San Marcos, CA – Congratulations to all participants in this year’s 2013 Tecate Score Baja 500 and a special thank you to Baja Designs’ Team Enlightened. Notably one of the toughest off-road races in the world, this year’s Baja 500 was an invigorating new format that stirred up the race right from the start.

New course sections, new series owner and new rules made for an especially exciting race. The 500 course was very technical, compared to recent years, which meant most race teams had no choice but to turn on their lights and drive through the night.

Baja Designs’ Team Enlightened earned a total of 19 podium finishes in 16 classes.

Trophy Truck
Menzies Motorsports – 3rd
Terrible Herbst – 4th
Galindo Motorsports – 6th
RPM OFFROAD – 8th
Terrible Herbst – 10th
McMillin Racing – 11th
Vildosola Racing – 12th
Greg Nunley – 17th
Mastercraft – 18th
All German Motorsports – 19th

Class 1
RPM OFFROAD – 1st
Corey Keysar – 2nd
Parkhouse Racing – 4th
Lyle Bask – 6th
Edge Motorsports – 7th

Trophy Truck Special
RPM OFFROAD – 1st
Mills Motorsports – 2nd

Class 10
Mike Johnson – 1st

Class 8
RPM OFFROAD – 1st
Rick Sanchez – 2nd

12 SCORE Lites
Rafael Navarro IV – 1st

Class 1/2 1600
Jose Ruvalcaba – 4th
Jorge Sampietro – 5th

Class 5 UnLtd
Cody Kellogg – 1st
Jose Lopez – 3rd

Class 5-1600 LTD
RPM OFFROAD – 1st

Class 7sx
Elias Hanna – 1st

Class 30
Team Arredondo – 1st

Class 22
Kurt Caselli – 2nd

Class 21
Adam Neuwirth – 1st

Class 20
Mark Bradford – 2nd

Sportsman 1500 UnLtd Buggy
Jorge Valdes – 1st

M-A 25 ATV
Adolfo Arellano – 2nd

Red Bull Trophy Truck racer Bryce Menzies qualified 3rd and finished 3rd in class, only minutes behind the first place team. Bryce’s co-driver Pete Mortensen had this to say, “This was our first race with an all LED setup. We had them at the Mint 400, but we didn’t get a chance to use them for more than 20 minutes. Bryce and I were very satisfied with how they performed and I like the fact that they are easy to package on the truck.”

Last year’s release of the Baja Designs OnX LED light bar brought a new technology and experience to off road night racing, allowing for high speed night driving with only LEDs.

Alan Roach, founder and head engineer of Baja Designs raced with Mills Racing in a Spec Trophy Truck finishing 2nd in class. “I drove the entire night section – I saw the sun go down and come up again from the driver’s seat. The LED setup is so much easier on the eye and with the projection of the OnX, I barely noticed it was night time.”

Cody Parkhouse, 4th place finisher in Class 1, said, “The Baja Designs OnX is by far the best light we have ever used on a race car. We came back into Ensenada after more than 120 miles at night with the OnX, not once were we concerned.”

Thank you again to all of our supporters and Team Enlightened for another amazing display of skill, sportsmanship and athleticism at this year’s Tecate Score Baja 500. The Scientists of Lighting are here for all of your lighting needs – no matter what vehicle you choose – ensuring that bright ideas are always made better.

For more information, visit www.bajadesigns.com.