Nearly 250 entries expected @ Laughlin

LOS ANGELES, CA Southern California’s Travis Coyne and New Mexico’s Josh Rigsby received the No. 1 starting positions in the top two classes in Tuesday’s computerized draw for starting positions, by class, for next month’s 12th Annual SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge. Representing the highest number in the event’s history, a total of 208 vehicles, in 17 Pro and 2 Sportsman classes, officially entered in time for Wednesday’s drawing at the Los Angeles headquarters of SCORE International. It will be the first time either Coyne or Rigsby will start first in a SCORE race.
For the 12th straight year, motorsports fans and racers from across the United States, Mexico, Canada and Japan will flock to Laughlin, Nev., the desert resort town near the shores of the Colorado River for the vastly popular SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge. The first major race of the year will be held Jan. 12-15, launching the six-race 2006 SCORE Desert Series, the world’s foremost desert racing series.

When late registration is complete, nearly 250 expected entries will compete for nearly $400,000 in prize money and contingency postings during the four day SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge.
A total of 17 different Pro and two Sportsman classes for cars and trucks will be split into several groups in Laughlin, each running as part of one of separate multiple-lap races over the much-abbreviated 8-mile loop each day. Racing action runs from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day (Jan. 14-15). The marquee racing division is SCORE Trophy-Truck, featuring high-tech, 800-horsepower, unlimited production trucks along with the unlimited Class 1 for open-wheel desert race cars. Those two classes will run the final two races each day with Class 1 followed by SCORE Trophy-Truck.
Dale Dondel, Hemet, Calif. (SCORE Trophy-Truck, Chevy Silverado) and Dale Ebberts, Canyon Lake Calif. (Class 1, Jimco-Toyota) are the defending Laughlin race winners.

Travis Coyne, 26, El Centro, Calif., will make his driver of record debut in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division, driving the No. 6 Coyne Motorsports Ford F-150, after driving the last two seasons with his father Marty Coyne in the No. 5 Coyne Motorsports Ford F-150. The No. 6 SCORE Trophy-Truck was previously owned by veteran Steve Sourapas (who is now driving in Class 1) and finished second in Laughlin in 2005.

A SCORE-record 32 vehicles have entered to date in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division, including defending SCORE Desert Series Champion Bob Shepard, Phoenix, in the No. 1 Chevy CK1500.
Among the other SCORE Trophy-Truck entries are Las Vegas brothers Ed and Tim Herbst, the winningest team in class history with 11 career race wins in the No. 19 Terrible Herbst Motorsports Ford F-150. Andy McMillin, Poway, Calif., who finished third in Class 1 points in 2005 with his father Scott, will make his SCORE Trophy-Truck debut, driving the No. 83 Chevy CK1500 of NASCAR team owner/driver Robby Gordon.

Rigsby, 35, Santa Fe, New Mexico, drives a Chevy-powered Penhall open-wheel desert race car. In 2005, Rigsby ran his first full season in the SCORE Desert Series, finishing tied for sixth in Class 1 points with 236. His best finish with fifth in Class 1 at June’s Tecate SCORE Baja 500 in Ensenada.
Class 1 leads the way with 38 entries to date, followed by Class 1-2/1600 with 35, SCORE Trophy-Truck with 32, Class 10 with 21, and SCORE Lite with 20. Drawing the first starting positions in those high-entry classes were Rigsby (Class 1), brothers Eric and Hiram Duran, Tecate, Calif. (Class 1-2/1600), Travis Coyne (SCORE Trophy-Truck), David Reyes, National City, Calif. (Class 10), and Flavio Navarro, La Paz, Mexico (SCORE Lite).

Daily general admission tickets, good for grandstand seating, are $15 each for each day (Thursday, Saturday and Sunday), children five and under are free. Daily VIP tickets are $35 each for each of the 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 concession stands and public safety services available.

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. on Thursday (Jan. 12). 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 2006 champions. The SCORE Laughlin Leap, a dirt ramp built into the middle of the stadium infield, challenges the most daring of drivers. This year’s competitors will be looking to break the event record set in 2004 by Mark Post in the SCORE Laughlin Leap (160’6”).

On Friday (Jan. 13) at 4:30 p.m. at the Laughlin Events Park, the SCORE 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. Challengers in this event will be hoping to break the standard set in 2004 by Rob MacCachren’s crew in the SCORE Pit Crew Showdown (40.60 seconds).

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, woop-t-doos, minijumps and the Laughlin Leap.

The 12th 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, C.L. Bryant-VP Racing Fuels-official fuel supplier, Bilstein-official shock.

Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, Las Vegas Events, Terrible Herbst Inc., Kartek Off-Road, Centrix Financial, Fram, Autolite, Prestone, Suzuki, SignPros, Cotuco, Fideicomiso Publico para la Promocion Turistica de Ensenada, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products, McGraw Insurance, Lucas Oil and Advanced Color Graphics.

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