SAN DIEGO — Following Tuesday’s night live drawing for starting positions, Southern California desert racing ace Robby Bell, the defending overall winner, will be the first motorcycle off the starting line in the upcoming 45th annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500 desert race. Entries from around the world continue to arrive for Round 2 of the 2013 SCORE Desert Series, to be held May 30-June 2 in Mexico’s Baja California Norte, starting and finishing in Ensenada, the seaside port on the Pacific Ocean, 80 miles south of San Diego.

With SCORE Trophy Trucks and unlimited Class 1 open-wheel desert race cars qualifying for starting positions, Bell is certain of his starting position on, Saturday, June 1. The start draw was broadcast live worldwide during a special edition of Roger Norman’s Dirt Live Internet show.

SCORE is celebrating its 40th year as the world’s foremost desert racing organization in 2013 and this race is traditionally one of the most popular events on the SCORE schedule. Most the world’s best desert racers will be in action at this year’s 45th anniversary of the Tecate SCORE Baja 500, the original desert race produced by SCORE on July 26, 1974.

It is an elapsed-time race with staggered starts with the green flag on Saturday (June 1) dropping first for the motorcycles and ATVs at 6 a.m. and several hours later for the cars and trucks.

BELL RINGER
One of the top motorcycle desert racers in the world, Bell, 26, of Menifee, Calif., is a three-time SCORE season Class 22 point champion and he has four overall motorcycle wins in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 including last year.  In the 2012 race, Bell and teammates David Pearson, Panaca, Nev. and Steve Hengeveld, Oak Hills, Calif., ended the 15-year win streak by Honda, giving Kawasaki its first Tecate SCORE Baja 500 overall win since 1996. Bell/Pearson/Hengeveld ride the No. 4x Monster Energy THR Motorsports Kawasaki KX450.

DOUBLE ANNIVERSARY RACE
To enjoy the history-making anniversary race, entries from up to 35 U.S. States and 15 countries are expected with competition offered in 40 Pro and 7 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs. Entries have already been received from Hawaii to Florida in the U.S., the U.S. territory of Guam, along with entries to date from the additional countries of Australia, Austria, Belize, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and host country Mexico. A total of 169 entries were accepted in time for Tuesday’s drawing and more than 100 additional entries are expected before the green flag drops.

QUALIFYING A FIRST…
For the first time in SCORE Baja racing history, qualifying for starting positions will be held. On Thursday, May 30, qualifying for both the SCORE Trophy Truck and the unlimited Class 1 will be held over a special course near Ensenada.

A total of 36 SCORE Trophy Trucks and 20 Class 1 entries will qualify for their starting positions on Thursday (May 30), marking the first time there has been qualifying in the storied history of SCORE Baja racing. For the top two car and truck classes, their drawing identified their qualifying order in each class.

Drawing the first qualifying positions in their respective classes were B.J. Baldwin, Las Vegas, in the No. 1 Monster Energy Baldwin Motorsports Chevy Silverado SCORE Trophy Truck and Eduardo Laguna, Mexicali, Mexico, who drives the No. 117 Speed Energy RPM Racing RGM-Chevy open-wheel race car.

Tampa Digital Studios and Tempt Media Films will tape all qualifying vehicle for broadcast use on the ground and from the SCORE TV helicopter.

ENTERING HISTORY
Online registration, with classes grouped into four Pro and two Sportsman levels is ongoing through the SCORE website. Questions regarding SCORE racer registration should be directed to Elise Norman at 775.690.2306.

Official entries received after the drawing will be given the next available starting position within their respective classes. Late entries received after May 24 or registering on-site will be assessed a $200 late fee.

ANNIVERSARY COURSE
The race will feature a course of just over 500 miles that includes new or seldom-used areas as several new festivities will be held surround the event as the celebration continues for the 40th season of SCORE International desert racing.

SCORE has also announced the pre-running on the race course will begin officially on Wednesday, May 15, except for the portion from the start to Ojos Negros (approximately 35 miles), which will be used in both directions during the race.

When finalized by Norman and SCORE Race Director Jose Grijalva, the historic race course will be another memorable example of all that Mexico’s Baja California has to offer, including high-speed dirt trails, sandy, rocky and silty natural terrain, majestic Baja washes and canyons, stretches along the seashore with elevations from sea level to over 4,000 feet. The course will be another jewel reflecting the stark beauty of Baja California. The course will be presented for the first time on the Dirt Live Internet show on Tuesday, May 14.

ENTRY LEADERS
While SCORE Trophy Truck with 36 has the most entries of any class in the race including 4-wheel vehicles, other car/truck classes with double figure entries so far are Class 1 with 20 and Class 10 with 19.

Leading the Pro motorcycle classes is the open Class 22 with seven entries in the start drawing.

Class 24 leads the ATV classes so far with four and leading the Sportsman Motorcycles the SPT M/C> with 16 so far.

A BAJA FIESTA…
Colorful race week festivities will include several first-time events for SCORE, starting with qualifying for SCORE Trophy Truck and Class 1 followed by the Monster Energy SCORE Kick Off Party on Thursday, May 30 from 7 p.m. until Midnight at the start/finish line area in the heart of Ensenada. With donations for La Cruz Roja Mexicana (Mexico’s Red Cross), the event will be preceded by a racer’s autograph party and vehicle display starting at 6 p.m.

Friday, May 31 will see the day-long, pre-race Manufacturer’s Midway and contingency festival in the start finish line area in Ensenada.

During the race on Saturday, June 1 the Monster Energy SCORE VIP hospitality area, will be part of the start/finish line compound. Tickets will be available for the VIP area, which will include live streaming from the race course as well as updated leaderboard and Internet tracking display of the race vehicles.

All of the week’s festivities will be aired both live and same-day including the race, on the Dirt Live SCORE race week shows, airing via the internet on the SCORE website.

AT THE RIVIERA…
The Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center, in the heart of Ensenada, will again be the site of many of the activities surrounding the Tecate SCORE Baja 500. Racer registration and Media registration will be held at the Riviera on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (May 30-31, June 1) and the SCORE Media Center will be there as well during the race with internet access and live race updates, vehicle tracking and unofficial elapsed times.

In the Cathedral Room at the Riviera will be pre-race media conference as well as the mandatory pre-race racer’s meeting on Friday (May 31). The post-race awards celebration will be in the outdoor Riviera amphitheater at noon on Sunday (June 2).

The start/finish line for the race will once again be adjacent to the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center as well.

DAKAR CHALLENGE 2013
This year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 500 and Eldorado HDRA Reno 500 (July 12-14) are part of a special program where the combined best qualified car/truck finisher and combined best qualified motorcycle finisher in the two races will each receive special entry packages into the 2014 Dakar Rally in South America. Regulations and other information on Dakar Challenge 2013 are available at http://www.dakar.com/dakar/2013/us/dakar-challenge.html.

GRANDEST GRAND…
Roger Norman has also announced that the grand marshal for this year’s 45th Tecate SCORE Baja 500 will be Sal Fish, the iconic godfather of desert racing, who was a vital part of the first 39 years the popular race was produced by SCORE. Fish, 73, sold SCORE International to Norman on Dec. 20, 2012.

GRAN HISTORIA
The Tecate SCORE Baja 500 is one of the top motorsports events in the world. It was started originally in 1969 by the NORRA organization. Mickey Thompson and his SCORE International organization were asked by Mexican government to take over the event in 1974. Sal Fish ran and later owned and produced the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 for 39 years until he sold SCORE to Roger Norman in December of 2012.

Ensenada has been the heart and soul of the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 as the popular summertime race.  This year will mark the 40th time it has started and 36th time it has finished in Ensenada.

IT’s DIRT, LIVE!
Roger Norman’s Dirt Live one-hour weekly show is broadcast live on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Pacific Time on the SCORE website.  The show content is centered around his two desert racing series, the SCORE Desert Series and the High Desert Racing Association as well as the new bonus points program he has developed called the World Championship of Desert Racing. Broadcast studios are located at the SCORE tech shop in El Cajon, Calif., a suburb of San Diego.

DIRT LIVE CREW
Desert racing public address announcer George Antill is the host of Norman’s Dirt Live program. While being refined weekly, one of the regular elements of the show will be a SCORE social media interchange, allowing fans and racers to comment and ask questions through the SCORE Facebook and SCORE Twitter platforms.  Another special segment each week is Tech Tips with either one of SCORE’s Tech co-director Jake Velasco and Art Savedra.

Andrew Grimshaw, SCORE Media Production Manager, is the coordinating producer of the show. The program is hosted on ustream.com, the world’s largest streaming internet site.
ON THE BAJAscope

In its 40th year as the world’s foremost desert racing organization in 2013, the three-race 2013 SCORE Desert Series, with all three massive special events held in Baja California, Mexico. The season started with 27th Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 (March 9-10). Both starting and finishing in Ensenada, the other two events on this year’s calendar will be the 45th Tecate SCORE Baja 500 (May 31-June 2) and the 46th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 (Nov. 14-17).

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP OF DESERT RACING
The 2013 SCORE Desert Series will also be part of the quickly-evolving World Championship of Desert Racing, which will combine points accumulated for car and truck classes in two of the three SCORE Baja races along with points earned from three of the four-race 2013 HDRA Series, all held in the United States. Both the SCORE and HDRA series will crown their own individual class and overall point champions as well with a bonus purse for those racers who qualify for the World Championship of Desert Racing points bonus purse program to earn a desert racing World Champion title.

With a growing total, for the inaugural World Championship of Desert Racing bonus purse, an official total of $45,000 has been posted to date from new SCORE sponsors Amber Racing Services ($25,000), King Shocks ($10,000) and Rigid Industries ($10,000).

For Pro car and truck classes with at least three starters in each qualifying race in 2013, the World Champion titles will be decided on combined points from two of the three SCORE races and three of the four HDRA races with the bonus purse paid using the same formula based on total purse and number of starters in each class as is used currently for each SCORE race.

For the Pro motorcycle and ATV classes, the World Championship of Desert Racing will include points earned in the three SCORE Baja races as well as the AMA National Hare and Hound race to be held during the HDRA Reno 500.

MORE AWARDS
In addition to season class point championships and World Championship titles, the racers are also competing for part of the nearly $400,000 in cash purse and contingency postings each race. There are also annual SCORE Off-Roadsman of the Year Awards. 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 race season.  These awards are being presented by Toyota Motorsports for the 28th consecutive year.

NORMAN NOTES
Norman acquired ownership of the world-renown SCORE International on Dec. 20, 2012 from Sal Fish, 73, the iconic godfather of desert racing who ran SCORE for 39 years.

As a hotel/casino owner in northern Nevada, business developer and a champion racer, Norman re-started the High Desert Racing Association, (HDRA) in 2011. HDRA was highly regarded when it was active originally in the 1980s and early 1990s.  HDRA was actually bought out by Sal Fish in the early 90’s, thus making SCORE the dominant racing organization.  Things have come full circle as HDRA owner, Norman, now buys SCORE.

In addition to business interests in both San Diego and Reno, Norman owns the Crystal Bay Casino in North Lake Tahoe, Nev. as well as Wide Open Excursions desert ride-n-drive tour company with branches in Ensenada, Mexico, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and Reno, Nev.

Norman is a regular with his ‘Pit Stop with Roger’ segment on his new weekly webcast internet show on www.score-international.com-Dirt Live.

SCORE SPONSORS
Official Sponsors of the SCORE Desert Series are: Tecate Beer-Official Beer/Official Race Sponsor, BFGoodrich Tires-Official Tire, Monster Energy-Official Energy Drink, Amber Racing Services-Official Race Fuels, Rigid Industries-Official Lights, King Shocks-Official Shock Absorber, Coca-Cola-Official Soft Drink, Wide Open Excursions-Official Arrive and Drive Company, Crystal Bay Casino-Official Casino, Volaris Airlines-Official Airline, Fox Car Rental-Official Rent-A-Car, Graham Watchmakers-Official Timekeeper, SatellitePhoneStore.com-Official Satellite Phone Rental Company, Slime-Official Tire Sealant, Symons Ambulance Company-Official Ambulance, Azunia Tequila-Official Tequila.

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

For more information, visit the official website of the new SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com.

45th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500
May 30-June 2, 2013—Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
Total Entries in the start draw: 169 (as of 4/23/13)
(from 22 States & Guam; Australia, Austria, Belize, Canada, Denmark,
France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Mexico)

(By Class Starting Order)
Pro Cars & Trucks
SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (36)
(Qualifying Order)
1 B.J. Baldwin
50 Zak Langley
21 Gus Vildosola
84 Nick Vanderwey
76 Jesse Jones
9 Mark Weyhrich
11 Rob MacCachren
59 Craig Potts
70 Bryce Menzies
19 Tim Herbst
48 Jimmy Nuckles
18 Juan C. Lopez
10 Greg Nunley
23 Dan McMillin
55 Mark Workentine
44 Todd Jergensen
78 Jesse Ashcraft
98 Gary Weyhrich
26 Jay Reichert
20 Robbie Pierce
45 Gary Magness
3 Mark Post
85 Justin Davis
51 Kory Scheeler
14 Heidi Steele
88 Sergio Salgado
7 Steven Eugenio
57 Mike Palmer
91 Troy Herbst
39 Ron Whitton
15 Armin Schwarz
28 Alan Pflueger
77 Robby Gordon
35 Jason Voss
16 Cameron Steele
34 Ken Losch

CLASS 1 (20)
(Qualifying Order)
117 Eduardo Laguna
138 Randy Wilson
153 Ronny Wilson
101 Justin Matney
100 Cody Parkhouse
122 Jose Canchola
120 Corey Keysar
131 George Peters
110 Josh Rigsby
115 Todd Tuls
182 Brady Turner
141 John Martensen
114 Lyle Bask
188 Jon Walker
154 Vince Galewick
150 Erick Jacobs
170 Hiram Duran
187 Ryan Sharman
119 Erik Harp-2nd RS
179 Ron Gibbs-1st RS

CLASS 1/2-1600 (8)
1610 Kevin Price
1615 Jesus Velez
1649 Eliseo Garcia
1636 Christian Celaya
1688 Rodrigo Elorduy
1697 Jorge Sampietro-3rd RS
1605 Miguel Cortez-2nd RS
1648 Wes McKenzie-1st RS

CLASS 3 (1)
301 Chris Wilson

CLASS 5 (2)
500 Kevin Carr
521 Cody Kellogg

CLASS 5-1600 (2)
552 Carlos Rivera
555 Clyde Stacy-1st RS

CLASS 7 (1)
700 Dan Chamlee

CLASS 7200 (4)
7223 Darren Skilton
7298 Jonathan Brenthal
7207 Steve Kovach
7206 Joe Ramirez

CLASS 7SX (1)
749 Eduardo Gonzalez-1st RS

CLASS 8 (5)
801 Jose Leon
808 Rick Sanchez
809 Arturo Benavides
830 Enrique Lara
802 Derek Fletcher-1st RS

CLASS 10 (19)
1016 Cody Robinson
1023 Lee Banning
1062 J.J. Schnarr
1001 Andrew Myers
1008 Mark Lawrence
1004 Victor Valdes
1055 Kash Vessels
1048 John Hsu
1011 John Langley
1089 Arnoldo Gutierrez Jr
1000 Mike Lawrence
1031 Mike Johnson
1039 Matt Cullen
1042 Lars Ferry
1003 Perry McNeil
1021 Chris Boyer
1080 Peter Hajas
1053 Brad Wilson
1066 Mike Shaffer

SCORE LITES (3)
1209 Rafael Navarro IV
1299 Leonardo Rayos-2nd RS
1218 Ricardo Malo-1st RS

CLASS 11 (3)
1101 Rene Rodriguez
1162 Greg Piraino-2nd RS
1100 Eric Solorzano-1st RS

PROTRUCK (1)
1350 Chelsea Magness

CLASS 3000 (1)
3022 Dave Boynton

TROPHY TRUCK SPEC (2)
858 David Kleiman
844 Clyde Stacy-1st RS

CLASS 19 (4)
1903 Mark Schelbert
1905 Marc Burnett
1917 Derek Murray
1932 Matt Parks

Pro Motorcycles
CLASS 22 (7)
4x Robby Bell
13x Nicola Dutto
1x Timmy Weigand
6x Mark Adams
2x Kurt Caselli
14x Kendall Norman
7x Arron Wright

CLASS 21 (4)
120x Adam Neuwirth
114x Carlos Valenzuela
106x Kenneth Slater
127x Jim O’Neal

CLASS 30 (6)
329x Brad Baker
301x Cliff Cook
302x Javier Hernandez
306x Robert Riggs
304x Jay Rabjohn
303x Ryan Gutile

CLASS 40 (3)
405x Andrew Lloyd
403x Oscar Fazz
402x Mike Prunty

CLASS 50 (2)
501x Carlos Valdez
500x Marc Prince

Pro ATVs
CLASS 25 (1)
11a Ryan Lea-1st RS

CLASS 24 (4)
103a Alejandro Avalos
101a Thomas Wright
102a Shawn Robins
111a Eric Dwiggins

Sportsman
SPT BUGGY (1)
1503 Jorge Valdes

SPT UNLIMITED TRUCK (1)
1444 Jim Bunn – 1st RS

SPT LIMITED TRUCK (1)
2069 Charles Johnson Jr.

SPT M/C< (5)
216X Hironori Okada
229x Tim Fields
203x Fred Sobke
206x Richard Ameen
249x Mark Winkelman-1st RS

SPT M/C> (16)
291x Stephen Ankeny
268x Eric Saltzer
275x Alan Martinez
299x Servando Cazares
284x William Salazar
257x Thierry Mas
258x Hironobu Tabata
256x P. Trent Whisenant
267x Bill Cotton
289x Scott Darkow
259x Tsuyoshi Nameki
260x Tomohiro Murakami
271x Bob Russell
294x Todd Powell
290x Stuart Gordon
266x Scott Dolphin

SPT ATV (5)
77a Fidel Gonzalez
51a Richard Epperson
55a Rodrigo Rubio
66a Rusty Batza-2nd RS
57a John Nores Jr.-1st RS