SCORE Off-Road - Rafael Navarro IV Closes 2011 Season P5

ENSENADA, November 26, 2011: Closing out his racing year with the same type of determined and competitive run that characterized his successful 2011 season in total, California teenager and Clemson University Freshman Rafael Navarro IV scored a fifth-place SCORE Lites finish in last weekend’s 44th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 in the No. 1205 Jimco-VW buggy he co-drove with his father Rafael Navarro III and Vic Bruckmann.

The top-five showing likely clinched the 2011 SCORE Lites season championship for Navarro IV – known in racing circles as “R4” or “Cuatro” – in addition to putting the 18-year-old in the running for the SCORE MasterCraft Safety Rookie of the Year Award and solidifying his place as a 2011 SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards winner. It’s an impressive list of achievements for any driver, let alone one who graduated from Great Oak High School in his hometown of Temecula, Calif., just this past May.

“The SCORE Lites Championship was the goal when we began this season but I am also honored to be among a small group of Toyota Milestone winners and to have a shot at the MasterCraft Safety rookie award,” Navarro IV said. “By our calculations, we also believe we clinched the Lites title but we are going to wait until the final and official point standings are distributed before we start to celebrate. Everyone at SCORE International does a great job, but I am sure the dual task of shaking out from the Baja 1000 and figuring all of the season point totals for their large number of championships takes some time. I like where we think we ended up, but I can wait a little bit longer for it to be official!”

This year’s SCORE champions and other special award winners will be honored Saturday, December 10, at the Atrium Hotel in Irvine, Calif., adjacent to John Wayne Airport, during the annual SCORE Awards Night celebration. Navarro IV has already been confirmed as one of just 21 recipients of the prestigious Toyota Milestone honor which is presented only to the drivers that have completed all 1,762.02 required competition miles in the 2011 SCORE Desert Series.

Navarro IV’s strong season also earned him a spot on the ballot for the MasterCraft Safety rookie award as one of just four first-year drivers up for the honor. The winner will be determined by votes from SCORE International fans, and ballots can be found here at 2011 SCORE International Series Awards.

“What a way to finish my rookie season in SCORE International,” said Navarro IV, who flew back to Clemson the day after completing the season-ending race to attend classes Monday morning. “The Baja 1000 was very grueling this year but nobody on the team ever gave anything less than their full effort in our more than 24-hour run to the checkered flag. I think we encountered every type of issue an off-road race can throw at you, but there was just no quit in our team or drivers.”

Bruckmann started the race, handed off to the elder Navarro for the middle part of the 1000-mile grind while R4 took the Jimco-VW to the finish in a hard-charging run to the checkered flag.

“I got in the car in seventh place, about 10 minutes behind sixth and roughly 25 minutes out of fifth,” Navarro IV said. “I was pushing where I knew I could and I was taking care of the car in the rough, trying not to make any mistakes that could cost us the race. I got the sixth-place car near San Vicente while he was in the pits and later, on the Pacific side, I caught and passed the fifth-place entry. It was a fun charge. I don’t want to say it was easy, but it was a lot of fun and may have meant the difference between taking the championship and just coming up a little short.”

Navarro IV’s championship bid and Baja 1000 run were aided by new team sponsor DTA Clothing. Cuatro was named the newest member of the DTA Posse during a pre-race promotion at the company’s newest store in Los Angeles the Tuesday before the race, adding another top company to R4’s strong list of valued partners.

“I’d like to thank all my sponsors,” Navarro IV said. “Pete’s Camp, GN, DTA Clothing, BFGoodrich, Eibach, Oakley and Method Race Wheels all provided great support this year. I’d also like to thank my family for all of the support, I couldn’t do it without them, and I’d especially like to thank my father, teammate and co-driver Rafael Navarro III. Thank you Dad! The New Year will bring not only the 2012 SCORE season, but also some new and exciting things for me, and I look forward to announcing what’s to come.”