Hoping for Baja 500 Overall Repeats

While defending overall champions B.J. Baldwin in 4-wheel vehicles, Kendall Norman in motorcycles and Wayne Matlock in ATVs are all looking to repeat, there will be no shortage of former overall winners in the starting grid for this weekend’s 41st Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500 desert race. Among nearly 275 entries expected to take the green flag in Ensenada on Saturday are 16 driver/riders who have combined to win 46 overall car/truck, motorcycle and/or ATV titles, including drivers and riders from the last seven straight four-wheel, 11 of the last 12 motorcycle and last year’s ATV overall winners. The field also includes 71 racers who have combined for 187 class wins in this popular summer classic. Round 3 of the five-race 2009 SCORE Desert Series, the second-oldest desert race in the world and part of the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Series, will feature racers competing in 28 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs. It will be held Thursday through Sunday in Ensenada, Mexico. Traditionally one of the most popular events on the SCORE schedule, over 100,000 spectators are expected to enjoy the world’s best desert racers in action at this year’s 41st anniversary of the Tecate SCORE Baja 500.

In the 4-Wheel competition, former overall winners in the field hoping to unseat Baldwin will be Larry Roeseler (11 overall wins including nine on motorcycles), Robby Gordon and Troy Herbst (3 each), Brian Collins (2) and Mike Julson (splitting driving this year with Robbie Pierce), Curt LeDuc (with Nick Vanderwey), Rob MacCachren (with Mark Post) and Alan Pflueger (1 each). All, except Troy Herbst, race in SCORE Trophy-Truck. Herbst drives in Class 1 in the legendary Smithbuilt-Ford open-wheeler.

Among the motorcycle riders, former overall winners besides Norman in the field are Steve Hengeveld (6 overall motorcycle wins), Johnny Campbell (5) and Mike Childress and Craig Smith (1 each). With late entries accepted up to race morning, over 275 entries are expected for the 432.51-mile race from 25 U.S. States from Hawaii to Vermont along with the additional countries of Mexico, Austria, Canada, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan and Portugal. The green flag will drop for the race at 6 a.m. on Saturday 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. With vehicles starting one every 30 seconds in the elapsed-time race, it 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. While the fastest vehicles are expected to cover the course in approximately nine hours, there will be a 20-hour time limit for each vehicle to become an official finisher. Last year, in the closest race in the 36-year history of SCORE Baja racing, Las Vegas’ B.J. Baldwin won the overall 4-wheel vehicle title by a mere seven seconds over the team of Mark Post, Laguna Beach, Calif./Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas. Baldwin, the reigning SCORE Trophy-Truck season point champion, will start third this year in his No. 1 Baldwin Motorsports Chevy Silverado while Post/MacCachren, the 2007 SCORE Trophy-Truck season point champions will start second in the No. 3 Riviera Racing Ford F-150.

With a new riding teammate this year in motocross star Tim Weigand, Santa Clarita, Calif., Kendall Norman, Santa Barbara, Calif., will be looking for his fourth consecutive overall motorcycle win on the No. 4x Johnny Campbell Racing Honda CRF450X. The pair won this year’s Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 in March.

Sources for more baja Racing Information from Mexico: BajaRacing Live with live or slight delayed webcasts, Puro Offroad, the grand-daddy of all Baja Racing News Websites publishing from La Paz and / or mobile at events from the world capital of offroad racing, La Paz, Baja Offroad – desert Racing Website, SpeedMex Racing Service

Press release SCORE Intl. – Full credits for this go to them guys. Though times – great job to make another race reality

Related posts:

1. 2009 Baja 250
2. San Felipe Tequila Festival
3. Ensenada welcomes the motorsport world
4. Ensenada is ready
5. Baja Racing News

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