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Jan.
15-18 in Laughlin, Nev.
Herbsts draw No. 1 starting slots in SCORE Trophy-Truck,
Class 1 for 10th annual SCORE LAUGHLIN DESERT CHALLENGE
With nearly 160 already entered, SCORE opener features
$26,000 Laughlin Leap and SCORE Pit Crew Showdown
LOS ANGELES
(December 28, 2003) -- Terrible Herbst Motorsports received a special
Christmas present Saturday, drawing the no. 1 starting positions in the computerized
drawing for the 10th Annual SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge.
The first major
motorsport event of the year will be held Jan. 15-18, launching the six-race
2004 SCORE Desert Series, the world's foremost desert racing series.
 With
156 total vehicles entered in time for Saturday's drawing, Ed and Tim Herbst
drew the pole position in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division while Troy
Herbst received the top spot in the unlimited Class 1.
Motorsports fans
and racers from across the United States, Mexico and Japan will flock to Laughlin,
Nev., the desert resort town near the shores of the Colorado River for the popular
SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge.
Since its debut
in 1995, the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge has helped establish Laughlin as
a viable host for special events. Thousands of spectators will join nearly 170
racers and their crews converging on the city to watch the best of the best
desert racers compete in a unique-format, two-day race that includes a temporary
stadium surrounding the start/finish line area and the main pits.
A total of 16
different classes for cars and trucks are split into seven groups in Laughlin,
each running as part of one of seven races of two to five laps each over the
much-abbreviated 11-mile loop each day. Racing action runs from 6:30 a.m. to
6 p.m. each day.
Drivers and pit
crews will compete for more than $300,000 in prize money and contingency postings
during the four day SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge.
Among the early
entries are most of SCORE's top racers, including some who are switching classes
along with a growing group of newcomers who will give SCORE one of its largest
ever groups of rookies. As SCORE begins is fourth decade as the world's oldest
and most prominent desert racing organization, several drivers have entered
more than one class.
NASCAR Winston
Cup regular Robby Gordon, whose racing roots are in the desert, is slipping
away from his testing for Richard Childress Racing to race in the marquee SCORE
Trophy-Truck class in the No. 31 Chevy CK1500 he built in his own Team Gordon
Racing shop in Southern California. Gordon drew the 22nd starting spot out of
23 entries in SCORE Trophy-Truck.
Also entered is
ESPN sportscaster Cameron Steele, San Clemente, CA, who won Class 1-2/1600 in
November's SCORE Baja 1000.
 At
the top of the early entry list are brothers Ed, Tim and Troy Herbst, Dale Ebberts,
George Seeley and Brian Collins.
Two racers, Las
Vegas' Rob MacCachren and Tom Ridings, Long Beach, CA, have entered three
classes, two as driver of record and one as a co-driver.
MacCachren, who
has won seven SCORE class point titles, is driver of record in SCORE Lite and
Class 1-2/1600 in addition to being the co-driver for Mexico's Gus Vildosola
in the No. 4 Ford F-150 in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division.
Ridings is driver
of record in SCORE Lite and Class 10 and is co-driving in the unlimited Class
1 with Brian Parkhouse, Bell Gardens, Calif. Ed Herbst, 42, and Tim Herbst,
40, are the reigning SCORE Trophy-Truck season point champs in their No. 1 Ford
F-150 and each have four class wins in Laughlin. Troy Herbst, 36, the youngest
of the three Las Vegas brothers, is a perennial favorite and six-time SCORE
Class 1 season point champion in his Smithbuilt-Ford.
Ebberts, Canyon
Lake, CA, is the defending Laughlin race winner as well as the 2003 SCORE
Overall and Class 1 point champion. Ebberts will debut a new Jimco desert race
car powered by a V-8 Toyota racing engine.
Seeley, Glendale,
CA, is the all-time class winner in Laughlin with five race wins in Class
5. Collins, also of Las Vegas, has four class wins in Laughlin, including one
in SCORE Trophy-Truck (2001). Collins will be the co-driver this year in the
Collins Motorsports No. 12 Chevy Silverado, with veteran Larry Ragland, Cave
Creek, Ariz., as the team's driver of record.
SCORE points are
determined both by finishing order and number of starters in each class. In
the drawing for the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge, classes with the most entries
were Class 1 and Class 1-2/1600 with 28 each, Class 10 with 24 and SCORE Trophy-Truck
with a record 23.
With two vehicles
starting side-by-side every 30 seconds in the elapsed-time race, starting alongside
of Ed Herbst in SCORE Trophy-Truck in the No. 5 Ford F-150 of Marty Coyne, El
Centro, CA.
 Starting
on the outside of row 1 in Class 1 next to Troy Herbst will be the Porter-Ford
of casino CEO Bobby Baldwin of Las Vegas.
Late entries,
receiving the next available starting position in each class, will be accepted
up until race morning.
Daily general
admission tickets, good for grandstand seating, are $15 for each Thursday, Saturday
and Sunday, children five and under are free.
Daily VIP tickets
are $35 each for three days, good for admission to the Laughlin Hospitality
Chalet, including food beverage and special seating.
The stadium seating
area will include the immensely popular SCOREvision large-screen LCD display
that debuted last year, showing live footage from various locations around the
race course.
Tickets will also
be available for the three other designated spectator areas around the course.
At a cost of $10
per vehicle, there are two areas off of Nevada State Highway 163 adjacent to
the racecourse as well as the popular 'SCORE Hill', which overlooks the infield,
start/finish area and the main pits.
Admission to these
areas is on a first-come, first-served basis and no camping is permitted.
These areas will
have limited refreshment and public safety services.
Tickets for the
Laughlin Events Park are now on sale at 800.227.5245.
One of the event's
most popular features, the Laughlin Leap, revs up the fun and gets the weekend
off to a roaring start at 6 p.m. on Thursday (Jan. 16). Drivers and pit crews
will share the spotlight at the Laughlin Events Park, competing for a $16,000
purse and the honor of being the 2004 champion. The Laughlin Leap, a dirt ramp
built into the middle of the arena, challenges the most daring of drivers, and
the top car or truck traditionally goes airborne for more than 110 feet.
On Friday (Jan.
16) at 4:30 p.m. at the Laughlin Events Park, the Pit Crew Showdown focuses
attention on the entire racing team to compete for a $10,000 purse. Like other
pit crew events, the vehicle must pull into the pit, have all four tires replaced,
and then race out of the pit before the clock stops.
But there's a
twist. This competition doesn't take place on a level slab of concrete, and
the unusual shocks required to compete in desert racing require that the vehicle
be lifted several feet into the air.
The Events Park
with grandstand seating, vendor's village and food court is just minutes from
the destination's nine resorts and includes an infield packed with switchbacks,
wooptydoos, minijumps and the Laughlin Leap.
The 10th annual
SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge is sponsored by the Laughlin Tourism Committee,
the Laughlin Visitors Bureau, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
in association with Las Vegas Events. The race is sanctioned and produced by
SCORE International of Los Angeles.
The upcoming 2004
race will be the first of a new three-year contract extension between Laughlin,
the LVCVA, LVE and SCORE International, confirming the event's significant economic
and promotional impact.
SCORE International,
founded in 1973 by the late Mickey Thompson and headed by Sal Fish since 1974,
continues today as the premier sanctioning body in the sport of desert racing.
SCORE races feature 16 Pro and two Sportsman classes for cars and trucks in
the U.S. with seven additional Pro and three more Sportsman classes for motorcycles
and ATVs competing in the races in Mexico.
SCORE races in
the U.S. average 130 entries while the average in Mexico, with motorcycle and
ATV classes running as well as the cars and trucks is 250.
Current SCORE
official annual sponsors are BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Southern California
Ford Dealers-official vehicle, 76 Racing Fuel-official fuel and Rental Service
Corporation-official equipment supplier. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer,
Coca-Cola of Mexico, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, Fram, Autolite, Prestone,
Bilstein, Signpros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie's, and Advanced Color Graphics.
For information contact:
SCORE International at its Los Angeles headquarters
(818) 225-8402 or visit
the official Optima SCORE Desert Series website at:
www.score-international.com
10th
Annual SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge
Entries, by Class Starting Order (156 as of 12/27/03)
PRO CARS
& TRUCKS
SCORE TROPHY-TRUCK (23)
1 Ed Herbst
5 Marty Coyne
8 Dan Smith
12 Larry Ragland
28 Alan Pflueger
66 Jason Baldwin
97 B.J. Baldwin
6 Steve Sourapas
21 Roger Gray
86 Josh Baldwin
2 Pete Sohren
11 Dale Dondel
99 Nick Baldwin
10 Michael Jakobson
3 Mark Post
50 John Herder
4 Gus Vildosola
40 Chet Huffman
7 Scott Steinberger
23 Gary Dircks
31 Robby Gordon
51 Luis Wallace
CLASS 1 (28)
 101
Troy Herbst
102 Bobby Baldwin
103 Ron Brant
104 Andy McMillin
105 Gary Weyhrich
106 Damen Jefferies
107 Dennis Boyle
108 Pat Dean
109 Chuck Hovey
110 Shawn McCallum
111 Cesar Fuentes
112 Steve Melton
100 Dale Ebberts
114 Cam Thieriot
115 Jeff Darland
116 Ronny Wilson
117 Wayne Lugo
118 Brian Parkhouse
119 John Gould
120 Bob Lofton
121 Kory Scheeler
122 Kevin McMullen
123 Richard Boyle
124 John Marking
125 Rick Wilson
126 John Gaughan
127 Mark Weyhrich
149 Lee Finke
CLASS 1-2/1600
(28)
1601 Francisco Chan
1602 Brady Wisdom
1603 Chuck Collins
1604 Marcas Reyes
1605 Chuck Sacks
1606 Keith Ayers
1607 Rick Boyer
1608 Rob MacCachren
1609 James Golden
 1610
Bobby Altamirano
1611 Randy Jones
1612 Lorenzo Rodriguez
1613 Eli Yee
1614 Cody Freeman
1615 Brian Jeffrey
1616 Brian Burgess
1617 Cory Goin
1618 Mike Leung
1619 Brian Steele
1620 Cameron Steele
1621 Travis Fletcher
1622 Billy Skinner
1623 John Scharf
1624 Russell Winkler
1625 Craig Forrest
1626 Ken Tapert
1627 David West
1699 Richard Battey
PROTRUCK (3)
233 Jeff Dickerson
242 Geno Licitra
255 Alan Pflueger
CLASS 3 (1)
301 Ken Leavitt
 CLASS
5 (1)
501 Joe Heger
CLASS 5/1600
(10)
551 Dave Collier
552 Ernie Negrete
553 Rob Taylor
554 Jeffrey Sack
555 Dave Hendrickson
556 Steve Landis
557 Ruben Garcia
558 Brent Shermak
559 Hector Garcia
560 Gerardo Iribe
CLASS 7 (7)
701 Doug Siewert
702 Dan Shamlee
 703
Shawn Wanzek
704 Rick Taylor
700 Craig Turner
706 Barry Karakas
707 Jason Jernigan
CLASS 7S (4)
721 Bob Land
722 Nick Moncure
723 Todd Richards
724 Jason Hutter
CLASS 8 (6)
801 Jeff Stowers
802 Josh Klenske
800 Tony McCormack
804 Todd Wyllie
805 Dave Raimonde
839 Joe Patelli
CLASS 9 (3)
901 Tim Hanna
902 Ray Neff
900 Eric Fisher
CLASS 10 (24)
1001 Allan Gibney Jr.
1002 Mark Landersman
1003 Sam Berri
1004 Steve Myers
1005 Travis Brookshire
1006 Brandon Aymar
1007 Jeff Elrod
1008 Ron Dalke
1009 Tom Ridings
1010 Harley Letner
1011 Charles Lathren
1012 Lobsam Yee
1013 Dennis Kordonowy
1014 Mark Hutchins
1015 Rick Ellison
1016 Jason Hunter
1017 Bill Witt
1018 Will Higman
1019 Eli Yee
1020 David Kordonowy
 1021
Dennis Hunter
1000 Martin Christensen
1023 Christopher Hutchins
1049 Justin Lofton
SCORE LITE (12)
1201 Mike Halliday
1202 Jim Greenway
1203 Arturo Honold
1204 Keith Basso
1205 Tom Ridings
1206 Jake Batulis
1200 Brian Ickler
1208 Kory Halopoff
1209 James Golden
1210 Rob MacCachren
1211 Randy Ross
1212 Rick St. John
 CLASS
11 (2)
1101 Eric Solorzano
1102 Scott Pellerin
STOCK FULL
(3)
860 John Griffin
861 Marc Stein
862 Mark Handley
SPORTSMAN
SPT TRUCK (1)
1501 Mark Growe
For information contact:
SCORE International at its Los Angeles headquarters
(818) 225-8402 or visit
the official Optima SCORE Desert Series website at:
www.score-international.com
For
Sponsorship Information, contact:
Mark Handley
(760) 750-1905
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