SCORE International will have two new figures leading technical inspection starting with the Baja 400 in September. Federico Montes Orozco became the first Latino technical director in the sanctioning body’s history last Friday, then appointed Israel Cruz Aguilar as technical director seven days later.

Montes had spent the last seven years on SCORE’s tech staff under Dan Cornwell. He is the fourth person to hold the role after Bill Savage, Art Savedra, and Cornwell.

The 60-year-old has also raced in a variety of SCORE classes including Class 5-1600, Class 9, and SCORE Lites. In 2006, he entered the Dakar Rally as navigator for Miguel Prieto; the duo raced a Nissan truck that was incidentally built by Savage, but retired after four days with a mechanical issue.

Cruz joins the team as a former Baja rider. Montes described him as “someone with a true passion for the sport. People from Baja California Sur are known for that.”

Montes and Cruz’s arrivals come on the heels of Daniel Gonzalez Reina becoming the UTV technical director in late May, prior to the Baja 500. Like Montes, Gonzalez has Dakar experience as he finished 19th in SSV at the 2024 edition; he also won the 2022 SCORE Pro UTV Stock title as teammate to the late Anibal López.

The recent additions to the technical staff are all Mexican; Montes is from Ensenada, Cruz comes from La Paz, and Reina is a Sonora native. Besides their personal experience, the focus on Latino personnel—who are fluent in both English and Spanish—helps make inspection easier for SCORE and competitors who might not speak one language or the other.

“We have a very passionate and capable team, always focused on addressing the questions of racers and competition teams, as we must provide them with high confidence regarding results, ensuring a correct and transparent process in every race SCORE conducts,” said Montes. “I am a racer myself and understand how racers feel during a technical inspection after a race. It is always about giving them full transparency concerning the safety of their vehicles and the rules in each of the different classes competing in SCORE.”

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