SCORE Journal

A SHOT IN THE SPOTLIGHT Mark Samuels Wants To Be Exposed By Dan Sanchez Photos by Get Some Photo In the eyes of many SCORE fans, Mark Samuels is on his way to becoming a legendary off-road racer. After winning multiple SCORE Pro Moto Unlimited Championships, he is returning to race the 55th BFGoodrich SCORE Baja 1000 Presented by 4 Wheel Parts this November. But his return to race his first and only race this season is a decision that stems from a busy career and the overall costs of racing in Baja. “Most racers know the costs of entering a SCORE race, and it is what it is,” says Samuels. “I believe the reason we don’t see more moto racers come to Baja is that they simply can’t afford it.” Samuels recalls the days when he started racing in Baja and how they were able to afford it. “I was racing Motocross and as a kid, I watched guys like Johnny Campbell,” he says. “My dad was a fan of off-road but once I started racing stateside I was invited to race in Baja. I raced with Adam Newerth and Justin Morgan, which was also his first time too, and we ended up on the same team for the 2011 SCORE Baja 500. I was hooked ever since.” Fast forward to the 2015-2016 seasons, Samuels gained additional exposure for sponsors by creating their own video content. “We were doing our own videos and provided SCORE with all the footage back then,” he says. “It helped our efforts and it got our bikes on television, increasing our coverage. In fact, it was hard not to get any media coverage at the time.” “As off-road fans wanted to see more of the SCORE Trophy Trucks, however, the broad spectrum of covering all the classes shifted and the television coverage for moto racers died off. We used to use all of the media analytics and TV coverage to leverage sponsorships. Without that, it makes it more difficult to come up with the costs to race. It’s easy for truck teams to do the same now, creating their own video content and getting more media coverage because of it. But for us, it’s not possible anymore.” Although Samuels and other moto racers want to see more coverage for moto classes, he is grateful for the use of a helicopter for their safety on the course. “The helicopters are huge for our safety,” he says. “After Casselli, that all changed, and having a lead helicopter is good but some racers in other classes fall too far behind. Having the STELLA device is also making it better for overall safety.” Samuels was aware of some of the course changes for the moto and quad classes, and after voicing his opinion to SCORE’s Moto Liason Andy Kirker, a proposed shorter course was not used. “Racing separately from the trucks would take away from the whole idea of Baja,” he says. “Maybe we can start earlier, but for us, that makes it harder as you have to have lights. Right now I have $10K invested in lights and on the race course, you have to find the best areas to take them off or put them on again in some classes. It’s a different dynamic for us and there are lots of logistics involved.” SJ

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