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They will come from all over to be in this race. From professional racer to weekend warrior, from a plethora of occupations, the starting grid is full for this week’s 35th anniversary of the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, the legendary granddaddy of all desert races. The final event of the six-race 2002 Optima SCORE Desert Series will be held Wednesday through Saturday in Baja California, Mexico. Whatever their background, the mission of all of these adventure-driven racers is the same — “Beat the Baja.” To most, just finishing this motorsports ultra-marathon is winning. The excruciatingly arduous 1,017.31-mile point-to-point race, with something for every adventuresome spirit, will start in Ensenada on the Pacific Ocean side of the mysterious peninsula and finish in La Paz on the Sea of Cortez. Among the entries in this year’s saga are Rod Hall and Ron Bishop, the only two racers who have competed in every Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 and the team of legendary car builder Bruce Meyers and co-driver Vic Wilson, who were part of the overall winning four-wheel team at the inaugural race in 1967. Hall, of Reno, Nev., who will turn 65 during the race (Friday), is the all-time winningest racer in this event (16 class wins). He will race this year with his sons Chad and Josh in Stock Full in an AM General Hummer. Bishop, 59, of Escondido, Calif., will ride a KTM in Class 40 for motorcycle riders over 40 years old. Hall is the only racer who has competed in a car or truck in the first 34 years of the event and Bishop holds the same distinction on a motorcycle. Meyers and Wilson, who will be the only entry in the special SCORE Legend class, will recreate a wonderful piece of history when they race the new Meyer’s Manxter 2+2, the latest version of their 1967-champion Meyer’s Manx. With 237 entries to date, over 240 official starters are expected to begin the odyssey. The adventurers represent 30 U.S. States and 10 countries competing in 24 Pro and 5 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs. U.S. entries have come from Hawaii to Florida while international entries include Mexico, Canada, England, Guatemala, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Uruguay and Sweden. Pre-race festivities will be held in Ensenada and will begin Wednesday in Ensenada with the colorful manufacturer’s midway and technical inspection of all the race vehicles. The race will start Thursday in Ensenada in front of the Riviera Convention Center and the fastest vehicles in the elapsed-time race are expected to cover the rugged course to the finish line in La Paz in a remarkable 17 hours or less. The motorcycles and ATVs will start at 6:30 a.m., followed by the cars and trucks at 8:30 a.m. (PST). Vehicles will start in 30-second intervals. The time limit is 40 hours. “It humbles me as I stand in awe each year at the start line of the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, saluting these modern-day pioneers in their incredible racing machines,” said Sal Fish, SCORE President and CEO who this year designed and marked his 30th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 race course. “These racers, many now from the third generation of desert adventurers, are remarkable and this annual odyssey is a tribute to their tenacity, creative genius and insatiable desire to excel.” In addition to all of the SCORE regular racers, early entries for this annual classic includes international rally racers and SCORE veteran racers who make this an annual pilgrimage. Cross-over stars entered include NASCAR’s Robby Gordon and Brendan Gaughan, CART’s Jimmy Vasser and Michel Jordain Jr., Indy veteran Roberto Guerrero and sports car legend Elliott Forbes-Robinson. Sweden’s 34-year old Annie Seel, known as the Rally Princess in her homeland, will become one of the very few female racers who have competed in Class 22 for open Pro motorcycles. Rider of record Robert Barnum, of Phelan, Calif., has recruited Seel to co-ride on his team’s No. 3X Honda XR650, second off the line. Seel, an accomplished veteran racer in rally, road, motocross and enduro racing, has been injured over 10 times in her career, but her moto stands, “Nobodyremembers a chicken.” This year’s race again recalls the history of the event as 17 racers who have combined for 49 overall victories are entered. The leaders are Larry Roeseler, 10 (all on a motorcycle); Johnny Campbell has won five straight (all on a motorcycle) and with five overall wins each in the 4-wheel division are Mark McMillin and Larry Ragland. Entered in this year’s event are 75 racers who have combined for 194 class wins. The leaders in multiple class wins entered this year are: Rod Hall with 16 (first overall), Larry Roeseler with 12 (third overall) and with eight each are: David Ashley, Chris Haines and Mark McMillin (all tied for fifth overall). Desert racing has always been about family teams and this year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 is a prime example of that fact. This year’s starting grid currently includes 87 brothers racing together and seven racing separately. The race also has 17 fathers racing with their sons and seven fathers whose seven sons are racing in separate vehicles. One racing family, the McMillins, will have three generations in this year’s race. Corky McMillin and his sons Mark and Scott will each drive in the unlimited Class 1 and Scott has his son Andy as his co-driver. Among the other father and sons racing together are Bud and his son Buddy Feldkamp in Class 1, Dan and his father Gary Myers in Class 1, Chad and his father Rod Hall in Stock Full, Larry and his son Chad Ragland in SCORE Trophy-Truck, Mark and his son C.J. Hutchins in Class 10, and Morley and his son Mike Williams in SCORE Lite. Besides the McMillins, other father-sons who will race in separate classes are Gus (SCORE TROPHY-TRUCK) and his son Gus Vildosola Jr. (CLASS 1-2/1600), Jerry (SCORE Lite) and his son We SCORE Trophy-Truck divisions are entered, promising another classic duel down the majestic and mysterious Baja California peninsula. Former season champs in the marquee SCORE racing division who will be on the starting grid are: Las Vegas’ Rob MacCachren (1994), Robby Gordon, Orange, Calif. (1996), Curt LeDuc, Cherry Valley, Calif. (1997), Riverside’s Dan Smith/Dave Ashley (1998 and 2001) and Las Vegas’ Ed and Tim Herbst . Among these seven former champions are a combined 28 race victories in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division. The Herbst brothers lead with nine, followed by Smith/Ashley with eight, Gordon and LeDuc with four each and MacCachren with three. Counting Larry Ragland (7), Mark Post/Jerry Whelchel (2), Juan Ibarra, Larry Roeseler, Brian Collins, and Mark Miller (1 win each), 40 of the 55 all-time SCORE Trophy-Truck race winners are competing this year. All but MacCachren and Roeseler, who are racing in the unlimited Class 1, are entered in SCORE Trophy-Truck.
