel, Wide Open Excursions-Official Arrive and Drive Company, Crystal Bay Casino-Official Casino. SCORE Official Partners: PCI Race Radios, The Satellite Phone Store, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, Lucerna Hotel. Additional SCORE Associate Partners: Baja California Secretary of Sustainable Economy and Tourism, XXIII Ensenada Municipal Government, XXIII Mexicali Municipal Government, Mexicali and San Felipe COTUCO, Cruz Roja Mexicana. For more information regarding SCORE, visit the official website of the SCORE World Desert Championship at www.SCOREInternational.com.#scorebaja500.

BFGoodrich Tires 52nd SCORE Baja 500, presented by 4 Wheel Parts

(Start order within class) SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (20) (Qualifying Order) 26 Dave Taylor 85 Mike Lawrence 23 Dan McMillin 83 Luke McMillin 77 Robby Gordon 17 Josh de Jong 10 Alan Ampudia 1 Andy McMillin 17 Josh De Jong 11 Rob MacCachren 40 Chris Miller 41 Justin Lofton 43 Larry Roeseler 19 Tim Herbst 35 Carlos Penunuri Ibarra 38 Eric Hustead *5L Clyde Stacy *20L Bobby Patton *55L Jose de Jesus Flores *25L Mark Winkelman-2nd RS *47L Jim Bult-1st RS *SCORE TT LEGEND CLASS 1 (8) (Qualifying Order) 114 Al Torres 123 Broc Dickerson 162 Brendan Gaughan 127 Cody Parkhouse 103 Gabriel Torres 163 Ruben Torres 121 Rodimiro Amaya-2nd RS 179 Mario Fuentes-1st RS TROPHY TRUCK SPEC (10) (Qualifying Order) 260 Santiago Creel 285 Clay Lawrence 211 Pat Sims 210 Ted Moncure 294 Vincent Munoz 264 Pierce Herbst 295 William Hedrick Jr 241 Chase Laven 225 John McNeil 274 Elias Hanna CLASS 10 (8) 1013 Harley Meservey 1001 Oliver Flemate 1006 Freddie Willert 1088 Chase Warren 1078 Augie Cortez 1087 Ivan Tagle 1051 Adam Gonzalez 1000 Hiram Duran-1st RS PRO UTV FI (17) 2930 Sean Cook 2914 Martin Christensen 2931 Craig Scanlon 2977 Justin Elenberg 2978 Jose Juarez 2999 Bob Jablonsky 2948 Matthew Burroughs 2920 Roberto Ruiz 2917 Jason Murray 2927 Justin Smith 2989 Wes Miller 2918 Justin Lambert 2974 Jorge Cano 2910 Scott Trafton-4th RS 2940 Erick Korzin-3rd RS 2975 Mike Cafro-2nd RS 2971 Wayne Matlock-1st RS SCORE LITES (6) 1201 Mario Alcala 1205 Miguel Cortez 1211 Oscar R. Alvarez 1229 Douglas Satterfield 1218 Gustavo Pinuelas 1247 Wes McKenzie PRO UTV NA (6) 1995 Travis Wells (DOR-Kaden Wells) 1957 Joe Bolton 1938 Kolton Hustead 1911 Scott Bergen-3rd RS 1954 Kristen Matlock-2nd RS 1912 Rickey Arslanian-1st RS CLASS 1/2-1600 (3) 1662 Julie Boyer 1696 Chris Racan 1616 Eli Yee-1st RS PRO UTV STOCK (4) 3957 Torey Rush 3955 Mike Cafro 3930 Douglas Cornwell 3933 Randy Emberton CLASS 8 (1) 828 Jesus Beltrones CLASS 7 (3) 700 Daniel Chamlee 713 Mario Murillo Jr 709 Jeff Proctor CLASS 1700 (1) 1755 Bruce Geveden HAMMER TRUCK UNLTD (1) 4421 Mike Hales-1st RS PRO UTV UNLIMITED (6) 1893 Eliott Watson 1855 Blade Hildebrand 1894 Christopher Polvoorde 1850 Jesus Mendez Jr 1851 Herman Johnson 1869 Mike Lesle-1st RS CLASS 5 (1) 500 Gerardo Ibarra CLASS 3 (1) 313 David Orzolek CLASS 5-1600 (1) 553 Cesar Iniguez BAJA CHALLENGE (1) BC4 Edward Muncey CLASS 7F (2) 720F Doug Siewert 714F Justin Park CLASS 7SX (1) 742 Brandt Anderson-1st RS CLASS 11 (2) 1108 Luis F. Garcia 1147 Francisco Valdez SPT UNLTD TRUCK (1) 1404 Jessalyn Sells SPT OPEN-WHEEL (1) 1501 Christian Courtney PRO MOTO UNLIMITED (3) 1x Mark Samuels 66x Santiago Creel 5x Colton Udall PRO MOTO 30 (1) 370x Francisco Septien PRO MOTO LIMITED (2) 121x Ana Rivas 180x Fernando Beltran PRO MOTO 50 (3) 500x Giovanni Spinali 514x Lawrence Janesky 522x Vance Kennedy PRO MOTO 40 (0) PRO MOTO IRONMAN (1) 725x Juan Carlos Salvatierra Pro Quad (2) 1a Adolfo Arellano 37a Ricardo Villafana SPT M/C (5) 203x Giovanni Aviles 200x Carlos Silva 299x Shane Redline 213x Bradley Loveday 201x Scott Borden SPT QUAD (7) 105a Francisco Valle 123a Hector Camacho 106a Imanol Gormez Fierro 119a Estevan Ramirez 129a Sergio Gutierrez 112a Daniel Gaytan 114a Luis Ortega