Over 350 total entries expected
28 SCORE Trophy-Trucks, 36 unlimited Class 1 cars hoping
For overall 4-wheel victory at 37th Tecate SCORE Baja 500
330 already entered in June 3-5 race in Ensenada, Mexico--
Round 3 of six-race 2005 SCORE Desert Series

LOS ANGELES, CA (May 21, 2005) -- As the entry list continues to expand dramatically, so does the list of talented racers who will compete for the coveted overall 4-wheel vehicle victory in next month’s popular Tecate SCORE Baja 500 desert race. Traditionally one of the most popular events on the SCORE schedule, over 150,000 spectators are expected to cheer the world’s best desert racers in action at round 3 of the six-race 2005 SCORE Desert Series, to be held June 3-5 in Ensenada, Mexico.

Since this summer classic began in 1969, only four classes have ever produced the overall 4-wheel champion and in eight of the 11 years it has been in existence, the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck division has produced the winner while the unlimited Class 1 has crowned the champ the other three years.

With over 350 entries expected from 20 U.S. States, Mexico, Canada and Japan in the world’s foremost desert racing series event, the green flag will drop at 6 a.m. on Saturday (June 4) for the motorcycle and ATV classes in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500, followed by the car and truck classes two hours later at 8:30 a.m.

SCORE Trophy-Truck already has a race-record 28 of the 800 horsepower, high-tech unlimited production trucks entered while there are 36 vehicles in Class 1, the division for unlimited open-wheel desert race cars. And the lineup in both classes is filled with former class and overall winners. Among the entire field are 12 drivers who have combined for 24 of the overall 4-wheel vehicle victories, including each of the last five years.

While capturing the class win is priority one, racers in SCORE Trophy-Truck and Class 1 are often disappointed at the finish line if they haven’t also won the overall title.

Fierce competition is once again expected in both of the top classes, and the entire race for that matter as a race-record 70 racers who have combined to earn 181 class wins, will be in the starting grid.

Since its debut in 1994, SCORE Trophy-Trucks captured seven straight overall wins before Mark McMillin, El Cajon, CA, broke the string by winning in Class 1 in 2001. Class 1 kept it going in 2002 and 2003 thanks to the team of Troy Herbst, Las Vegas and Larry Roeseler, Hesperia, CA, before Honolulu’s Alan Pflueger brought SCORE Trophy-Truck back to the very top of the podium last year. Herbst has been nothing short of phenomenal in his Smithbuilt-Ford, having won Class 1 in six of the last nine years in this grueling race.

“The SCORE Baja 1000 has the well-earned legacy as the top desert race in the world, but the SCORE Baja 500 may be the toughest,” said McMillin, who has six class victories including two overalls in this race. “The course is the toughest we see all year with the most diverse terrain, changing weather conditions around the track, and with the most entries of the year, the competition is tougher than the Indy 500. Then mix in over a 150,000 spectators along the race route, and you clearly have the ingredients for a real pressure-cooker. It’s one of those things that you can’t really fully comprehend unless you’ve been there and experienced it first hand. Every racer wants a class win, but none of us would be in Class 1 or SCORE Trophy-Truck if we didn’t want the overall victory even more.”

Mark McMillin, 48, who won his first overall in 1988, only has to go to the dinner table to see some of his stiffest challengers. Family patriarch Corky McMillin, a very spry 76, is the oldest racer in the event and will lead a group of three McMillin Racing Class 1 cars around the Baja peninsula. Mark will be in No. 103, just behind his brother Scott, 44, who will split driving with his son Andy, 17, a third generation desert racer.

Corky and Scott McMillin have twice won this race driving together (1983 and 1986) and Scott and Andy, who live in Poway, CA, won Class 1 and the overall at this year’s Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 in February.

Herbst and Roeseler have won Class 1 the last three years together, including the overall win in 2002 and 2003. In their careers, Herbst has six class wins in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 with two overalls and Roeseler has 15 class wins, including 11 overalls (nine on a motorcycle). They drive the No. 110 Terrible Herbst Motorsports Smithbuilt-Ford.

Besides the three McMillins, Herbst, Roeseler and Pflueger, the other former 4-wheel overall champs entered this year are Bud Feldkamp, Redlands, CA (1978, 1979, 1985), Malcolm Smith, Riverside, CA (1978, 1979, 1981), Larry Ragland, Cave Creek, AZ (1982, 1984, 2000), Robby Gordon, Mooresville, N.C. (1989, 1990), Curt LeDuc, Cherry Valley, CA (1995), and Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas (1996).

Feldkamp, who won with Smith in 1978 and 1979, is racing in Class 1 this year as is Smith (with Cam Theriot) while Ragland (with Brian Collins), LeDuc (with Mark Post) and MacCachren (with Gus Vildosola) are all in SCORE Trophy-Truck. Gordon captured his two overall victories in a Class 8 truck.

Feldkamp and Smith’s overall wins were either in Class 1 or the old Class 2, while Ragland won in Class 1 twice and SCORE Trophy-Truck once, and LeDuc and MacCachren both won their overalls in SCORE Trophy-Truck. Smith, a legendary motorcycle racer, also won the 1971 overall in the SCORE Baja 500 on a motorcycle. Smith and Roeseler are the only two racers in the long history of this storied race who have won overalls on both a two-wheel and in a 4-wheel vehicle.

Besides LeDuc, MacCachren, Ragland and Pflueger, the other returning SCORE Trophy-Truck class winner in this race is Mark Miller, who won in 2002 with Ragland and 2003 with Ryan Arciero. Miller and Arciero will team up again this year in the No. 81 Chevy Silverado.

Although they haven’t won this race in SCORE Trophy-Truck, among the other favorites in this year’s race will be the team of Tim and Ed Herbst in their No. 19 Terrible Herbst Motorsports Ford F-150. The two oldest Herbst brothers of Las Vegas, who have won Class 2 win in this race, are the winningest drivers in SCORE Trophy-Truck history with 11 race wins and four season point championships in the 11-plus year history of the elite SCORE racing division.

The current top two SCORE Trophy-Truck point leaders, Jason Baldwin and his younger brother Josh Baldwin are also both expected to be strong contenders in the race. The reigning SCORE Trophy-Truck season point champion, Jason Baldwin won his first race in this class in February at the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 in his No. 1 Baldwin Racing Ford F-150 and will start this race one spot in front of his brother’s No. 86 Baldwin Racing Ford F-150.

Another of the race-record SCORE Trophy-Truck entries is NASCAR Nextel Cup owner/driver Robby Gordon, who will return to his racing roots for the first time this season. Gordon, a three-time SCORE class point champion, will once again attempt to pull double-duty, racing the same weekend in the NASCAR race in Dover, Delaware. Gordon, has three class wins in this race, including winning the two back-to-back overalls.

All of the Class 1 winners except one from the last 11 years in this race (the same time SCORE Trophy-Trucks have been a class), are entered this year. Troy Herbst has won six times in this period (1996, 1998-with his brother Tim, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004-- the last three with Larry Roeseler), Mark McMillin has three wins (1994-with his father Corky, 1997 and 2001) and the team of Mike Julson and Bob Lofton won in 1995 in their Jimco-Chevy.

Looking much like an inverted deflating balloon on a string, the 419-mile race course starts in downtown Ensenada adjacent to the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center and finishes at Deportivo Antonio Palacios baseball stadium, 9th and Guadalupe Ave., in the heart of Ensenada. It is located approximately 1.5 miles east of the start line area. The admission will be free to this special SCORE finish line celebration. Vehicles will start in 30-second intervals in the elapsed-time race.

The world’s foremost desert racing series will showcase 24 Pro and 5 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs in Ensenada, which is located 65 miles south of the U.S. border at San Diego on the Pacific Ocean side of the majestic peninsula.

To date, the classes with the most entries are: Class 1-2/1600 (38), Class 1 (36), SCORE Trophy-Truck (28), SCORE Lite and Class 5/1600 (21 each) and Class 10 (19).

For the first time in several years, the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 will be televised nationally on a delayed basis. Aura 360, the Maine production and marketing company that has this year’s SCORE television rights, will announce within two weeks which national cable outlet will carry the race.
Pre-race festivities for the 37th Tecate SCORE Baja 500 will center around the Riviera del Pacifico convention center in downtown Ensenada on Friday (June 3). 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 5 p.m. Friday (June 3). The post-race awards celebration will be held at the San Nicolas Hotel in Ensenada on Sunday (June 5) at 10 a.m.

SCORE official sponsors for 2005 are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, C.L. Bryant-VP Racing Fuels-official fuel supplier. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, Las Vegas Events, Herbst Gaming, Kartek Off-Road, Centrix Financial, Fram, Autolite, Prestone, Bilstein, Signpros, Cotuco, Fideicomiso Publico para la Promocion Turistica de Ensenada, Cotuco, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products, and Advanced Color Graphics.

For information contact:
SCORE International at its Los Angeles headquarters
(818) 225-8402 or visit
the official 2005 SCORE Desert Series website at:
www.score-international.com

Tecate SCORE Baja 500
SCORE Trophy-Truck & Class 1
Class Winners since 1994

SCORE Trophy-Truck
(class debuted in 1994)
*1994-- Ivan Stewart
*1995-- Curt LeDuc
*1996-- Rob MacCachren
*1997-- Ivan Stewart
*1998-- Ivan Stewart
*1999-- Ivan Stewart
*2000-- Larry Ragland
2001-- David Ashley/Dan Smith
2002-- Mark Miller/Larry Ragland
2003-- Mark Miller/Ryan Arciero
*2004-- Alan Pflueger

Class 1
1994-- Corky McMillin/Mark McMillin
1995-- Mike Julson/Bob Lofton
1996-- Troy Herbst
1997-- Mark McMillin
1998-- Troy Herbst/Tim Herbst
1999-- Doug Fortin
2000-- Troy Herbst
*2001-- Mark McMilin
*2002-- Troy Herbst/Larry Roeseler
*2003-- Troy Herbst/Larry Roeseler
2004-- Troy Herbst/Larry Roeseler
*Overall 4-Wheel winner

2005 SCORE Desert Series
SCORE Trophy-Truck & Class 1
Point Leaders
(thru Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250, 2/26/05)

SCORE TROPHY-TRUCK (24 Total Racers, Wins)
1. Jason Baldwin, Laguna Beach, CA, Ford F-150 (1), 91
2. Josh Baldwin, Newport Beach, CA, Ford F-150, 90
3. Bob Shepard, Phoenix, Chevy Silverado, 85
4. Tim Herbst, Las Vegas, Ford F-150, 76
4. Mark Post, San Juan Capistrano, CA, Ford F-150, 76
6. Marty Coyne, El Centro, CA, Ford F-150, 74
6. Michael Jakobson, Somis, CA, Ford F-150, 74
8. Gary Dircks, Anthem, AZ, Ford F-150, 69
9. Pete Sohren, Glendale, AZ, Ford F-150, 66
10. Bobby Baldwin, Las Vegas, Ford F-150, 64

CLASS 1 (33 Total Racers, Wins)
1. Andy McMillin, Poway, CA, Jimco-Chevy (1), 113
2. Dale Ebberts, Canyon Lake, CA, Jimco-Toyota (1), 102
3. Gary Weyhrich, Troutdale, Ore., Jimco-Chevy, 97
4. John Marking, El Cajon, CA, Jimco-Chevy, 88
5. Josh Rigsby, Santa Fe, N.M., Penhall-Chevy, 87
6. Mark McMillin, El Cajon, CA, Jimco-Chevy, 84
7. Troy Herbst, Las Vegas, Smithbuilt-Ford, 77
8. Corky McMillin, Bonita, CA, Chenowth-Chevy, 75
9. Kory Scheeler, Las Vegas, Porter-Chevy, 74
10. Damen Jefferies, Oak Hills, CA, Porter-Chevy, 73

For information contact:
SCORE International at its Los Angeles headquarters
(818) 225-8402 or visit
the official 2005 SCORE Desert Series website at:
www.score-international.com