SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1542108
Grand Marshal Larry Roeseler A Moto Legend Hall Of Famer Larry ‘Mr. Baja’ Roeseler’ Grand Marshal For Upcoming BFGoodrich Tires 57th Score Baja 1000 by Dominic Clark, SCORE Historian SCORE Media Ops Director Emeritus Honorably known as ‘Mr. Baja’ in motorsports circles, legendary desert racer Larry Roeseler is the Grand Marshal for this week’s BFGoodrich Tires 58th SCORE Baja 1000. Busy he will be as he is will also be one of three drivers in the SCORE Trophy Truck Legend class during the final round of the four-race 2025 SCORE World Desert Championship. Roeseler, 68, of Boulevard, Calif., who is still known to do some of his pre-running on a motorcycle, is entered in this year’s SCORE Baja 1000 in the No. 61L in the SCORE Trophy Truck Legend class, for SCORE Trophy Truck drivers over 50 years old. LR, as he is also known by close friends, aggravated some old ‘motorcycle’ back injuries in September’s SCORE Baja 400 this year and is ‘only’ expected to drive a short section of about 250 miles in the 854-mile race for Driver of Record David Payne of St. Louis, Mo. Helping pick up the mileage slack in this race is Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Famer Larry Ragland, Cave Creek, Ariz., who has five overall wins in the SCORE Baja 1000. What A Record For Lr Roeseler, who spent over two decades of his 53-year SCORE Baja racing career competing and winning on a motorcycle, has 43 career class wins in SCORE Baja racing, including 27 overall victories. Roeseler began his racing career on two wheels, racing off-road motorcycles to numerous victories before switching to four wheels. In SCORE Baja racing, he has 18 class wins including a SCORE-record 14 overall wins in the SCORE Baja 1000, where he is the only racer to win overalls in this legendary race on a motorcycle, in a car, and in a truck. BY THE NUMBERS In the SCORE Baja 1000, his class wins have been in 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2020. In the SCORE Baja 500, he has 18 Class wins, including 11 overall victories. He also has six class wins, including two overalls, in the SCORE San Felipe 250. His SCORE Baja 500 class wins have been in 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1990,1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2017, and 2021. LR’s SCORE San Felipe class wins have been in 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2006, 2007. He was also a successful motorcycle enduro champion, winning 10 gold medals in the International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) in Europe. Roeseler was inducted into the American Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2012. Among his overall motorcycle wins in the SCORE Baja 1000, he has raced and won on Husqvarna (3), Yamaha (1), and Kawasaki (6) motorcycles. In his ‘spare’ time, Roeseler continues to train military personnel how to drive safely through the desert. Fish Memory Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Famer Sal Fish, who owned SCORE from 1974 for 38 years until the end of 2012, has wonderful thoughts about Larry Roeseler. “Wow. Larry Roeseler is an amazing choice for SCORE to have as the Grand Marshal of the legendary SCORE Baja 1000,” commented Fish recently. “Called ‘Mr. Baja, and deservedly so, Larry is truly one of the pillars in SCORE racing history and deserves every honor he can receive. He is revered in Baja with friends and ‘familia’ all over the peninsula. Larry has raced and won with a veritable who’s who in the history of desert racing and as been in the winner’s circle with all of them.’ “As a racer, Larry is at the top of any list, but, for me, he is an even better person than he is a racer. His passion for the sport is unmatched, especially with over 50 years racing, his talent is all-everything, but most of all I will remember his compassion for racers, fans, and the people of Baja.” SJ