LOS ANGELES—Prominent Mexican racer Juan C. Lopez along with Cody Parkhouse, Mike Brown and Josh Frederick all drew pole positions in their respective division during Saturday’s drawing for starting positions in the upcoming 44th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500 desert race. The draw was held at the SCORE International headquarters in Los Angeles.

Round 4 of the five-race 2012 SCORE Desert Series will feature over 275 entries, competing in 28 Pro and 7 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs, and it will be held June 1-3 in Ensenada, Mexico.

SCORE is in its 39th year as the world’s foremost desert racing organization and this race is traditionally one of the most popular events on the SCORE schedule, with most the world’s best desert racers in action at this year’s 44th anniversary of the Tecate SCORE Baja 500, the original desert race produced by SCORE on July 26, 1974.

With late entries accepted up to race morning, entries are expected from 30 U.S. States, and 10 countries. The green flag will drop for the race at 6 a.m. on Saturday (June 2) for the motorcycle and ATV classes in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500, followed by the car and truck classes three hours after the last ATV at approximately 10 a.m. The elapsed-time race will start and finish in front of the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center on Boulevard Costero in the heart of Ensenada, leaving and returning into the city through the always spectator-laden Arroyo Wash. Pre-running on the official course, except for the 30-plus miles out of and into Ensenada, opens on Friday, May 18 in the area near Ojos Negros.

Mexico’s Lopez, who finished second in both Laughlin races and sixth in San Felipe in the No. 18 RPM OffRoad Chevy Silverado is second in SCORE Overall and SCORE Trophy Truck points. RPM OffRoad, based in Bristol, Tenn. leads the point standings in six classes after the first three races of the five-race 2012 SCORE Desert Series. RPM has eight vehicles entered in the SCORE Baja 500 and as a team they have earned a total of 13 class wins the first three races of the season.

In Saturday’s drawing there were a total of 38 SCORE Trophy Trucks, the marquee SCORE racing division for high-tech, 850 horsepower, unlimited production trucks. Among the other entries in the class are current season point leader Rob MacCachren, the overall 4-wheel winner in this race in 1996 and a long list of other SCORE Trophy Truck winners in this event including Bryce Menzies (2011), Andy and Scott McMillin (2010), B.J. Baldwin (2008), Brian Collins (2006, 2007), Robby Gordon (2005), Alan Pflueger (2004) and Curt LeDuc (1995).  Collins, Las Vegas will be the second driver for NASCAR Cup and Nationwide series driver Brendan Gaughan of Las Vegas, while LeDuc will be a driver for Nick Vanderwey, Phoenix.

Continuing to move out from the shadow of his father and his uncle’s experienced tracks, second-generation Southern California desert racer Cody Parkhouse of Long Beach, is fourth in SCORE overall points and continues to lead the unlimited Class 1 and will start first in his class in a Chevy-powered Jimco open-wheeled desert race car.

Brown, Murrieta, Calif., who ironically also drew the first start at the last SCORE race in San Felipe, will lead the motorcycle classes into the Baja desert with co-rider Quinn Cody, Los Olivos, Calif., on a factory-supported KTM 450SX-F.

A formed SCORE Overall ATV point champion (2005), Josh Frederick, Moapa, Nev. and teammates Dillon Zimmerman, Murrieta, Calif. and Cesar Lopez, San Felipe, Mexico, will start first among the ATV classes in a Can-Am DS-450.  Frederick won the first 2012 SCORE Baja race for ATVs in San Felipe.

Menzies, of Las Vegas, is the defending Tecate SCORE Baja 500 race winner and 2011 SCORE Overall and SCORE Trophy Truck point champion in the No. 1 Red Bull Menzies Motorsports Ford F-150.

Cody was one of the riders on last year’s winning Honda motorcycle team but has switched teams and the overall ATV winning team from last year’s race is also entered–Wayne Matlock/Josh Caster, El Cajon, Calif., who ride a Honda TRX700X.

While SCORE Trophy Truck has the most entries of any class in the race including 4-wheel vehicles, leading the pro motorcycle classes is the open Class 22 with six.

Class 25 leads the ATV classes so far with five and leading the Sportsman Motorcycles the SPT M/C> with 15 to date.

Following his third victory in the last five races and second in three races this season, Las Vegas’ All-America racer MacCachren has launched himself into the SCORE Overall and SCORE Trophy Truck point lead after three of five races in the 2012 SCORE Desert Series.

With back to back overall wins in 2012 (Laughlin-Round 2 and San Felipe) after opening the season with a ninth-place finish in the first round in Laughlin, Nev., MacCachren, 46, has earned 177 championship points in the No. 20 Rockstar Energy/MasterCraft Racing Ford F-150. He is not only the SCORE Overall point leader, he is also at the top of the leaderboard in the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division.The recent San Felipe victory was also MacCachren’s fourth in the last six SCORE races.

In San Felipe, MacCachren also earned the 75 all-time SCORE Baja overall race win for noted tired manufacturer BFGoodrich. BFG Tires have now been the tire of choice for the overall 4-wheel vehicle winners in 22 MasterCraft Safety Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 races, 28 in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 and 25 in the legendary Tecate SCORE Baja 1000.

SCORE points are based on starting, finishing, placement and number of official starters within each class.

With consistent Laughlin finishes of fourth and third along with a seventh in San Felipe, Steve Strobel, Clarks, Neb., has moved up to third in SCORE Overall points and remains third in SCORE Trophy Truck in the No. 94 Strobel Motorsports Ford F-150

In addition to season class point championships, the racers are also competing for part of the nearly $400,000 in cash purse and contingency postings each race. Drivers in the Pro car and truck classes are also attempting to earn prestigious SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards given to all car and truck class drivers who complete every required mile of the five-race season.  Being presented by Toyota Motorsports for the 27th consecutive year, a total of 30 drivers are still in the hunt for the awards for the 2012 SCORE Desert Series after the first two rounds in the five-race series.

Racers are also competing for the annual SCORE Off-Roadsman of the Year awards, including the MasterCraft Safety SCORE Rookie of the Year award. All categories, except Engine Builder and Original Buggy Chassis Manufacturer, will be determined by public on-line voting while Engine and Buggy awards are determined by season points.

Tecate Beer is the title sponsor of the three SCORE Baja races.

MasterCraft Safety is co-title sponsor of the 26th MasterCraft Safety Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250.

Official Sponsors of the SCORE Desert Series are:
-BFGoodrich Tires, Official Tire
-Volkswagen of America, Official Vehicle
-Sunoco Race Fuels, Official Race Fuel
-Slime, Official Tire Sealant
-Symons Ambulance Company, Official Ambulance
-Bilstein, Official Shock Absorber
-Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, Official Mexican Auto Insurance

Official Sponsors of the SCORE Baja 1000 are:
-Coca-Cola, Official Soft Drink
-Volaris Airlines, Official Airline
-Lightforce Performance Lighting, Official Driving Light

Additional SCORE Sponsors are – Proturismo Ensenada, Baja California Secretary of Tourism, COTUCO Mexicali/San Felipe, Las Vegas Events, Blue C Advertising, SignPros, PCI Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.

For more information, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters 818.225.8402 or visit the official website of the 2012 SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com.

44th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500
June 1-3, 2012—Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
Total Entries: 161 (as of 4/22/12)

(from 30 States, Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico and U.S. territory-Guam)

Pro Cars & Trucks
SCORE TROPHY-TRUCK (38)
18 Juan C. Lopez
30 Robbie Pierce
97 B.J. Baldwin
20 Rob MacCachren
94 Steven Strobel
49 Ryan Arciero
16 Cameron Steele
23 Dan McMillin
17 Mike Julson
19 Tim Herbst
31 Andy McMillin
34 Ken Losch
48 Jimmy Knuckles
55 Mark Workentine
93 Chris Kemp
57 Mike Palmer
12 Brendan Gaughan
45 Gary Magness
1 Bryce Menzies
15 Armin Schwarz
95 Scott Whipple
21 Gus Vildosola Jr.
2 Pete Sohren
24 Adam Householder
10 Greg Nunley
84 Nick Vanderwey
98 Gary Weyhrich
77 Robby Gordon
83 Martin Aguirre
51 Kory Scheeler
14 Josh Daniel
9 Mark Weyhrich
28 Alan Pflueger
3 Mark Post
22 Roberto Encinas III
76 Jesse Jones
39 Ron Whitton
52 Jessica Baumgartner

CLASS 1 (13)
101 Cody Parkhouse
102 Josh Rigsby
103 Clyde Stacy
104 Luke McMillin
105 Tony Miglini
106 Damen Jefferies
107 Ronny Wilson
108 Guy Peterson
109 Ryan Sharman
110 Jon Walker
111 Steve Schovajsa
100 Justin Davis
149 Ron Gibbs

CLASS 1/2-1600 (8)
1601 Matt Ferrato
1602 George Peters
1603 Steve Achey
1604 Arturo Velazco
1605 Jason Coleman
1606 Brad Wilson
1648 Wes McKenzie
1649 Hiram Duran

CLASS 3 (1)
300 Donald Moss

CLASS 5 (1)
500 Kevin Carr

CLASS 5-1600 (2)
551 Trevor Anderson
579 Clyde Stacy

CLASS 6 (4)
601 Gregg Hempel
602 Eduardo Laguna
603 Peter Lang
600 Heidi Steele

CLASS 7 (1)
700 Dan Chamlee

CLASS 7SX (1)
759 Justin Fisher

CLASS 8 (1)
839 Rodolfo Irie

CLASS 10 (9)
1001 Morgan Langley
1002 Peter Hajas
1003 Chip Prescott
1004 Matt Cullen
1005 John Martensen
1006 Lee Banning
1007 John Langley
1008 Perry McNeil
1009 Jimmy Slaughter

SCORE LITES (7)
1200 Rafael Navarro IV
1201 Brent Parkhouse
1202 Jeff Sanca
1203 Gregg Ryan
1247 Arnoldo Ramirez
1248 Leonardo Navarreta
1439 Otoniel Huerta

STOCK MINI (1)
779 Andy Bell
PROTRUCK (1)
1350 Chelsea Magness

CLASS 7-2 (2)
721 Dave Boynton
720 Reid Rutherford

CLASS 4 (2)
418 Mike Shaffer
419 Derek Fletcher

CLASS 2 (1)
219 Clyde Stacy

PRO MOTORCYCLES
CLASS 22 (6)
2x Mike Brown
3x A.J. Stewart
4x Robby Bell
5x Mark Samuels
1x Colton Udall
7x Kurt Caselli

CLASS 21 (4)
101x Adam Neuwirth
102x Jim O’Neal
103x Adolfo Palacios
104x Francisco Septien

CLASS 30 (5)
300x Mike Johnson
301x Javier Hernandez
302x Mario Valenzuela
303x Kevin Murphy

CLASS 40 (5)
401x Oscar Fazz
402x Mike Johnson
403x Mike Prunty
400x Jeff Kaplan
405x Mike Kay

CLASS 50 (3)
501x Marc Prinse
502x Seiji Kubota
519x Mark Winkleman
CLASS 60 (2)
601 Al Perrett
600x Donald Lewis

PRO ATVs
CLASS 25 (5)
2a Josh Fredereck
3a Brandon Brown
1a Wayne Matlock
5a Greg Row
6a Rafael Torres

CLASS 24 (3)
101a Rafael Torres
102a Manuel Jimenez
103a Miguel Olivas
CLASS 26 (1)
200a Carl Vella

SPORTSMAN
SPT BUGGY (3)
1401 Christopher Augenti
1402 Stephen Ankeny
1449 Jim Bunn

SPT UTV (4)
1800 William Morris
1801 Thomas Graves
1802 Jason Murray
1803 Chris Koch

SPT M/C< (5)
201x Daniel O’Leary
202x Brad Masciotra
203x Mike Nensinger
204x Dan Troy
249x Mark Winkleman

SPT M/C> (15)
251x Carlos Valdez
252x Hideyuki Fukuoka
253x Andreas Hoyler
254x Kevin Muggleton
255x Cesar Torres
256x Kazuhiro Nakamura
257x Carl Yakiwchuk
258x Akihiri Saito
259x Dave Campbell
260x Takehiro Yorimitsu
261x Scott Darkow Jr.
262x Brad Baker
263x Thierry Mas
264x Luke Duprin
299x Carlos Sanchez

SPT ATV (4)
51a Richard Epperson
52a Justin Ryan
53a Paul Engen
54a Jose Manuel Soto