SCORE International (Southern California Off Road Enthusiasts) is an

off-road racing Off-road racing is a form of motorsports consisting of specially-modified vehicles including cars, SUVs, trucks, motorbikes, quadbikes and buggies racing in off-road environments (e.g. snow, dirt, mud, etc.). North America Desert racing Desert ...

sanctioning body in the sport of

desert racing Desert racing is the act of racing through the desert in a two- or four-wheeled off-road vehicle. Races, which generally consist of two or more loops around a course covering up to , can take the form of Hare and Hound or Hare scramble style even ...

. Founded by

Mickey Thompson Michael Lee "Mickey" Thompson (December 7, 1928March 16, 1988) was an American auto racing builder and promoter. A hot rodder since his youth, Thompson increasingly pursued land speed records in his late 20s and early 30s.

in 1973, SCORE International was purchased from

Sal Fish Sal Fish (born May 2, 1939 in Los Angeles, California) is a retired CEO/President of SCORE International, the leading sanctioning body in the sport of desert racing. The SCORE race series include the Baja 1000, Baja 500, San Felipe 250, Primm 300, ...

in late 2012. and is run by its current president and race director Jose A. Grijalva and General Manager Juan Tintos. The sanctioning body's premier series is the SCORE World Desert Championship, which consists of four races in Baja California peninsula: the

San Felipe 250 The SCORE San Felipe 250 is a 250-mile Mexican off-road motorsport race that takes place near San Felipe on the Baja California Peninsula. It was first held in 1982 and is sanctioned by SCORE International. The 2016 edition was the 30th anniversa ...

Baja 500 The Baja 500 is a Mexican off-road motorsport race on the Baja California Peninsula that is sanctioned by SCORE International. The course has remained relatively the same over the years with the majority of events being a loop race starting and fi ...

, Baja 400, and Baja 1000.

Race format

Vehicles are released from the start line individually, in gaps of 60 seconds between

Trophy Truck A trophy truck, also known as a Baja truck or trick truck, is a vehicle used in high-speed off-road racing. This is an open production class and all components are considered legal unless specifically restricted. Although any truck that meets t ...

s and Class 1 racers then 30 seconds for all other classes. Baja races include

motorcycles A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

and

quad bikes An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike, or simply a quad, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI); is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is stra ...

; which start staging at 5:15am and later released around 6am. Four-wheel vehicles start releasing approximately five hours later at around 11am. Race results are determined by calculating a finish time for each vehicle. The finish time for a vehicle can include time for penalties such as speeding.

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

tracking devices are used to enforce speed regulations and penalties on federal highways and highly congested areas. Awards are given for the winner of each class (if a vehicle in the class finishes) as well as an overall winner across classes, overall four-wheel and overall motorcycle/ATV. Points are awarded based on class finishing position. The racer with the most points at the end of the season is the overall class winner. In the following race season, the vehicle number will end in two zeros "00" to indicate that racer as the class champion. For example, the vehicle number for the Class 1 champion would be No. 100 while the Trophy Truck champion can run No. 1. The starting order is generally determined by a random draw, except when preferential starts are given to those who finished in top positions in the previous race/season, or when qualifying is held. Starting with Roger Norman's purchase of SCORE in 2012, vehicle numbers have become permanently assigned to each driver. Numbers 1–9 are reserved for the prior year's driver standings in those respective positions, while 10–99 are available for assignment. Drivers who have used a number in the prior years season will be given first option for the same number in the current season. SCORE International operates an "Ironman" class for racers that complete a race without any driver change. Commemorative ribbons are given to any racers who completed a race solely. Baja legend Ivan "Ironman" Stewart was the first racer to complete this feat in 1975, capturing his first

win before winning the 1976 Baja 1000 under this format. Course terrain is primarily off-road in remote areas, though

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

segments are used when an alternate off-road route is unavailable. Some classes like Moto, Quad, and Class 11 run different routes from others that bypass certain locations.

Yearly races

Vehicle classes

Cars and Trucks

SCORE Trophy Truck A trophy truck, also known as a Baja truck or trick truck, is a vehicle used in high-speed off-road racing. This is an open production class and all components are considered legal unless specifically restricted. Although any truck that meets t ...

: Open Production Unlimited Trucks. *

SCORE Class 1 SCORE Class 1 is an open-wheel unlimited-class that competes in the SCORE off-road race series including the Baja 1000, Baja 500, San Felipe 250 and the SCORE Desert Challenge. Class 1 is defined as an unlimited four-wheel single and two-sea ...

: Unlimited open-wheel single-or two-seaters. *

SCORE Class 1/2-1600 SCORE Class 1/2-1600 is an Open Wheel restricted suspension, limited Volkswagen motor class that competes in the SCORE off-road race series including the Baja 1000, Baja 500, Baja Sur 500, San Felipe 250 and the SCORE Desert Challenge. No produ ...

: Limited suspension. open-wheel single-or two-seaters. (1600cc) *

SCORE Class 2 SCORE Class 2 is an unlimited four wheel single & two-seat vehicle class. The maximum engine size is a 3.5 liter, six cylinder forced air induction engine. Engines must have no more than six cylinders but forced induction is open to both turbo an ...

: Limited 3.5 liter buggy. *

SCORE Class 3 SCORE Class 3 is production short wheelbase 4x4 class that competes in the SCORE off-road race series races including the Baja 1000, Baja 500, San Felipe 250, Baja Sur 500 and the SCORE Desert Challenge. Vehicle description Vehicles must be a four ...

: Production short wheelbase 4x4 Jeeps. *

SCORE Class 4 SCORE Class 4 is a limited four-wheel, single or two-seat vehicle class that competes in the SCORE off-road race series including the Baja 1000, Baja 500, San Felipe 250, Baja Sur 500 and the SCORE Desert Challenge. Class 4 was added in 2009. This ...

: Unlimited 2.2 liter open wheel. * SCORE Class 5: Unlimited Baja Bugs. * SCORE Class 5-1600: Baja Bugs. (1600cc) * SCORE Class 6: V6 powered tube chassis trucks * SCORE Class 7: Open mini trucks. * SCORE Class 7S: Stock mini trucks. (3000cc) * SCORE Class 7SX: Modified mini trucks. (4000cc) * SCORE Class 8: Full-sized two-wheel drive trucks. * SCORE Class 9: Short wheelbase, open-wheel. single-or two-seaters. (1600cc) *

SCORE Class 10 SCORE Class 10 is an open-wheel limited motor class that competes in the SCORE off-road race series including the Baja 1000, Baja 500, Baja Sur 500, San Felipe 250 The SCORE San Felipe 250 is a 250-mile Mexican off-road motorsport race that take ...

: Open-wheel single or two-seaters. (2000cc) * SCORE Class 11: Stock VW Sedans. (1600cc) * SCORE Lites Class 12: VW limited open-wheel. single seat (1776cc) or two-seaters (1835cc). * SCORE Class 17: Production short wheelbase 4x4 Modified

Jeep Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Moto ...

s. * SCORE Stock Full: Stock full-sized trucks. * SCORE Stock Mini: Stock mini trucks. (4300cc) * SCORE Class M-Truck: 2 or 4-wheel drive medium utility vehicle with a minimum weight 12,000 pounds. *

SCORE Baja Challenge Score or scorer may refer to: *Test score, the result of an exam or test Business * Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio * Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company * Score Media, a former Canadian m ...

: Limited, identical open-wheel Baja touring cars. * SCORE Sportsman Buggy: * SCORE Sportsman Truck: *

SCORE Sportsman UTV Score or scorer may refer to: *Test score, the result of an exam or test Business * Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio * Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company * Score Media, a former Canadian m ...

: 660cc, 4-wheel utility vehicle. * ProTruck: Limited Production Trucks governed by the Baja ProTruck Off-Road Race Series

Motorcycles

* SCORE Class 20: 125cc or smaller two-stroke and 250cc or smaller four-stroke motorcycles. *

SCORE Class 21 Score or scorer may refer to: *Test score, the result of an exam or test Business * Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio * Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company * Score Media, a former Canadian m ...

: 126cc to 250cc. * SCORE Class 22: 250cc or more. * SCORE Class 30: Riders over 30 years old. * SCORE Class 40: Riders over 40 years old. * SCORE Class 50: Riders over 50 years old. *

SCORE Class 60 Score or scorer may refer to: *Test score, the result of an exam or test Business * Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio * Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company * Score Media, a former Canadian m ...

: Riders over 60 years old.

ATVs

* SCORE Class 24: 250cc or less. * SCORE Class 25: 251cc or more. * SCORE Class 26: Limited utility ATV

In media

A documentary about the 2003 Baja 1000 titled ''

Dust to Glory ''Dust to Glory'' is a 2005 documentary film about the Baja 1000 off-road race. Filming occurred throughout the 2003 event. The film is directed by Dana Brown of '' Step Into Liquid'' fame. The film was edited in Adobe Premiere Pro. The film score ...

'' was released in 2005. A sequel ''Dust 2 Glory'', which covers the 2016 race, came out in 2017. SCORE International lent its name to the 2008 video game ''SCORE International Baja 1000''. It was released on

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

, and

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

. In 2015, SCORE International opted to air their three original television series, ''Roost'', ''Guerrero'', and ''SCORE International Off-Road Racing'' on digital video-on-demand platform, CarbonTV. SCORE International licensed a burger restaurant (SCORE Baja Burgers & Beer) in Chula Vista, California, United States.

References

External links

Official SCORE International websiteOfficial SCORE International JournalOfficial SCORE International Carbon TV channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Score International Auto racing organizations in the United States Off-road racing series Rally raid races