The BFGoodrich Tires 59th SCORE Baja 1000 runs November 9–15, 2026, and for the first time it starts and finishes in San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur. SCORE is calling it the Baja 1000 Cabo to Cabo. It's the fourth and final round of the 2026 SCORE World Desert Championship, and the green flag drops Friday, November 13.
The race is in November, but the deadlines are in October, and most of them land in the next eight days. Before anyone talks about checkpoints, the first job is getting your entry in through SCORE International. After that, get the radios, the intercom and the chase plan working before pre-running opens. If you're planning what comes after Cabo, Find a Race lists SCORE alongside the other series we track.
Cabo to Cabo: what the course looks like
SCORE now lists the course at 964.96 miles (about 1,561 km) for all classes, slightly longer than the 964.66 miles it announced earlier this month. It starts and finishes on Avenida Centenario in San José del Cabo, at the southern tip of the peninsula, roughly 1,000 miles south of the border at San Diego.
This is the second time a Baja California Sur city has hosted the start. La Paz had it in 2023, and that race finished in Ensenada. This time the whole thing stays in BCS. SCORE's course description takes in Los Barriles, La Paz, Ciudad Constitución, Cerro del Mechudo, El Centenario, Loreto, San José de Comondú, Santa Fe, Todos Santos, El Conejo and La Aguja, running between the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific.
The course has four physical checkpoints:
- Checkpoint 1: El Centenario (Race Mile 213.60)
- Checkpoint 2: Ejido Ley Federal No. 2, before the highway (Race Mile 405.39)
- Checkpoint 3: Ejido Francisco Villa (Race Mile 604.07)
- Checkpoint 4: Santa Fe (Race Mile 781.49)
Every class gets the same 40-hour official time limit to be declared an official finisher.
A chase plan for a course that never leaves BCS
When the race starts and finishes in the same city, it's easy to assume the chase gets simpler. It doesn't, really. The checkpoint spacing above is a good place to start planning: work out where your trucks will be at each race mile, and how the car will reach them on the radio when you can't see each other.
That conversation is what a 50-watt mobile radio in the chase truck is for. Handhelds are for the pits, and a cell phone won't help once you're out of coverage.
We program the PCI Mobile Radio Chase Package with the Weatherman stock frequency list, and we can add your team's frequencies too. The magnetic-mount version comes with a cigar power cable, so it moves between rental and borrowed trucks. The hole-mount version uses a permanent power cable for a truck that lives in your program year-round. If the race car still needs its own setup, start with our race packages or the Elite Communications Kit (radio plus intercom), and do the wiring and programming before pre-running opens this Saturday, Oct. 24. You don't want to be doing it on Avenida Centenario.
The October dates that matter
All of these come from SCORE's Oct. 20 release and its Baja 1000 schedule of events (revised Oct. 6). SCORE notes the schedule can change, so check back with them before you book anything.
- Oct. 20–22: in-person registration in La Paz, happening now. SCORE's registration staff are at Hotel Catedral in La Paz on Tuesday, Oct. 20, from 2 to 6 p.m.; Wednesday, Oct. 21, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Thursday, Oct. 22, from 8 to 11 a.m. (all MST). It's set up for teams from Baja California Sur and other Mexican states, and they can process annual SCORE memberships there too. The Ensenada office is closed October 20–22 while its staff is in La Paz.
- Thursday, Oct. 22, around 6 p.m.: race info and GPS files go up. According to SCORE, race information, including the pre-run stipulations, and the GPS files will be posted on its website under Race Info.
- Friday, Oct. 23, 5 p.m.: deadline to have wristbands mailed. If you live in the U.S. or Canada and want your wristbands mailed to you, SCORE's schedule says you need to be registered with online waivers signed and all fees paid by this deadline. After that, wristbands are handed out only at on-site registration.
- This Saturday, Oct. 24, 8 a.m.: pre-running opens. SCORE is clear that you have to be registered with team fees paid 100% to be covered by SCORE insurance while you pre-run. Run pre-run speeds, not race speeds. Follow the GPS, stay on course, close gates and keep an eye out for motos and quads.
- Wednesday, Oct. 28, 9 p.m. PT: online racer registration closes. That's one day earlier than the Oct. 29 date SCORE published earlier this month. SCORE's revised schedule says registering by this deadline is what puts you on the entry list, in the SCORE Journal and race program, and in the start-position draw. For the qualifying classes, it's also the deadline to qualify. Late fees apply after Oct. 28.
- Friday, Oct. 30, 5 p.m. PT: in-person registration closes at the Ensenada office. Late entries pay late fees and miss the entry list, race program and start-position draw. After Oct. 30, all registration has to be done on site in San José del Cabo.
Here's one line from SCORE's schedule every co-driver and navigator should read: the race entry list is used by Mexican border officials, and SCORE warns that anyone not on it risks being turned away at the border. Co-drivers, co-riders and navigators have to buy a membership, register online and sign the waivers to make that list. For registration questions, SCORE lists registration@SCORE-International.com.
Pit crews will want their hand-held radios programmed to the same frequencies as the chase trucks before pre-running too. A handheld like the NX-1200 VHF Kenwood Handheld covers the pits and the start/finish area.
Qualifying, tech and the green flag
SCORE says Method Race Wheels Qualifying is coming to Baja California Sur for the first time in its history on Tuesday, Nov. 10, from 8 a.m. MST. Qualifying sets the starting order for six classes: SCORE Trophy Truck, SCORE Trophy Truck 2WD, SCORE Trophy Truck Legend, Class 1, Trophy Truck Spec and Pro Ultimate UTV. The order teams run in qualifying depends on when each team finished online registration with fees paid in full, and late entries get the next open spots in their class. That's one more reason to register before the Oct. 28 deadline. Qualifying runs on private property and is closed to spectators, but SCORE will stream it live on its digital platforms.
Tech inspection and contingency run Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 11–12, on Boulevard Centenario between Calle Alvaro Obregon and Calle Manuel Doblado. Contingency row runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. MST both days and is free to the public, and SCORE's schedule keeps the tech inspection line open until 6 p.m. Motorcycles, quads, UTVs (except Pro Ultimate UTV) and some four-wheel classes go through on Wednesday. The remaining four-wheel classes go through on Thursday.
Tech week is also a good time to check that your driver and co-driver race helmets are wired and talking to the intercom, so nothing surprises you at the green flag.
The green flag drops Friday, Nov. 13. Motorcycles leave Avenida Centenario at 1 a.m. MST. Cars, trucks and UTVs follow at 9 a.m. MST. SCORE has the awards ceremony set for Sunday, Nov. 15, at noon MST in San José del Cabo. It's open to the public, and the location is still to be announced.
When the cell signal runs out
A thousand miles of Baja California Sur includes plenty of country with no cell service. For teams that want internet at a chase stop, the pits or camp, a vehicle-powered Starlink Mini gives you a way to get race-tracking updates, messages and weather where your phone has nothing.
The PCI Starlink Mini Race Kit ships with the matching power for your setup. Pick Race (hard-wire cable with step-up converter) for a bolted-in install, or Chase (cigar cable with step-up converter, plus magnetic feet) if the dish has to move between trucks. Starlink service is sold separately, so confirm your plan and coverage with Starlink before you head south. You can see the rest of the lineup in our Starlink Mini and Satcomm collections.
Who's coming
SCORE's entry list as of Oct. 19 shows 133 teams, up from 73 on Oct. 8. They come from 30 U.S. states, the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico and 10 countries: the United States, host Mexico, Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, France, Japan, Panama and Portugal. SCORE still expects more than 250 teams at the start. The three Trophy Truck divisions have 23 entries between them (6 in SCORE Trophy Truck, 11 in Trophy Truck 2WD and 6 in Trophy Truck Legend), Trophy Truck Spec has 18, and Pro Moto Ironman leads the motorcycle classes with 21. Teams can still register online until the Oct. 28 deadline. Sal Fish, who led SCORE for 38 years, and his longtime friend Francisco "Nacho" Monroy of La Paz will serve as grand marshals. We'll leave predictions to the people racing it and post results once SCORE makes them official.
Your countdown checklist
- Register through SCORE's official site by Wednesday, Oct. 28, 9 p.m. PT. Make sure every co-driver, co-rider and navigator is registered with waivers signed.
- Download the race info and GPS files when SCORE posts them (around 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22), and read the pre-run stipulations.
- Have radios programmed and intercom wiring tested before pre-running opens this Saturday, Oct. 24. Check your helmet wiring while you're at it.
- Map your chase stops against the four checkpoints and the 40-hour limit.
- Bookmark Find a Race for whatever comes after Cabo.
Baja Racing Gear isn't a race promoter. Every date, time and number in this post comes from SCORE International, and SCORE says its schedule can change. Confirm everything at score-international.com before you travel. Questions about comms or Starlink? Email sales@bajaracinggear.com.
