One of the biggest off-road racers south of the border will leave the starting line in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, as the 49th SCORE Baja 500 kicks off early Saturday morning. Just outside of town, Trophy Truck, Class 1 and Trophy Truck Spec racers battled a 2.98-mile course to qualifying for starting positions for this year’s race, hoping to improve their chances at earning a hard-fought Baja 500 victory.

In the Trophy Truck Class it was the #10 of the Ampudia family taking the poll with a time of 3 minutes, 36.8 seconds. The team consists of three drivers this year, including Aaron, Alan and Rodrigo Ampudia. Finishing just behind them in second place is 2008 Baja 500 winner BJ Baldwin, who just edged out three-time winner Bryce Menzies.

“I like the qualifying loop a lot and this particular loop caters to my driving style,” second-place qualifier Baldwin said. “There are lots of blind rises and lots of areas to get into trouble. I've just been focused on doing a little bit better in qualifying and I think we did a little bit better today.”

In Class 1, the #111 open-wheeled buggy of Mike Malloy earned the pole with a time of 3 minutes, 57.67 seconds. Malloy edged out Rob Archibald and Morgan Langley, who finished in second and third in the class, respectively.

In the Trophy Truck Spec class, the #250 of John Langley and Luke Johnson were fastest in class with a time of 3 minutes and 59.44 seconds. “Pistol” Pete Sohren and Jason McNeil finished in the runner-up spot in qualifying, while the team of Andrew Myers, Steve Myers and Dan Myers rounded out to the top three.

There will be 275 teams heading off the starting line early Saturday morning from Ensenada on the 513.67-mile race course, passing through five checkpoints and roughly 95 virtual checkpoints and their way around the northern section of the Baja peninsula. Be sure to check back for a recap of the 2017 SCORE Baja 500.

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2017 SCORE Baja 500 Qualifying Results
SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (Unlimited Production Trucks)--
1. 10 Aaron Ampudia, 24, Ensenada, Mexico/Alan Ampudia, 26, Ensenada, Mexico/Rodrigo Ampudia, 32, Ensenada, Mexico, Ford Raptor, 3 minutes, 36.80 seconds (49.48miles per hour)
2. 97 B.J. Baldwin, 37, Las Vegas, Toyota Tundra, 3:38.24 (49.16mph)
3. 7 Bryce Menzies, 29, Las Vegas, Ford Raptor, 3:38.42 (49.12mph)
4. 58 Tracy Graf, 53, Canada/Justin Smith, 33, Las Vegas, Ford F-150, 3:39.05 (48.97mph)
5. 31 Andy McMillin, 30, San Diego/Scott McMillin, 57, San Diego, Ford F-150, 3:39.32 (48.91mph)
6. 77 Robby Gordon, 48, Charlotte, N.C., Chevy Silverado, 3:40.90 (48.57mph)
7. 1 Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez, 22, Tecate, Mexico, Chevy Rally Truck, 3:40.99 (48.55mph)
8. 3 Mark Post, 59, Las Vegas/Ed Herbst, 55, Las Vegas/Kyle LeDuc, 34, Temecula, Calif., Ford F-150
9. 16 Cameron Steele, 48, San Clemente, Calif., Chevy Silverado, 3:43.31 (48.04mph)
10. 41 Justin Lofton, 31, Brawley, Calif., Ford Raptor, 3:43.90 (47.91mph)
11. 50 Zak Langley, 42, Santa Monica, Calif./Harley Letner, 34, Corona, Calif., Ford F-150, 3:45.44 (47.59mph)
12. 6 Larry Connor, 67, Miamisburg, Ohio/Ricky Johnson, 52, Trabuco Canyon, Calif., Chevy Silverado, 3:45.99 (47.47mph)
13. 4 Justin Matney, 31, Bristol, Tenn., Chevy Rally Truck, 3:47.24 (47.21mph)
14. *96L Larry Roeseler, 60, Martinez, Calif./ Adam McGough, 29, Danville, Calif., Chevy Silverado, 3:47.81 (47.09mph)
15. 21 Gustavo ‘Tavo’ Vildosola Jr, 35, Mexicali, Mexico, Ford Raptor, 3:48.42 (46.97mph)
16. 83 Luke McMillin, 24, San Diego, Ford F-150, 3:50.38 (46.57mph)
17. 91 Troy Herbst, 51, Las Vegas/Beau Eckert, 32, Alpine, Calif., Ford F-150, 3:51.59 (46.32mph)
18. 94 Steve Strobel, 53, Clarks, Neb./Marc Starostka, 52, Grand Island, Neb., Ford F-150, 3:51.80 (46.28mph)
19. 11 Rob MacCachren, 52, Las Vegas, Ford F-150, 3:52.21 (46.20mph)
20. 23 Dan McMillin, 29, La Mesa, Calif., Ford F-150, 3:53.58 (45.93mph)
21. 38 Eric Hustead, 46, St. George, Utah/T.J. Flores, 40, Las Vegas, Ford F-150, 3:53.88 (45.87mph)
22. 60 Cole Potts, 18, Scottsdale, Ariz./Craig Potts, 45, Scottsdale, Ariz., Ford Raptor, 3:54.28 (45.79mph)
23. 15 Billy Wilson, 31, Corpus Christi, Texas/Chad Bunch, 41, Glendale, Ariz., Ford Raptor, 3:56.10 (45.44mph)
24. 19 Tim Herbst, 54, Las Vegas/Brett Sourapas, 20, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./P.J. Jones, 47, Scottsdale, Ariz., Ford F-150, 3:56.51 (45.36mph)
25. 9 Armin Schwarz, 53, Austria (Germany), Chevy Silverado, 3:57.62 (45.15mph)
26. 93 Chris Kemp, 53, San Clemente, Calif, Chevy Silverado, 4:00.48 (44.61mph)
27. 22 Casey Currie, 33, Corona, Calif., Jeep Wrangler, 4:02.54 (44.23mph)
28. 85 Mike Lawrence, 29, Murrieta, Calif., Ford F-150 , 4:03.17 (44.12mph)
29. 33 Todd Tuls, 48, Bennington, Neb./ Rogelio Pereira, Jr., 42, Winchester, Calif./Max Eddy, 34, Barstow, Calif., 4:05.99 (43.61mph)
30. 48 Jim Nuckles, 49, Brawley, Calif./Scott Webster, 50, Brawley, Calif., Ford F-150, 4:08.55 (43.16mph)
*31. 84L Nick Vanderwey, 50, Phoenix/Curt LeDuc, 62, Cherry Valley, Calif., Chevy Silverado, 4:09.33 (43.03mph)
32. 30 Robbie Pierce, 58, Santee, Calif./Barry Karakas, 47, Oak Hills, Calif., Ford F-150, 4:14.92 (42.08mph)
*33. 5L Clyde Stacy, 72, Bristol, Va./Dakota Hopkins, 26, Bristol, Va., Rally Diesel, 4:56.49 (36.18mph)
34.76 Jesse Jones, 51, Phoenix/Toby Price, 29, Australia/Austin Jones, 21, Phoenix, Ford F-150, Did Not Finish
(Remaining start order for non-qualifiers)
40 Chris Miller, 43, LaJolla, Calif./Cesar Lopez, 38, San Felipe, Mexico, Ford F-150
53 Todd Romano, 47, Park City, Utah/T.J. Flores, 40, Las Vegas, Ford Raptor
45 Gary Magness, 63, Denver/Devin Housh, 36, Desert Hot Springs, Calif., Ford F-150
*SCORE TT LEGEND (Unlimited Production Trucks, Drivers over 50 years old)--

CLASS 1 (Unlimited open-wheel single or two-seaters)
1. 111 Mike Malloy, 59, Murrieta, Calif., C. Randolph, La Jolla, Calif., Jimco-Chevy, 3:57.67 (45.14mph)
2. 104 Rob Archibald, 44, Lakeside, Calif./Martin Christensen, Escondido, Calif. (Denmark), Judyta Katona, 37, San Diego, Jimco-Chevy, 4:15.60 (41.97mph)
3. 150 Morgan Langley, 43, Santa Monica, Calif./Kory Halopoff, 34, Anaheim, Calif., ESM-Chevy, 4:35.84 (38.89mph)
105 Matt Cullen, 49, Long Beach, Calif./Greg Sacks, 60, Canyon Lake, Calif./Mike Lombardi, 47, Long Beach, Calif., Jimco-Chevy, DNF
(Remaining start order for non-qualifiers)
138 Brian Wilson, 31, Lakewood, Calif./Kyle Quinn, 29, Irvine, Calif., Jimco-Chevy
153 Brad Wilson, 27, Long Beach, Calif./ Ronny Wilson, 55, Long Beach, Calif./Justin Munyon, 30, San Clemente, Calif., Jimco-Chevy
168 Shelby Reid, 49, Apple Valley, Calif./Danny Ebberts, 35, Menifee, Calif., Jefferies-Chevy
187 Ryan Sharman, 28, Phoenix/Paul Sharman, 64, Carefree, Ariz., Tatum-Chevy
188 Sergio Salgado, 40, Mexicali, Mexico/Joel Serna, 41, Mexicali, Mexico, Jimco-Chevy
114 Al Torres, 32, Imperial Valley, Calif./Rogelio Ruiz, Mexicali, Mexico/Guillermo Vizcaino, La Paz, Jimco-Chevy
106 Derek Fletcher, 32, Abingdon, Va./Christyan Samano, 28, Ensenada, Mexico, Tatum-Chevy
121 Pat Bell, 45, Anchorage, Alaska, Custom-Chevy

TROPHY TRUCK SPEC (unlimted Truck/SUV, stock, sealed V8s)
1. 250 John Langley, 73, Santa Monica, Calif./Luke Johnson, 25, Trabuco Canyon, Calif., Mason-Chevy, 3:59.44 (44.81mph)
2. 222 Pete Sohren, 52, Glendale, Ariz./Jason McNeil, San Diego, BajaLite-Chevy, 4:00.03 (44.69mph)
3. 280 Andrew Myers, 37, San Marcos, Calif./Steve Myers, 51, Newport Beach, Calif./Dan Myers, 39, Newport Beach, Calif., Toyota Tundra, 4:03.16 (44.12mph)
4. 227 Jonathan Brenthel, 37, Newport Beach, Calif./Jordan Brenthel, 29, Newport Beach, Calif., Brenthel-Chevy, 4:09.42 (43.01mph)
5. 200 Chad Broughton, 21, Scotts Valley, Calif./Paul Broughton, 50, Scotts Valley, Calif., BajaLite-Chevy, 4:09.49 (43.00mph)
6. 274 Elias Hanna, 34, Ensenada, Mexico/Omar Hanna, 30, Ensenada, Mexico, Chevy 1500, 4:09.65 (42.97mph)
7. 299 Charles Dorrance, 41, Austin, Texas/Dylan Herman, 27, Reno, Nev./Larry Job, 55, Henderson, Nev., Ford Raptor, 4:28.14 (40.01mph)
8. 271 Carey Chrisman, 51, Monterrey Park, Calif./Kelly Chrisman, 49, Temecula, Calif., Armada-Chevy, 4:37.97 (38.59mph)
9. 255 Lee Banning, 64, Laveen, Ariz./Chris Godfrey, 42, Phoenix/Steve Melton, 48, Buckeye, Ariz., Lee Banning Jr, 42, Litchfield Park, Ariz., Geiser-Chevy, 4:39.62 (38.37mph)
10. 201 Russell Buehler, 58, Liberty, Mo./Neil Buehler, 54, Kansas City, Mo., Jimco-Ford, 4:47.96 (37.26mph)
11. 224 Paul Nauleau, 20, Los Gatos, Calif./Sydney Schwab, 21, Indianapolis/Charles Schwab, 53, San Francisco, Brenthel-Chevy, 4:48.29 (37.21mph)
12. 213 Matthew Lopez, 42, Phoenix, Geiser-Chevy, 5:01.24 (35.61mph)
13. 211 Pat Sims, 50, Eunice, N.M./Joe DeLucie, 38, Las Vegas, ESM-Chevy, 13:44.33 (13.01mph)
(Remaining start order for non-qualifiers)
220 Craig Christy, 43, Burbank, Calif. /Ricardo Salatino, Whittier, Calif., Neal Manion, El Cajon, Calif., Brenthel-Chevy
229 Brian Goldstein, 29, Beverly Hills, Calif./Matt McBride/Max McBride, Mason-Chevy
232 Chelsea Magness, 29, Denver/Steve Knudson, 64, Denver, Mango-Ford
251 Joe Lambardo, 54, Las Vegas/Dan Martin, Truckee, Calif./Billy Young, 37, Las Vegas, Brenthel-Chevy