WELCOME TO BAJA
The close relationship
between SCORE and
BFGoodrich began at a time
when Baja racing was attracting
serious competitors who were
building faster vehicles with
more capable suspension
systems. In 1975, at the
suggestion of then SCORE
owner, Sal Fish, BFGoodrich
engineers first set foot on
the Mexican Baja Penninsula
to see if this race venue
would make for good testing
grounds. "At that point, we were
developing the BFGoodrich
Radial All-Terrain T/A when we
got hooked up with Sal who
invited us to Baja," said Dan
Newsome, who started with
BFG in 1978 and is now the
Marketing Manager at Michelin
Tire. "We learned a lot from the
experience so we went back to
do more development. A year
later in 1976, BFGoodrich had
its first entry at the SCORE Baja
1000 with Fritz Kroyer in a Class
6 Oldsmobile Starfire. Although
the company's first entry into
the SCORE Baja 1000 resulted in
a DNF, it sparked an enthusiasm
within the company, creating
the goal of winning the 1000,
one they needed to achieve.
At that time, only bias-ply tires
were suited for off-road racing
and were widely used by teams.
According to Frank DeAngelo,
who started with BFGoodrich
38 years ago, and is now the
Executive Director, Motorsports
at Jackson Motorsports Group,
BFGoodrich was the first to try a
Department Of Transportation,
D.O.T., approved radial tire
in off-road racing. "After that
initial SCORE entry in 1976,
the company did more testing
with the help of Frank "Scoop"
IN THE MID 80'S BOB
GORDON QUICKLY
GOT ON BOARD
USING BFG TIRES AND
EARNED SEVERAL
CLASS VICTORIES.
AFTER THE FIRST TRIAL
IN 1976, FRANK "SCOOP"
VESSELS CONTINUED
TESTING AND RACING
BFG TIRES IN SCORE
RACES FOR MANY YEARS.
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SCORE JOURNAL
