Qualla: San Felipe 250

San Felipe 250: Introduction

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The San Felipe 250 begins and ends at the small fishing town of San Felipe on the Gulf of California, and in between it sends its competitors through 250 miles of Baja California Peninsula desert. Since its first running in 1982, the race has been one of the four events in the SCORE International series — the organization that also sanctions the Baja 500 and the Baja 1000, off-road racing's most famous and most grueling events. The San Felipe 250 is the youngest and shortest of the major SCORE races, which does not make it easy. The Baja Peninsula does not offer easy terrain to anyone traveling quickly through it.

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San Felipe 250: The SCORE Circuit

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

SCORE International sanctions a four-race season in Baja California that forms the backbone of professional off-road racing in North America. The Desert Challenge, the San Felipe 250, the Baja 500, and the Baja 1000 represent a progression from the modest to the legendary, and co...

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San Felipe 250: The Loop Format

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Unlike the Baja 1000, which traditionally runs from Ensenada in the north to La Paz in the south on a single-direction course, the San Felipe 250 uses a loop format — starting and finishing in the same town. This has logistical advantages for a race of 250 miles: teams can positi...

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San Felipe 250: Who Races

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The San Felipe 250 fields competitors across a wide range of vehicle classes. Motorcycles and ATVs race the same desert terrain as larger vehicles, and their classes attract some of the most skilled individual riders in off-road racing — people who navigate the same rocks, silt b...

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San Felipe 250: The Baja Character

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

What makes Baja Peninsula off-road racing distinctive is not speed — there are faster motorsports — but the terrain and the conditions. The Baja California Peninsula is a geological adolescent, having separated from mainland Mexico relatively recently in tectonic terms, and its s...

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