San Felipe, Baja, Mexico

The following item was taken from the Baja Racing News Blog:

SCORE off-road racing seems to have run into the perfect storm. Entries for Saturday's 40th Tecate SCORE Baja 500 are off nearly 40 percent from last year's record 492 starters. OUCH!

baja 500 courseThree elements seem to factor into the startling drop: problems in the housing industry, the price of gasoline and the threat of violence in Mexico. But the 300 entries SCORE has received for the 441-mile race – which starts and finishes in Ensenada – still ranks among the Baja 500's 10 largest fields. “We've had a great run,” SCORE publicity director Dominic Clark said yesterday of a four-year period that saw entries soar from 260 in 2003 to last year's record field. “But we have been impacted by a lot of things.”

Notably, the economy – although many racers have also backed away from racing in Mexico after the incidents of robbery on the highways surrounding last year's Baja 1000. SCORE's fortunes have always risen and fallen with the Southern California housing industry – the racing end of the equation trailing the turns in the industry by about a year. Plus, the cost of gasoline and racing fuels has increased significantly since the end of the 2007 season.

The only increase SCORE is seeing in Baja 500 entries this year is the percentage of Mexican racers. One driver, however, is undaunted by the problems facing SCORE.

Robby Gordon, who ran second overall to Brian Collins in last year's Baja 500, will double again this weekend. He will fly to Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Dover, Del., after finishing the Baja 500. Gordon is making one change. He has parked his TrophyTruck and will run the Hummer H3 that he prepared for January's canceled Dakar Rally.

Collins, who will be seeking a third straight Baja 500 overall victory, will team with Escondido's Chuck Hovey, who is parking his open-class buggy to share Collins' Dodge Ram TrophyTruck. [That's SCORE Trophy Truck pilgrim!]
Among the notable teams missing this year's Baja 500 are McMillin Racing of Chula Vista, Herbst Racing and Alan Pflueger. Mark and Scott McMillin told SCORE at the start of the year that they would be taking a step back in 2008 to see how racing in Mexico shakes out. The Herbst team and Pflueger have withdrawn from the Baja 500 for economic reasons. [at least, that's what they've told SCORE]

Another entry returning to the Baja 500 will be the ATV team led by Danny Prather of Ramona and Mike Cafro of Carlsbad. Like Collins and the motorcycle tandem of Robby Bell and Kendall Norman, Prather and Cafro will be seeking a third straight overall title in their division.

With entries right at 300, SCORE expects a handful of additional entries just before the start, giving organizers a legitimate shot at 300 starters for only the 10th time. In 2004, the race drew 300 starters for the first time since 1977. The field jumped to 345 in 2005, 438 in '06 (eclipsing the mark of 384 for both the 1976 and '77 races) and 492 last year. “Over the last five years, we experienced the same type of expansion we had in the 1970s before the housing decline of the 1980s,” Clark said. [story end]

 

After 441.15 miles, B.J. Baldwin beats Post/MacCachren for the 4-wheel Overall victory at 40th Tecate SCORE Baja 500