klaus
October 21st, 2002, 21:19
October 21, 2002
35th Anniversary, Nov. 20-23 , in Mexico
Steinberger in SCORE Trophy-Truck, Japan’s Shiga in Class 22 M/C Draw first Starts for Legendary Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race
NASCAR’s Robby Gordon, Gaughan; Indy Car’s Vasser
& Groff Brothers entered in Ensenada to La Paz adventure
LOS ANGELES-With season point titles on the line, Scott Steinberger
received a surprise 35th birthday present while Japan’s Yoshinobu Shiga got a
surprise he never hoped for as both received the coveted first start
positions for next month’s 35th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. The legendary
granddaddy of all desert races, the final event of the six-race 2002 Optima
SCORE Desert Series, will be held Nov. 20-23 in Baja California, Mexico.
The excruciatingly arduous 1,017.56-mile point-to-point race will start
in Ensenada on the Pacific Ocean side of the mysterious peninsula and finish
in La Paz on the Sea of Cortez.
The computerized drawing for starting positions was held at Los Angeles
headquarters of SCORE International late last Friday for the 23 Pro and 5
Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs that will compete in
the historic event. With over 190 entries to date, 210 official starters are
expected to begin the odyssey, representing over 30 U.S. States and 10
countries.
Pre-race festivities will be held in Ensenada and will include the
colorful manufacturer's midway and technical inspection of all the race
vehicles on Wednesday, Nov. 20. The race will start on Thursday, Nov. 21 and
the fastest vehicles in the elapsed-time race are expected to cover the
rugged course in approximately 20 hours. The motorcycles and ATVs will start
at 6:30 a.m., followed by the cars and trucks at 8 a.m. (PST). Vehicles will
start in 30-second intervals.
Involved in the closest championship battle in the nine-year history of
the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division, Steinberger, of Cypress, Calif.,
will drive the first four-wheel vehicle to leave the start line in the
world’s longest, richest and toughest point-to-point open desert race.
Currently second in the season point standings in his first season in SCORE
Trophy-Truck, Steinberger will drive the No. 7 PCI Racing Ford F 150 in the
class for 750-horsepower unlimited production trucks. While Steinberger, last
year’s SCORE point champion in the Protruck class, will start and finish the
race, Phoenix’ Jesse Jones, last year’s SCORE Class 8 point champ, will drive
around 375 miles and Dane Carbone, Huntington Beach, Calif., will drive a
section of approximately 190 miles.
“All three of us may rookies in the SCORE Trophy-Truck class, but this
isn’t our first year in desert racing,” said Steinberger, who turned 35 last
Friday, the same day as the SCORE start draw. “The top three point leaders
will be the first of 20 incredible SCORE Trophy-Trucks to leave the start
line, so I’ll have to run a pace to win the race, keep them behind me and win
the championship. I’m going to pre-run this course until it hurts and I have
nightmares.”
Shiga, 40, of Kawagoe, Japan, is rider of record on the No. 2X Honda
XR650 in Class 22 for open Pro motorcycles and will lead nearly 75
motorcycles and ATVs down the mysterious Baja California peninsula.
Behind Steinberger, Las Vegas brothers Ed and Tim Herbst are third in
season points and will start second in their No. 19 Terrible Herbst
Motorsports’ Ford F-150 while point leader Mark Post, San Juan Capistrano,
Calif., and co-driver Curt LeDuc, Cherry Valley, Calif., will start third in
their No. 3 Riviera Racing Ford F-150.
So involved with racing that after he drew the first start in July’s
SCORE Henderson’s Terrible 250 he named his new son Race, Steinberger is
driving a truck he purchased from the Herbst brothers. The oldest of the
current SCORE Trophy-Trucks, the 1992 Ford F-150 has been a model of
consistency for Steinberger as he has had no mechanical problems and has
earned one second place, two thirds and two fourths this season in SCORE
Trophy-Truck.
Sal Fish, SCORE International's CEO and President, is finishing leading
a group of nearly a dozen SCORE race officials and a television producer on a
two-week odyssey to properly mark the rugged race course. They used thousands
of identification surveyor reflective ribbons, wooden stakes, day-glow
directional arrows, informational signs along with mile markers, tens of
thousands of staples, staple guns and sledge hammers. For Fish, it marked the
30th time he had marked the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 course. The course
officially opens for pre-running on Saturday (Oct. 26).
In a motorsport where there is no qualifying to determine the starting
grid, the start draw is significantly important.
In addition to all of the SCORE regular racers, early entries for this
annual classic will include international rally racers, SCORE veteran racers
who make this an annual pilgrimage, and cross-over stars like NASCAR's Robby
Gordon and Brendan Gaughan along with CART's Jimmy Vasser.
Gordon, the NASCAR Winston Cup regular whose roots are in the desert and
has residences in both Mooresville, N.C., and Orange, Calif., will race his
Team Gordon’s No. 31 Ford F-150 in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division.
Las Vegas’ Gaughan, who is the top rookie in this year’s NASCAR Craftsman
Truck Series, will co-drive with Roger Gray, Cupertino, Calif., in the No. 21
Phoenix Racing Chevy Silverado in SCORE Trophy-Truck.
Vasser, who also lives in Las Vegas, will drive with former open wheel
pavement racers Mike and Robbie Groff in the Groff Racing Toyota powered
Jimco open-wheel desert race car in the unlimited Class 1.
Despite a season-low 10th place finish in the SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300
on Sept. 14, Las Vegas' Troy Herbst has retained the Overall and unlimited
Class 1 point leads heading into the season finale.
One of the closest class races this season is in the featured SCORE
Trophy-Truck division where just six points separate the top three racers.
With 237 points, the Post/Jerry Welchel duo leads with Steinberger in second
just two points back in another Ford F-150 and the Herbst brothers are in
third in a Ford F-150, just four more points back (231).
There have been four different winners in five races in SCORE Trophy
Truck. Despite winning the first two races of the season in Laughlin, Nev.,
and San Felipe, Mexico, defending series point champions Dan Smith and David
Ashley, Riverside, Calif., are in fifth place right now in another Ford
F-150. Winning the three other SCORE races this season have been the teams of
Mark Miller, Carefree, Ariz./Larry Ragland, Phoenix in a Chevy Silverado
(Tecate SCORE Baja 500), Post/Welchel (SCORE Henderson's Terrible 250) and
the Herbst brothers (SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300).
Among the other early entries in this year’s saga are Rod Hall and Ron
Bishop, the only two racers who have competed in every Tecate SCORE Baja
1000.
Hall, of Reno, Nev., will turn 65 during the race (Friday, Nov. 22) and
who is the all-time winningest racer in this event (16 class wins), will race
with his sons Chad and Josh in Stock Full in an AM General Hummer. Bishop,
59, of Escondido, Calif., will ride a KTM in Class 40 for motorcycle riders
over 40 years old. Hall is the only racer who has competed in a car or truck
in the first 34 years of the event and Bishop holds the same distinction on a
motorcycle.
The youngest of the three brothers on the Terrible Herbst Motorsports
team, Troy Herbst, 36, has forged an unparalleled SCORE desert racing record
the last five-plus seasons. Since 1997, Herbst has won the unlimited Class 1
title five consecutive years including the coveted SCORE Overall point
championship in 1997, 1998 and 2000 while finishing second the other two
years in his Ford-powered Smithbuilt open-wheel desert race car. During that
run, Troy Herbst has won his class in 12 races and his class has the most
entries at the majority of the SCORE races.
SCORE points are determined both on final finishing position and number
of vehicles which started the race within the individual class. After five
events, Herbst has earned 232 points. In what has developed into one of
tightest overall point battles in SCORE history, just 17 points separate the
top five heading into the season finale in Mexico.
In second and third in overall points in America's Foremost Desert
Racing Series are class point leaders Kash Vessels, Tucson, Ariz. (Class
1-2/1600, Chenowth-VW--263), and Steve Barlow, Temecula, Calif. (Protruck,
Ford F-150--258 points). Tied for fourth in overall points with 249 points
are Chuck Hovey, Escondido, Calif. (Jimco-Chevy, second in
Class 1) and Stock Full Class leader John Griffin, Mission Viejo, Calif. (AM
General Hummer).
Another testament to the competitiveness in SCORE desert racing, a total
of just five points separate sixth through 11th place after five races in the
2002 Optima SCORE Desert Series overall point standings.
The next six in the overall point standings are also class point
leaders. Sixth overall and leading Class 8 with 242 points is Nick Vanderway,
Buckeye, Ariz., who drives a GMC Sierra.
Seventh in overall points with 239 is Dan Fresh, San Juan Capistrano,
Calif. (Class 7S, Jeep Comanche), while eighth with 238 points is Craig
Turner, Yorba Linda, Calif. (Class 7, Ford Ranger).
In a three-way for ninth in the overall point standings with 237 points
each are: Mark Post, Laguna Hills, Calif./Jerry Whelchel, Rancho Santa
Margarita, Calif. (SCORE Trophy-Truck, Ford F-150), Rob Taylor, San Diego
(Class 5/1600, limited VW Baja Bug and George Seeley Jr., Glendale, Calif.
(Class 5, unlimited VW Baja Bug).
Leading the featured motorcycle class and the overall motorcycle point
leader is the undefeated (three wins) team of Steve Hengeveld, Oak Hills,
Calif./Johnny Campbell, San Clemente, Calif. (Class 22, Honda XR650R).
Las Vegas' Jimmy Stephensen and his co-rider Mike Cafro, Carlsbad,
Calif., lead Class 25 and are the overall ATV point leaders on their Honda
250R.
Tecate Beer is the title sponsor of the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. Major
associate sponsors of this legendary motorsports extravaganza are: Coca Cola
of Mexico, the Baja California and Baja California Sur Departments of
Tourism, Cotuco and Fondo Mixto Turistica de Ensenada.
SCORE official sponsors for 2002 are: Optima Batteries-title sponsor of
the series and official battery, BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Southern
California Ford Dealers-official vehicle, 76 Racing Fuel-official fuel and
Rental Service Corporation-official equipment supplier. Associate sponsors
this year are: Bilstein Shocks, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, Signpros,
P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie's, Rancho Suspensions, Advanced Color Graphics
and Off-Road Innovations.
For more information, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters
(818) 225-8402 or visit the official website of the Optima SCORE Desert
Series at www.score-international.com.
Weatherman Relay Airplane Fundraiser
In an organized effort to assist Bob Steinberger’s Weatherman Relay
radio communications service lease of a fixed-wing airplane for the Tecate
SCORE Baja 1000, racers have begun a campaign to help offset the projected
$20,000 costs of the airplane, landing fees, taxes, etc. Those interested may
send donations to “The Weatherman”, 8628 Miraleste Shores Drive, Parker,
Ariz., 85344 or call PCI Race Radios at 562.427.8077.
35th Anniversary, Nov. 20-23 , in Mexico
Steinberger in SCORE Trophy-Truck, Japan’s Shiga in Class 22 M/C Draw first Starts for Legendary Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race
NASCAR’s Robby Gordon, Gaughan; Indy Car’s Vasser
& Groff Brothers entered in Ensenada to La Paz adventure
LOS ANGELES-With season point titles on the line, Scott Steinberger
received a surprise 35th birthday present while Japan’s Yoshinobu Shiga got a
surprise he never hoped for as both received the coveted first start
positions for next month’s 35th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. The legendary
granddaddy of all desert races, the final event of the six-race 2002 Optima
SCORE Desert Series, will be held Nov. 20-23 in Baja California, Mexico.
The excruciatingly arduous 1,017.56-mile point-to-point race will start
in Ensenada on the Pacific Ocean side of the mysterious peninsula and finish
in La Paz on the Sea of Cortez.
The computerized drawing for starting positions was held at Los Angeles
headquarters of SCORE International late last Friday for the 23 Pro and 5
Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs that will compete in
the historic event. With over 190 entries to date, 210 official starters are
expected to begin the odyssey, representing over 30 U.S. States and 10
countries.
Pre-race festivities will be held in Ensenada and will include the
colorful manufacturer's midway and technical inspection of all the race
vehicles on Wednesday, Nov. 20. The race will start on Thursday, Nov. 21 and
the fastest vehicles in the elapsed-time race are expected to cover the
rugged course in approximately 20 hours. The motorcycles and ATVs will start
at 6:30 a.m., followed by the cars and trucks at 8 a.m. (PST). Vehicles will
start in 30-second intervals.
Involved in the closest championship battle in the nine-year history of
the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division, Steinberger, of Cypress, Calif.,
will drive the first four-wheel vehicle to leave the start line in the
world’s longest, richest and toughest point-to-point open desert race.
Currently second in the season point standings in his first season in SCORE
Trophy-Truck, Steinberger will drive the No. 7 PCI Racing Ford F 150 in the
class for 750-horsepower unlimited production trucks. While Steinberger, last
year’s SCORE point champion in the Protruck class, will start and finish the
race, Phoenix’ Jesse Jones, last year’s SCORE Class 8 point champ, will drive
around 375 miles and Dane Carbone, Huntington Beach, Calif., will drive a
section of approximately 190 miles.
“All three of us may rookies in the SCORE Trophy-Truck class, but this
isn’t our first year in desert racing,” said Steinberger, who turned 35 last
Friday, the same day as the SCORE start draw. “The top three point leaders
will be the first of 20 incredible SCORE Trophy-Trucks to leave the start
line, so I’ll have to run a pace to win the race, keep them behind me and win
the championship. I’m going to pre-run this course until it hurts and I have
nightmares.”
Shiga, 40, of Kawagoe, Japan, is rider of record on the No. 2X Honda
XR650 in Class 22 for open Pro motorcycles and will lead nearly 75
motorcycles and ATVs down the mysterious Baja California peninsula.
Behind Steinberger, Las Vegas brothers Ed and Tim Herbst are third in
season points and will start second in their No. 19 Terrible Herbst
Motorsports’ Ford F-150 while point leader Mark Post, San Juan Capistrano,
Calif., and co-driver Curt LeDuc, Cherry Valley, Calif., will start third in
their No. 3 Riviera Racing Ford F-150.
So involved with racing that after he drew the first start in July’s
SCORE Henderson’s Terrible 250 he named his new son Race, Steinberger is
driving a truck he purchased from the Herbst brothers. The oldest of the
current SCORE Trophy-Trucks, the 1992 Ford F-150 has been a model of
consistency for Steinberger as he has had no mechanical problems and has
earned one second place, two thirds and two fourths this season in SCORE
Trophy-Truck.
Sal Fish, SCORE International's CEO and President, is finishing leading
a group of nearly a dozen SCORE race officials and a television producer on a
two-week odyssey to properly mark the rugged race course. They used thousands
of identification surveyor reflective ribbons, wooden stakes, day-glow
directional arrows, informational signs along with mile markers, tens of
thousands of staples, staple guns and sledge hammers. For Fish, it marked the
30th time he had marked the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 course. The course
officially opens for pre-running on Saturday (Oct. 26).
In a motorsport where there is no qualifying to determine the starting
grid, the start draw is significantly important.
In addition to all of the SCORE regular racers, early entries for this
annual classic will include international rally racers, SCORE veteran racers
who make this an annual pilgrimage, and cross-over stars like NASCAR's Robby
Gordon and Brendan Gaughan along with CART's Jimmy Vasser.
Gordon, the NASCAR Winston Cup regular whose roots are in the desert and
has residences in both Mooresville, N.C., and Orange, Calif., will race his
Team Gordon’s No. 31 Ford F-150 in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division.
Las Vegas’ Gaughan, who is the top rookie in this year’s NASCAR Craftsman
Truck Series, will co-drive with Roger Gray, Cupertino, Calif., in the No. 21
Phoenix Racing Chevy Silverado in SCORE Trophy-Truck.
Vasser, who also lives in Las Vegas, will drive with former open wheel
pavement racers Mike and Robbie Groff in the Groff Racing Toyota powered
Jimco open-wheel desert race car in the unlimited Class 1.
Despite a season-low 10th place finish in the SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300
on Sept. 14, Las Vegas' Troy Herbst has retained the Overall and unlimited
Class 1 point leads heading into the season finale.
One of the closest class races this season is in the featured SCORE
Trophy-Truck division where just six points separate the top three racers.
With 237 points, the Post/Jerry Welchel duo leads with Steinberger in second
just two points back in another Ford F-150 and the Herbst brothers are in
third in a Ford F-150, just four more points back (231).
There have been four different winners in five races in SCORE Trophy
Truck. Despite winning the first two races of the season in Laughlin, Nev.,
and San Felipe, Mexico, defending series point champions Dan Smith and David
Ashley, Riverside, Calif., are in fifth place right now in another Ford
F-150. Winning the three other SCORE races this season have been the teams of
Mark Miller, Carefree, Ariz./Larry Ragland, Phoenix in a Chevy Silverado
(Tecate SCORE Baja 500), Post/Welchel (SCORE Henderson's Terrible 250) and
the Herbst brothers (SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300).
Among the other early entries in this year’s saga are Rod Hall and Ron
Bishop, the only two racers who have competed in every Tecate SCORE Baja
1000.
Hall, of Reno, Nev., will turn 65 during the race (Friday, Nov. 22) and
who is the all-time winningest racer in this event (16 class wins), will race
with his sons Chad and Josh in Stock Full in an AM General Hummer. Bishop,
59, of Escondido, Calif., will ride a KTM in Class 40 for motorcycle riders
over 40 years old. Hall is the only racer who has competed in a car or truck
in the first 34 years of the event and Bishop holds the same distinction on a
motorcycle.
The youngest of the three brothers on the Terrible Herbst Motorsports
team, Troy Herbst, 36, has forged an unparalleled SCORE desert racing record
the last five-plus seasons. Since 1997, Herbst has won the unlimited Class 1
title five consecutive years including the coveted SCORE Overall point
championship in 1997, 1998 and 2000 while finishing second the other two
years in his Ford-powered Smithbuilt open-wheel desert race car. During that
run, Troy Herbst has won his class in 12 races and his class has the most
entries at the majority of the SCORE races.
SCORE points are determined both on final finishing position and number
of vehicles which started the race within the individual class. After five
events, Herbst has earned 232 points. In what has developed into one of
tightest overall point battles in SCORE history, just 17 points separate the
top five heading into the season finale in Mexico.
In second and third in overall points in America's Foremost Desert
Racing Series are class point leaders Kash Vessels, Tucson, Ariz. (Class
1-2/1600, Chenowth-VW--263), and Steve Barlow, Temecula, Calif. (Protruck,
Ford F-150--258 points). Tied for fourth in overall points with 249 points
are Chuck Hovey, Escondido, Calif. (Jimco-Chevy, second in
Class 1) and Stock Full Class leader John Griffin, Mission Viejo, Calif. (AM
General Hummer).
Another testament to the competitiveness in SCORE desert racing, a total
of just five points separate sixth through 11th place after five races in the
2002 Optima SCORE Desert Series overall point standings.
The next six in the overall point standings are also class point
leaders. Sixth overall and leading Class 8 with 242 points is Nick Vanderway,
Buckeye, Ariz., who drives a GMC Sierra.
Seventh in overall points with 239 is Dan Fresh, San Juan Capistrano,
Calif. (Class 7S, Jeep Comanche), while eighth with 238 points is Craig
Turner, Yorba Linda, Calif. (Class 7, Ford Ranger).
In a three-way for ninth in the overall point standings with 237 points
each are: Mark Post, Laguna Hills, Calif./Jerry Whelchel, Rancho Santa
Margarita, Calif. (SCORE Trophy-Truck, Ford F-150), Rob Taylor, San Diego
(Class 5/1600, limited VW Baja Bug and George Seeley Jr., Glendale, Calif.
(Class 5, unlimited VW Baja Bug).
Leading the featured motorcycle class and the overall motorcycle point
leader is the undefeated (three wins) team of Steve Hengeveld, Oak Hills,
Calif./Johnny Campbell, San Clemente, Calif. (Class 22, Honda XR650R).
Las Vegas' Jimmy Stephensen and his co-rider Mike Cafro, Carlsbad,
Calif., lead Class 25 and are the overall ATV point leaders on their Honda
250R.
Tecate Beer is the title sponsor of the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. Major
associate sponsors of this legendary motorsports extravaganza are: Coca Cola
of Mexico, the Baja California and Baja California Sur Departments of
Tourism, Cotuco and Fondo Mixto Turistica de Ensenada.
SCORE official sponsors for 2002 are: Optima Batteries-title sponsor of
the series and official battery, BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Southern
California Ford Dealers-official vehicle, 76 Racing Fuel-official fuel and
Rental Service Corporation-official equipment supplier. Associate sponsors
this year are: Bilstein Shocks, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, Signpros,
P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie's, Rancho Suspensions, Advanced Color Graphics
and Off-Road Innovations.
For more information, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters
(818) 225-8402 or visit the official website of the Optima SCORE Desert
Series at www.score-international.com.
Weatherman Relay Airplane Fundraiser
In an organized effort to assist Bob Steinberger’s Weatherman Relay
radio communications service lease of a fixed-wing airplane for the Tecate
SCORE Baja 1000, racers have begun a campaign to help offset the projected
$20,000 costs of the airplane, landing fees, taxes, etc. Those interested may
send donations to “The Weatherman”, 8628 Miraleste Shores Drive, Parker,
Ariz., 85344 or call PCI Race Radios at 562.427.8077.