SCORE Baja silent auction for Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame To begin Thursday’s ‘40 Years to Glory’ SCORE Baja 1000 Gala

LONG BEACH, Calif.—Thursday’s once-in-a-lifetime ’40 Years to Glory’ gala at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center will start at 5:30 p.m. with a very unique silent auction to benefit the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame. The event is a tribute to the 40th Anniversary of the legendary Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race and the ORMHOF Silent Auction will see winning bidders take away one-of-a-kind treasures that come from the very fabric of the sport.

To be held in the Terrace Theater at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center, the evening’s centerpiece will be a specially produced, Oscar’s-style stage presentation honoring a long and distinguished list of past SCORE Baja 1000 champions, influential media, industry innovators and desert racing pioneers. The evening’s festivities will start at 5:30 p.m. with the ORMHOF Silent Auction and a buffet dinner with the tribute show at 7:30 p.m. and special after-party at 9:30 p.m.

Guest tickets include admission, dinner, and a commemorative event program. Like a concert or play, guests will also be provided with a reserved seat inside the Terrace Theater and sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

Co-hosted by motorsports television personalities Dave Despain and Paul Page, the evening’s ‘40 Years to Glory’ tribute will combine music, video, select on-stage introductions and a special tribute by famed motorcycle builder turned SCORE Trophy-Truck racer Jesse James to the late Hollywood actor and Baja 1000 veteran Steve McQueen.

Unlike Hollywood’s Oscars, tickets to this special evening available are available to the public. However, both events will share a red carpet entrance for the evening’s long list of honorees and the presentation of uniquely-created awards recognizing individual contributions to the SCORE Baja 1000’s world-renowned status as a motorsports icon and the legendary granddaddy of all desert races.

True collector items like the autographed helmet of 39-time Baja 1000 motorcycle racer Ron Bishop wore in the 1969 Baja 1000, or the driver suits worn by Enduro Racing’s Dave Ashley and Dan Smith during their historic four wheel overall victory in the Tecate SCORE Baja 2000.

A wide variety of unique or rare items are on the list of choices for bidders to consider. Among that variety will be found matched sets of the three Ford Rough Rider Posters framed and ready for display, autographed bottles of the special label wine made for the ORMHOF Induction ceremonies in 2005, and 2007. Each of the 2007 bottles are signed by six of the eight 2007 inductees. Award-winning Trackside Photo has been hard at work on selecting amazing photography as part of the auction as well.

Among the larger items will be the rear quarter panel from Robby Gordon’s SCORE Trophy-Truck from the Tecate SCORE Baja 2000 is autographed by Gordon and ready for a new home.

Also available will be the 1X number plate from the Honda XR650R that Johnny Campbell and Steve Hengeveld rode to the overall victory in the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 as well the jersey and pants Hengeveld wore when he rode that bike

Some of the auction items are outside the memorabilia category. Up for bid is a one week stay at the McMillin Companies condo in Lake Tahoe. A gracious donation from Wide Open Baja is a four day off-road driving tour to the highest bidder.

There will be driver suits from significant SCORE Baja 1000 winners. The 1985 SCORE Baja 1000 four-wheel overall victory was captured by Steve Sourapas; driving his Coors-sponsored Class 10 Raceco-VW. That marked the first and only time in the history of the SCORE Baja 1000 that a Class 10 car won the overall.

In both 2004 and 2005 the four wheel overall wins went to Terrible Herbst Motorsports team drivers Troy Herbst, and Larry Roeseler. The 2005 win marked the 20th consecutive overall four wheel title for BFGoodrich Tires and up for auction is the driver suit worn by Roeseler while he made those historic runs, a real piece of SCORE Baja 1000 history. There are more drivers suits from noteworthy drivers and all will be framed and on display at the ORMHOF Silent Auction tent.

The evening’s presentation will honor race celebrities in separate groups, with Baja icons like Sal Fish, Parnelli Jones, Ivan Stewart, Walker Evans, Frank Vessels, Bob Gordon, Frank Arciero Jr. the McMillin family and Rod Hall all sharing a portion of the 90-minute program. Those valiant riders on two wheels will also share the spotlight, thanks to scheduled appearances by Malcolm Smith, Larry Roeseler, Eddie Mulder, Bruce Ogilvie, Ron Bishop, Johnny Campbell and Mitch Mayes. Additional star power will come in the form of many cross-over drivers that fill Baja’s record books; including schedule appearances by sport car legends Bob Bondurant and Peter Brock, rising NASCAR star Boris Said, along with Indianapolis 500 veterans Danny Sullivan, Roberto Guerrero and brothers Mike and Robbie Groff.

Making ‘40 Years to Glory’ even more memorable will be an unprecedented gathering of Baja pioneers, including Dave Ekins, Spence Murray, Bruce Meyers, Andy DeVercelly, Dave Deal, Johnny Johnson, Pete Condos and Bobby Ferro.

And sprinkled into these tributes will be celebrations of various other groups and personalities that have made the SCORE Baja 1000 such a lasting institution.

‘40 Years to Glory’ will include the world’s largest display of vintage and historic desert race vehicles and motorcycles, live music, cocktails and a huge buffet-style dinner. The night will be capped off with the “SCORE Baja After Party” back on the plaza.

The special gala is being made possible by the generous support of presenting partners Volkswagen of America, BFGoodrich Tires, Micron Technology and Blue C Enthusiast Advertising, in association with Dirt Sports Magazine, Hot Rod Magazine, Kartek Off-Road and Bandito Brothers Productions.

This year’s 40th annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, the season finale of the six-race 2007 SCORE Desert Series for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs, will be held Nov. 10-16 as a journey down Mexico’s majestic Baja California peninsula. With pre-race activities in Tijuana, there will be more pre-race activities and the race will start in Ensenada and finish some 1,300 miles later in Cabo San Lucas. With over 400 entries expected from 40 U.S. States and 15 countries, the historic race will be taped by NBC Sports.

The Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame was established in 1978 to recognize and honor those individuals and organizations whose lifelong contributions to off-road motorsports have set a standard for others to follow. Housed in Gallery Four of the National Automobile Museum, (The Harrah Collection) in Reno, Nev. Since 2003, ORMHOF is visited by over 175,000 ticket buying automotive enthusiasts each year. ORMHOF is funded by donations from individuals, families, companies, and fund raising activities such as this Silent Auction. It is an IRS Code Section 501(c) 3 Non-Profit/Tax Exempt organization. There are 46 individuals who have been selected as ORMHOF Inductees. For more information on the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame, please visit the official web site at www.ormhof.org.