The Baja 1000 Runs on California Time This Year. In Cabo, Every Start Is an Hour Later.

On Friday, November 13, the first motorcycles of the 59th SCORE Baja 1000 will roll off a start ramp on Avenida Centenario in San José del Cabo. SCORE's official release puts that start at "1 a.m. PT," with cars, trucks and UTVs following at "9 a.m. PT." In Pedregal on that Friday, the bikes leave at 2 a.m. and the trucks at 10 a.m.

That one-hour gap matters more this year than in any year before. SCORE calls this edition "Cabo to Cabo." It is the first time the race has been held entirely within Baja California Sur, and it starts and finishes in San José del Cabo. In the past the race usually started in Ensenada, as Gringo Gazette noted when the route came out. For a week, the most famous desert race in the world is a local event. It is also being scheduled on a clock nobody in Los Cabos uses.

Two Schedules, Two Clocks

Race week runs November 9 through 15. The hours come from two sources. The municipality of Los Cabos announces its own events in local time, on a 24-hour clock. SCORE publishes its race-week times in U.S. Pacific Time.

Those two clocks matched until November 1. That was the day California ended daylight saving time for 2026, falling back from 2 a.m. daylight time to 1 a.m. standard time. Baja California Sur did not change. Under Mexico's Ley de los Husos Horarios, the state sits in the Zona Pacífico, referenced to the 105th meridian west. Since Mexico dropped daylight saving time in October 2022, that means UTC-7 all year. From November to mid-March, Cabo is one hour ahead of Los Angeles.

Here is the race week converted:

There is one exception to this conversion. The city's free exhibition in Cabo San Lucas was announced by the municipality itself, so its hours are already local.

Tuesday Downtown Is Race Week's Cabo San Lucas Stop

On Tuesday, November 10, from 16:00 to 21:00, which is 4 to 9 p.m. on the clock you already use, downtown Cabo San Lucas hosts a free exhibition of off-road vehicles. According to the Los Cabos municipal government, 10 SCORE vehicles will be on display and 10 downtown restaurants and nightlife venues will take part. The goal is to bring some of the race's business to Cabo San Lucas, since the start, finish and other SCORE activities are all in San José del Cabo.

The Dirección Municipal de Gobierno is organizing the event. Its director, Antonio Avilés Pandor, has worked through access routes and street closures with downtown business owners, along with Seguridad Pública, Tránsito Municipal, Cruz Roja and Protección Civil. The municipal announcement places the exhibition in "el centro de Cabo San Lucas" without naming a street or the participating businesses. As of Gringo Gazette's October 26 report, exact street closures had not been published. The paper told drivers to expect detours downtown in the late afternoon and evening and to watch for posted notices. Gringo Gazette also described the event as a casual walk-through, not a ticketed show.

Tuesday is the only day you'll see the vehicles up close without driving the Corridor. Earlier that same day, SCORE runs its Method Wheels qualifying for Trophy Truck, TT 2WD, TT Legends, TT Spec, Class 1 and Pro Ultimate UTV. Qualifying is on private property and closed to spectators. The evening downtown is the first public look at this field. SCORE's release counts more than 250 teams from Asia, Europe, Oceania and the Americas.

Wednesday and Thursday, the Vehicles Line Up by the Sea of Cortez

After Tuesday, the action moves to Contingency Row. SCORE places it on Boulevard Centenario in San José del Cabo, between Calle Álvaro Obregón and Calle Manuel Doblado. SCORE's release describes the start and finish area as "just steps from the Sea of Cortez." Here every race vehicle goes through technical inspection.

When you go decides what you'll see:

1. Wednesday, November 11: motorcycles, quads, UTVs except Pro Ultimate UTV, and some four-wheel classes.
2. Thursday, November 12: all remaining four-wheel classes.

On both days, the published "8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT" means 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Cabo. If you leave Pedregal planning to catch the last hour, you have an extra hour, not one less.

Friday's Starts, and the 40-Hour Clock

Both starts are on Friday from the same ramp on Avenida Centenario. Racers head straight into the first dirt section, San José Wash, leave it near race mile 10, and turn toward the East Cape. From there the course reaches Cabo Pulmo, La Ribera and Los Barriles, then San Juan de los Planes. It crosses Federal Highway 1 near San Pedro and heads north past El Centenario, Cerro del Mechudo, Loreto and San José de Comondú before swinging back down the Pacific side.

The total is about 965 miles. SCORE's own figures differ slightly by page, and the municipality converts the distance to 1,553 kilometers. Every class has 40 hours to finish.

That 40-hour limit tells you how late the finish line stays open. Do the math in local time. A motorcycle leaving at 2 a.m. Friday has until about 6 p.m. Saturday. A truck leaving at 10 a.m. Friday has until about 2 a.m. Sunday. These are deadlines, not predictions, and the fastest entries will finish well before them. The window does show that finishers can keep arriving on Avenida Centenario from Saturday through the early hours of Sunday.

If 2 a.m. on Friday is too early, SCORE streams the starts, along with qualifying and both contingency days, on its website, Facebook, YouTube and the SCORE app. The stream schedule is listed in Pacific Time too.

The Closest the Course Comes to Pedregal Is Its Final Stretch

For Pedregal, the most interesting part of the map is the end. The fourth and last checkpoint is at Santa Fe, race mile 781.49, which leaves roughly 183 miles to go. From there, according to SCORE's route description, racers pass San Isidro de Las Palmas, a new location for SCORE, then Los Inocentes and Ejido Melitón Albáñez. They go north of Todos Santos and cross Highway 19. After that comes San Juan de Los Lagos, Pescadero and Ejido Plutarco Elías Calles.

The last miles turn back east. The course runs through Rancho La Soledad and the Sierra de Los Naranjos, crosses Federal Highway 1 again, and reaches San José Wash for a second time. A final 15-mile run takes racers to the finish on Avenida Centenario.

So when the leaders pass Pescadero, they are already in the last couple hundred miles of a nearly thousand-mile loop. That part of the race arrives late on the race clock, sometime between Friday night and Sunday depending on the class.

SCORE says fans line the course but has not named official spectator areas. Los Cabos officials have asked spectators to respect the course and follow safety measures. Gringo Gazette has also noted that the route map released October 3 was described as preliminary, so some sections could still change.

The Corridor Will Feel It Before Friday

Teams started pre-running the course on Saturday, October 24, so off-road vehicles on the route may be teams scouting it. Gringo Gazette advises drivers on the Corridor between Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo, and anyone heading to the East Cape around Los Barriles, to expect race traffic, support vehicles and temporary closures. It expects the heaviest disruption near San José del Cabo during race week. The paper also notes that closure times for each town are usually confirmed only a few days ahead, so trips toward La Paz, Todos Santos or Loreto that week need extra time.

For a Pedregal week, that adds up to a short plan. Walk downtown on Tuesday evening between 4 and 9 p.m. Drive to Boulevard Centenario on Thursday between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Cabo time to see the remaining four-wheel classes go through inspection. Set a 2 a.m. Friday alarm only if you want the motorcycle start in person.

If race week has you thinking about life in Los Cabos beyond the start ramp, Jorge Gómez has lived here his whole life and is happy to talk through how race week, and the rest of the local calendar, plays out across Pedregal and its neighboring communities. Let's Connect.