Ortiz draws first motorcycle start for 37th SCORE San Felipe 250

Pre-running continues over rugged 285.69 -mile race course

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, Dominic@SCORE-International.com

ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico – While qualifying will be held next Thursday for the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck, SCORE TT Legend, and Trophy Truck Spec classes, a drawing was held to determine starting positions in all other classes this week for next week’s season-opening King Shocks 37th SCORE San Felipe 250. First of the line next Saturday morning will be the Pro Moto Unlimited team led by Rider of Record Adrian Ortiz, Dulzura, Calif. on his No. 13x Honda CRF450X motorcycle.

     Launching its sixth decade this year as the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization, Round 1 of the four-race 2024 SCORE World Desert Championship will be held March 20-24 in the quaint, peaceful village of San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico. The rugged race route is 285.69 miles long.

     Pre-race Contingency, Tech Inspection and the start/finish line compound will be located on the picturesque El Malecon in San Felipe along the inspiring azure waters of the Sea of Cortez.

     San Felipe is 125 miles south of the U.S. Border at Calexico, Calif. on the eastern side of the Baja peninsula along the azure waters of the Sea of Cortez. All four 2024 SCORE races will be held on Mexico’s magnificent Baja California peninsula for the ninth consecutive year.

ON THE BOARD

     With over 270 entries anticipated at the start line to launch the 51st season of SCORE desert racing, 253 total entries have been received so far for the popular ‘Spring Break’ event, with racers representing 28 U.S. States, and 10 countries. The countries with at least one racer so far are United States, host country Mexico, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, France, New Zealand, and Peru.

DOUBLE DIGITS

     With double-digit entries to date are the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck (high-tech, unlimited, 1000-horsepower, custom trucks) with 38, Trophy Truck Spec, (SCORE Trophy Trucks with spec engines) with 44, Pro UTV Open with 21, Pro UTV FI with 19, Pro UTV Stock with 14, Pro Moto Unlimited (13) and Pro Moto Ironman (solo riders) with 15.

THREE DECADES-PLUS

     Celebrating the 37th anniversary of the youngest of the three legendary SCORE Baja races, sometimes referred to as the SCORE ‘Baby Baja’, entries are being accepted on the SCORE website under Race Info at https://score-raceinfo.com/37th-san-felipe-250-march-20-24-2024/ for Pro and Sportsman entries for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads.

MORE FIRST STARTS

     Among the racers who will start first in their respective four-wheel vehicle classes in this year’s King Shocks 37th SCORE San Felipe 250 based on the results of the start draw are Cody Reid, Apple Valley, Calif. (Class 1, No. 168), Bruce Yee, Rosarito Beach, Mexico (Class 10, No. 1014), Justin Smith, Whittman, Ariz. (Pro UTV Open, No. 1872), Matt Burroughs, Norco, Calif. (Pro UTV FI, No. 2948), Randy Bluth, Mesa, Ariz. (Class 7, No. 720), Joe Bolton, Corona, Calif. (Pro UTV NA, No. 1957), Jeremy Davis, Chino Hills, Calif. (Pro UTV Stock, No. 3907), Julie Boyer, Las Vegas (Class 1/2-1600, No. 1662), and Oliver Flemate, Ensenada, Mexico (Class 11, No. 1100).

    Besides Ortiz in Pro Moto Unlimited, among the other motorcycle first starts will be the teams led by Carlos Castillo, Mexicali, Mexico (Pro Moto 30, No. 303x), Mike Prunty, Temecula, Calif. (Pro Moto 50, No. 547), Francisco Septien, Ensenada, Mexico (Pro Moto 40, No. 411x), and Casey O’Donnell, Steamboat Springs, Colo. (Pro Moto Ironman, No. 704x).

ON-SITE REGISTRATION

    Being held in the Centro Commercial Plaza Armex in San Felipe. On Wednesday, March 20, registration for qualifying teams only will be held from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m.

     Regular on-site and late racer registration will be held on Thursday (March 21) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT and on Friday (March 22) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. No new entries will be accepted after 4 p.m. PT on Thursday (March 21) and 3 p.m. PT on Friday (March 22).

     Media Registration will be held at the same location from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on both Wednesday (March 20) and Thursday (March 21) and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday (March 22).

METHOD RACE WHEELS QUALIFYING

     For just the fifth time in the history of this popular ‘Spring Break’ race, SCORE will hold the Method Race Wheels SCORE San Felipe 250 Qualifying starting at 7 a.m. PT on Thursday, March 21 to determine the starting positions within each class for the SCORE Trophy Truck, SCORE TT Legend and Trophy Truck Spec classes. The starting order for qualifying in each class will be the order in which they entered the race.

     The first to qualify in SCORE Trophy Truck will be Adam Householder, Placentia, Calif., and the first to qualify in the Trophy Truck Spec class will be Thor Herbst, Las Vegas.

    Entries received in the qualifying classes after Friday, March 8 will be given then next available starting slot within their respective classes.

     Start order for qualifying will be determined by the date and time that they are received.

     Qualifying is not open to the public and will be held on a five-mile course that is not part of the official race course.

SCORE LIVE

     During qualifying on Thursday, contingency on Friday and the race on Saturday until the course closes on Sunday early morning, SCORE Live streaming will be broadcasting race activities and start and finish line interviews as well as live action from Drones, ground cameras and in-car cameras from around the race course. There will also be live Zoom interviews for individuals around the race course as part of SCORE Live for this race.

     Popular Rat Sult, who is starting his ninth season as the voice of SCORE, will once again serve as host and lead ramp announcer of the expansive SCORE Live streaming. Assisting Sult will be Mexico’s Gabriel Garcia.

     Sult and Garcia will be announcing from the SCORE start/finish ramp while the show will also include SCORE studio announcers in El Cajon, Calif., providing live info and updates throughout the race. Host announcer in the SCORE Studio will again be Brandon Johnson while co-hosts during the race will be Wes Miller and Heidi Steele.

     SCORE live is being produced again by SCORE Media House, Bud Brutsman, producer, Alberto Luna, on-site director.

     Coverage will also include Austin Farner in the studio announcing during qualifying.

     SCORE live may be launched from the home page of the SCORE website or from the SCORE App.

GREEN FLAG

    The King Shocks 37th SCORE San Felipe 250, will be an elapsed-time race with staggered starts as the green flag on Saturday, March 23 will drop first for the motorcycles and quads at 6 a.m. (PT) and 9 a.m. (PT) for the cars, trucks and UTVs. While the fastest vehicles are expected to finish in around four and one-half hours, all vehicles will have a 13-hour time limit in the 285.59-mile race to become official finishers in the iconic race.

POST—GRAND MARSHAL

     Grand Marshal for this year’s King Shocks 37th SCORE San Felipe 250 is SCORE champion racer Mark Post, a prominent businessman in Southern California and Las Vegas.

     Post, 65, of Las Vegas and Laguna Beach, Calif., has been an active desert racer for nearly 30 years, recorded his most impressive season in 2007 when he won the SCORE Trophy Truck season point championship. In 2007, with the iconic Rob MacCachren as his second driver, Post won the 40th anniversary SCORE Baja 1000, a race of 1296.39 miles from Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in his spectacular No. 3 Black Diamond Riviera Racing Ford F-150.

     Post, MacCachren, and third driver Carl Renezeder, covered the distance in 25 hours, 21 minutes, and 25 seconds, averaging 53.43 miles per hour to be the fastest overall four-wheel vehicle finisher in the race.

    In his remarkable 2007 SCORE season Post finished fourth in the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge, first in the SCORE San Felipe 250, fourth in the SCORE Baja 500, second in the SCORE Terrible’s Las Vegas Primm 300, capped by his massive victory in the season-ending 40th SCORE Baja 1000 from Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas.

     Also in 2007, Riviera Racing won the SCORE Las Vegas Terrible’s Cup short-course event on the dirt track at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway with Rob MacCachren driving.

   In the SCORE San Felipe 250, Post has three career overall and class wins, two with Jerry Whelchel before winning in 2007 in SCORE Trophy Truck with MacCachren. Post and Whelchel won Class 1 in this race in 1998 and again in 2004 in SCORE Trophy Truck.

     Post also earned a prestigious SCORE Milestone Award in 2007.

     In his illustrious SCORE racing career, Post has seven career SCORE Trophy Truck race victories, (2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, and his three in 2007.

SCOREscope

2024 SCORE SCHEDULE

    Here are the dates for the four-race 2024 SCORE World Desert Championship which will be held in Baja California, Mexico for the ninth consecutive year:

·       King Shocks 37th SCORE San Felipe 250—

March 20-24, San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico

·       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 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.

King Shocks 37th SCORE San Felipe 250

Round 1 of 4-race 2024 SCORE World Desert Championship

March 20-24 - San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico – 285.69-miles

Total Entries: 253 (as of 3/15/24)

(from 28 U.S. States, host Mexico, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, France, New Zealand, Peru)

Pro Cars/Trucks/UTVs

(Start Order, by class)

SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (38*)

(Qualifying Order)

24 Adam Householder

19 Tim Herbst

94 Christopher Polvoorde

89 Mike Walser

82 Sam Baldi

1 Bryce Menzies

26 Dave Taylor

85 Mikey Lawrence

23 Dan McMillin

83 Luke McMillin

21 Gustavo ‘Tavo’ Vildosola Jr

10 Alan Ampudia

97 Gabriel Torres

34 Broc Dickerson

70 Kevin Thompson

16 Cameron Steele

46 Toby Price

58 Tracy Graf

80 Josh Daniel

41 Justin Lofton

87 Dallas Lutrell

63 Ruben Torres

51 Steve Olliges

27 Jonathan Brenthel

78 Tracy Poole

11 Rob MacCachren

47 Kit Stokes

38 Eric Hustead

2 Chad Broughton

25 Craig Christy

66 Chris Hertsch

*85L Clay Lawrence

*1L Gustavo Vildosola Sr

*61L David Payne

*65L Greg Adler

*37L Rolf Helland

*53L Wade Porter

45 Gary Magness-1st RS

*SCORE TT LEGEND

 

CLASS 1 (7)

168 Cody Reid

101 Al Torres

138 Kyle Quinn

127 Cody Parkhouse

153 Brad Wilson

162 Brendan Gaughan

133 Alberto Varela-1st RS

 

TROPHY TRUCK SPEC (44)

(Qualifying Order)

219 Thor Herbst

263 EJ Herbst

260 Santiago Creel

207 Mason Cullen

204 Cade Garcia

259 Matt Winslow

249 Chase Swanson

294 Vincent Munoz

242 Bryce Swaim

228 Ryan Hancock

277 Travis Williams

282 Brent Fox

213 Josh Beyer

266 David Ziegler

289 Tanner Rust

200 Jason McNeil

247 Kevin Shields

258 Mavrick Gaunt

211 Tim Wilson

297 Jorge Sampietro

290 Isidro Ochoa

241 Stephen Beal

299 Charles Dorrance

205 Joe Delucie

238 Elijah Kiger

246 Ben Hagle

201 Mitch McNeil

240 Chris Miller

285 Justin Davis

236 Michael Marsal

269 Troy Stone

262 Mick Magher

273 Jordan Brenthel

284 Jose Contreras

264 Arnoldo Gutierrez

250 Dustin Swanson

274 Jason Babcock

245 Ethan Hagle

212 Bud Pecoy

244 Oliver Flemate

203 Scott McNeil

224 Miles Wyatt

209 J. David Ruvalcaba

267 Jose L. Leon

 

CLASS 10 (11)

1014 Bruce Yee

1060 Ted Baker

1011 Cesar Cuevas

1013 Harley Meservey

1006 Stan Potter (DOR-Freddie Willert)

1044 Jason Shipman

1077 Dale Ebberts

1012 Jake Woodruff

1002 Matias Arjona IV-3rd RS

1023 Tamara Myers-2nd RS

1000 Francisco Vera-1st RS

 

PRO UTV OPEN (21)

1872 Justin Smith

1830 Elliott Watson

1886 Branden Sims

1824 Oscar Alvarez

1876 Mike Cafro

1860 Ryan Laidlaw

1870 Brandon Walsh

1871 Wayne Matlock

1896 Brock Heger

1867 Mike Pratt

1825 Vito Ranuio

1880 Gabe Matthews

1891 Samuel Huesco

1854 Kristen Matlock

1831 Craig Scanlon

1841 Max Eddy Jr

1869 Justin Lambert

1821 Cayden MacCachren

1842 Gilberto Rodriguez

1850 Paul Barnhart Jr-2nd RS

1868 Bernie Gomez-1st RS

 

PRO UTV FI (19)

2948 Matt Burroughs

2914 Esteban Ceja Sr

2974 Jorge Cano

2944 Phil Blurton

2905 Marc Burnett

2908 Valeria Lozano

2978 Jose Juarez

2928 Carlos Quezada

2973 Jorge Vela

2994 Adrian Garcia

2909 Carlos Villarino

2925 Bernardo Perez

2987 Edgar Garcia

2921 John Myerly

2955 Miguel Cortez

2956 Bogart Escandon

2960 Miguel Barraza-3rd RS

2906 Zach Selby-2nd RS

2915 Rickey Arslanian-1st RS

 

CLASS 7 (5)

720 Randy Bluth

711 Richard Fant

703 Scott Brady

718 Luis Vazquez Jr

700 Daniel Chamlee

 

SCORE LITES (3)

1201 David Caspino

1277 Mario Alcala

1238 Robert Illian

 

PRO UTV NA (6)

1957 Joe Bolton

1984 David Pedder

1952 Hector Crespo

1974 Ethan Groom

1913 Dean Acton

1919 Eva Malabanan

 

CLASS 5 (5)

525 Martin Anguiano

538 Brandon Homme

503 Jon Manikateri

510 Gerardo Ibarra-2nd RS

500 Eli Yee-1st RS

 

PRO UTV STOCK (14)

3907 Jeremy Davis

3954 Shane Allen

3926 Yoshua Morquecho

3924 Ricardo Zarogoza

3930 Douglas Cornwell

3909 Angel Mercado

3928 Endy Chavez

3916 Jeff Embree

3959 Antonio Mendez

3955 Scott Sappington

3943 Dennis Romero

3919 Anibal Lopez

3915 Javier Lopez

3925 Kaden Wells-1st RS

 

CLASS 1/2-1600 (4)

1662 Julie Boyer

1606 Daniel Goodrich

1643 Daniel Reyes Jr-2nd RS

1656 Raul Ojeda-1st RS

 

CLASS 8 (1)

809 Josh Klenske

CLASS 5/1600 (1)

561 Zackery Woodruff

 

BAJA CHALLENGE (2)

BC 1 Joseph Koenig

BC 2 Frank Olagary

CLASS 7F (2)

719F Cesar Gutierrez

714F Justin Park

 

CLASS 7SX (1)

740 Armando Duron

 

STOCK FULL (0)

 

CLASS 11 (2)

1100 Oliver Flemate

1111 Eric Solorzano

Sportsman

SPT TRUCK (0)

 

SPT UTV (1)

1801 Oscar Indreland

Pro Motorcycles

PRO MOTO UNLIMITED (13)

13x Adrian Ortiz

9x Austin Eddy

15x Eric Holt

20x Eric Kirby

92x Tucker Hopkins

99x Samuel Scott

21x Justin Kennamer

24x Jacob Robinson

8x Fernando Beltran

25x Bryce Stavron

7x Justin Morgan

1x Juan Carlos Salvatierra

11x Arturo Salas Jr

 

PRO MOTO 30 (5)

303x Carlos Castillo

317x Ethan Wheeler

311x Juan Valenzuela

354x Felipe Barron

304x Juan Miranda-1st RS

 

PRO MOTO LIMITED (2)

150x Neithan Adams

136x Patrick Pennington

 

PRO MOTO 50 (3)

547x Mike Prunty

513x Joseph Amey

514x Lawrence Janesky

 

PRO MOTO 40 (4)

411x Francisco Esposito

452x Travis Flateau

407x Luis Esquivel

400x Alirio Amado

 

PRO MOTO IRONMAN (14)

704x Casey Odonnell

788x Brian Roberts

745x Patricio Cabrera

781x Miguel Luna

719x Kadin Guard

756x Francisco Heredia

780x Jeff Miller

716x David Topete

724x William Gross

717x Travis Lukens

799x Marco Molinar

707x Joseph Darminio

732x Mike Fermoile-2nd RS

789x Christian Cuevas-1st RS

 

PRO MOTO 60 (2)

616x Harrold Harris

628x Scott McIntosh

 

PRO MOTO ADVENTURE (3)

834x Scott Purcell

805x Dustin Davis

827x Gerardo Rubio-1st RS

 

PRO MOTO BAJA-e (1)

E499 Christian Klein

 

Pro Quads

Pro Quad (5)

18a Roberto Villalobos

XXa Felipe Velez

31a Estevan Ramirez Jr

10a Dionisio Zavalo

39a Sergio Jimenez

 

Pro Quad Ironman (1)

91a Jorge Lopez Jr

 

Sportsman

SPT M/C (5)

283x Chad Waite

298x Josh Hess

236x Andy Valencia

205x Francisco Rosas

229x Joel Magallanes

 

SPT QUAD (8)

185a Rene Rocha

119a Sebastian Castro

140a Joel Sanchez

137a Javier Miramontes

109a Brayan Alonso