Menzies, Brabec--defending champs return for 47th SCORE Baja 500

UTVUGJake

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Feb 11, 2013
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Defending overall desert race winners Menzies, Brabec back
in Baja for this week’s 47th annual Bud Light SCORE Baja 500


Round 3 of five-race 2015 SCORE World Desert Championship being held in Ensenada, Mexico
Entries from 26 U.S. states, 10 countries celebrating SCORE’s 42nd anniversary;
Riviera del Pacific Cultural Center in Ensenada hosting several race activities


Tecnovision producing LIVE streaming & vehicle tracking at www.score-international.com;


ENSENADA, Mexico—Fully engaged and well aware of the challenge that awaits, Las Vegas’ Bryce Menzies and SoCal’s Ricky Brabec are full of confidence and enthusiasm as Menzies defends his overall race and SCORE Trophy Truck title and Brabec attempts to repeat as overall motorcycle winner at this week’s 47th annual Bud Light SCORE Baja 500 desert race. Round 3 of the five-race 2015 SCORE World Desert Championship is being held this week in Mexico’s Baja California Norte, starting and finishing in Ensenada, the seaside port on the Pacific Ocean, 85 miles south of San Diego.

It is an elapsed-time race with staggered starts as the green flag on Saturday drops first for the motorcycles and quads at5:30 a.m. and approximately 10 a.m. for the cars, trucks and UTVs. While the fastest vehicles are expected to complete the brutally rugged 510.58-mile course in nearly 11 hours, all vehicles will have a 22-hour time limit to become an official finisher in the grueling race.

With late entries accepted on-site until the close of registration on Friday, nearly 250 entries are expected at the start line with entries from 26 U.S. States and 10 countries already in the field. Besides the USA and host country Mexico, other countries represented on the starting grid so far are Austria, Canada, Ecuador, France, Germany, Great Britain, Guatemala and Japan.

Among the entries are 72 races who have combined for 196 class wins in this historic race.

MENZIES’ MULTIPLES

While repeats are fickle in desert racing they aren’t impossible as SCORE young gun Menzies, 27, can clearly attest to after having won this amazing race three times in the last four years in the No. 70 Red Bull Menzies Motorsports Ford F-150 that he races in the featured SCORE Trophy Truck division for high-tech, 850-horsepower unlimited production trucks. In 2013, Menzies finished third behind race winner Robby Gordon and in addition to Menzies and Gordon, this year’s race has six of the last seven overall 4-wheel vehicle winners in the field.

BRABEC’S CHARM

Ricky Brabec, 24, Hesperia, Calif. gave Kawasaki its second overall motorcycle win in the last three years and its 10th overall win last year in the history of the race. Returning from their journey to the 2014 class season point championship last year to ride again in 2015 with Brabec is Max Eddy Jr, Barstow, Calif., and joining them this year is Justin Morgan, El Cajon, Calif. on the No. 1x Monster Energy THR Motorsports Kawasaki KX450F

SCORE BAJA FIESTA

SCORE is celebrating its 42nd year as the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization in 2015 and this race is traditionally one of the most popular events on the SCORE schedule.

This year is the 47th anniversary of the Bud Light SCORE Baja 500, the original desert race produced by SCORE on July 26, 1974.

Colorful race week festivities will start with qualifying for SCORE Trophy Truck and Class 1 followed by the Monster Energy SCORE Kick Off Party on Thursday from 7 p.m. until Midnight at the start/finish line area in the heart of Ensenada. With donations for La Cruz Roja Mexicana (Mexico’s Red Cross), the event will be include a racer’s autograph party and vehicle display.

Friday will see the day-long, pre-race Manufacturer’s Midway and contingency festival in the start finish line area in Ensenada.

On Friday evening, the Monster Energy Papas Y Beer SCORE Street Party will be held from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Avenida Ruiz in downtown Ensenada.

During the race on Saturday the Monster Energy SCORE VIP hospitality area, will be part of the start/finish line compound. The area will also include the massive Tecnovision LED screens broadcasting race festivities and start and finish line interviews.

All of the week’s festivities will be aired both live and same-day including the race, airing via the internet on the SCORE website.

AT THE RIVIERA

The Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center, in the heart of Ensenada, will again be the site of many of the activities surrounding the Bud Light SCORE Baja 500. Racer registration and Media registration will be held in the Red room at the Riviera on Thursday and Friday and the SCORE Media Center will be in the Red room during the race with internet access and live race updates, vehicle tracking displays including unofficial elapsed times.

In the Cathedral Room at the Riviera will be pre-race media conference as well as the mandatory pre-race racer’s meeting on Friday. The post-race awards celebration will be in the outdoor Riviera amphitheater at noon on Sunday.

The start/finish line for the race will once again be adjacent to the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center on Blvd. Costero.

QUALIFYING

On Thursday, qualifying for starting positions will be held. Qualifying will be for both the SCORE Trophy Truck and the unlimited Class 1 open-wheel desert race cars and will be held over a special course near Ensenada and will not be open to the public. The start drawing for these two classes determined their respective qualifying orders.

While most entries in these two top classes are expected to qualify, those who elect not to will be given the remaining start positions in the elapsed-time race based on the original drawing or entry into the race.

Qualifying is closed to the public because of safety concerns, but taped highlights of qualifying will be shown startingThursday evening (June 4) on the SCORE website.

GRANDEST MARSHAL

SCORE is honored to have the legendary desert racer Ivan ‘Ironman’ Stewart, who turns 70 on Thursday as the Grand Marshal of this year’s race. Racing since 1973, Stewart joined the Toyota factory team in 1983 for Cal Wells at Precision Preparation Inc. (PPI). He won a total of 82 victories with PPI.

Stewart won a record 17 races in Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group’s (MTEG) stadium series, a record 17 SCORE Baja 500s (including 10 SCORE Baja 500 overall wins), three SCORE Baja 1000s, and five SCORE season class point titles, including SCORE overall point championships in 1990 and 1993. He also won four SCORE World Championships and three MTEG stadium racing titles.

Stewart was a 2006 inductee in the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame. In 2009, Stewart was also inducted into the San Diego Hall of Champions Breitbard Hall of Fame.

MAIN COURSE

The historic race features a 510.58-mile course that runs in a clockwise direction going north out of the Ojos Negros area up to and along the U.S. border west of Mexicali over the infamous La Rumorosa grade. The race route is another memorable example of all that Mexico’s Baja California has to offer, including high-speed dirt trails, sandy, rocky and silty natural terrain, majestic Baja washes and canyons, stretches along the seashore with elevations from sea level to over 4,000 feet. The course is another jewel reflecting the stark and magnificent beauty of Baja California.

ENTRY LEADERS

While SCORE Trophy Truck has the most entries of any class in the race with 31, other car/truck/UTV classes with double figure entries so far are Class 19 with 21, Class 1 and Class 10 with 20 each, Trophy Truck Spec with 14 and Class 1/2-1600 with 11 entries to date.

Leading the Pro motorcycle classes is the Unlimited M/C class with 12 entries as of today.

Leading the Sportsman classes is SPT M/C with nine entries so far.

MORE OVERALL WINNERS:

In addition to Menzies, Gordon and Brabec, among the overall race winners returning are nine drivers who have combined to win 17 overall car/truck titles and four riders who have combined to win 12 overall motorcycle titles, including drivers and riders from six of the last six 4-wheel overalls and the last two motorcycle overall winners. Leading the way with multiple overall wins in this race are Larry Roeseler with 11 overall victories (including nine on a motorcycle), Gordon with four, Menzies with three,Troy Herbst with two and B.J. Baldwin, Kory Halopoff, Harley Letner, Curt LeDuc and Rob MacCachren with one each in 4-Wheel, and in 2-wheel, Roeseler has nine and Brabec, Max Eddy Jr and Colton Udall with one each.

CLASS CHAMPS RETURN:

A total of 16 of the 23 defending class winners (seven classes had no finishers) from last year are entered this year, although several of them have switched classes. Returning 2014 class winners are Bryce Menzies, Las Vegas (SCORE Trophy Truck, Ford F-150), Cody Parkhouse/Brian Parkhouse, Long Beach, Calif. (Class 1, Jimco-Chevy), J. David Ruvalcaba/Leon Ruvalcaba, Esteban Cruz, Ensenada, Mexico (Class 1-2/1600 VBR-VW), Donald Moss, Sacramento, Calif. (Class 3, Ford Bronco), Luis Martinez/Jose Robles, Mexicali, Mexico. (SCORE Lites, Foddrill-VW), Gustavo Avina, Ensenada, Mexico. (Class 5-1600, VW Baja Bug), Chelsea Magness, Desert Hot Springs, Calif. (Protruck, Ford F-150), Jonathan Brenthal, Newport Beach, Calif. (Trophy Truck Spec, Chevy Silverado), Marc Burnett, Lakeside, Calif. (Class 19, Can-Am Maverick), Ricky Brabec, Hesperia, Calif. (Class 22, Kawasaki KX450F), Francisco Arredondo, Guatemala (Class 30, Honda CRF450X), Giovanni Spinali, Lake Forest, Calif. (Class 40, Honda CRF450X), Jim O’Neal, Simi Valley, Calif.(Class 60, Honda CRF450X), Adolfo Arellano, Tijuana, Mexico (Pro Quad, Honda TRX450R) and Raul Hernandez, Tijuana, Mexico (SPT M/C, KTM 450EXC).
 

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