ENSENADA, MEXICO – The 47th running of the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 marks the longest desert race of the season and the opportunity for BFGoodrich Tires to extend its legacy in the Baja peninsula. As BFGoodrich Tires runs for its 26th overall SCORE Baja 1000 victory, the tire manufacturer looks to continue its 2014 dominance in desert racing, having the top overall finisher at every stop on the SCORE International desert race schedule.
The race will cover a course of approximately 1,275 miles down Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, starting in Ensenada, Baja California and finishing in La Paz, Baja California Sur.
Key Storylines at the 47th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000
· BFGoodrich has 25 SCORE Baja 1000 overall wins and 80 wins in total on the Baja peninsula
· BFGoodrich Tires Performance Team member Bryce Menzies comes in as 2014 SCORE Baja 500 winner
· BFGoodrich Tires has captured every overall win on the 2014 SCORE desert race schedule and eight of nine major North American desert races this season
· The BFGoodrich Tires Baja T/A KR2 tire has an unprecedented success rate since being launched in 2013 with six of the eight overall BFGoodrich wins in desert races
· Since 2013, BFGoodrich Tires has put drivers in the top spot 16 times in North American desert competition
· BFGoodrich Tires boasts the most class wins of any tire manufacturer – seven at the 2014 Tecate SCORE Baja 500 and 10 at 2013 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000
BFGoodrich’s Desert Dominance
As the desert racing season enters its premier event, BFGoodrich Tires have seen considerable success. With overall victories in races supported by both major desert racing bodies – SCORE International and Best In the Desert, BFGoodrich Tires has dominated the season in the desert. BFGoodrich equipped drivers have claimed eight of the nine overall race wins in 2014.
BITD Parker 425 Jason Voss
SCORE San Felipe 250 Gus Vildosola Jr
BITD Mint 400 Andy McMillin
SCORE Imperial Valley 250 Andy McMillin
BITD Silver State 300 Jason Voss
SCORE Baja 500 Bryce Menzies
BITD Vegas To Reno Jason Voss
SCORE Desert Challenge Steven Eugenio
Over the past two years, drivers on BFGoodrich Tires have claimed 16 overall desert race titles.
BFGoodrich – The Tire of Choice
BFGoodrich once again boasts the most tire fitments among the four-wheel vehicle classes using specialty race tires like the BFGoodrich® Baja T/A®,, BFGoodrich® Baja T/A®KR and BFGoodrich® Baja T/A®KR2. Beyond these race tires, many race classes depend on the durability and toughness of BFGoodrich street tires to endure the Baja terrain including the BFGoodrich® All-Terrain T/A®KO , BFGoodrich® Mud-Terrain T/A®KM2 and the new BFGoodrich® All-Terrain T/A®KO2. The KO2, which was launched in market as BFGoodrich’s toughest All-Terrain tire ever was tested at, last year’s SCORE Baja 1000 and won the Baja Challenge class. It will once again look to defend its title in the class.
The historic desert tires
For the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, a number of teams will choose to run BFGoodrich tires– and for good reason. The BFGoodrich® Radial All-Terrain T/A® tire invented the all-terrain category and just like many off road tires, used the Baja peninsula as a proving ground for its toughness and performance. Launched nearly 40 years ago, this tire claimed its first victory in 1977 at the Baja 500. Several years later the next iteration of the tire claimed the first of many overall Baja 1000 wins in 1986 in an entry driven by Mark McMillin and Ralph Paxton. That started a run of BFGoodrich Tires claiming 20 consecutive overall Baja 1000 titles.
From there the BFGoodrich Baja TA KR tire became the tire of choice for more race teams in Baja than any other tire. Starting in the early 1990s, the KR tire helped evolving, faster and heavier Trophy Trucks to victory. The BFGoodrich Baja KR and KRT tire has taken home more overall Baja 1000 wins than any other tire combined. And with the new iteration of that tire, the KR2, the success story continues.
And last year BFGoodrich unveiled its latest consumer tire to take on Baja and win. The toughest All-Terrain tire the company has made, the BFGoodrich Tires All-Terrain T/A KO2 won the Baja Challenge class last year and has since been launched in the market available to the public.
“It wasn’t long ago that BFGoodrich Tires dominated desert racing in the Baja peninsula, having won over 20 straight Baja 1000 titles,” said Peter Calhoun, Motorsports Manager, BFGoodrich Tires. “As the size and quality of the field has grown, so too has competition amongst the tire manufacturers., Other tire companies may have had success in the past few years, but technology and product evolution has never stopped at BFGoodrich and we are confident in our next generation of Baja Champion labeled tire products.”
Calhoun continued, “We brought new tires to Baja the last two seasons– the KR2 and KO2 – and both have earned class titles. We continue to canvass the field to provide the highest quality, highest performing tires available and are proud to also provide the industry’s finest pit support network to aid our success rate in bringing more class titles to racers than any other manufacturer.”
KR2 tire proves its mettle
Since being run as a developmental tire in 2013, the BFGoodrich® Baja T/A®KR2 has been quickly gaining popularity among desert racers.
At this year’s SCORE Baja 1000, a number of racers will run on the KR2 after seeing its success in the desert over the past year. Six of the eight of BFGoodrich Tires wins in the desert this year have come using the KR2 in some alignment.
At the Best In the Desert Mint 400, more than 30 racers were running the KR2 either on all four positions or some combination of front and/or rear. At that race, nine of the top 10 overall finishers were running the BFGoodrich® Baja T/A®KR2. At the 2014 SCORE Baja 500 – seven of the top 10 including race winner Menzies were running KR2.
Vildosola, others on BFGoodrich Tires Running for Overall World Championship
Mexico’s Gustavo Vildosola Jr. claimed a second place finish at the recent Rigid Industries SCORE Desert Challenge to catapult himself into first place in the SCORE Overall and SCORE Trophy Truck point lead after four rounds of the five-race 2014 SCORE World Desert Championship.
With just 30 points separating the top 10 SCORE Overall points leaders, the SCORE Baja 1000 will be critical to determining this year’s champion. Vildosola Jr and his father Gustavo Vildosola became the first Mexican national team to win the SCORE Trophy Truck division, as well as being the fastest four-wheel vehicle in the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 when they won the iconic race in 2010 when it was a peninsula run from Ensenada to La Paz.
Vildosola Racing is now on the verge of becoming the first Mexican national team to win the SCORE Overall and SCORE Trophy Truck season point crowns. Currently four of the top five overall standing leaders and four of the top five SCORE Trophy Truck points leaders run on BFGoodrich Tires
Overall
1. Gustavo Vildosola Jr., Mexicali, Mexico, Ford Raptor (SCORE Trophy Truck), 300
2. Cody Reid, Apple Valley, Calif., Custom-Chevy (Class 10), 293
3. Kevin Smith, La Verne, Calif., Las Vegas, Mirage-VW (Class 1/2-1600), 290
4. Steven Eugenio, El Centro, Calif., Chevy Silverado (SCORE Trophy Truck), 288
5. Clyde Stacy, Bristol, Va., Mexico, Chevy Rally Truck (SCORE Trophy Truck), 286
Trophy Truck Points
1. Gustavo Vildosola Jr, Mexicali, Mexico, Ford Raptor (1), 300
2. Steven Eugenio, El Centro, Calif., Chevy Silverado (1), 288
3. Clyde Stacy, Bristol, Va., Chevy Rally Truck, 286
4. B.J. Baldwin, Las Vegas, Chevy Silverado, 278
5. Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas/Andy McMillin, San Diego, Ford F-150 (1), 267
Powerful partnerships
In looking for his second overall Baja 1000 victory, BFGoodrich Performance Team member Rob MacCachren has put together a powerhouse team. The team will pilot the Rockstar Energy Trophy Truck and include co-driver and three-time overall Baja 1000 winner Andy McMillin, who also has two race wins this year including the SCORE Imperial Valley 250 and Jason Voss, winner of three desert race titles in 2014.
Likewise, as Bryce Menzies, another BFGoodrich Performance Team member looks to follow up on this Tecate SCORE Baja 500 win, he will share his Trophy Truck with Jesse Jones for this year’s race.
BFGoodrich’s firepower heading into this year’s race includes an entry in the Baja Challenge (BC) class. BFGoodrich is strongly supporting the entry of Hollywood TV producer Bud Brutsman, running the KO2, last year’s class winning tire.
Joining Brutsman’s team will be BFGoodrich Performance Team members Kyle Tucker, Brad and Roger Lovell, John Williams and Brian Finch. The BFGoodrich Tires Baja Challenge teams will be among many teams riding on BFGoodrich® All-Terrain T/A KO2 tires, the exclusive tire of Wide Open Excursions
A Legendary “Hall” – Off-road Motorsports Hall of Famer and Team BFGoodrich member Rod Hall will be competing in his 47th consecutive SCORE Baja 1000. He is the only racer to have competed in every Baja 1000 since its inception and was the winner of the inaugural race. Hall, who will be 76 in late November, will be racing with his granddaughter, Shelby Hall, in the No. 762 Hummer H3 in the Stock Mini class on BFGoodrich Tires.
Roeseler Runs Again- Joining the heralded Rod Hall among the veteran winners at the Baja 1000 is Larry Roeseler. Roeseler has 17 wins to his credit and has earned a race-record 13 overall race wins in the Baja 1000. He will be racing with Tim Herbst in the No. 19 Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy Truck. Roeseler also has 11 career SCORE season class point crowns on his resume. Roeseler won the overall 2008 Baja 1000 title, alongside co-driver and current SCORE International President Roger Norman.
BFGoodrich Tires Series, Pit and Communications Support Continues
BFGoodrich Tires’ commitment to SCORE International and desert off-road racing extends far beyond its sponsorship and product support. For the 2014 race, BFGoodrich Tires will dedicate eight full-service pits, staffed by nearly 200 volunteer and active personnel at areas located along the racecourse to support the more than half of the field that will compete on BFGoodrich Tires. The pit areas include volunteer emergency medical technicians (EMTs), race mechanics, welders, fabricators, and communications specialists- these services have been provided by BFGoodrich since 1981.
BFGoodrich Tires’ racer support network also includes organization and mobilization of parts, tires, fuel and service equipment exclusively for teams using BFGoodrich Tires. This network also includes satellite communications and mountain-top relay stations to coordinate race communications. With the BFGoodrich Tires pit crews, teams who never could have taken on a desert race can compete with only one or two chase vehicles and use BFGoodrich Tires support for everything else – this is a level of support not offered by any other company, in any other form of racing.
BFGoodrich Tires does more than just support teams at each race. In the months before major races, BFGoodrich Tires pre-runs courses to help SCORE officials map the official race route, prepare driver instructions, find any and all access routes from the pavement to the race course and set up the infrastructure of the BFGoodrich race communications network. All of this information is compiled with printed course maps and pit stop location diagrams and distributed free-of-charge to all teams using BFGoodrich tires. Over the years, this resource the BFGoodrich Tires team assembles has become known as “The Desert Bible.”
Follow the Race With SCORE and BFGoodrich
Fans at home can follow the 47th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 firsthand with tracking on http://www.score-international.com. BFGoodrich will continue to update through its social channels at its Facebook page www.facebook.com/bfgoodrichtires and Twitter accountwww.twitter.com/BFGoodrichTires as well as stories, photos and videos on its racing website at www.bfgoodrichracing.com.