Query: The Baja 1000 had Mickey Thompson as a participant.

Relevant passages:
Baja 1000 <=SEP=> The SCORE Baja 1000 is an off-road race that takes place in Mexico 's Baja California Peninsula . The 2016 SCORE Baja 1000 is the final round of a four-race series , previous events are the SCORE Desert Challenge , the SCORE San Felipe 250 & the SCORE Baja 500 . The 2016 round will be the 49th SCORE Baja 1000 , occurring from November 16 -- 20 over an 800-mile loop both starting and ending in Ensenada , Baja California , Mexico .   The Baja 1000 allows various types of vehicle classes to compete on the same course -- from such small and large bore motorcycles , stock Volkswagen , production vehicles , buggies , Trucks , and custom fabricated race vehicles . The course has remained relatively the same over the years , about every other being either a point-to-point race from Ensenada to La Paz , or a loop race starting and finishing in Ensenada .   The name of the event can be misleading as the mileage varies for the type of event ( `` Loop '' of 600 to 850 miles starting and finishing in Ensenada , or `` Point to Point '' also known as the 900 . The first official race started in Tijuana , Baja California , on October 31 , 1967 , and was named the NORRA Mexican 1000 Rally . The course length that year was 849 mi and ended in La Paz , Baja California Sur , with the overall winning time of 27 hours 38 minutes ( 27:38 ) set by Vic Wilson and Ted Mangels while driving a Meyers Manx buggy .   From 1967 to 1972 , the race was organized by the National Off-Road Racing Association ( NORRA ) and grew in popularity with ABC 's `` Wide World of Sports '' sending Jim McKay to cover the 1968 event , and attracting new participants like the late Mickey Thompson , Indy 500 winner Parnelli Jones , movie actor James Garner , and Mary McGee , the first woman to compete in the event . By 1971 , major sponsors such as Olympia Brewing Company and Minolta Cameras began to support Parnelli Jones in his Dick Russell designed and Bill Stroppe prepared `` Big Oly '' Bronco and Larry Minor in a similar Stroppe prepared Bronco .   In October 1973 , the price for a barrel of crude oil shot up 70 % overnight as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries ( OPEC ) launched the Arab Oil Embargo . Fearful competitors would abandon the idea of competing and stay home , NORRA abandoned the race -- despite assurances from the Federal government run Petroleos Mexicanos ( Pemex ) fuel prices would remain stable -- and announced they would hold an event in the state of Arizona .   It was at that time in history , Baja California governor Milton Castellanos handed over sanctioning of the event to a non-profit Mexican corporation called the `` Baja Sports Committee '' ( BSC ) . BSC renamed the event the `` Baja Mil '' ( Baja 1000 ) and scheduled the race to run on the original dates chosen by NORRA . Though NORRA held a competing event in the United States that same weekend , BSC successfully ran the race from Ensenada to La Paz like the years prior . Unaware of the challenges , BSC found promoting Baja races more difficult than anticipated . Instead of giving up the race , the Mexican government requested help from Southern California Off-Road Enterprises ( SCORE ) in hosting and promoting future Baja races . Through negotiations with Mickey Thompson and his SCORE organization , the Government agreed to give exclusive rights to SCORE to hold Baja races and also reluctantly allowed SCORE to cancel the event for 1974 ( a year where motorsport was curtailed in the United States because of the oil crisis ) . SCORE hired Sal Fish as president and took control of the Baja 1000 from that year on with the Baja 1000 race resuming under new control in 1975 . In 2012 , the racing organization was purchased by Roger Norman and continues to run under his presidency .