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.

Oscar-style Tribute and dazzling celebrity list centerpieces

Sal Fish, Jesse James, Parnelli Jones, Ivan Stewart, Walker Evans, Malcolm Smith, Frank Vessels, Larry Roeseler, Rod Hall, Johnny Campbell, Larry Ragland, Danny Sullivan, the McMillin Family, Dave Ekins, Eddie Mulder, Peter Brock, Bob Bondurant and Cameron Steele—to list just a few distinguished names—all taking center stage for Sport’s grandest homecoming.



LOS ANGELES – For fans of motorsports – particulary those who wish to honor this year’s 40th annual running of Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 – next week’s ‘40 Years to Glory’ tribute evening has turned into “a night of 1000 stars.”

To be held next Thursday evening (Sept. 27) at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center in Long Beach, Calif., 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 tribute show at 7:30 p.m. and special after-party at 9:30 p.m.

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.

Event organizers are putting the final touches on the ‘40 Years to Glory’ presentation hoping to create an unparalleled tribute to nearly 100 of the most deserving personalities in race history with special on-stage presentations.

“Our hope is to at once both honor and entertain our guests in a highly unique manner,” explained Marty Fiolka, executive producer for the event being presented in association with SCORE International. “This is once-in-a-lifetime homecoming for four generations that make up the Baja 1000 legacy, and doing that in one evening is a historic but inspiring challenge.”

The evening’s presentation will honor race celebrities in separate groups, with Baja icons like 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.

“Marty (Fiolka) is doing an incredible job putting together a night of a 1000 memories for all of us to enjoy who have been so close to the SCORE Baja 1000 for all of these years,” said Sal Fish, SCORE International CEO/President since shortly after the world’s premier desert racing organization was founded in 1973. “This amazing evening will be like an all-school reunion where you know everybody from every class. Or at least you know their names. This will be one of the hallmark evenings in my life and I think many, many others will share in the same experience and emotions.”

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.

Tickets for this never-to-be-repeated event are on sale from the Long Beach Performing Arts Center box office or via Ticketmaster at (213) 480-3232 or (714) 740-2000 or online at www.40yearstoglory.com.

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.

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, the race will start in Ensenada and finish some 1,300 miles later in Cabo San Lucas. With nearly 350 entries expected from 40 U.S. States and 15 countries, the historic race will be taped by NBC Sports.

Speed Channel’s Dave Despain added to lineup For ‘40 Years to Glory’ SCORE Baja 1000 Tribute

Star of Highly- Rated Wind Tunnel Show to Co-host special gala

With Fellow Television Personality and SCORE Baja veteran Paul Page



LOS ANGELES—Adding to a rapidly growing list of Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 celebrities and racing legends, event producers for the upcoming ‘40 Years to Glory’ gala today announced the addition of Dave Despain as co-host of the evening. Despain, host of two highly popular Speed Channel shows – Wind Tunnel and Inside Nextel Cup -- will join broadcast colleague Paul Page in presenting the evening’s multi-media stage presentation honoring four decades of one of the world’s most recognized motorsports icons.

To be held on the evening of Thursday, Sept. 27 at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center in Long Beach, California, ‘40 Years to Glory’ represents the largest event of its kind in the history of desert racing.

Like co-host Page, Despain is a renowned television personality, legendary motorsports celebrity and talented event emcee. Perhaps now most recognized for hosting his top-rated Speed Channel show Wind Tunnel, the highly outspoken Despain also shares another unique characteristic with ABC Sports/ESPN’s Page, an authentic passion for the colorful past and evergreen racing challenge that is the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000.

“Baja is one of my favorite places in the world, and its name is synonymous with one of the purest forms of racing I’ve ever experienced, “Despain explained. To gather at a venue as classy as the Long Beach Performing Arts Center in honor all these heroes, who raced their hearts out in the middle of nowhere, is a spectacular idea. It should also be one Helluva’ party and I am very proud to be invited!”

A self-proclaimed failed motorcycle racer, Despain spent the decade of the ‘70s working for the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in public relations and publishing. He was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999. His first national TV appearance assignment was the “Daytona 200” for ABC’s World of Sports in 1975. In 1981 he became the host of racing’s first weekly highlight show – MotorWeek Illustrated – on Turner Broadcasting, regularly reporting on off-road racing. His resume also includes racing coverage for NBC and Fox, plus a five-year stint with CBS as NASCAR pit reporter and motorcycle analyst. Before joining Speed in 1999, he spent eight years with ESPN, where he anchored the network’s coverage of the SCORE desert series and its signature SCORE Baja 1000 event.

‘40 Years to Glory’ will be comprised of the world’s largest display of vintage and historic desert racing vehicles and motorcycles, live music, cocktails and a huge buffet-style dinner. That will be followed by the ‘40 Years to Glory’ presentation in the complex’s Terrace Theater, a multi-media trip through four decades of racing featuring live music, video presentations and a whose-who list of honorees receiving specially-made awards. The night will be capped off with the “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 and Blue C Communications, in association with Dirt Sports Magazine, Hot Rod Magazine, Kartek Off-Road and the Bandito Brothers.

Tickets for this never-to-be-repeated event are now on sale from the Long Beach Performing Arts Center box office or via Ticketmaster at (213) 480-3232 or (714) 740-2000 or online at www.40yearstoglory.com. Guest tickets will 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.

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, the race will start in Ensenada and finish some 1,300 miles later in Cabo San Lucas. With nearly 350 entries expected from 40 U.S. States and 15 countries, the historic race will be taped by NBC Sports.

Jesse James, Paul Page set for SCORE Baja 1000

Famed Television personalities bring love of SCORE Baja racing

To Sept. 27 once-in-a-lifetime celebration in Long Beach, Calif.

LOS ANGELES–Confirming the first of what is expected to be a star-studded list of celebrities and legendary race honorees adding their names to SCORE International’s forthcoming ‘40 Years to Glory’ gala, event organizers today announced that Jesse James and Paul Page are providing their talents to the evening’s festivities.

The official celebration of the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000’s 40^th anniversary, ‘40 Years to Glory’ will be held Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007 at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. James and Page share a mutual passion for the legendary desert race and its long, colorful history, and both will help bring the evening’s multi-media stage presentation come to life.

A local resident whose world-famous West Coast Choppers motorcycle shop is just a long stone’s throw from the Long Beach Performing Arts Center’s Terrace Theater, television personality and current SCORE Trophy-Trophy racer Jesse James is scheduled to introduce a very special tribute to late Baja 1000 racer and Hollywood icon Steve McQueen. The former star of the international television hit Monster Garage, master fabricator James led a large and talented build team when he built his first SCORE Trophy-Truck in just one week for one of the final episodes of the show.

SCORE International President/CEO Sal Fish and ‘40 Years to Glory’ Executive Producer Marty Fiolka have also secured the talents of long-time ABC and ESPN Sport’s personality Paul Page as one of two co-hosts for the evening. Page, long known for his work at the legendary Indianapolis 500, fell in love with the SCORE Baja 1000 in 1980 when he came the peninsula as part of that year’s ABC “Wide World of Sports” broadcast team. The veteran television host and event emcee also raced in the 2003 Baja Challenge class at the legendary SCORE Baja 1000, enjoying a cameo role in the theatrical film Dust to Glory.

‘40 Years to Glory’ will be comprised of a giant “Baja Tailgate Party” staged in the Performing Arts Center’s plaza and fountain complex, and including the world’s largest display of vintage and historic off-road race vehicles and motorcycles, live music, cocktails and a huge buffet-style dinner. That will be followed by the ‘40 Year to Glory’ presentation in the huge Terrace Theater,” a multi-media trip through four decades of racing featuring live music, video presentation and a whose-who list of honorees receiving specially-made awards. The night will be capped off with the “Baja After Party” back on the plaza, a time for desert, more cocktails and plenty of bench racing amongst the stars and cars that gave off-road history such a vibrant legacy.

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

Tickets for this never-to-be-repeated event are now on sale from the Long Beach Performing Arts Center box office or via Ticketmaster at (213) 480-3232 or (714) 740-2000 or online at www.40yearstoglory.com. Guest tickets will 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.

This year’s 40^th 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, the race will start in Ensenada and finish some 1,300 miles later in Cabo San Lucas. With nearly 350 entries expected from 40 U.S. States and 15 countries, the historic race will be taped by NBC Sports to air on Dec. 30 on NBC TV, followed by numerous worldwide telecasts on ESPN International.

For more event information visit www.40yearstoglory.com.