SCORE International (Sanctioning Committee Off Road Events) is an off-road racing sanctioning body in the sport of desert racing and is famous for the Baja 500, San Felipe 250 and the Committee's flagship event; the Baja 1000. For the 2016 season, the SCORE season will consist of four races; all held in Mexico for the first time. Founded by Mickey Thompson in 1973, SCORE International continues today under the current presidency of Roger Norman, who purchased the rights from Sal Fish in late 2012.
SCORE International licensed a burger restaurant (SCORE Baja Burgers & Beer) in Chula Vista, California, USA.
Vehicles are released from the start line individually, in gaps of 60 seconds between Trophy Trucks and Class 1 racers then 30 seconds for all other classes.
Baja races include motorcycles and quad bikes; 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 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. As an example the vehicle number for the Class 1 champion will be 100. Trophy Truck champion can run the #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. For Trophy Trucks & Class 1 vehicles, qualifying for the Baja 1000 is now held during SEMA at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Starting with Roger Norman's purchase of SCORE in 2012, vehicle numbers have become permanently assigned to each driver. Numbers 1-9 is reserved for the prior years driver standings for positions 1-9 respectfully. Numbers 10-99 will be available for assignment. Driver's 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 phenomenal feat in 1975, capturing his first Baja 500 win before winning the 1976 Baja 1000 under this format.
Course terrain is primarily off-road in remote areas, however highway segments are used when an alternate off-road route is unavailable.
The 2015 Dakar Challenge included the Bud Light SCORE Baja 500 as one of the events within the five-round series.
Class Levels:
PRO LEVEL 1
Trophy Truck – Veh #1-99 (Trophy Truck Unlimited)
Class 1 – Veh #100-199 (Unlimited single or two-seaters)
PRO LEVEL 2
TT Spec – Veh #200-299 (Trucks/sport utility vehicles, stock, sealed V-8s)
10 – Veh #1000-1099 (Single or two-seaters limited engine)
8 – Veh #800-899 (Full-sized two-wheel drive trucks)
Hammer Truck Limited- Veh# 4400-4499 (Rock Crawler/Hammer Truck Limited)
Hammer Truck Unlimited – Veh# 4500-4599 (Rock Crawler/Hammer Truck Unlimited)
5 Unlimited – Veh #500-549 (Unlimited Baja Bugs)
SCORE Lites – Veh #1200-1299 (HDRA Lites-Limited single-1776cc-or two-seaters-1835cc)
Heavy Metal – Veh #8000-8099 (Open Production Trucks, V8 engines)
3 – Veh #300-399 (Short wheelbase 4X4)
3000 – Veh #3000-3099 (Class 78-2,unlimited mini-truck, 2.2/2.4-Liter Ecotec engine)
2 – Veh #2000-2099 (Unlimited open-wheel, car/truck, 3.6-Liter Turbo or supercharged)
1/2-1600 – Veh #1600-1699 (single or two-seaters to 1600cc)
Trophy Lite – Veh #6000-6099 (Unlimited Mini-Truck, 2.2/2.4-Liter Ecotec engine)
7 – Veh #700-739 (Open Production – Mini Pick-Ups)
Pro Truck – Veh #1350-1399 (Limited Production Trucks)
PRO LEVEL 3
11 – Veh #1100-1199 (Stock VW Sedans)
1700 JeepSpeed – Veh #1700-1799 (Jeep Speed Challenge)
3700 JeepSpeed – Veh #3700-3799 (Jeep Speed Cup)
5-1600 Ltd – Veh #550-599 (1600cc Baja Bugs)
7sx – Veh #740-759 (Modified, stock mini-trucks)
9 – Veh #900-999 (Short wheelbase, single or two-seaters)
Stock Full – Veh #8100-8199 (Stock full-sized trucks)
Stock Mini – Veh #760-799 (Stock mini trucks)
Pro UTV – Veh #1900-1999 (Naturally Aspirated UTVs)
Pro UTV FI – Veh #2900-2999 (Forced Induction UTVs)
Pro UTV Unlimited – Veh #1800-1849 (Unlimited UTVs)
SPORTSMAN LEVEL 4
ONLY ‘PRO’ CLASSES RECEIVE PAYOUTS
Baja Challenge – Veh #BC1-BC99 (Spec open wheel cars)
Sportsman Ltd Truck – Veh #2000-2099
Sportsman Unlimited Open Truck – Veh #1400-1499
Sportsman Unlimited Buggy – Veh #1500-1599
Sportsman Unlimited UTV – Veh #1850-1899
PRO MOTO & ATV
Pro Moto Ironman (Solo) Veh# 700x-799x
Pro Moto Limited (400cc or less) Veh# 100x-149x'
Pro Moto Unlimited(401cc or more) Veh# 1x-49x
Pro Moto 30 (Riders over 30 years old) Veh# 300x – 349x
Pro Moto 40 (Riders over 40 years old) Veh# 400x-449x
Pro Moto 50 (Riders over 50 years old) Veh# 500x-549x
Pro Moto 60 (Riders over 60 years old) Veh# 600x-649x
Pro Quad (450cc or more) Veh# 1a-49a
SPORTSMAN MOTO & ATV
ONLY ‘PRO’ CLASSES RECEIVE PAYOUTS
Sportsman M/C – (any engine size) Veh# 200x-299x
Sportsman QUAD- '(any engine size) Veh# 100a-149a
Cars and Trucks
SCORE Trophy Truck: Open Production Unlimited Trucks.
SCORE Class 1: Unlimited open-wheel single-or two-seaters.
SCORE Class 1/2-1600: Limited suspension. open-wheel single-or two-seaters. (1600cc)
SCORE Class 2: Limited 2.2 liter buggy.
SCORE Class 3: Production short wheelbase 4x4 Jeeps.
SCORE Class 4: 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: 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 Jeeps.
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: Limited, identical open-wheel Baja touring cars.
SCORE Sportsman Buggy:
SCORE Sportsman Truck:
SCORE Sportsman UTV: 660cc, 4-wheel utility vehicle.
ProTruck: Limited Production Trucks governed by the Baja ProTruck Off-Road Race Series
SCORE Class 20: 125cc or smaller two-stroke and 250cc or smaller four-stroke motorcycles.
SCORE Class 21: 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: Riders over 60 years old.
SCORE Class 24: 250cc or less.
SCORE Class 25: 251cc or more.
SCORE Class 26: Limited utility ATV
Walker Evans
Rod Hall
Rod Millen
Jimmie Johnson
Robby Gordon
Parnelli Jones
Rob MacCachren
Don McBride
Corky McMillin
Steve McQueen
Gunnar Nilsson
Larry Ragland
Larry Roeseler
Ivan Stewart
Mickey Thompson
Frank "Scoop" Vessels
BJ Baldwin
Marc Coma
Paul Newman
Mike "Mouse" McCoy
Apdaly Lopez
In 2015, SCORE International opted to air their three original television series, Roost, Guererro, and SCORE International Off-Road Racing on digital video-on-demand platform, CarbonTV.
