2010 SCORE Desert Series Schedule Announced

SCORE International announces Five-Race

Schedule for 2010 SCORE Desert Series



Las Vegas Events approves new sponsorship for SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge;

43rd Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 to be a peninsula race in Baja California



LOS ANGELES—Preparing to celebrate its 37th year as the world’s foremost desert racing sanctioning body, SCORE international officially announced today its five-race schedule for the 2010 SCORE Desert Series. SCORE CEO/President Sal Fish also confirmed that Las Vegas Events has approved the sponsorship for January’s SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge and that November’s season-ending 43rd Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 will be a peninsula race in Baja California, Mexico, starting in Baja California and finishing in Baja California Sur.

“With everything going on right now with the world economy, SCORE has decided to contain the costs of our entry fees at as close to the level of 2008 and 2009 as possible and we are excited about the prospects of a peninsula race for the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000,” said Fish. “The three SCORE races annually produce over $30 million in overall economic impact for Mexico and it will be good for Baja California Sur to receive its share of this tourism influx our events bring to Baja in 2010. Being able to move the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge back a week is also a popular decision by the Laughlin Tourism Commission.”

Keeping the same venues and nearly the same race weekends for its five open desert races as the past five years, the 2010 SCORE Desert Series will again feature two races in Southern Nevada and three in Mexico. After being held a week later for several years, the season-opening SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge will be moved back to its traditional dates on the Martin Luther King holiday weekend. Las Vegas Events approved the sponsorship of the 2010 event on Wednesday.

“We have incredible marketing partners on both sides of the border, the world’s greatest desert racers and the world’s toughest race courses, so we will make only minor changes for the 2010 SCORE season,” added Fish. “Our five-race schedule in both the U.S. and Mexico offers tremendous variety for the racers, sponsors, media and fans.”

“With necessary restrictions in place for spectators in the U.S. still our attendance continues to rise, but in Mexico, it’s absolutely unbelievable. Our crowds for the last nine races in Baja California have averaged over 250,000, and SCORE racers are as popular in Baja California as any racing figures in the world.”

The SCORE Desert Series, which features 29 Pro and six Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycle and ATVs, will kick off Jan. 15-17 with the popular 16th Annual SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge in the Southern Nevada resort city of Laughlin on the banks of the Colorado River. The season will conclude Nov. 17-21 with the 43rd Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, the granddaddy of all desert races, in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.

“The SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge is the most unique and one of the most popular desert races in the U.S. and the legendary Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 is the best known desert race in the world,” added Fish, who has been at the head of SCORE since 1974. “These two races provide wonderful ways to start and finish our SCORE racing season.”

The 2010 SCORE Desert Series will again start with the most unique and the shortest race of the season and finish with the oldest and most recognized desert race in the world. After starting the season in Laughlin, 90 miles south of Las Vegas, it will conclude with the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, which is always a unique and memorable special race.

Since its debut in 1995, the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge has helped establish Laughlin as a viable host for special events. Thousands of spectators join nearly 150 racers and their crews in converging on the city each year 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 18 different Pro and two Sportsman classes for cars and trucks are split into five groups in Laughlin, running half of the race each day. The SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge also includes a pre-race activity that is not part of any other race on the schedule—the $16,000 Laughlin Leap. The Laughlin Leap will be held under the lights for the first time on Friday evening of race week at the Laughlin Events Park. The Laughlin Tourism Commission in association with SCORE has decided that shortening the overall window of the event from four days to three is in the best interest of both the participants and the multitude of spectators that enjoy this special event each year.

Round 2 and 3 of the 2010 SCORE Desert Series will both be held in Mexico. The 24th Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 is set for March 12-14 in San Felipe, Baja California, followed by the 42nd anniversary of the vastly popular Tecate SCORE Baja 500, June 4-6, in Ensenada, Baja California.

Round 4 will be the 15th Annual SCORE Terrible’s Primm 300 which will be held Sept. 10-12 in Primm, Nev., 45 miles south of Las Vegas.

SCORE officials will announce before the end of the year exactly where the 2010 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 will start and finish.

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 18 Pro and three Sportsman classes for cars and trucks in the U.S. with 11 additional Pro and three more Sportsman classes for motorcycles and ATVs competing in the races in Mexico. SCORE races in the U.S. average 150 entries while the average in Mexico, with motorcycle and ATV classes running as well as the cars and trucks is 300.

Current SCORE official annual sponsors are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Volkswagen of America-official vehicle, Sunoco Race Fuels -official fuel supplier, Bilstein-official shock, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance-official Mexican auto insurance, Slime-official tire sealant and Red Bull--official energy drink. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Las Vegas Events, Terrible Herbst Inc., Blue C Enthusiast Advertising, SignPros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.

The SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge is sponsored by the Laughlin Tourism Commission, the Laughlin Visitors Bureau, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and Las Vegas Events.

The SCORE Terrible’s Primm 300 is sponsored by Las Vegas Events, Primm Valley Resorts and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Additional associate sponsors for the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 are Fideicomiso Publico para la Promocion Turistica de Ensenada and the State Tourism Department of Baja California.

For more information regarding the series, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters 818.225.8402 or visit the official website of the SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com.



2010 SCORE Desert Series

Schedule of Events



Date, Event/Location
Jan. 15-17--16th SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge

Laughlin, Nevada

March 12-14--24rd Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250

San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico

June 4-6--42nd Tecate SCORE Baja 500

Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico

Sept. 10-12--15th SCORE Terrible’s Primm 300

Primm, Nevada

Nov. 17-21--43rd Tecate SCORE Baja 1000

Peninsula Run, Baja California, Mexico