SCORE Baja 500 Draw Results Story

LOS ANGELES—Prominent Central California developer, general contractor and rookie desert racer Greg Nunley along with Randy Wilson, Ryan Penhall and Santos Perez all drew pole positions in their respective divisions during Saturday’s computerized drawing for starting positions in the upcoming 41^st Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500.

Round 3 of the five-race 2009 SCORE Desert Series, the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Series, will feature over 250 entries, competing in 28 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs, will be held June 4-7 in Ensenada, Mexico. Traditionally one of the most popular events on the SCORE schedule, over 150,000 spectators are expected to enjoy the world’s best desert racers in action at this year’s 41^st anniversary of the Tecate SCORE Baja 500.

With late entries excepted up to race morning, over 250 entries are expected from 25 U.S. States, and 10 countries. The green flag will drop for the race at 6 a.m. on Saturday (June 6) 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 spectator-laden Arroyo Wash.

Nunley, 37, of Tulare, Calif., will drive the No. 11 Nunley Racing Chevy CK1500 SCORE Trophy-Truck as he continues to compete in his first full season in the marquee SCORE racing division for 800-horsepower, high-tech, unlimited production trucks.

Owner of Great Valley Builders and GV Land Co in Tulare, Nunley summed up the feeling of all four racers, who will each be starting first in their different classes for the first time in their SCORE careers.

“I’m a little nervous and excited at the same time, I’ve never been on a desert course where I’m not  eating somebody’s dust” said Nunley, who is also a youth wrestling coach. “This will be only our fourth SCORE desert race and our intentions are the same as when we started at the end of last season—to compete, not crash and finish races. So far, we have been fortunate enough, especially as a team of total rookies, to reach the modest objectives we have right now. Being first off the line for the SCORE Baja 500 is unbelievable. This will be our first time to attempt this magnificent SCORE desert race.”

Nunley, who will use teammate Tom Carr as his second driver for this race, drives the Geiser Brothers-built Chevy CK1500 originally driven by Phoenix’s Bob Shepard and the truck that Shepard won the SCORE Trophy-Truck season point championship in 2005. After driving solo to class finishes of sixth and ninth in the first two races of the year, Nunley is currently fifth in SCORE Trophy-Truck season points.

Randy Wilson, 50, Lakewood, Calif., will start first in the unlimited Class 1. He is currently tied for second in Class 1 points behind his younger brother Ronny Wilson and he drives a Chevy-powered Jimco open-wheel desert race car. Ronny Wilson will start third in Class in another Jimco-Chevy. Randy Wilson will split the driving with older brother Rick Wilson, 52, as the popular Wilson Motorsports team will field four vehicles in this year’s race. Second generation cousins Brian Wilson and Brad Wilson will both be racing in Class 1-2/1600.

Penhall, 22, Corona, Calif., will lead the motorcycles into the Baja desert on a Honda CRF450X in Class 22 for open bikes. After finishing second last year in this race, Penhall has Mike Childress, 25, Wrightwood, Calif., back as a co-rider and has added six-time SCORE Baja 500 overall champion Steve Hengeveld, Oak Hills, Calif., as the team’s third rider. Childress also has one overall win in this race.

Perez, 35, is leading a four-rider Class 25 ATV team from Chula Vista, Calif., on a Honda TRX450R. Splitting the riding with Perez will be teammates Juan Sanchez, 35, Raul Cano, 44, and Roberto Villalobos, 20.

While late entries will be accepted up to race morning, as of the Start draw, the Pro 4-Wheel vehicles classes with the most entries are: SCORE Trophy-Truck (24), Class 1 (16) and Class 1-2/1600 (14).

Leading the Motorcycle classes in entries so far are Class 22 (14) and Class 21 and Class 30 (with 10 each).

Class 24 leads the ATV classes with seven entries to date.

Among the Sportsman classes, SPT Motorcycles over 250cc has 17 entries and SPT Motorcycles under 250cc has 14.

In addition to season point class point championships, drivers in the Pro car and truck classes are also racing to earn prestigious SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards given to all drivers who complete every required mile of the five-race season. Being presented by Toyota Motorsports for the 24^th consecutive year, a total of 32 drivers remain eligible after Round 2 of the 2009 SCORE Desert Series.

Current SCORE official annual sponsors are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Volkswagen of America-official vehicle, Sunoco Race Fuels -official fuel supplier, Bilstein-official shock, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance-official Mexican auto insurance, Slime-official tire sealant and Red Bull–official energy drink. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Las Vegas Events, Terrible Herbst Inc., Blue C Enthusiast Advertising, American Suzuki, SignPros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.

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

41^st Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500

June 4-7, 2009–Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico

Total Entries: 210 (as of 4/26/09)

(23 States; Mexico, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Japan, Portugal)

Pro Cars & Trucks

SCORE TROPHY-TRUCK (24)

11 Greg Nunley

3 Mark Post

1 B.J. Baldwin

12 Brian Collins

19 Tim Herbst

77 Robby Gordon

24 Adam Householder

35 Robbie Pierce

13 Ed Stout

4 Gus Vildosola Jr.

2 Pete Sohren

84 Nick Vanderwey

8 Roger Norman

39 Ron Whitton

22 Damen Jefferies

38 Garron Cadiente

16 Cameron Steele

71 Rick D. Johnson

96 Bobby Baldwin

28 Alan Pflueger

47 James Bult

53 Jason Voss

51 Kory Scheeler

74 Rob Bruce

CLASS 1 (16)

101 Randy Wilson

102 Armin Schwarz

103 Ronny Wilson

104 Julio Herrera

105 Richard Boyle

106 Troy Herbst

107 Josh Rigsby

108 Dale Lenk

109 Jerry Penhall

110 Armin Kremer

111 Todd Romano

112 Rob Bruce

113 Josh Daniel

114 Harley Letner

115 Brian Parkhouse

116 Mike Voyles

CLASS 1-2/1600 (14)

1601 Samuel Araiza

1602 David Caspino

1603 Hector Sarabia

1604 Mario Gastelum

1605 Arnoldo Ramirez

1606 Cisco Bio

1607 Brian Wilson

1608 Roman Pereyra

1609 Arturo Velazco

1610 Brad Wilson

1611 Luis Martinez

1612 Justin Smith

1613 Hector Garcia

1649 Marco Gallo

CLASS 3 (2)

348 Darren Skilton

349 Gerardo Barragan

CLASS 5 (2)

501 Shaun Dunbar

500 Kevin Carr

CLASS 5/1600 (4)

551 Alonso Angulo

577Sergio Moreno

550 Marcos Nunez

579 Gustavo Avina

CLASS 6 (4)

601 Benjamin Wright

602 Heidi Steele

603 Marc Burnett

604 Robert Pickering

CLASS 7 (5)

701 Einer Gomez

700 Dan Chamlee

703 Bill Kunz

704 Jose Canchola Jr.

705 Heidi Steele

CLASS 7SX (3)

741 Brandt Anderson

758 John Holmes

759 Eduardo Gonzalez

CLASS 8 (4)

801 Rodrigo Ampudia Jr.

802 Ted Hunnicutt Jr.

803 Clyde Stacy

804 Beny Canela

CLASS 9 (2)

901 Luke Babb

900 Daniel Reyes Jr.

CLASS 10 (7)

1001 Scott Gailey

1002 Sergio Salgado

1003 Javier Robles

1004 Jesus Gonzalez

1000 Mike Lawrence

1006 Corey Keysar

1007 Will Higman

SCORE LITE (7)

1201 John Langley

1202 Lee Banning

1203 Ty Godde

1200 Rick St. John

1205 Brent Parkhouse

1206 Aaron Payne

1207 Michelle Bruckmann

CLASS 11 (1)

1101 Eric Solorzano

STOCK FULL (2)

878 Justin Matney

879 Joe Bacal

STOCK MINI (1)

779 Gavin Skilton

PROTRUCK (2)

250 Gary Magness

240 Rob Kittleson

PRO MOTORCYCLES

CLASS 22 (14)

2x Ryan Penhall

3x Chuck Neugebauer

4x Kendall Norman

5x Connor Penhall

6x Steve Hengeveld

7x Terence Montelongo

8x Cameron Corfman

9x Guy Larocque

10x Chris Parker

11x Adam Thissen

12x Adrian Butler

13x Gabriel Williams

14x Tony Navarro

15x Colton Udall

CLASS 21 (10)

101x Baron Pickett

103x Bill Boyer

108x Chad Thornton

104x Dan Troy

105x Elias Novelo

110x Evan Heath

109x Jeremy Purvines

102x Jorge Perez

107x Ronnie Wilson

106x Shane Esposito

CLASS 20 (4)

151x Marco Bernaldez

152x Hector Castillo

153x Manuel Reyes

150x Anna Cody

CLASS 30 (10)

301x Sean Bradley

302x Sol Saltzman

303x Mike Johnson

300x Jim O’Neal

305x Kurt Funk

306x Jean-Paul Cyr

307x Javier Hernandez

308x Miguel Caetano

309x Andy Padulo

310x Marc Haldeman

CLASS 40 (7)

401x Hisahide Ueno

402x Glen McGuire

400x Scott Myers

404x Brian Campbell

405x Mike Prunty

448x Rodolfo Sanchez

449x Julio Abril

CLASS 50 (3)

501x Charlie Marshall

502x Eizaburo Karasawa

500x Jim O’Neal

CLASS 60 (1)

609x Richard Jackson

PRO ATVs

CLASS 25 (5)

2a Santos Perez

3a Adolfo Arellano

1a Wayne Matlock

5a Nick Nelson

6a Felipe Velez

CLASS 24 (7)

101a Benjamin Lopez

102a Victor Lopez

100a Craig Christy

104a Abraham Romero

105a Shawn Robins

106a Jose Juarez

107a Brian Harris

CLASS 26 (2)

201a Reid Rutherford

219a Rob Ransford

SPORTSMAN

SPT CAR (1)

1400 Peter Lang

SPT TRUCK (2)

1501 Miguel Jimenez

1502 Ken Fraizer

SPT UTV (4)

1801 Martin Aguirre

1802 Peter Hajas

1803 Reid Nordin

1804 Thomas Graves

SPT M/C< (14)

201x Miguel Montenegro

202x Tomohiro Murakami

203x Gregg Betz

204x Matt Ladendorf

205x Francisco Teran

206x Akihiro Saito

207x Brody Kunz

208x Walter Lemonovich

209x Fred Sobke

210x Ryan Carville

211x Kenji Oikawa

247x Patrick Williams

248x Louie Montano

249x Greg Willitts

SPT M/C> (17)

251x Eric Anderson

252x Peter Penttinen

253x Mike Murray

254x Mark Adams

255x Jeff Leonard

256x Albert Valenzula

257x Don Wadsworth

258x Cliff Morgan

259x Erik Litzenberg

260x Stephen Legate

261x Ron Tolman

262x Dennis Anderson

263x Craig Anstine

264x Thierry Mas

265x Warner Blom

266x Oscar Fazz

267x Vince Leonis

SPT ATV (9)

50a Joselito Muro

51a Angel Hoyos

52a Luciano Parada

53a Raul Arciniega

54a Adrian Valdez

55a Javier Guerrero

56a Alberto Maya

57a Juan Gonzalez

58a Ray Arriaga

Former BITD champion finishes strong at Terrible’s 250 At Primm

PRIMM, Nev. – Two races into the 2009 Best in the Desert Racing Association championship series and the top two drivers in Class 8100 find their rearview mirrors full of Randy Merritt and his Mongo Racing KC HiLiTES Ford F-150.
Following a strong third place finish in the Terrible’s 250 At Primm on April 18, Merritt’s Mongo Racing Team out of Parker, Ariz., has climbed into championship contention, or better put, into third place in the class standings.
“I am very happy with such a strong finish after all the problems we have been having,” said the former class champion following his effort in the Nevada desert in and around Primm.
“The steering problems we were having were gone; the new Goodyear tires were awesome; and the Mongo Racing team provided me with great pit support.”
Merritt finished in a time of 5 hours, seven minutes, 31.687 seconds, which was a scant 1 minute, 55 seconds out of second, and only 9 minues, 55 seconds out of first place.
“I set my own pace,” said Merritt. “On the first lap everyone was driving a pace that was too fast so I let a few trucks go by knowing that we would see them all later. On the first lap we were fifth, on the second lap we were fourth and then on the last lap we were in second and reeling in the first place truck. Each lap I was picking up the pace.
“But I made a mistake, and we got passed, and then we just ran out of race course.”
The “mistake” was a rock which Merritt said he hit, which caused a flat. “It was my fault, not our new Goodyear tires,” said Merritt. “I’ve been doing this long enough now that I know better than to make a mistake like that.
“Those new Goodyear MTR tires were awesome. And if it hadn’t been for me hitting that rock, and it taking us five minutes to change the tire, who knows what might have happened.”
Of course, he also battled brake problems on the first and third laps and was concerned about a pinion gear on the final lap.
“But when it was over, we moved up to third place in the standings,” he added with a smile.
The veteran was also happy to be using Royal Purple Synthetic Oil Products for the first time as a new sponsor.
“A big thanks to Royal Purple and their fluids,” said Merritt.
“Now we’re excited, and we can’t wait to get back into the desert and do this all over again.”
Merritt and his team will have to wait a while, though, because the next race on the calendar is the “TSCO Vegas To Reno The Long Way” event, a 1,000-mile race, which is scheduled Aug. 19 through 23.
“It’s called the ‘longest off-road race in the United States,’ and we’ll be ready,” said Merritt.
He also went on to thank his other sponsors for their support. They include Yukon Gear and Axle, which is a new sponsor; KC HiLiTES, Ford Trucks, Sway-A-Way, Ump, Camburg Engineering, Autometer, Bodyline and Mongomade Grafix.
“Also, I want to give a big thanks to my website,” said Merritt, where fans can get up-to-the-minute race day information, and other up-to-date news about Mongo Racing. The website is www.mongoracing.com.

TROPHYLITE jumps into the future with Foutz Motorsports

Chandler, Az (April 24,2009) Today marks the beginning of the next generation for TROPHYLITE. Foutz Motorsports Incorporated, led by respected off-road team owner Greg Foutz, has acquired an ownership interest in TROPHYLITE. After two months of discussions, an agreement has been reached that will allow TROPHYLITE to expand and grow to new levels under Foutz’s leadership. Over the next month, TROPHYLITE operations will transition to Foutz Motorsports headquarters in Chandler, Arizona.
“I have known the Scaroni family for a long time and have worked with them on race efforts over the years. When Matt and I started talking about us taking over the TROPHYLITE program it seemed like a great deal for everyone. We are preparing our shop now to have production up and running in the next week from our Chandler facility. Look for some exiting things to happen for TROPHYLITE in the next several months. We are glad that the sponsors of the series are on board for this change and happy that everyone sees this as a positive move toward the future. I especially want to thank the sponsors and truck owners for their continued support” Foutz commented.
The current 2009 General Tire TROPHYLITE Series will remain unchanged.
Matt Scaroni commented “I would like to thank all of the owners, drivers, sponsors, and promoters that have made TROPHYLITE a resounding success these past two years. We are not walking away from TROPHYLITE by any means, but with Greg’s new ideas coupled with what we have learned over the last few years, TROPHYLITE stands to achieve enormous success. I feel for TROPHYLITE to grow to the next level, there is no better person than Greg Foutz to take it there. I have full confidence that Greg Foutz will take the TROPHYLITE brand to previously unheard of levels.”

All current loyal TROPHYLITE sponsors General Tire, KMC Wheels, KC HiLITES, Mastercraft Race Seats, and FOX Racing Shox will remain on board throughout the transition.

The next event on the 2009 General Tire TROPHYLITE Series schedule is the Glen Helen Baja Cup Challenge on June 27-28.
For more information contact Greg Foutz at Foutz Motorsports 480-633-9800 or www.FoutzMotorsports.com and www.TROPHYLITE.com

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