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Record
230-plus racers heading to Laughlin
No. 1 Jason Baldwin set to defend his SCORE Trophy-Truck season
Title starting this weekend at 11th SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge
Starting Thursday with $26,000
SCORE Laughlin Leap & SCORE Pit Crew Showdown, SCORE Trophy-Truck race to
air on SPEED CHANNEL
LAUGHLIN,
NV (January 10, 2005) -- Wily veteran Jason Baldwin returns to
the desert knowing very well the responsibility he and his race team carries
as he drives his No. 1 Baldwin Racing Ford F-150 in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck
division this week at the season-opening SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge. As
the defending class champion in the marquee SCORE racing division for high-tech,
750-horsepower unlimited production trucks, Baldwin will lead a race-record
field of 27 SCORE Trophy-Trucks and a race-record field of over 230 cars and
trucks to Laughlin.
 For
the 11th straight year, motorsports fans and racers will flock to Laughlin,
NV, the desert resort town near the shores of the Colorado River for the vastly
popular SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge.
As a new year filled
with hope and promise begins, the first major race of the year will be held
Thursday through Sunday, launching the five-race 2005 SCORE Desert Series, the
world’s foremost desert racing series.
When late registration
is complete, over 230 entries from 12 States, Mexico, Australia, Canada and
Japan will compete for nearly $400,000 in prize money and contingency postings
during the four day SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge. This year’s SCORE
Trophy-Truck race will be televised nationally as a half-hour special on the
Speed Channel network on the new Lucas Oil…On The Edge show. Being produced
by NewWave Productions of Chicago, the green flag-to-checkered flag ‘race
results show’ is scheduled to air on Saturday, March 26 at 6 p.m. (EST).
A total of 16 Pro
and two Sportsman 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 11.8-mile loop each day. Racing action runs from 7
a.m. to 5 p.m. both Friday and Saturday. The SCORE Trophy-Trucks will be the
3:35 p.m. finale each day, with the unlimited Class 1 open-wheel desert race
cars running just prior at 2:20 p.m.
 Gary
Dircks, Anthem, AZ (SCORE Trophy-Truck) and Troy Herbst, Las Vegas (Class 1)
are the defending Laughlin race winners.
Festivities begin
Thursday as one of the event's most popular features, the SCORE Laughlin Leap,
revs up the fun and gets the weekend off to a roaring start at 6 p.m. at the
Laughlin Events Park. Drivers will compete for a $16,000 purse and the honor
of being the 2005 champions. The SCORE Laughlin Leap, a dirt ramp built into
the middle of the stadium, challenges the most daring of drivers. This year’s
competitors will be looking to break the event record set last year by Mark
Post in the SCORE Laughlin Leap (160’6”).
On Friday at 4:30
p.m., also at the Laughlin Events Park, the SCORE Pit Crew Showdown focuses
attention on the entire racing team as they compete for part of a special $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. Challengers in this event
will be hoping to break the standard set last year by Rob MacCachren’s
crew in the SCORE Pit Crew Showdown (40.60 seconds).
Jason Baldwin,
36, of Laguna Beach, CA, enters the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge after a
season of thrills and chills in 2004 where it wasn’t until the season-ending
Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 in November did he secure his first season championship
in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division.  And
while he did not win an individual race, he drove solo in all five races and
finished all 2,092.61 rugged racing miles in his sturdy steed to etch his name
permanently in SCORE racing history. His feat also earned him a coveted SCORE
Toyota Milestone Award for 2004.
While Baldwin has
earned his No. 1 vehicle plate for 2005, he is well aware of the thundering
herd besieging him to capture the sports ‘holy grail’ for 2005.
Baldwin, who started
the season with a fourth-place in Laughlin last year in SCORE Trophy-Truck and
fifth overall, has never won in Laughlin, but enjoys the race immensely. He
also knows now is the time to win a race.
“We had a
very good year in 2004, and it resulted in a tremendous SCORE Trophy-Truck season
point championship for us,” said Baldwin, who also won a Midwestern short-course
off-road series title on the final race of the season. “We’re going
to have to win some races this year if we’re going to keep the No. 1 plate
for 2006. One of the main things I enjoy about the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge
is that it brings together the world’s best desert racers and puts them
in more of a short-course environment. Taking them out of their element should
help us have a bit of an advantage because of our extensive short-course experience.
Hopefully, this will be the year it all pays off.”
Five teams who
have won seven of the first 10 SCORE Trophy-Truck races at the SCORE Laughlin
Desert Challenge are part of the field along with eight teams who have won 31
of the 67 races held in the 11-year history of the class.
 Hawaii’s
Alan Pflueger and Southern California’s Wayne Lugo received the No. 1
starting positions in the top two classes in the computerized draw for starting
positions, by class, held on Dec. 28.
Pflueger, who won
two races in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division during the 2004 SCORE
Desert Series, drives solo in the No. 28 Pflueger Racing Chevy Silverado. The
2002 SCORE Rookie of the Year, Pflueger won the 2003 Protruck class championship
before moving up to SCORE Trophy-Truck. Pflueger won his Protruck class in five
races over two seasons before making the move to SCORE Trophy-Truck.
Among the other
SCORE Trophy-Truck entries are Las Vegas brothers Tim and Ed Herbst, the winningest
team in class history with 11 career race wins (including three in Laughlin)in
the No. 19 Terrible Herbst Motorsports Ford F-150 and NASCAR Nextel Cup regular
Robby Gordon, Mooresville, N.C., who will return from competing in the Dakar
Rally to race in Laughlin. R. Gordon has four career SCORE Trophy-Truck race
wins.
 The
Herbst brothers won the SCORE Trophy-Truck division in the SCORE Laughlin Desert
Challenge in 1997, 1999 and 2000 while other former winners entered so far are
fellow Las Vegas racers Rob MacCachren (1996) and Brian Collins (2001), Mark
Post, San Juan Capistrano, CA, who won in 2003, and Dircks who won last year.
The SCORE Trophy-Truck
division clearly reflects the family ties that are so much a part of the foundation
of SCORE desert racing.
Besides the Herbst
brothers, who race together, Jason Baldwin’s younger brother Josh Baldwin
will drive the No. 86 Baldwin Racing Ford F-150 while their brother-in-law,
Carl Renezeder, will debut his new No. 17 Team Renezeder Lucas Oil Chevy Silverado.
Also keeping it
in the family are three fathers and their sons driving in separate SCORE Trophy-Trucks.
Las Vegas’ Bobby Baldwin (no relation to Jason and Josh Baldwin), who
is CEO and President of the Mirage Resorts, will drive the No. 96 Ford F-150
while his son B.J. will drive the No. 97 Ford F-150. The second Father/Son team
in the class is Marty Coyne in the No. 5 Ford F-150 and his son Travis in the
No. 31 Chevy C1500. The third is Larry Ragland, who drives with Brian Collins
in the No. 12 Collins Motorsports Chevy Silverado and his son Chad Ragland,
who drives the No. 80 Chevy Silverado.
Class 1-2/1600
leads the way so far with a race-record 45 entries to date, followed by Class
10 with 33, Class 1 with 32, SCORE Trophy-Truck with 27 and SCORE Lite with
16.
A very special
addition this year will be the $25,000 Jason Hunter Memorial Class 10 race,
with the $25,000 bonus purse posted by Hunter Motorsports to honor the memory
of the 2001 SCORE Rookie of the Year who was killed in an automobile accident
on Jan. 4, 2004. Starting with $10,000 for first, the purse will pay down to
seventh.
 The
race will also begin the chase for the $50,000 Kartek Off-Road bonus to be awarded
to the top three 2005 SCORE Overall point leaders along with the run for the
$12,000 Toyota True Grit and Toyota Milestone Awards.
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,
showing live footage from various locations around the race course.
Advance
tickets for the Laughlin Events Park are on sale at 800.308.2253.
Tickets will
also be available for two other designated spectator areas around the course
at the event.
At a cost of $10
per vehicle, there is one area 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. Overnight camping is permitted at the 163
area with event pass, but no overnight camping is permitted on ‘SCORE
Hill’. These areas will both have and public safety services available.
The Laughlin 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, whoop-t-doos, minijumps and the Laughlin Leap.
The 11th 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.
Current SCORE official annual sponsors are BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Centrix
Financial, CL Bryant Racing Fuel-official fuel. Associate sponsors are: Herbst
Gaming, Kartek Off-Road, Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Instant Mexico Auto
Insurance, Fram, Autolite, Prestone, Bilstein, Signpros, P.C.I. Race Radios,
McKenzie’s Performance Products, and Advanced Color Graphics.
More
event information is available at www.visitlaughlin.com
or www.laughlinchamber.com.
Room reservations available online, Click
Here.
For information contact:
SCORE International at its Los Angeles headquarters
(818) 225-8402 or visit
the official 2005 SCORE Desert Series website at:
www.score-international.com
2005 SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge
Official SCORE Trophy-Truck Entries (27, as of 1/10)
SCORE
TROPHY-TRUCK (Unlimited Production Trucks) --
28 Alan Pflueger, Honolulu, Chevy Silverado
1 Jason Baldwin, Laguna Beach, CA, Ford F-150
3 Mark Post, Laguna Beach, CA, Ford F-150
4 Gus Vildosola, Mexicali, Mexico/Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas, Ford F-150
2 Pete Sohren, Glendale, AZ/Cameron Steele, San Clemente, CA, Ford F-150
19 Tim Herbst/Ed Herbst, Las Vegas, Ford F-150
86 Josh Baldwin, Newport Beach, CA, Ford F-150
12 Brian Collins, Las Vegas/Larry Ragland, Cave Creek, AZ, Chevy Silverado
80 Chad Ragland, Phoenix, Chevy Silverado
97 B.J. Baldwin, Las Vegas, Ford F-150
77 Robby Gordon, Mooresville, N.C., Chevy Silverado
96 Bobby Baldwin, Las Vegas, Ford F-150
11 Dale Dondel, Hemet, CA/David Bonner, Norco, CA, Chevy Silverado
6 Steve Sourapas, Rancho Santa Fe, CA, Ford F-150
10 Michael Jakobson, Somis, CA/Todd Sanderson, Leucadia, CA, Chevy Silverado
17 Carl Renezeder, Laguna Beach, CA, Chevy Silverado
23 Gary Dircks, Anthem, AZ/Jeff Darland, Tucson, AZ, Chevy C1500
40 Chet Huffman, Northridge, CA, Chevy Silverado
55 Luis Wallace, Mexicali, Mexico/Ron Dalke, Tucson, Ariz.
7 Scott Steinberger, Cypress, CA/Jesse Jones, Litchfield Park, AZ, Ford F-150
5 Marty Coyne, El Centro, CA, Ford F-150
15 Jim Beaver, Parker, AZ, Ford F-150
18 Kyle Taylor, San Jacinto, CA, Ford F-150
31 Travis Coyne, El Centro, CA, Chevy C1500
74 Alejandro Mendez, Ensenada, Mexico/Eli Yee, Tijuana, Mexico
16 Cameron Steele, San Clemente, CA/Rick Taylor, El Centro, CA/Ed Stout, Irvine,
CA, Ford F1-50
SCORE
Trophy-Truck (debuted in 1994 for 750 horsepower unlimited production
trucks-67 total races)
All-Time SCORE Trophy-Truck Race Winners
(through 2004 SCORE Desert Series)
Wins--Driver(s),
Years
11--Ed/Tim Herbst, Las Vegas, Ford F-150, 1997, 1998, 1999(3),
2000(2), 2001, 2002, 2003(2)
9--Dan Smith/David Ashley, Riverside, CA, Ford F-150, 1998(2),
2000, 2001(3), 2002(3);
Ivan Stewart, Alpine, CA, Toyota SR5, 1994(3), 1995(2), 1997,
1998(2), 1999
7--Larry Ragland, Phoenix, Chevy, 1995(2), 1996, 1997, 1999,
2000, 2002 (w/ Mark Miller)
4--Robby Gordon, Orange, CA, Ford F-150, 1996(4);
Curt LeDuc, Cherry Valley, CA, Jeep Grand Cherokee, 1995, 1997(3);
Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas, Ford F-150, 1994, 1996(2), 2003 (w/ Gus
Vildosola);
Mark Miller, Carefree, AZ, Chevy Silverado, 2002 (w/ Larry
Ragland), 2003(2), 2004 (w/ Ryan Arciero);
Mark Post, San Juan Capistrano, CA/Jerry Whelchel, Rancho Santa
Margarita, CA, Ford F-150, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004;
Paul/Dave Simon, Fallbrook, CA, Ford F-150, 1994(2), 1995(2)
3--Ryan Arciero, Foothill Ranch, CA, Chevy Silverado, 2003(2),
2004 (w/ Mark Miller)
2--Alan Pflueger, Honolulu, Chevy Silverado, 2004(2)
1--Brian Coats, Huntington Beach, CA, Chevy C1500, 1997;
Brian Collins, Las Vegas, Chevy C1500, 2001;
Gary Dircks, Anthem, AZ, Ford F-150, 2004;
Juan C. Ibarra, Ensenada, Mexico, Chevy C1500, 1998;
Larry Roeseler, Hesperia, CA, Chevy K1500, 1999;
Jim Smith, Orange, CA, Ford F-150, 1994;
Gus Vildosola, Mexicali, Mexico, 2003 (w/ Rob MacCachren)
11 Years
of SCORE Trophy-Truck Season Champions
1994--Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas, Ford F-150
1995--Ivan Stewart, Alpine, CA, Toyota SR5
1996--Robby Gordon, Orange, CA, Ford F-150
1997--Curt LeDuc, Cherry Valley, CA, Jeep Grand Cherokee
1998--David Ashley/Dan Smith, Riverside, CA, Ford F-150
1999--Ed & Tim Herbst, Las Vegas, Ford F-150
2000--Ed & Tim Herbst, Las Vegas, Ford F-150
2001--David Ashley/Dan Smith, Riverside, CA, Ford F-150
2002--Ed & Tim Herbst, Las Vegas, Ford F-150
2003--Tim & Ed Herbst, Las Vegas, Ford F-150
2004--Jason Baldwin, Laguna Beach, CA, Ford F-150
SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge
All-Time SCORE Trophy-Truck Winners
1995 -
Ivan Stewart, Alpine, CA, Toyota SR5
1996 - Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas, Ford F-150
1997 - Ed & Tim Herbst, Las Vegas, Ford F-150
1998 - Dave Ashley/Dan Smith, Riverside, CA, Ford F-150
1999 - Ed & Tim Herbst, Las Vegas, Ford F-150
2000 - Ed & Tim Herbst, Las Vegas, Ford F-150
2001 - Brian Collins, Las Vegas, Chevy C-1500
2002 - Dan Smith, Riverside, CA, Ford F-150
2003 - Mark Post, San Juan Capistrano, CA/Jerry Whelchel, Rancho
Santa Margarita, CA, Ford F-150
2004 - Gary Dircks, Anthem, AZ, Ford F-150
For information contact:
SCORE International at its Los Angeles headquarters
(818) 225-8402 or visit
the official 2005 SCORE Desert Series website at:
www.score-international.com
For
Sponsorship Information, contact:
Mark Handley
(760) 750-1905
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