Televised on CBS Sports Network
World’s Foremost Desert Racing organization will present its first Imperial Valley
event as El Centro area opens arms to help celebrate SCORE’s 41st season;
Imperial Valley Mall in El Centro hosting several race activities
RENO, Nev.— SCORE Trophy Truck superstars B.J. Baldwin and Rob MacCachren of Las Vegas along with Mexico’s Gus Vildosola Jr. are the headliners among the entries in this week’s Inaugural SCORE Imperial Valley 250 desert race. Round 2 of the five-race 2014 SCORE World Desert Championship series will be held this week just west of El Centro, Calif and approximately 100 miles east of San Diego.
With nearly 150 entries competing in 35 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles, UTVs and ATVs expected at the start line on Saturday, entries to date have come from 17 U.S. States along with Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany and Mexico. With late entries accepted up to 5 p.m. Friday, the field to date includes nearly two dozen racers from the Imperial Valley area including El Centro, Imperial and Holtville.
Baldwin, MacCachren and Vildosola Jr. all race in the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division for high-tech, 850-horsepower unlimited production trucks. With 20 SCORE Trophy Truck wins and five SCORE Trophy Truck season point championships between them, Baldwin drives the No. 1 Monster Energy Baldwin Racing Chevy Silverado while MacCachren is behind the wheel of the No. 11 Rockstar Energy MacCachren Motorsports Ford F-150 and Vildosola Jr. is the pilot of the No. 21 Branix Mexicana Logistics Ford Raptor. A total of 13 SCORE Trophy Trucks have entered the newest race on the SCORE schedule. Vildosola Jr. won the season-opening Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 on March 1.
ON CBS SPORTS SPECTACULAR
The race will be televised on a delayed basis in the USA and Canada as a one-hour special on the CBS Sports Network with the telecast presented by BFGoodrich Tires. The show, being produced by SoCal’s acclaimed BCII TV, will air twice on the CBS Sports Spectacular show with the initial airing at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 15, 2014. Following the CBS Sports Network telecasts, the SCORE Imperial Valley 250 show will air worldwide in over 100 countries through international distribution.
IV RACERS
Among the entries with Imperial Valley roots are: Steven Eugenio (SCORE Trophy Truck), Fidel Galindo (SCORE Trophy Truck), Brady Turner (Class 1), Cody Robinson (Class 10), Mario Gastelum (Class 1/2-1600), Derek Eugenio/Jimmy Knuckles (Class 1/2-1600), Jonathan Burnworth (Class 1/2-1600), Quentin Tucker (Class 1/2-1600), Chris Taylor (Class 7), Earl Roberts (Class 50), Gabriel Rascon (Pro ATV), Mitch Edgmon (Trophy Truck Spec) and Oscar Ruiz (Sportsman ATV).
NUMBERS
To date, the car and truck classes who have the most entries to date are Class 10 (17), Class 1/2-1600 (15), SCORE Trophy Truck (13), and Class 19 (10). For SCORE Trophy Truck and the unlimited Class 1 (nine entries) the start drawing held two weeks ago determined the qualifying order as those two classes will have a qualifying session on Thursday to finalize the starting order for each class.
DILIGENCE
Following nearly two years of extensive planning with assistance from numerous individuals, multiple businesses and several government agencies from across the entire Imperial Valley and presented by the City of El Centro, SCORE’s first race in this portion of Southern California and first SCORE race in California since a 1998 race in Barstow will be held near Plaster City primarily on 41,000 dedicated acres in an off-highway vehicle use area under the jurisdiction of the El Centro field office of the Bureau of Land Management.
The area for the race is also located immediately west of the Naval Air Facility El Centro and is approximately 17 miles west of El Centro off of Interstate 8 (I-8, exit ).
COMP FORMAT
The SCORE World Desert Championship series features 35 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles, UTVs and ATVs with the best desert racers in the world competing in elapsed-times races with staggered starts. The classes will be split into two groups for the SCORE Imperial Valley 250.
The Motorcycle, ATV and a few of the slower car/truck classes will start at 6 a.m. on Saturday, April 26 with the featured SCORE Trophy Truck, unlimited Class 1 and other remaining car and truck classes starting at approximately 1 p.m. In the elapsed-time race, two vehicles will start together in 30-second intervals.
While the fastest vehicles are expected to complete the course in approximately four hours, the time limit for each vehicle to become an official will be seven hours in the morning portion of the race and eight hours in the afternoon portion. Many of the limited classes will be required to run two laps while the fastest classes will all be required to cover three laps.
IMPERIAL INFIELD
Run as a three-lap race over a rugged desert race course of approximately 82 miles in length, the colorful course will include a purpose-built eight-mile section off Wheeler Road with specially-built jumps, turns and a table top area in a one square mile area of private land in the center of the race course. This infield area will include the start/finish line, the main pits, the SCORE Operations compound, the primary spectator area with SCOREvision as well as the Monster Energy VIP winner’s circle. There will also be a number of food, beverage and merchandise vendors located in this main spectator area.
SPEC AREA2
While the race course will be closed to spectators because of safety requirements for this massive desert race, a second designated spectator area will be located parallel to a five-mile section of the race course along the south side Evan Hewes Highway (County Hwy S-80). The BLM has advised SCORE that this section on the south side of Evan Hewes Highway will be open for camping as well during the race.
This second spectator area will also be adjacent to the secondary pits for the race. Along with the start/finish line area off of Wheeler Road, these are the only two designated spectator areas and both will be overseen as will the rest of the race course by the BLM and local and county police agencies to help insure the safety of everyone involved.
SAFETY FIRST
At the very top of the priority list for this event has been safety for the racers as well as the spectators and the nearly 200 course workers. Starting Tuesday (April 22) the entire area of the race course will be closed to the public by enforcement of the BLM permit for the event.
Race officials have developed the two primary spectator areas both with tremendous site lines of the race course and with ultimate safety in mind. With the added assistance from the area police agencies, race officials are creating a family-friendly spectator environment as well.
To assist the crowd of several thousand expected to attend the race, the SCORE Race Committee has launched its own website at www.IVSCORE250.com with race fans in mind.
The event website also has a reminder list for spectators of the do’s and don’ts for watching the race.
SKED HIGHS…
…RECON LAP, QUALIFYING
Not open to the public, activities for what is expected to be one of the largest spectator events in Imperial Valley history will begin with two, one-lap, controlled-speed reconnaissance runs for official entries in the event, one on Wednesday afternoon and the other Thursday morning.
On Thursday afternoon, starting at 1:30 p.m. PT qualifying will be held for the two top competition classes in the race, SCORE Trophy Truck, the marquee SCORE racing division for high-tech, 850-horsepower unlimited production trucks, and SCORE Class 1 for unlimited, open-wheel desert race cars.
…FAN FARE
Starting Thursday, pre and post-race activities for the inaugural SCORE Imperial Valley 250 will be held in and around the Imperial Valley Mall at 3451 South Dogwood Avenue in El Centro.
Public activities will start with a special SCORE procession of race vehicles on Thursday evening, April 24 starting at 6 p.m. at the Imperial Valley Mall. It will also finish at the popular local mall.
…’IV GOES GREEN PARTY’
Starting at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday evening the Monster Energy SCORE ‘Imperial Valley Goes Green’ party will be held at the Imperial Valley Mall. Featuring the SCORE Pit Crew Challenge, racer autograph session, vehicle display and first night of pre-race contingency, the festivities are open to the public at no charge. The party will also include the humongous SCOREvision super-size LED screen debuting the exclusive first showing of the Cactus Films Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 video and the CBS Sports Network replay of the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 that aired nationally at 6 p.m. PST Sunday
…MANUFACTURER’S MIDWAY
The colorful SCORE manufacturer’s midway, contingency and safety inspection of all vehicles in the race will be held in the parking area of the Imperial Valley Mall from 9:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Friday, April 25. Racer and media registration will be held inside the IV Mall from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, April 25.
…..FREESTYLEMX
Throughout the day on Friday, April 25 at the SCORE Manufacturer’s Midway will be performances of the Monster Energy FreestyleMX motorcycle team.
…AWARDS CELEBRATION
The post-race awards celebration, also open to the public, will be held on Sunday, April 27 at 10 in the Imperial Valley Mall.
SCORE DIRT LIVEHD GLOBAL
With viewers in over 100 countries, SCORE Dirt LiveHD will present live internet streaming from the event from pre-green to post-checker. Coverage will include live start and finish line interviews as well as live coverage from the many ancillary events tied to the race. On race day, live satellite tracking of all vehicles in the race will also be broadcast through the SCORE International website.
‘FRIENDS OF SCORE’
The ever-growing group that has become ‘friends of SCORE’ from the area of the race include the BLM-El Centro Field Office, the Imperial County Sheriff’s Department, El Centro Police Department, Naval Air Facility El Centro, Emergency Medical Services, De Anza Rescue Unit, Imperial Valley Mall, El Centro Chamber of Commerce, Imperial Irrigation District, the city of El Centro and Imperial County departments of Planning and Public Works, board of supervisors and the county executive officer.
The event is expected to generate an economic impact for the Imperial Valley of nearly $10 million.
‘FRIENDS OF SCORE 2’
Primary local sponsors for the inaugural SCORE Imperial Valley 250 are: the City of El Centro, Imperial County, IID, REACH-Air Medical Services, Alford Distributing, Burgers & Beer, PMC and the Imperial Valley Cycle Center.
Supporting local sponsors include: Imperial Valley Mall, Spectrum Advertising, McMillin Homes, Los Cuates Fruteria, Sun Community, Rabobank, First Foundation Bank, AT&T, Rogers & Rogers, El Centro Motors Supercenter, Desert Auto Plaza, Duggins Construction, IFS, Gold Cross Ambulance Service, LiUNA, Alkaline Water Company and Hutchinson-Bloodgood.
SCORE RACE DIRECTORS
Former HDRA race official Robert Gross will be the race director for this event and he will be assisted by Greg Garber and Ryan Thomas. Thomas, a former SCORE champion racer, was the race director for this year’s Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250.
‘THE IV CREW’
Inaugural SCORE Imperial Valley Race Committee Members: Jeff Sturdevant –Co-Chair, El Centro Chamber of Commerce/JCS Construction; Marty Coyne – Co-Chair, Imperial Valley Cycle Center; Jeff Alford – Marketing, Alford’s Distributing; Jaime Honald – El Centro Chamber of Commerce/Burgers & Beer, Marketing/Awards Ceremony; Brandon Adams – Marketing, Alford’s Distributing; Darletta Willis – El Centro Chamber Of Commerce, Sponsors; Travis Coyne – Hotels and Equipment, Imperial Valley Cycle Center; Gary Wyatt – County of Imperial – Permits; Charla Teeters – United Desert Gateway, Imperial Valley Film Commission, permits; Steven Gutierrez – Imperial County Sherriff Department, Law enforcement/Safety; Gordon Johnson – Imperial County Sherriff Department, Law enforcement/Safety; Jim McGenley – Chief of El Centro Police Department, Law enforcement/Safety; Bob Ham – Checkers off Road Racing Team; Kirk Hester – District 38/Torrence’s Farm Implements, course design; Tony Rouhotus – Chief of Imperial County Fire, Safety; Art Eugenio – Get Some Photography; Randy Taylor – Rabo-Bank; Carlos Coral – SCORE International.
ON THE SCOREscope
In its 41st year as the world’s foremost desert racing organization in 2014 and based in Reno, Nev. with the SCORE Tech Shop in El Cajon, Calif., the five-race 2014 SCORE World Desert Championship series, with three special events held in Baja California, Mexico, and two in the United States, started with the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 on March 1. Starting and finishing in Ensenada, the 46th annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500 will be held June 5-8 and the third SCORE Baja race, starting in Ensenada and finishing in La Paz, the 47th annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 will be held Nov. 12-16.
The two U.S. races on 2014 SCORE World Desert Championship calendar are the inaugural SCORE Imperial Valley 250 in Plaster City, Calif. (April 25-27) and the two-day, single-race Inaugural SCORE Desert Challenge, location TBA (Sept. 25-28).
CBS SPORTS NETWORK
CBS Sports Network is available across the country through local cable, video and telco providers and via satellite on DirecTV Channel 221 and Dish Network Channel 158. For more information, including a full programming schedule and how to get CBS Sports Network, go towww.cbssportsnetwork.com. CBS Sports Network will run a one-hour special on all five 2014 SCORE World Desert Championship races as well as a sixth show on the special qualifying for select classes for the 2014 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 that will be held Nov. 1-4 in Las Vegas during the annual SEMA automotive industry trade show. All shows are scheduled to air in the next month following the event.
WEEKLY SCORE DIRT LIVEHD
SCORE Dirt LiveHD, SCORE’s weekly Tuesday night internet studio show from El Cajon, Calif., also goes on-site live with expanded event coverage during SCORE events. Live event coverage in 2014 will include week-long live coverage of the entire five-race 2014 SCORE World Desert Championship series of two races in the United States and three in Baja California, Mexico. The first USA event of the inaugural SCORE World Desert Championship series will be the inaugural SCORE Imperial Valley 250.
DIRT LIVEHD CREW
Desert racing public address announcer and former racer George Antill is the executive producer and host of the popular show. A special segment most weeks is SCORE Tech Tips with SCORE Tech co-directors Jake Velasco or Art Savedra or SCORE Trophy Truck racer and prep-shop owner T.J. Flores.
Shaun Sauer, SCORE Media Production Manager, is the coordinating producer of the show. The program is hosted on ustream.com, the world’s largest streaming internet site.
SCORE SPONSORS…
Official Sponsors: Tecate Beer-Official Beer/Official Race Sponsor, Monster Energy-Official Energy Drink, BFGoodrich Tires-Official Tire, Amber Racing Services-Official Race Fuels, Rigid Industries-Official Lights, King Shocks-Official Shock Absorber, Polaris-Official UTV, Volaris Airlines-Official Airline, CBS Sports Network-Official Television Partner, Wide Open Excursions- Official Arrive and Drive Company, Coca-Cola-Official Soft Drink, Crystal Bay Casino-Official Casino, Hotel Coral and Marina-Official Hotel.
Associate Sponsors: Graham Watchmakers, SatellitePhoneStore.com, Symons Ambulance Company.
Additional SCORE Partners: Proturismo Ensenada, Visit Baja California Sur, Baja California Secretary of Tourism, Baja California Sur State Government, Mexicali Ayuntamineto, COTUCO Mexicali/San Felipe, Cruz Roja Mexicana, Corporate Helicopters, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, GoPro, PCI Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.
For more information, visit the official website of the SCORE World Desert Championship series atwww.score-international.com.