Baja 1000 to settle SCORE title

The SCORE Desert Racing Series will close its season with the Tecate Baja 1000, which begins today in Ensenada, Mexico.

Nearly 30 racers from Southern Nevada will battle a 631-mile course in the 41st annual race, which runs south along the Baja Peninsula.

The quest for SCORE Trophy-Truck supremacy and the season champion is likely to come down to three drivers from the Las Vegas area.

Leader B.J. Baldwin has a 17-point edge over Brian Collins. The team of Las Vegan Rob MacCachren and co-driver Mark Post of Laguna Beach, Calif., is third, 24 points out of the lead. MacCachren and Post won Trophy-Truck and overall titles a year ago. …

NASCAR driver/owner Robby Gordon will drive a Trophy-Truck in the race, in which he has won three overall titles. …

The Championship Off-Road Racing series has canceled its Dec. 6 and 7 season finale at Chula Vista, Calif. …

T.J. Flores won Class 1 and overall titles last weekend in the Southern Nevada Off-Road Enthusiasts event in Ridgecrest, Calif.

• OUTLAWS RETURN — The World of Outlaws winged sprint car series will race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway next year for the first time since 2006.

The “greatest show on dirt” on the half-mile dirt track will be Feb. 26 following a night of USAC Sprint Car and Midget series racing that will open the speedway’s NASCAR Weekend, which includes the Feb. 28 Nationwide and March 1 Sprint Cup series races. …

David Murray Jr. of Oberlin, Kan., finished first to win $5,000 in Saturday’s annual Duel in the Desert at the speedway’s dirt track.

• DRAG RACING — Former Pro Stock drag racing champion Bob Glidden will begin competing today in the PSCA Street Car Super Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. More than 300 teams are expected to race through Sunday, including more than 30 in the 220 mph Pro Street division in which the winner will receive $20,000.

• GO KARTS — IndyCar veterans Dan Wheldon and Buddy Rice will compete in the TaG Pro Class division of this weekend’s SKUSA SuperNationals at the Rio. Racing will begin at 7:30 a.m. today through Sunday.

Also among the 400 racers is Zach Beard, the 18-year-old son of veteran Top Fuel dragster crew chief Lee Beard.

• INDYCARS — Andrew Prendeville of Las Vegas has signed to drive for Team Moore Racing next year in the Firestone Indy Lights Series.

Contact reporter Jeff Wolf at jwolf@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0247.