The 44th annual Baja 500 events begin this year on June 1st and concludes on the 3rd of  June. As always the race starts and finishes in Ensenada, Mexico. The event is sponsored by Tecate and organized by Score International which is the off road sanctioning body in the sport of desert racing that was founded by Mickey Thompson in 1973.

Score races are held in both the USA and Mexico. The main score events include the Laughlin Desert Challenge, the San Felipe 250, the Baja 500 and the flagship Baja 1000 off road race. At the end of this series of championship events the overall winners are determined by a point system which awards teams for starting, finishing and some additional points for a variety of reasons.

Each race has separate catagories for cars , trucks, motorcycles, atv´s, dune buggies and baja bugs. The fastest and largest class of off road racing vehicles are the trophy trucks. These trucks cost upwards of $250,000 to build and feature high powered engines that exceed 700 horsepower and can reach speeds in excess of 135 mph even over rough terrain. The engines must be naturally aspirated and of the same make as the body of the truck. Surprisingly, they are 2 wheel drive vehicles with otherwise custom suspension systems designed to handle some very challenging road conditions.