ENSENADA, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO – Alan Ampudia and brother/co-driver Aaron Ampudia and Toyo Tires won the 52nd SCORE Baja 1000 this past weekend. Ampudia’s #10 Papas & Beer / Four Loko / Flav / Toyo Tires / M3DS / King / Method Ford Raptor SCORE Trophy Truck finished this year’s 800.5-mile (loop) race in a time of 16 hours, 10 minutes and 36 seconds for an average speed of 49.48-mph beating out 263 other competitors. This is the first full season for Alan Ampudia to compete in the SCORE World Desert Championship and is his first-ever SCORE Baja 1000 victory. This prestigious win was accomplished using the latest generation of the championship-winning Toyo Tires Open Country M/T®-R in size 40X13.50R17LT.
Prior to the start of the race, heavy rains rolled through the Baja California peninsula releasing as much as four inches of precipitation along the racecourse. This resulted in street flooding in the city of Ensenada and washouts along portions of the course. SCORE officials delayed the start of the race 24-hours in order to allow time for the waters to subside. Once the race was underway, competitors were challenged with a combination of heavy mud, newly exposed rock and overall changes to their once-familiar terrain.
“Both my team and I are excited to have won this year’s SCORE Baja 1000 overall. There is no better feeling than winning here in my birthplace,” said Alan Ampudia. “Due to the heavy rains, the conditions throughout the entire race were unpredictable and it could have been easy to get into trouble. My Toyo Open Country race tires helped deliver the performance I needed in such tough conditions.”
“Congratulations to Alan Ampudia on his first overall SCORE Baja 1000 win,” said Tim Chaney, vice president, marketing, Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. “This legendary desert course was more difficult than ever, but our durable Toyo Tires Open Country M/T-R tires were up for the challenge.”
Team Toyo drivers have won the SCORE Baja 1000 four times: Robby Gordon 2006, BJ Baldwin 2012 and 2013 and Alan Ampudia in 2019; and the SCORE Baja 500 four times: Robby Gordon 2013, Tavo Vildósola 2016, Andy McMillin 2017 and 2019.
In addition, McMillin took the 33rd annual SCORE San Felipe 250 and Kyle LeDuc won his sixth Pro 4 Class Championship for Toyo Tires in the 2019 Lucas Oil® Off Road Racing Series. Bryce Menzies also won this year’s Vegas to Reno off-road race in the Best In The Desert off-road racing series resulting in victories for Toyo Tires in all the major off-road racing series.
To learn more about the Open Country® tires that help deliver victories for the sport’s top drivers while enhancing the lifestyles of every day truck and outdoor lifestyle vehicles enthusiasts – check out www.toyotires.com/open-country-tires.