Pre-Running begins Saturday
Defending champs Herbst/Roeseler and Hengeveld/Campbell
Anxious to start practice for 35th TECATE SCORE BAJA 500
Over 250 entries expected for SCORE's 30th anniversary of first race in
Mexico--May 30-June 1 in Ensenada

LOS ANGELES (May 15, 2003)- Official pre-running begins Saturday for the upcoming 35th Tecate SCORE Baja 500 desert race, and the defending overall champion teams are anxious to starting practicing on the challenging course to be used on May 31.

Teammates Troy Herbst and Larry Roeseler will lead the car and truck classes and Steve Hengeveld and Johnny Campbell will be at the front of the motorcycles and ATVs as 250-plus anticipated entries begin the tedious two-week process of practice and preparing race plans.

Round 3 of the six-race 2003 SCORE Desert Series, the world's foremost desert racing series, will be held May 30-June 1, in Ensenada, 60 miles south of San Diego, on the Pacific Ocean side of the majestic peninsula.

Would-be champions and hopeful finishers will watch with equal earnest the path cut over the rugged, ragged and rocky Baja peninsula as the defending winners look to add to their legends and contenders prepare to build their own. Desert racing in Baja California is filled with mysterious tales of pre-running past as adventurers from around the world continue to challenge the limits of not only their own strength and endurance but also that of their exotic race vehicles.

Herbst, 36, of Las Vegas, who has won his class four times in this race, teamed with Baja legend Roeseler, 42, of Hesperia, Calif., who has 12 class and 10 overall wins, for the first time last year. They will again split driving time in the No. 100Terrible Herbst Motorsports Ford-Smitbuilt open-wheel desert race car in the unlimited Class 1.

Riding on the 1x Honda XR650R for American Honda factory racing in Class 22, Hengeveld, 27 of Oak Hills, Calif., has four motorcycle class wins in this event, including three straight overall wins, and last year was his first with Campbell. The veteran Campbell, 32, of San Clemente, Calif., has three wins in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500, all overall victories for the motorcycle classes.

Roeseler, with nine overall wins on a motorcycle to go with his first in a four-wheel vehicle last year, says it best, "Pre-running is what these races in Mexico are all about. The beauty and the success of racing in Baja is all about practice, practice, practice. The Herbst family has given me a wonderful opportunity to continue desert racing at the highest level and by pre-running extensively we will memorize much of the course and put ourselves in a position to be out front again. This course is very technical and one mistake can put you on the sidelines."

When final pre-race registration is complete, over 250 entries, from 15 U.S. states, Canada, France, Japan and Mexico, competing in 24 Pro and 5 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs, are expected to take the green flag. The event will continue the year-long celebration honoring 30 years of SCORE championship desert racing.

With the 452.93-mile race course finalized by SCORE officials Wednesday of this week, motorcycle/ATV classes will be first off the starting line at 6 a.m., followed two hours later by the car/truck classes. In the elapsed-time race, vehicles will leave the start line adjacent to the Riviera del Pacifico convention center in downtown Ensenada, one every 30-seconds. There will be an 18-hour time limit to be an official finisher in the event.

This historic race began the incredible SCORE Baja legacy when it was produced for the first time by the late Mickey Thompson and his new SCORE International in June of 1974. The popular event was first held in 1969 and was presented for the first five years by the old NORRA racing organization.

For several years, starting in 1974, the race was called the SCORE Baja Internacional until SCORE obtained full rights to the original Baja 500 name in 1991. Sal Fish, who officially started his tenure with SCORE President on Dec. 1, 1974, assisted Mickey Thompson as a 'consultant' at the inaugural Tecate SCORE Baja 500.

"SCORE is a lifestyle for me and producing races in Baja California has been an unbelievable experience for 30 years," said Fish, 64, of his three-decades at the helm of SCORE. "With all of the rain that Baja has had, we were able to design a race course this year that gives racers the opportunity to enjoy the majestic beauty of Baja while helping maintain the fragile ecology of the peninsula."

Leading the motorcycle classes overall and the open Class 22 points, Hengeveld/Campbell, after winning March's motorcycle season-opener in San Felipe, the pair has now won five consecutive SCORE races together Mark Miller and Ryan Arciero, in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division, and Adam Neuwirth, in Class 22 for open motorcycles, have drawn the first starting positions. SCORE's computerized drawing for starting positions was held on May 3.

Driving the No. 81 Chevy Silverado, Miller/Arciero will lead the car and truck classes while Neuwirth, racing on the No. 2x Honda XR650R, will lead the motorcycle and ATV field into the challenging and unforgiving desert in Baja California, Mexico.

Miller won the SCORE Trophy-Truck class last year, teaming with five-time race winner Larry Ragland. Ragland, 60 of Phoenix, will drive this year in the Protruck class.

A formidable total of 13 high-tech, 750-horsepower SCORE Trophy-Trucks are entered to date, but the largest entry fields so far are the unlimited Class 1 (32), Class 1-2/1600 (25), Class 10 (19), Class 5/1600 (19) and SCORE Lite (17).

The oldest driver in the race-veteran Corky McMillin, 74, of Bonita, Calif.--will start first in Class 1, which had an event-high 31 vehicles entered in time for the start draw. McMillin and his long-time co-driver Brian Ewalt, 43 of Chula Vista, Calif., drive a Ford-powered Chenowth open-wheel desert race car. Class 1 starts second, behind SCORE Trophy-Truck and 31 ties the most entries in the class since SCORE combined the old Class 1 and Class 2 into just one unlimited class for single or two-seaters in 1990.

Among the other early entries in the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck for unlimited production trucks are teams of Mexico's Gus Vildosola/Rob MacCachren of Las Vegas, Las Vegas brothers Ed and Tim Herbst and Dan Smith/Dave Ashley, of Riverside, Calif.

Vildosola/MacCachren are the SCORE Trophy-Truck point leaders after two races in the Vildsola Racing No. 4 Ford F-150. The Herbst brothers, whose Terrible Herbst Motorsports is the only team to win three SCORE Trophy-Truck season point crowns, will drive the No. 1 Ford F-150.

Smith and Ashley, the all-time SCORE multiple season class point champions with 24 (Smith-14, Ashley-10), won the SCORE Trophy-Truck division in 2001 at the 2001 Tecate SCORE Baja 500 in the Enduro Racing No. 8 Ford F-150.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year as World's Foremost Desert Racing Series, the SCORE Desert Series heads South to Mexico for the second of three races held annually in Baja California.

Corky McMillin is part of the unique three-generation McMillin Racing team, which has entered two vehicles in Class 1. Driving for the prominent San Diego-based team will not only be family patriarch Corky McMillin, 74, but his youngest son Scott, 42, will split driving duties in another Class 1 car with his son, Andy McMillin, 15. Corky McMillin's oldest son Mark McMillin, 46, who would normally drive the third McMillin Racing entry, is not expected to enter this year's race because of business commitments.

Las Vegas' Bekki (Freeman) Wik, the first lady of SCORE desert racing, has entered class 1 in her Chevy-Jimco. Wik, the 1998 and 2000 SCORE Class 1-2/1600 point champion, is married to legendary engine builder Adam Wik.

Among the early entries in this year's race is Richard Jackson, Acton, Calif., who has 10 class wins in this summer classic. Jackson is once again entered in Class 50 for motorcycle riders over 50, where he has won three straight years on his No. 500 Honda XR650.

Noted apparel manufacturer Jim O'Neal, Chatsworth, Calif., who made history last year in this race by winning both Class 30 and Class 40 age-group motorcycle classes, returns to defend only the Class 40 title this year on his No. 400 Honda XR650.

Eric Allen, San Marcos, Calif./Adam Pfankuch Carlsbad, Calif., who lead Class 1-2/1600 and the SCORE Overall point standings after two races, will start 11th out of 25 cars entered so far in a Jimco-VW. Second in overall points is Mexico's Eli Yee, who leads Class 10 after two straight wins in his Jimco-Honda. Yee will start fourth in his class, which had 19 entries in time for the start drawing.

Pre-race festivities will center around the Riviera del Pacifico convention center in downtown Ensenada on Friday, May 30. The race will start on the boulevard adjacent to the Riviera del Pacifico and finish on the Northeast outskirts of town at the end of Avenida Ruiz. Traditionally drawing thousands of spectators, the pre-race Manufacturer's Midway and display off all the race vehicles will be held adjacent to the San Nicolas Hotel, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, May 30. The post-race awards celebration will be held at the Riviera del Pacifico on Sunday, June 1 at 10 a.m.

SCORE official sponsors for 2003 are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Southern California Ford Dealers-official vehicle, 76 Racing Fuel-official fuel and Rental Service Corporation-official equipment supplier. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca Cola of Mexico, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, Bilstein Shocks, Downey Off-Road, Signpros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie's, Rancho, Off-Road Innovations and Advanced Color Graphics.

Additional associate sponsors for both the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 and November's 36th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 are Cotuco and Fondo Mixto Turistica de Ensenada.

For more information, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters 818.225.8402 or visit the official website of the 2003 SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com.