2017 SCORE Baja 500 PREVIEW

Its time, the 49th running of the SCORE Baja 500 is upon us and teams are either in Baja now or making their way down to pre-run for the grueling off-road race south of the border. In desert racing, Baja is king, both the 500 and the 1000 are the most sought after wins in all of off-road racing. For the first time ever in Baja, UTVs make up the largest class in the race with 37 total entries across two classes. 26 forced induction (2900 class) and 11 naturally aspirated (1900 class) UTVs will compete on a 515 +/- mile race course that will begin in Ensenada take racers south along the pacific coast for almost 200 miles before traversing east towards the famous Mikes Sky Ranch, then down to San Felipe before making the turn north towards the hot and desolate Diablo Dry Lake Bed. From there racers will run a fun yet technical 200 miles back towards Ensenada. Last years race winner completed the Baja 500 in just under 13 hours. Since 2013 only one non-Polaris UTV has won the Pro UTV class and that was Marc Burnett in his Can-Am. The past two years have been dominated by Factory Polaris racer Wayne Matlock. Matlock is primed to become the first Pro-UTV racer to win the Baja 500 three times in a row but this years race will see him face the stiffest competition ever in UTV Baja racing history. Factory Can-Am teams of Burnett, Sappington and Murray look to be the first to dethrone Matlock in two years while a full field of other Polaris racers are preparing to also capture their piece of Baja glory. Alonso Lopez who won the Baja 500 in 2016 in the Naturally Aspirated class has now moved into the forced induction class piloting a new 2017 Polaris RZR XP Turbo, Justin Lambert is also competing for the first time in Baja in an XP Turbo. Other Factory Polaris racers taking on the FI class consist of Craig Scanlon, Jacob Carver, Branden Sims, Wes Miller, Mike Cafro, Brandon Schueler, and Cody Rahders. Polaris has without a doubt stacked the deck to maintain their Baja dominance while Can-Am aims to put their X3 on the board for the first time in the prestigious Baja 500. Those following the N/A class will certainly have their eyes focused on Kristen Matlock who has been impressive in Baja to say the least. The "Iron Woman" will once again look to pilot her #1954 Factory Polaris RZR XP 1000 to a podium finish. 2012 Baja 500 Coverage 2013 Baja 500 Coverage 2014 Baja 500 Coverage 2015 Baja 500 Coverage 2016 Baja 500 Coverage 2017 SCORE Baja 500 Entires / Start Order Pro UTV FI (26) 2998 Bill Whittington 2913 Branden Sims 2989 Wes Miller 2905 Marc Burnett 2936 Jacob Carver 2971 Wayne Matlock 2944 Shane Redline 2946 Jose Juarez 2990 Steve Smith 2917 Derek Murray 2975 Mike Cafro 2914 Tyler Walker 2977 Justin Elenburg 2918 Justin Lambert 2919 Brandon Schueler 2931 Craig Scanlon 2912 Tony Riggs 2916 Cody Rahders 2948 Matt Burroughs 2968 Christine Giampaoli Zonca 2910 Scott Trafton 2967 Anthony Perez 2904 Cory Sappington 2929 Paul Wadlington 2949 Alonso Lopez 2930 Sean Cook Pro UTV (11) 1955 Paul Champion 1998 Don Whittington 1962 Dodge Poelman 1985 Adrian Orellana 1907 Daniel Parker 1906 Mark Levrett 1912 Dave Sparks 1954 Kristen Matlock 1950 J.T. Holmes 1922 Aldo Salazar-2nd RS 1925 Matt Scarpuzzi-1st RS 49th Annual SCORE Baja 500 Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico •Schedule of Events• Wednesday, May 31, 2017 9am-6pm Chassis Inspections Playa Hermosa Beach Noon-6pm Pre-Tech/Transponder checks/Bracket Check-Playa Hermosa Beach 5pm-9pm Racer Registration Red Room, Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center Thursday, June 1, 2017 9am-1pm Qualifying-SCORE TT, Legend, TT Spec, Class 1-- 9am-6pm Chassis Inspections, Pre-Tech/Bracket Check—Playa Hermosa Beach Noon-8pm Racer Registration Red Room, Riviera CC 1pm-6pm Media Registration Red Room, Riviera CC 7pm-11pm Monster Energy SCORE Kickoff Party--Monster Energy VIP area-S/F Line Friday, June 2, 2017 9am-4pm Racer Registration Red Room, Riviera CC 9am-5pm Media Registration Red Room, Riviera CC 9am-5pm Contingency Row Blvd. Costero, next to Riviera CC 9am-6pm Tech Inspection Blvd. Las Dunas, next to Riviera CC 11:30am SCORE Media Conf. Cathedral Room, RivieraCC Center 6pm Mandatory Aircraft Pilot Meeting—Cathedral Room, Riviera CC 7pm Mandatory Racer Meeting Cathedral Room, Riviera CC 6pm-Midnight Monster Energy Papas Y Beer SCORE Street Party-Avenida Ruiz Saturday, June 3, 2017 5am-Midnight SCORE Media Center Red Room, Riviera CC START/FINISH: 515.77-mile course (Class starting order subject to change) 5:30am RACE START: MOTORCYCLES/QUADS (subject to change)— Pro Moto Unltd, Pro Moto Ltd, Pro Moto 30, Pro Moto 40, Pro Moto 50, Pro Moto Ironman, Pro Moto 60, Pro Quad, SPT Moto, SPT Quad (Start Intervals: Pro Moto Unlimited start one every 60 seconds. All other Pro M/C, Pro Quad, SPT M/C, SPT Quad classes start one every 30 seconds) GAP –a minimum of three hour gap between M/C, Quad start and car/truck start 9:15am Honor Guard and Salute to Flag Ceremony (start/finish line area) 10am approx RACE STARTCARS/TRUCKS/UTVS (subject to change)— TT, 1, TTSpec, 2, Hammer Ltd, Hammer Unltd, 10, 8, 1/2-1600, SL, 5, HM, 3000, TL, 7, Pro UTV FI, Pro UTV, Pro UTV Unltd, PT, 5-1600, 3, BC, SF, 7SX, 3700, 1700, SM, 9, 11, PT, SPT Unltd Truck, SPT Buggy, SPT Ltd Truck, SPT UTV (TT, Class 1 and TT Spec one every 60 sec. All other car/truck classes start one every 30 sec.) TIME LIMIT: All vehicles will have a 20-hour time limit from time each vehicle starts Sunday, June 4, 2017 11am Posting of unofficial results Red Room, Riviera CC 11am-Noon SCORE Media Center Open Red Room, Riviera CC Noon Awards Celebration Cathedral Room Riviera CC [gallery link="file" ids="49170,49171,49172,49173,49174,49175,49176,49177,49178,49179,49180,49181"]

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