This weekend in Ensenada, Mexico
31 Silver State racers, including Herbsts, MacCachren, Collins,
B.J. Baldwin in Race-record field for 38th Tecate SCORE Baja 500

NASCAR’s R. Gordon one of nine racers who have combined for 22 4-Wheel Overall wins, five others have 21 combined M/C Overalls

On-site internet coverage: DesertRacing.com.

ENSENADA, Mexico--Led by brothers Ed, Tim and Troy Herbst along with Rob MacCachren, Brian Collins and B.J. Baldwin, Nevada has 31 entries in this year’ s record-setting 38th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500 desert race.

Not only is the entry list of nearly 440 vehicles the largest in the long and storied three-decade-plus history of the race, it is also filled with the most former class winners ever in a SCORE race with 88 competitors who have combined for 227 class wins.

Round 3 of the six-race 2006 SCORE Desert Series, the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Series, featuring a race-record lineup of over 440 entries competing in 25 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs, will be held this weekend in Ensenada, Mexico. The race will be filmed for television by Aura360, SCORE’S TV production partner, to air in December as a one-hour special on NBC in the U.S. and ESPN International worldwide.

Ed and Tim Herbst along with Rob MacCachren, Brian Collins and B.J. Baldwin will all be racing in the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck division while Troy Herbst is among the favorites in the unlimited Class 1 division.

Starting and finishing in Ensenada on the majestic Baja California peninsula, this year’s tight and technical 424.29-mile course will run in a clockwise direction, running East into the middle of the peninsula, then South, followed by a West travel section, turning north, then East, North and back West to the finish in Ensenada. 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 two hours later at approximately 9 a.m. Vehicles will start in 30-second intervals in the elapsed-time race, and while the fastest vehicles are expected to finish in approximately nine hours, all will have an 18-hour time limit to become official finishers in the summer classic.

NASCAR team owner/driver Robby Gordon, Charlotte, N.C., will defend his overall 4-wheel vehicle and SCORE Trophy-Truck crown as will last year’s overall motorcycle and Class 22 winner Mike Childress, Wrightwood, Calif., who is racing this year on the American Honda A team with Steve Hengeveld, Oak Hills, Calif., and Josh Frederick, Moapa, Nev., the defending Overall ATV champion.

Gordon, the 1996 SCORE Trophy-Truck season point champion with five career race wins in the marquee SCORE racing division for high-tech, 800-horsepower unlimited production trucks, has announced his plans for his triple-duty week of NASCAR and SCORE racing. Gordon will be commuting this week to and from Dover, Dela., where he will be competing in this week’s NASCAR Nextel Cup race.

Gordon, who has four class wins and three overall titles in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500, has finalized his plans for the two SCORE Trophy-Trucks he has entered. Third generation SCORE desert racer Andy McMillin, Poway, Calif., is driver of record this season in the No. 83 Team Gordon Chevy CK1500 that Gordon drove solo in last year to victory in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 and Gordon himself is driver of record in the No. 89 Team Gordon Hummer H3. Gordon announced plans last week to drive the No. 83 SCORE Trophy-Truck for the first half of the race before turning the vehicle over to McMillin, who will ride shotgun during the first half. Robby Gordon’s dad Bob Gordon, Orange, Calif., who himself has three class wins and two overalls in this race, will drive the first half, before turning the wheel over to his son to drive the second half. The No. 83 SCORE Trophy-Truck will be the eighth vehicle to leave the line while the No. 89 will start in the 28th slot, 10 minutes later.

The venerable Rod Hall, 67, of Reno, who earned his first Tecate SCORE Baja 500 class win in 1970 and his most recent in 1994, returns after a 12-year absence as a favorite in the Stock Mini class in his Hummer H3. Hall is the only person who has raced in all 38 previous Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 races, where he has the most class wins of anyone with 18.

Larry Roeseler, 49, Canyon Lake, Calif., has 11 overall wins in this race including nine on a motorcycle, earning his frist class win 1972 and his most recent in 2004. This year Roeseler will again be the co-driver for Troy Herbst, Las Vegas, in the unlimited Class 1 in a Smithbuilt-Ford open wheel desert race car. Together Herbst and Roeseler earned three straight Class 1 wins in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

Entries have come from every state in the Western U.S., Hawaii, and Texas, from across the Midwest including South Dakota, Illinois, Minnesota, Kansas, Missouri, Indiana and Wisconsin, as well as New York, Ohio and Massachusetts in the East and Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Mississippi, Florida and Alabama in the South.

Late registration will be accepted up until race morning, and the current total of 437 entries guarantees a final starting grid of over 400 for this first time in the 38-year history of the race. The current record for number of starters is 384, set in 1976 and tied in 1977. The current record for number of finishers is 202, set in 1988 (332 starters), when the race started in Ensenada and finished in Santo Tomas. Both marks are expected to be eclipsed by this year’s totals.

Amazingly, there is actually one 1976 class winner entered this year and two class winners from 1977. Larry Roeseler won Class 21 in 1976 and Class 22 in 1977 while Rod Hall won Class 4 in 1977.

To date, entries have been received from 28 U.S. States, Mexico, Canada, Colombia, France, Japan and New Zealand. The Pro classes with the most entries are: Class 1 (42), SCORE Trophy-Truck, with a class-record 41, SCORE Lite, with a class-record 33, Class 1-2/1600 (30) and Class 22 and Class 30 (each with 17). Leading the Sportsman classes is SPT Motorcycles over 250cc with a class-record 51 for the relatively new class and SPT ATV with a class-record 28 all-terrain vehicles entered.

Following this weekend’s event, the SCORE Desert Series visits Las Vegas for the SCORE Las Vegas Terrible’s Cup II on July 27-29. The popular new event will be held on the Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

38th Tecate SCORE BAJA 500 Round 3 of six-race 2006 SCORE Desert Series

June 2-4 -- Ensenada, Mexico
437 OFFICIAL ENTRIES
(From 28 U.S. States, Mexico, Canada, Columbia, France, Japan, New Zealand) (By Class Starting Order)

TOTAL NEVADA ENTRIES--31
Pro Cars & Trucks
SCORE TROPHY-TRUCK (Unlimited Production Trucks)--
41 Roger Norman, Reno, Nev./Jerry Whelchel, Las Flores, Calif., Ford F-150
97 B.J. Baldwin, Las Vegas, Chevy Silverado
4 Gus Vildosola, Mexicali, Mexico/Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas, Ford F-150
12 Brian Collins, Las Vegas/Larry Ragland, Cave Creek, Ariz., Chevy Silverado
96 Bobby Baldwin, Las Vegas, Chevy Silverado
51 Kory Scheeler/Larry Job, Las Vegas, Chevy Silverado
19 Ed Herbst/Tim Herbst, Las Vegas, Ford F-150

CLASS 1 (Unlimited single or two-seaters)--
107 Pat Dean, Las Vegas, Bunderson-Chevy
109 Danny Anderson, Las Vegas, Jimco-Chevy
112 Troy Herbst, Las Vegas/Larry Roeseler, Canyon Country, Calif., Smithbuilt-Ford
130 B.J. Richardson/John Gaughan, Las Vegas, Bunderson-Chevy
139 John Harrah/Lynn Oddo, Reno, Nev., Jimco-Chevy CLASS 1-2/1600 (VW-powered, single or two-seaters to 1600cc)--
1605 Sammy Ehrenberg, Las Vegas/L.J. Kennedy, Orange, Calif., Jimco

CLASS 3 (Short Wheelbase 4X4)--
302 Ken Leavitt, Jerome, Idaho/Bill Whealan, Las Vegas, Ford Bronco

CLASS 9 (VW-powered, Short wheelbase, single or two-seaters)--
901 David Boss, Costa Mesa, Calif./Tim Gardner, Las Vegas

CLASS 10 (Single or two-seaters to 1650cc)--
1003 Mark Hutchins/C.J. Hutchins, Henderson, Nev., Kreger-Honda
1006 Carlos Cortez, Las Vegas/Rudy Cortez, Henderson, Nev., Kreger-Porsche
1009 Trevor Scherrer/Rob McBeath, Las Vegas, Jimco-Honda
1012 Andy Grider, Los Olivos, Calif./Kevin Curtis, Las Vegas, Tatum-Honda
1014 Rick Ellison, Selma, Calif./Bill Witt, Henderson, Nev., Jimco-Honda

SCORE LITE (VW-powered, Limited single-1776cc-or two-seaters-1835cc)--
1225 Matt Cullen, Long Beach, Calif./Jeff Rucker, Las Vegas
1227 Cameron Steele, San Clemente, Calif./Aaron Hawley, Las Vegas, Desert Assassin

CLASS 11 (Stock VW Sedans)--
1148 Shelby Stahler, Carson City, Nev./Stee Spellerberg, San Diego

STOCK FULL (Stock, Full-sized trucks)--
861 Josh Hall/Sam Cothrun, Reno, Nev., Hummer H2

STOCK MINI (Stock, mini trucks)--
779 Rod Hall, Reno, Nev./Larry Webster, Hummer H3

PROTRUCK (Limited Production Trucks)--
204 Gus Vildosola Jr, Mexicali, Mexico/Bryan Freeman, Henderson, Nev., Toyota Tundra

PRO MOTORCYCLES
CLASS 22 (250cc or more)--
5x Rick Williams/Ron Ayers/Rueben Silva, Las Vegas, Honda XR650R

CLASS 30 (Riders over 30 years old)--
307x Matt Engstler, Phoenix/Bob Carlin, Henderson, Nev., Honda XR650R

CLASS 40 (Riders over 40 years old)--
400x Jim O’Neal, Chatsworth, Calif./Tim Withers, Pepeekeo, Hawaii/Randy Morales, Prescott, Ariz./Tom Willis, Las Vegas, Honda XR650R

PRO ATVs
CLASS 25 (over 251cc)--
1a Josh Frederick, Moapa, Nev./Anthony Baker, El Cajon, Calif., Bombardier Outlander

SPORTSMAN
SPT ATV--
57a John Nores, San Martin, Calif./Jeffrey Moore, Felton, Calif./Pat Moore, Springcreek, Nev.

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