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Record 250 racers expected at Laughlin
Starting Thursday with $26,000 SCORE Laughlin Leap & SCORE Pit Crew Showdown, Season Opener to be televised on OLN LOS ANGELES, CA Determined veteran desert racer Bob Shepard returns to the
desert knowing very well the responsibility he and his race team carries as he
drives his No. 1 Shepard Racing Chevy CK1500 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, 800-horsepower unlimited production trucks, Shepard will lead a
SCORE-record field of 32 SCORE Trophy-Trucks and a race-record field of nearly
250 cars and trucks to Laughlin.
For the 12th straight year, motorsports fans and racers from 12 States,
Mexico, Canada and Japan are converging on Laughlin, Nev., the desert resort
town along the shores of the Colorado River for the vastly popular SCORE
Laughlin Desert Challenge. The first major race of the year will be held this week,
launching the six-race 2006 SCORE Desert Series, the world?s foremost desert
racing series. A total of 17 different Pro and two Sportsman classes for cars and
trucks will be split into seven 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. on Saturday and Sunday. 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 compete in the final two events
of six laps each day with Class 1 at 2:20 p.m. followed by SCORE Trophy-Truck
at 3:37 p.m.
Dale Ebberts, Canyon Lake, Calif., is the returning Overall and
unlimited Class 1 winner in his Toyota-powered Jimco open-wheel desert race car while
Dale Dondel, Hemet, Calif., is the defending champ in the featured SCORE
Trophy-Truck division in his Chevy Silverado. 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.
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 SCORE Trophy-Truck star Mark Post in
the SCORE Laughlin Leap (160? 6?).
On Friday, 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).
Bob Shepard, 47, of Phoenix, enters the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge
after a season of thrills and chills in 2005 where it wasn?t until the
season-ending Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 in November that he secured his first season
championship in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division and his first SCORE
class title in his lengthy career. Ending the season with a stunning victory in SCORE Trophy-Truck in
Mexico, he drove solo in all five races and finished all 1,752.14 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 2005. He
also finished third in Overall points to pick up $10,000 of the $50,000 Kartek
Off-Road end-of-the-year bonus.
While Shepard has earned his No. 1 vehicle plate for 2005 with plenty of
True Grit, he is well aware of the thundering herd besieging him to
capture the sports ?holy grail? for 2006.
I really think we surprised some people in 2005, but everyone knows
what No. 1 means in SCORE Trophy-Truck,? said Shepard. ?We have so many
incredible racers in our class and unbelievable trucks, repeating will be extremely
difficult, but certainly not impossible. We will enjoy being No. 1 for as long
as it lasts. Shepard started his championship season with a fifth-place in Laughlin
last year in SCORE Trophy-Truck and 34th overall and is still looking for his
first win in Laughlin. After Laughlin, he had class finishes of ninth, eighth
and third before his season-ending, championship-winning victory at the Tecate
SCORE Baja 1000.
A SCORE-record 32 vehicles have entered to date in the featured SCORE
Trophy-Truck division, including seven of the 12 all-time SCORE Trophy-Truck
season point champs and eight of 11 SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge race winners.
Dale Dondel, who often races with his brother Mike, has three class wins
in Laughlin, in three different classes. In 1998, he won Class 5 for
unlimited Baja Bugs with his brother and the two won the unlimited Class 1 in 2002
prior to Dale Dondel?s first career SCORE Trophy-Truck race win last year in
Laughlin. 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,
including three in Laughlin (1997, 1999, 2000), 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. Also back is the
team of Gary Dircks, Anthem, Ariz./Mark Porter, Cave Creek, Ariz., who were
the overall and SCORE Trophy-Truck winners in this race in 2004.
Other former SCORE Trophy-Truck winners in this year?s field are Rob
MacCachren, Las Vegas (1996), Brian Collins, Las Vegas (2001) and Mark Post, San
Juan Capistrano, Calif. (2003). MacCachren and Collins both have four career
class wins in Laughlin while Post, who was the Overall and Class 1 winner in
1997, has two.
At least six new SCORE Trophy-Trucks will debut in Laughlin as well, led
by noted buggy manufacturer Mike Julson, who will premiere his No. 20 Jimco
Racing Chevy Silverado.
Southern California?s Travis Coyne and New Mexico?s Josh Rigsby
received the No. 1 starting positions in the top two classes in computerized draw for
starting positions held at the SCORE headquarters in Los Angeles on Dec. 28.
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.
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.
It will be the first time either Coyne or Rigsby will start first in a
SCORE race. Class 1 and Class 1-2/1600 lead the way with 39 entries each to date,
followed by SCORE Trophy-Truck with 32, Class 10 with 23, and SCORE Lite with 22.
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), T. Coyne (SCORE Trophy-Truck), David Reyes, National City, Calif. (Class
10), and Flavio Navarro, La Paz, Mexico (SCORE Lite).
Because of the race format, several racers will compete in more than one
class. Leading the way will be Las Vegas? Rob MacCachren, a seven-time SCORE
season point champion, who is officially entered in three classes this year
for the third straight year. MacCachren, who won two classes in the 2004 race,
will take over on Sunday to drive the No. 4 Ford F-150 in SCORE Trophy-Truck
for team owner Gus Vildosola and will drive both days in Class 1-2/1600 in his
new Bunderson-VW and in Class 10 for Dennis Hunter Motorsports. Two years ago,
MacCachren won both Class 1-2/1600 and SCORE Lite and finished second in SCORE
Trophy-Truck.
MacCachren, who won three races and finished second in Class 1-2/1600 in
2005, was voted for the second time in his storied career to the first team
of the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association (AARWBA)
All-American motorsports team in 2005 in the at-large category. He was previously
selected to the First Team in 2001 and the second team in 2004. He is one of
only three SCORE desert racers ever selected to the AARWBA All-America team,
joining Ivan Stewart (1990, 1993, 1995) and Roger Mears (1985, 1991).
Cameron Steele, a SCORE regular who is also an ESPN action sports
announcer, is also entered in three classes. Steele, San Clemente, Calif., will race
in the No. 16 Desert Assassins Ford F-150 in SCORE Trophy-Truck, will share
driving time in the No. 1205 Desert Assassin-VW in SCORE Lite with his wife
Heidi and then run the same vehicle in Class 10, possibly sharing driving time
with his SCORE Trophy-Truck navigator, Justin Smith.
One of several racers scheduled for two classes is Jeff Lloyd, Los
Angeles, who has entered both Class 7SX and SCORE Lite. Through his company,
Horizon Realty, his racing efforts have a charity involvement, supporting The
Covenant House in Los Angeles.
Las Vegas Kory Scheeler has also entered in two classes, SCORE
Trophy-Truck and Class 1.
Todd Wyllie, New River, Ariz., will be racing in two classes as well,
SCORE Trophy-Truck and Class 8. Wyllie has won the SCORE Class 8 season point
crown the last two years.
The popular SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge has also attracted a
SCORE-record five female drivers. In Class 1-2/1600, Lisa Herbst, wife of SCORE
Trophy-Truck star Tim Herbst, will make her SCORE racing debut, as will Lisa Grint,
Parker, Ariz. Familiar faces in SCORE races, Michelle Bruckmann, Lemon Grove,
Calif., will be racing in Class 5 and Sigal Greenberg, Desert Hills, Ariz.,
will be driving in Class 9 and 2005 SCORE Sportsman Car point champion Heidi
Steele, San Clemente, Calif., will split the driving time in SCORE Lite as
co-driver with her husband Cameron Steele.
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.
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, mini-jumps and the Laughlin Leap.
The race will be taped to air nationally on the Outdoor Life Network
(OLN). Co-produced with SCORE by Aura360, it is scheduled to first air on
Thursday, Feb. 2, at 3:30 p.m. (PST). The second scheduled air date is Tuesday, Feb.
7, at 3 p.m. (PST). Updated SCORE TV information is available at
www.thebajaunlimited.com.
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-Sunoco 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.
2006 SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge
SCORE Trophy-TruckŪ
SCORE Trophy-Truck All-Time Race Winners
Wins Driver(s), Years
9 Wins
8 Wins
5 Wins
4 Wins
3 Wins
2 Wins
1 Win
*non-points stadium-short course race
12 Years of SCORE Trophy-Truck Season Champions
SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge
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