Jesse James draws first starting position

Reality TV star Jesse James has received the first starting position during Saturday’s drawing for November’s 44th running of the legendary Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race. While James, who lives in Austin, Texas, will pilot his No. 54 Chevy Silverado SCORE Trophy Truck, starting first among the motorcycle and ATV classes will be Craig Bowman on a Honda CRF450X.
Find the drawing results for trucks and cars at the independent www.score-baja-1000.com here - Motorcycles and ATV at Off-Road Baja here...
This year’s internationally televised granddaddy of all desert races, the mammoth finale of the five-race 2011 SCORE Desert Series will be a loop race starting and finishing in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, with race week festivities scheduled for Nov. 17-20.
A solid total of 202 vehicles officially entered in time for Saturday’s drawing held at SCORE International’s headquarters in Los Angeles.

The race itself starts on Friday, Nov. 18 and official entry forms are available online along with all pertinent race information and prerunning rules on the SCORE website.
With late entries accepted up until race morning, nearly 300 entries from over 30 US States and 15 countries are expected to take the green flag in the 692.82-mile course, competing in 35 Pro and seven Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs.
In addition to the 31 States represented on the entry list to date, racers have already officially entered from Australia, Canada, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Guatemala, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, the Netherlands and the US Territory of Guam.
It’s the oldest and most well known of all desert races, and it remains as the single most appealing accomplishment to a racer. Since 1967, the race has been run over the mysterious Baja California peninsula every year except 1974 when the international fuel crisis forced a cancellation.
This year’s race will start for the 37th time and finish for the 21st time in Ensenada. Completing its 38th year as the world’s foremost desert racing sanctioning body, the event is the finale of the five-race 2011 SCORE Desert Series. The race will start and finish on Boulevard Costero adjacent to the picturesque Bahia de Todos Santos in front of the iconic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in the heart of Ensenada.
Prerunning on the 692.82-mile loop course will officially begin on Nov 4.
Drawing the first start among the ATV classes was the Class 25 team led by Richard Stanley.
The motorcycle and ATV classes will start their journey at 6:30 a.m. (Friday, Nov. 18) with the car and truck classes starting at approximately 11:45 a.m., or four hours after the last ATV leaves the line. With the course open for 32 hours in the elapsed-time race, the fastest finishers are expected to complete the course in approximately 14 hours.
Pre-race festivities on Thursday, Nov. 17, including the vastly popular tech and contingency of all vehicles and the SCORE Manufacturer’s Midway will be held from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Boulevard Costero in front of the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center. The pre-race driver/rider mjeeting will be held Thursday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. in the Cathedral Room at the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center. Racer and media registration will both be held at the San Nicolas Resort Hotel in Ensenada on Wednesday, Nov. 16 and Thursday, Nov. 17.
The post-race awards celebration will be held poolside at the San Nicolas Resort Hotel at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 20.
The featured SCORE Trophy Truck division for high-tech, 850-horsepower unlimited production trucks had 32 vehicles entered in time for Saturday’s start draw.
Starting second will be Mexico’s son/father team of Gus Vildosola Jr./Gus Vildosola, who teamed last year to become the first Mexican national team to win the overall 4-wheel title of the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. Driving the No. 21 Vildosola Racing Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy Truck, the Vildosola’s, of Mexicali, were also the finished vehicle overall in the race down the Baja California peninsula to La Paz.
Starting second among the motorcycles will be last year’s overall motorcycle winners in this race, Kendall Norman, Santa Barbara, Calif./Quinn Cody, Buellton, Calif. on the No. 1x JCR Honda Racing Honda CRF450X.
While entries will be accepted will be accepted up to race morning, late entries will be assigned the next available number and starting position within each class.
Besides SCORE Trophy Truck with 32, the car and truck classes with the most entries to date are unlimited Class 1 (22) and Class 1/2-1600 (12).
Among the motorcycle and ATV classes, Class 22 for open motorcycles has the most entries so far with 13.
Leading the six Sportsman classes in the race is Sportsman Motorcycle over 250cc which had 17 entries in the drawing.
The 692.82-mile race course this year is a combination of much of the 2008 and the 2009 courses. The rugged course that travels from Ensenada east through Ojos Negros, down Laguna Salada to San Felipe, down through the three legendary Baja canyon washes of Matomi, Huatomote and Chanate, joining familiar routes to the six-mile turnoff before Mike’s Sky Rancho, heading over to the Pacific Coast crossing Highway 1 near San Vicente and to Erendira, then through Santo Tomas, Uruapan and back to Ojos Negros, covering much of the northern half of the majestic Baja California peninsula to and from Ensenada.