The 7th SCORE Baja 400 runs Saturday, Sept 12 from Ensenada, the last SCORE race in Baja California before the Baja 1000 heads south to Los Cabos in November.
Christopher Polvoorde took pole in the #94 Ford Raptor with a 3:46.920 lap at Rancho Grijalva in Ojos Negros on Thursday, ahead of Alan Ampudia and Luke McMillin, who has won all three SCORE races so far this year.
Tech inspection and contingency fill Boulevard Costero on Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM. On Saturday, motorcycles and quads start at 5:00 AM Pacific and four-wheel vehicles at 10:00 AM, with a 16-hour time limit. The pro course is 423.42 miles in a single loop through Ojos Negros, Mike’s Sky Ranch, San Quintín and Erendira; sportsman classes run 370.40 miles. The timed finish is at Nelson Ranch, with the ceremonial finish back at the Riviera de Ensenada.
Follow it on SCORE Live Tracking and results.score-international.com. Unofficial results are due Sunday at 9:30 AM, with awards at 12:30 PM. We’ll post the result here as soon as it’s confirmed.
Update, Sept 13: Luke McMillin won the 7th SCORE Baja 400 overall in the #83 Trophy Truck, finishing in 8:40:50.386, 2 minutes 32 seconds ahead of Bryce Menzies, with Kevin Thompson third. Tyler Lynn took the overall motorcycle win on the #1X in 8:53:51.105. It’s McMillin’s third overall win in as many SCORE points races this year, following San Felipe 250 and the Baja 500, and comes months after he completed what SPEED SPORT calls the Baja Triple Crown: career overall wins in the Baja 1000, Baja 500 and San Felipe 250, a club of just 11 drivers in SCORE history. SCORE itself frames this win as the last piece of a larger set: its race report places McMillin among the racers who have taken the SCORE Baja Grand Slam, which adds the Baja 400 to those same three races. He heads into November’s Baja 1000 unbeaten this season.
Correction, Sept 17, 2026: An earlier version of this post gave the winning margin as 43.9 seconds and the course length as 423.16 miles. The margin was read from the wrong column of the timing sheet; SCORE’s official corrected timing shows 2 minutes 32 seconds. The 423.16-mile figure came from SCORE’s race-week race info; the official post-race distance is 423.42 miles. Both are corrected above, and the overall motorcycle result has been added. SCORE’s official timing is linked in the sources below.
The McMillins: off-road racing’s deepest dynasty
Luke McMillin’s win keeps the family name at the top of the Baja record book. Andy McMillin (6 overall Baja 1000 wins) and Mark McMillin (5) already rank among that race’s winningest drivers, a lineage our Baja 1000 winners archive traces back to 1967. It’s part of what makes SCORE’s Baja California swing (San Felipe, the Baja 500 and the Baja 400) worth following even for fans who only tune in for the Baja 1000 in November: the same handful of families and teams keep trading wins all season before the big one.
Baja 400 race day: key facts
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Race | 7th SCORE Baja 400, round three of the 2026 SCORE World Desert Championship |
| Race day | Saturday, Sept 12, 2026 |
| Start times | Motorcycles and quads 5:00 AM, four-wheel vehicles 10:00 AM, Pacific time |
| Course | 423.42 miles for pro classes, from and back to Ensenada (SCORE’s race-week info listed 423.16) |
| Pole | Christopher Polvoorde, #94 Ford Raptor, 3:46.920 |
| Time limit | 16 hours per vehicle |
| Winner | Luke McMillin, #83 Trophy Truck, 8:40:50.386, his 3rd SCORE win of 2026. Overall motorcycle: Tyler Lynn, #1X, 8:53:51.105 |
| Results expected | Official results confirmed Sept 13 |
Sources: SCORE – Baja 400 race report · SCORE official timing – Baja 400 4-wheel · SCORE official timing – Baja 400 moto · SCORE – Baja 400 qualifying · SCORE – Baja 400 race info (PDF) · RACER – Baja 400 preview · Offroadcracks.com – 2026 Baja 400 full results · SPEED SPORT – McMillin’s Baja Triple Crown. Facts verified September 2026.
Cite this page: Race.mx, “Baja 400 2026: Luke McMillin Wins, 3-for-3 in SCORE Points Races”, race.mx/baja-400-2026-race-day-preview/ (updated ).