BFGoodrich Tires will be the title sponsor of the SCORE Baja 1000, running from Nov. 14 through Nov. 18, expanding the company’s long-term commitment to desert racing and the racers who challenge themselves on the world’s toughest terrain. BFGoodrich has been associated with desert racing for more than 40 years and sees the title sponsorship as an opportunity to further its theme this year: Decades of Desert Dominance.
This history began in 1975 when BFGoodrich used the punishing Baja desert as a real-world research laboratory and proving grounds. This approach has developed tires that have won 89 overall SCORE Baja races, 28 of them at the SCORE Baja 1000. Over the past 17 SCORE desert races in Baja, 15 overall wins have been achieved with the latest BFGoodrich technologies, the Baja T/A KR2 and KR3 race tires.
BFGoodrich raises the stakes for its teams
To up the ante in honor of the 50th anniversary, BFGoodrich is offering a contingency prize of $50,000 to the overall winning team, if they are riding exclusively on BFGoodrich tires.
“We increased the amount of the contingency prize from last year to show our teams how important the Baja 1000 is to us,” said Chris Baker, Motorsports Director, BFGoodrich and Michelin North America.
Teams competing on BFGoodrich tires this year will rely on several products in multiple race classes, including the BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2, the BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM2, BFGoodrich Baja T/A KR, and Baja T/A KR2 and KR3, among other tires vying for overall and class titles.
Rob MacCachren seeks historic 4th consecutive overall win
Another BFGoodrich storyline to this year’s SCORE Baja 1000 will be Rob MacCachren’s attempt at a fourth consecutive win. MacCachren is the most decorated off-road racer in history, with more than 300 total victories. He will be racing again this year with young-gun Jason Voss on BFGoodrich tires. His trophy truck will ride on 40-inch BFGoodrich Baja T/A KR3 tires. If MacCachren wins overall, it will be the first time anyone has won the SCORE Baja 1000 overall in four consecutive years, and he choose BFGoodrich to help make it happen.
‘Decades of Desert Domination’ timeline
BFGoodrich engineers traveled to Baja California, Mexico, in 1975 to test a new concept ― a radial light-truck tire for off- and on-road use. If the tires could withstand the grueling terrain of Baja, they could survive almost anywhere.
Since then, BFGoodrich has been entrenched in the off-road racing community. This year has several significant milestones. SCORE celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Baja 1000 and BFGoodrich celebrates being the race’s title sponsor and more than 40 years in the sport. There is a robust BFGoodrich timeline that that led up to this milestone year.
- 1976: BFGoodrich races first radial All-Terrain T/A tire in the desert
- 1977: First major off-road victory for the Radial All-Terrain T/A tire
- 1980: First overall Baja 500 victory
- 1986: First overall Baja 1000 victory
- 1991: BFGoodrich introduces the Baja T/A KR tire
- 1995: BFGoodrich wins Baja 1000 for 10th consecutive year
- 2002: 20th overall Baja 500 win
- 2005: BFGoodrich wins Baja 1000 for 20th consecutive year
- 2012: 75th overall SCORE Baja victory
- 2013: Prototype All-Terrain T/A KO2 races in Baja 1000
- 2014: BFGoodrich introduces All Terrain T/A KO2 in Baja, Mexico
- 2016: BFGoodrich tires help Rob MacCachren claim third consecutive Baja 1000 win
- 2017: BFGoodrich becomes title sponsor for the SCORE Baja 1000
BFGoodrich’s support and dedication to the SCORE Baja 1000 goes far beyond title sponsorship. The BFGoodrich pit and radio relay network set up at every SCORE desert race provides teams free support including fueling, vehicle welding, tire changes, mechanical repair, bottled water and much more. The only requirement teams need to have access to this all-encompassing pit support network is to run BFGoodrich tires at all SCORE races. For this year’s race, more than 100 teams have registered to receive pit support from BFGoodrich.
For more information: score-international.com or BFGoodrichTires.com.