2027 will be the 60th anniversary of the Baja 1000. Naturally, SCORE wants to make it a special one.

While specifics of the course are obviously still being planned out, if it’s even on the back of SCORE’s minds since the race is over two years away, officials do have some ideas as to what they want to do. Most notably, the race will start in its usual home of Ensenada before traveling south into Baja California Sur.

“Every third year, a peninsular format is used. This has been the case for many years,” observed SCORE’s general manager Juan Tintos. “It was a peninsula layout in 2023 but with a twist, an innovation that made the start in La Paz and the finish in Ensenada.

“For the next year, when that third year is scheduled, we decided to hold the Baja 1000 starting and finishing in Baja California Sur for the first time in history. But in 2027, the Baja 1000’s 60th anniversary, a special version will be held from Ensenada to Baja California Sur.”

Besides if the race will be a loop or a point-to-point peninsula run, anniversaries can also dictate the race distance. The 2017 Baja 1000, being the golden anniversary, was the second longest in race history at 1,134.4 miles. In 2023, the course spanned 1,310.94 miles for Pro classes since it was on SCORE’s 50th season.

The longest was in 2000, when the race was renamed the Baja 2000 to celebrate the new millennium. Despite the name, it was actually 1,679.54 miles.

Ensenada and La Paz are often the sites for SCORE’s starts and finishes, the former being where the sanctioning body’s main offices are located. However, Baja California Sur and particularly the city of Los Cabos stepped up to become the host for the 2026 Baja 1000, as SCORE announced last week.

In 2026, the Baja 500 and Baja 400 will be held in Ensenada.

“Sport is evolution, and we at SCORE International seek to offer different experiences to our racers and competition teams as well as to the press, sponsors and fans, while honoring the legacy of events like the Baja 1000,” SCORE media director Gabriel Garcia Guerra commented. “It’s incorrect to say that this world-renowned competition motorsports competition will never be held again in the state of Baja California because the 2026 edition is in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur.

“We have big plans in the coming years for the northern part of the Baja California peninsula, in cities such as San Felipe, Baja California, and Ensenada, Baja California.”

Featured image credit: American Honda