Jim O’Neal, a 16-time SCORE motorcycle points champion is set to contest Class 30 in the classic San Felipe 250 off-road race.
Veteran Baja motorcycle racer Jim O’Neal will be among 52 racers who have combined for 133 class wins among the 150 racers expected to start Saturday’s 29th Bud Light SCORE San Felipe 250 desert race in Baja California Mexico.
O’Neal, 68, who is well-known for his O’Neal brand of off-road motorcycle apparel, will be racing in Class 30 during the season-opener of the internationally-televised, five-race 2015 SCORE World Desert Championship.
The Bud Light SCORE San Felipe 250 will once again start and finish adjacent to the famed San Felipe Arches on the outskirts of the quaint Mexican fishing village located 125 miles south of the U.S. Border at Calexico, California in Baja California. In 2015, four rounds of the SCORE World Desert Championship will be held on the Baja California peninsula, and one will be held in the United States.
The 257.2-mile race has attracted entries from 20 U.S. States and eight countries to contest Pro and Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and ATVs. Motorcycles and ATVs are scheduled to take the green flag Saturday morning at 6:23 a.m., while the car, truck and UTV classes will begin at approximately 10:30 a.m., leaving at least a three-and one-half hour gap between their start and the time that the last Sportsman quad leaves the start line. All classes will have an 11-hour time limit to become an official finisher in the elapsed time race. The fastest finishers are expected to complete the course in approximately four hours, 14 minutes.
O’Neal is among a select group of riders with at least two class wins in the San Felipe; Class 40 (motorcycle, 40+ years of age) Gerardo Rojas has six class wins to his credit. O’Neal has raced in all 28 previous SCORE San Felipe 250 races and boasts a SCORE-record 16 career season class point titles, including last season in Class 30 as a co-rider on the Class 30 team led by Mark Winkelman.
Reigning SCORE motorcycle champions Ricky Brabec and Max Eddy Jr. are also scheduled to compete in the Bud Light SCORE San Felipe aboard their Precision Concepts Kawasaki KX450F. The list of riders and teams scheduled to compete in the race is as follows:
Pro Motorcycles
Open M/C (450cc or more)
35x Nicholas Gust, Pescadero, Calif./Don Campbell, Daly City, Calif., KTM 450XCF
14x Raul Hernandez/Rodolfo Patron/Larry Serna/John Fitzpatrick, Tijuana, Mexico, KTM 450XCW
9x Arnulfo Verdugo/Cesar Lopez, Santee, Calif., KTM 450XCW
26x Nick Owens/Jim Owens, Scotts Valley, California, Honda CRF450X
5x Colton Udall/Justin Jones, Oceanside, Calif., Honda CRF450X
3x Mark Samuels, Pioneertown, Calif./Ray Dal Soglio, Scottsdale, Ariz., Honda CRF450X
1x Ricky Brabec, Oak Hills, Calif./Max Eddy Jr, Barstow, Calif., Kawasaki KX450F
Limited M/C (449cc or less)
122x Ruben Alamo/Jesus Alamo/Joaguin Alamo, Manzanillo, Mexico, Yamaha WR250F
Class 30 (Riders over 30 years old)
300x Mark Winkelman, Cedar Hill, Texas/Jim O’Neal, Simi Valley, Calif./Kevin Murphy, Camarillo, Calif./Morgan Crawford, Cedar Hill, Texas/Ricky De La Pena, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Honda CRF450X
Class 40 (Riders over 40 years old)
444x Kyle Abney, Albuquerque, N.M./Chad Thornton, Farmington, N.M., KTM 500XCW
403x Oscar Fazz/Mike Langley/Steve Gallegos, Yuma, Ariz./Kenji Gauthier, Rosamond, Calif., Kawasaki KX450F
404x Jano Montoya, Winter Garden, Fla./Gerardo Rojas, Vicente Guerrero, Mexico, KTM 450XCW
424x Jeff Powell, Reardan, Wash./Rick Mianecki, Royal City, Wash./David Lahn, Quincy, Wash., Honda CRF450X
408x Dave Callagy/Ted Callagy, Santa Rosa, Calif., Honda XR650R
411x Collie Potter, Las Vegas/Mike Chastain, Beaumont, Calif./Sterlyn Rigsby, Temecula, Calif./Dave Glass, Menifee, Calif./Mike Stein, Chandler, Ariz., Honda CRF450X
400x Paul Thomas, Bonita, Calif./Giovanni Spinali, Lake Forest, Calif./Mike Carter, Aliso Viejo, Calif./John Griffin, Julian, Calif./Tom Hammers, Bonita, Calif., Honda CRF450X
Class 50 (Riders over 50 years old)
501x Marc Prince, Malibu, Calif./Steve Williams, Tehachapi, Calif./David Potts, Burbank, Calif./Doug Smith, Upland, Calif., Honda CRF450X
SCORE Ironman (Solo Riders)
700x Tony Gera, Santa Cruz, Calif., KTM 450XCW
706x Kevin Daniels, Bishop, Calif., KTM 500XCW
799x Jason Miller, Riverside, Calif., Honda CRF450X
703x Donald Lewis, Marlborough, Conn., Honda CRF450X
7??x Juan Rodriguez, Palmdale, Calif., Honda CRF450X
74`x Jason Babcock, San Dimas, Calif., Honda CRF450X
Sportsman Motorcycles
Sportsman M/C
230x Eric Saltzer/Kristopher Harvey, Somerton, Ariz., Honda CRF450X
272x Will Johnson/Dalton Miesen/Chris Scranton, Alamo, Calif., KTM 500XCW
202x Risto Niemi/Chris Shultz, Finland, Honda XR650R
282x Jason Lulis/Nicole Lulis/Talya Martin/Dan Martin, Brentwood, Calif., KTM 500XCW
222x Kenneth Skillern/John Sylvester/Chuck Huffman/Gregg Haggart, New Waverly, Texas, Honda CRF450X
218x Gabe Willitts/Matt Ladendorf/Marc Jenkins, Sisters, Ore., Honda CRF450X
All five races in the 2015 SCORE World Desert Championship series, along with the special SEMA SCORE Baja 1000 Experience and qualifying for the Bud Light SCORE Baja 1000 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway, will once again be aired in the USA and Canada on the CBS Sports Network. In addition to SCORE Trophy Truck coverage, the shows will also feature action and highlights from the motorcycle classes.
2015 CBSN Original Broadcast Schedule (subject to change, check local listings)
Bud Light SCORE San Felipe 250 (first telecast-Sunday, March 15, 9 p.m. ET)
Bud Light SCORE Baja Sur 500 (first telecast-Sunday, May 31, 9 p.m. ET)
Bud Light SCORE Baja 500 (first telecast-Sunday, July 26, 9 p.m. ET)
SCORE Imperial Valley 250 (first telecast-Sunday, November 15, 9 p.m. ET)
Bud Light SCORE Baja 1000 Qualifying @SEMA SCORE Baja 1000 Experience (first telecast-Sunday, January10, 9 p.m. ET)
Bud Light SCORE Baja 1000 (first telecast-Sunday, January 17, 9 p.m. ET)
CBS Sports Network is available across the country through local cable, video and telco providers and via satellite on DirecTV Channel 221 and Dish Network Channel 158. For more information, including a full programming schedule and how to get CBS Sports Network, go to www.cbssportsnetwork.com.
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