261 total entries to date
Four classes will have SCORE GPS Data Loggers installed to increase
Safety, verify route and speed at next month’s Tecate SCORE Baja 1000
SCORE Trophy-Truck, Class 1, Class 10, Protruck classes will use
Special devices at Nov. 16-20 race down Baja California peninsula

LOS ANGELES, CA (October 21, 2004) -- Attempting to help increase safety, verify route and speed, SCORE International, the world’s foremost desert racing organization, has announced it will require mandatory use of SCORE GPS data loggers in four of the top four-wheel vehicle classes in next month’s 37th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 in Baja California, Mexico.

In what SCORE officials hope will become mandatory for all classes (cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs) in the future, SCORE Trophy-Truck, Class 1, Class 10 and Protruck will be the four classes with the official ‘black boxes’ installed prior to the Nov. 16-20 race of 1,016.3 miles down the Baja peninsula from Ensenada to La Paz. The special devices and their accompanying little ‘black boxes’ are being provided to the SCORE racers exclusively through RallyTrack.com, of Lakewood, CA.

“SCORE International has always been on the cutting edge of innovation in our sport and we welcome the opportunity to add this special technological advancement to help SCORE maintain its pre-eminent position,” said Sal Fish, CEO/President of Los Angeles-based SCORE International. “After testing four of these units at last month’s SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300, we are convinced not only with their reliability, but also their accuracy in providing us instantaneous data for review.”

To date, an impressive total of 261 vehicles have officially entered this year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. When registration is complete, nearly 275 vehicles competing in 25 Pro and 5 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs are expected to compete in Mexico.

Pre-race festivities will be held around the Riviera del Pacifico Convention Center in Ensenada and the San Nicolas Hotel, on Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 16-17. The race will start on Thursday, Nov. 18, in front of the Riviera del Pacifico Convention Center with motorcycles and ATVs getting the green flag at approximately 6:30 a.m., followed by the car and truck classes at approximately 10:30 a.m. Vehicles will start one every 30 seconds in the elapsed-time race. The finish line will be on the outskirts of La Paz adjacent to the tourism office. While the fastest finishers will complete the rugged route in approximately 16 hours, each vehicle will have a 40-hour time limit to become official finishers in the historic event.

While there are numerous other potential benefits from the use of the SCORE GPS Data Loggers, SCORE hopes that the primary result will be to increase safety of the racers and the more than 200,000 expected specatators along the race route.

“With the technical evolution of SCORE racing, faster and more durable racing machines, along with the incredible popularity of SCORE races in Mexico and the fact that our events are held on open land and not in an enclosed race track, safety has become an increasing concern,” added Fish. These SCORE Data Loggers are a major step forward by SCORE to help provide safer race conditions for racers, crews, media and spectators,” added Fish.

Within minutes of finishing the race, the data from the SCORE GPS Data Loggers will be downloaded and reviewed by RallyTrack.com personnel and SCORE officials. This will insure that racers stayed on the prescribed course and within the posted speed limits for the approximate 100 miles of paved highway the event uses.

For all race vehicles, SCORE will continue to have monitors posted at various locations around the course, 14 checkpoints that racers must stop at as well as personnel with radar equipment on the highway sections.

“We salute SCORE for taking yet another pioneering step to help keep desert racing safe, which will help prolong considerably its future in the motorsports world,” said Craig Reitz, President of RallyTrack.com. “There are a significant number of other applications this equipment is capable of, and it is our goal to help SCORE implement even more benefits over the course of the 2005 SCORE Desert Series and beyond.”

The post-race SCORE Survivor Award’s Celebration will be held Saturday afternoon in La Paz and is scheduled to be held at the Crowne Plaza Resort, adjacent to the official finish line of the race.

Pre-race festivities on Wednesday, Nov. 17, for the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, including tech and contingency and the SCORE Manufacturer’s Midway will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. across from the San Nicolas Hotel. The pre-race mandatory driver/rider briefing will be held Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. at the Riviera CC. Racer registration will be held at the Riviera CC from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 16 and from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 17.

The popular event will feature the $40,000 Terrible’s Bonus purse, which includes a $20,000 bonus to the first overall 4-wheel vehicle, provided by Herbst Gaming of Las Vegas.

The race will also culminate the chase for both the $10,000 Kartek Off-Road bonus and the $12,000 Toyota True-Grit and Toyota Milestone Awards. The Kartek Off-Road bonus goes to the 2004 SCORE Overall point champion.

Celebrating its 31st anniversary this year as the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Series, the SCORE Desert Series is returning to Mexico for the last of three races held annually in Baja California.

The race will be televised as a one-hour special in December on the new Jeep World of Adventure Sports show on the NBC Television Network. The show is produced by Aura360. The telecast will air on Saturday, Dec. 11 at 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time).

SCORE official sponsors for 2004 are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Southern California Ford Dealers-official vehicle and C.L. Bryant-VP Racing Fuels-official fuel supplier. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, Herbst Gaming, Kartek Off-Road, Fram, Autolite, Prestone, Bilstein, Signpros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products, and Advanced Color Graphics.

Additional sponsors of this year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 are: Cotuco, Fideicomiso Publico para la Promocion Turistica de Ensenada and Centrix Financial of Denver.

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