Corky McMillin's oldest son Mark, 43, of El Cajon, California, finished Sixth in Class 1 and Eighth overall in 9:58:34. Class 1 featured a race-high of 28 starters.
A total of 232 racers, competing in 23 classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles, and ATVs entered the race, and of the 219 that officially started the grueling journey, 107 of them made it to the finish line within the 18-hour time limit in the elapsed-time race. The green flag dropped at 6 a.m. Saturday under crystal-clear, blue, sunny skies and temperatures that soared to 89 degrees. Racing continued until early Sunday morning.
Enduring numerous mechanical maladies, Las Vegas' Billy Goerke, driving solo for the first time in a SCORE race, won for the third time this year, remaining undefeated in Class 8 in his Collins' Motorsports Chevy C1500 truck.
Winning for the second straight year at the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 were Steve Greinke of Orange, California, in SCORE LITE (Porter); George Seeley Jr. of Glendale, California, in Class 5 (VW Baja Bug); and Rick Ellison of Selma, California, in Class 10 (Chenowth).
Winning for the first time in SCORE Class 7 was the tandem of Craig Turner of Yorba Linda, California, and former SCORE Trophy Truck point champion Curt LeDuc of Cherry Valley, California, in a Ford Ranger.
Las Vegas' Sammy Ehrenberg won his first race in Class 1-2/1600 as he teamed with Ronny Wilson of Long Beach, California, in a Jimco. With the win, Ehrenberg, a bell captain at the Treasure Island Resort, moved into the season point lead for his class.
Other class winners on Saturday included: Eric Hardin of Anaheim, California, in Class 7S (GMC Sonoma); Jeremy Spirkoff of La Mesa, California, in Stock Full (Ford F-150); Darren Skilton of Long Beach, California, in Class 3 (Kia Sportage); and the team of Bob Shepard and Dan Ragland of Phoenix in Protruck (Chevy C1500). Ragland, 47, is the younger brother of overall race winner Larry Ragland.
For many, the race was also a pre-run of sorts for the season-ending Tecate SCORE Baja 2000, A Race for the Ages, to be held November 10-17. Starting in Ensenada on November 12, and finishing in Cabo San Lucas on the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula, the first 293 miles of Saturday's race will be the exact first 293 miles of November's once-in-a-lifetime race.32nd Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500 Desert Race
Round 3 of five-race 2000 SCORE Desert Series440.6 miles, June 3-4, 2000 Ensenada, Baja California, MexicoTotal Entries: 232 Total Starters: 219 Total Finishers: 107
The Finishers
Pro Cars and Trucks